My eyes fluttered open. Zeena's face was there, as well as... Ashe Knightley?

"I can't believe she decided to go to the Fight Club," Zeena muttered as she threw a cold towel on my head.

"I'm not surprised," Ashe replied. "She's awake."

"Is she? Scold her for her stupidity. She just finished falling into a ravine, then she decides to wrestle. The idiocy." Zeena wringings a towel and come back into sight. "You're stupid."

I tried to respond, but Ashe put a finger to his lips.

"You've been out for a day now. A day! Tomorrow you need to be ready for the ball, and you're sitting in a clinic because you couldn't hold yourself back—"

"Are you still talking?" I mumbled, trying to lift my arms.

"Shut your mouth. Don't talk. She busted your lip badly. I had to stitch the inside just to keep it in place." Zeena helped me sit upright on my bed. "Look, I may hate you, but my job is to make sure you're okay. So, open your mouth so I take out the stitches."

I opened as widely as I could. Zeena took a pair of tweezers and put them into my mouth. Pain shot through my body, and I wanted to throw Zeena into a lava pit.

"All done. Bite down for me."

My jaw relaxed.

"Perfect. You can leave. I think you have to get fitted into the dress for tomorrow. Hopefully you don't decide to punch someone during that." Zeena turned away.

Ashe helped me off the bed. I stumbled into him, and he carefully walked me out of the clinic.

"You should've thrown a harder punch," Ashe said.

"Shut up," I mumbled. The world still spun a bit, but I knew I'd be better by tomorrow.

Ashe chuckled and walked us through the camp. "Your dress matches my suit perfectly. We're going to do great."

He led me into a tent. It was larger than all the other tents, but not as large as the Tent. There was a bedroll on the ground, and it was extremely messy.

"Excuse the mess. I haven't had a chance to clean up." Ashe picked up some clothes from the ground and tossed them to the far corner.

"Is this your tent?"

"Unfortunately, yes." He fixed his bedroll and adjusted his hair before opening his wardrobe door.

A golden gown spilled out. Golden with beige feathers around the neckline and sparsely placed around the gown. It was an enchanting dress to look at.

I remembered Whila telling me about the new trends in fashion. Feathers and beige were back. Ashe Knightley had immaculate taste in clothes.

"It's beautiful," I whispered as I touched the dress.

"It's yours."

I smiled and looked at Ashe, who smiled back. "I should try it on, right?"

"Please do. I'll step outside."

Ashe left his tent. I kept looking at the beautiful dress, amazed by how it flowed. It was going to look even better when we danced, since it looked like it would flare out. Saints, it was gorgeous.

I slipped into the gown, carefully adjusting the top so it could fit comfortably. My caramel hair went just past my shoulders.

"Come in," I called out to Ashe.

He walked back in, and his eyes pinned on me.

"The gown is stunning, Ashe." I spun and walked up to him, my smile not dying. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

"You look"—his eyes raked my entirety, then rested on my eyes again—"decent. Very decent."

Only decent? That was all he had to say?

My smile withered away.

"But you're missing something." Ashe reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. It was the same one he showed me days ago. "My lady Lydia," he said as he handed it to me.

"Do I keep this with me?"

He nodded. "Just so I know it's you."

I pursed my lips and gazed at Ashe. "And what are you wearing?"

He pulled out a matching beige tuxedo. The material was similar to the gown, and there was few feathers placed around it. "The more we coordinate, the more we'll blend in."

"Wear it." I touched one of the feathers on the tuxedo. "I'd like to see it on you."

Without warning, Ashe began unbuttoning his shirt. "Feel free to leave, if you'd like."

I was about to leave, but I decided against it. "We might as well get comfortable with each other before tomorrow."

"Right you are." His shirt made his way to the ground, and soon, his pants joined it. Ashe slipped the pants on, but I could've sworn he was taking his time with his button down shirt and jacket.

And I took my time watching. My ears burned.

After Ashe finished putting on his clothes, he gave a spin, showing off the delicate detailing.

"It's... nice. The tuxedo fits you well," I muttered, unable to take my eyes off him. The beige went well with his eyes, and it contrasted his dark hair perfectly. He looked like a prince.

"I would hope it did." He paused and looked at me. "I picked the beige because I thought it looked good with your eyes."

"My eyes?"

Ashe looked into them and said, "You have the lightest eyes I've ever seen. The beige compliments it well. But"—his fingers twine in my hair—"we'll be dyeing your hair darker. And mine will be a bit lighter."

"I'm fine with that," I said.

I expected Ashe to take his hand off my hair, but he kept it there, playing with the strands like it they were guitars.

"I'm... excited to dance with you tomorrow, Valarya. I know I haven't shown it, but I'm grateful for your patience with me." His hand slowly goes down to my hand and twine through. His other hand trailed to my lower back, tighter than he'd ever held me before. "There's a dance called the Tianese. It's a dance they usually play for married couples. Anyone who isn't married would have to leave the room."

I knew that dance. I had never seen anyone dance it, but usually married couples learned it. My instructor never permitted us to dance it since it was highly inappropriate for young girls to dance.

"Would you like me to show you that dance?" It didn't feel like Ashe was asking. It felt like he was requesting me to dance. An offer.

My ears could've fallen off my body at that moment.

