Azucena waltzed around the queen’s ball, adorned in gold draping down her collar, fine jewels sparkling under the light. Her gown was the color of lillies; her favorite flower, the one she was named after. The child had dedicated a majority of her respective year since last season attempting to reconstruct her reputation, that she dreaded Harrison for tarnishing.
Unfortunately, somewhere between those evening dinners and morning walks they thought to be so dry, she stopped wanting to run. Instead, she longed to make him laugh, even when he did not find her funny, because he was the kind of man that was worth waiting for. The problem was that she realized it far too late. Similar to a tsunami, the tide rolled away and away, but she never minded it until the wave came down. By then, Harrison could not save her.
Now, she once again followed the lead of her mother; putting on a fake smile, and praying that no one could see behind it. All was going well, they had gone to say hello to friends and family, exchanging cheek kisses and small talk. It had been enchanting to be reunited with them again, and in her heart she had truly missed them. She had missed all of the people, all but one.
She had been watching him all night. He looked just as handsome as before, dark eyes and sweet scent that lingered across the ballroom until it grazed across her neck. It almost felt like a kiss. He would most certainly appear as a silhouette in tonight’s dream, however his name would certainly not be quilled down on her dance card. They were destined to fall apart, and reuniting would only stir controversy. Azucena would die just to be close to him again, in that way that was so forbidden. They had a garden, but now that they have bitten the apple, it must be scrapped before it is identified by its rotten core. She saw him glancing, but never let their eyes meet. Surely he would not come near.
That was what she thought, until she heard those footsteps she could recognize in any crowded room. Please do not, she thought. But her thoughts could not save her.
“Blue.” He called. The name she had given him, the name no one calls her. One that is not hers.
So it was him. Lang. Truly, Azucena was rattled to know that this man was here. A man of nobility? The one she romanticized for his rugged hands, and his tossed up hair. All of the fairy tales she had formulated about him were disapproved in one word. Who was he, then? She pictured him as the son of a blacksmith, at best, or the child of a seamstress struggling to get by. By the sound of his stories, he seemed to have had a hard life, but how could that be when he stood in this room?
She let him talk, wonder as she looked upon him with dreamy eyes of blue, unable to conceal the wonder she found in his gaze. However, Azucena could not bring herself to respond to his call for her. Not by that name. She would not answer his question, so she stared as he continued, laughing slightly at his astonishment.
“You look lovely.” He said. And suddenly that polite expression she held firm melted into one that held legitimacy. The compliment meant much more from someone who would think the same if she were in a nightgown, or nothing at all. “Thank you,” She blushed, bowing into a curtsy. "You as well. I would call you by your name, however I realize I do not know it. The girl lowered her voice, and let blue ask him. “What is your name, Lang?” It came out as a whisper, uttered with much more confidence now that it was quiet. Happy to be herself around someone, especially if it was him.
mentioned:
@Kristi Harrison