Slowly, I nodded. I was an experienced woman. Surely a simple dance was not too intimate that I would be intimidated.

I was so wrong.

Ashe turned me around, his hands on my waist, and grounded my back to his chest. Ashe's fingertips danced along my waist, then scattered up toward my bare shoulders. His hand pulled my hair away from my shoulder, and I felt the roughness of his hand scrape.

"Just tell me if you want to stop," he murmured against my neck.

My body had never been so tense. Ever.

"I'm fine," I croaked out. Yes, perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with me at all—

His hands was at my hips, and he began swaying me side to side. My world was spinning, and if hadn't been holding onto me, I would fell into the wardrobe. As if he knew, his hands loosened from my hips.

"Are you all right?" he asked again.

"Perfect," I replied. My voice came out hoarse. I could hear Ashe's low chuckle from behind me.

He held onto my hands and brought them up to his neck. My hands moved with him, and he raked them down his body, stopping just at the middle of his chest. "Just say if you want to stop."

A part of me was annoyed that he kept telling me if I needed to stop. I didn't need to stop. In fact, I needed to keep going.

"What's next?" I asked him.

"I spin and catch you," he replied.

"That's not too bad—"

Ashe spun me outward, his hand closed around mine, and when he caught me, he dipped, and my gown slid up. Hesitantly, his hand trailed up my leg.

His other hand was at my back, keeping me off the ground.

And his face—

His face was close to mine. Saints, his eyes could've killed a million souls and I wouldn't have cared. The light that shone into his tent only made his features brighter. Angelic. He was completely and utterly angelic. Not one bit of him looked bad at that moment.

"Usually," he whispered, his hand traveling up my leg further, "this is where I'd kiss you."

My lips went numb. I didn't care if I fell off a cliff. It was a drunk feeling, and when he pulled me back up, I wanted to slap him for giving that feeling to me.

"I won't kiss you at the ball," he added, stepped away from me, "but others will kiss. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, so forgive me if I did."

I wanted to slap him for saying that. I wanted him to keep going. I wanted—No, I needed him to finish the dance, but the way he looked at me now... Innocence twinkled in his eyes. I wanted to slap him and I wanted to thank him. Damn him.

"You didn't," I said rather starkly. "And I hope at the ball we blend in well."

His eyes went to my ears, and then he grinned. "Your ears are red again," he pointed out.

"Focus, Knightley."

"Oh, I'm focused. Did you think I'd kiss you?" Another grin from him, this time much more apparent.

"No—"

"You did." He crossed his arms over his chest as he gave a low laugh. "Well, all good things come with patience."

"Don't you dare give me a lesson about patience."

"I wouldn't dare."

I cocked a brow.

"We'll see what happens at the ball tomorrow. Who knows; we may not even be alive by the end of the Tianese. Maybe you'll collapse." Ashe gave a dramatic bow as he said, "Or maybe dear old Ilias will come and take you from me."

My muscles tensed. Was Ilias the reason why Ashe didn't kiss me? Ashe saw me kiss Rysdan! He knew I'd kiss him back. Oh, he was so... so—

"Nothing to say? Well, if Ilias does decide to dance with you, I would be... most furious. I am your husband after all, Lydia. Your hand and dances are reserved for me, as we agreed on."

"Correct you are," I snapped back. "But only for tomorrow."

"Right. Only for tomorrow."

Without another word, I left his tent, grabbing my clothes off the ground as I did.

*~⚜️~*

Rysdan sat outside my tent. As he saw me walk back, he scrambled up and rushed to me. "I need to talk to you."

"Go ahead."

"Look, I'm sorry. Odaya and I are complicated, and I can't drag you along with this charade."

Damn right you couldn't. I'm not some dog you tied a leash around and now I follow around. "Right... continue."

"I'm sorry. What I'm doing is unfair to you. I'm willing to leave Odaya."

"Don't do that."

"What?"

I sat down on the chair outside my tent. "I said don't do that. Don't leave Odaya."

"But—"

"Look"—I sat up and crossed my arms—"if you really liked me, you wouldn't have entertained Odaya. And if you really liked Odaya, you wouldn't have entertained me. Clearly, you two have unfinished business. I'm not going to be the person that holds you back from getting clarity."

Rysdan blinked a few times. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we shouldn't bother trying to be together."

He stared at me, almost like he was shot down with an ash arrow. Seeing him look at me like that broke my heart, but I knew what we had wouldn't work, no matter how hard we tried. We were always going to remember Odaya, and I was not going to live with that.

"So that's it? We just act as if nothing happened? You don't care about me anymore? Is this because of Ashe?"

"This is my own judgement. I won't be able to continue with this relationship knowing you had feelings for Odaya, or that you have unresolved issues with her. As for us, I'm not sure. I don't want to be enemies, Rysdan, but we can't be together. Not like that."

"But I... I thought you liked me."

"I do, but I won't fight for your attention. This isn't some stupid book where the woman fights for the man's attention. That's not something I should be fighting for. Understand?"

Rysdan looked away from me. "I understand. I hope we can be friends."

"Of course." I got off my seat and hugged him. "I do care about you, but it's best if we figure out who we want and who we need."

He wrapped his arms around me, sighing. "I care about you, too."

Smiling, I let go of him. "You're a good guy."

He gave a weak smile back, then turned and left.