 | "some day, our scars will be just scars" At the masquerade, his unadorned face seems to offend. It makes it harder to move freely through the crowd so he grabs the first mask he can find that isn't too lavishly decorated and gently ties it to his face with a piece of ribbon. The opalescent white mask is simply but expertly carved. From some angles it appears to be crying, and (perplexingly) from some angles it appears to be laughing-- it is a clever trick of light and form, or else some kind of minor magic. He doesn't care. Eik weaves like a needle through flocks of silk and paint, peering at everyone's face with an intensity that is out of place at an event so carefree. He passes through many small rooms, slowing when he reaches a great hall where the crowd is gathered with a sense of gravity. His attention is drawn to a mare that everyone in the room pretends to not notice. Most every eye seems to rest carefully on everything but her, except to steal glances now and then. He doesn't recognize her at first, and he possibly would not except when he looks at her his gaze meets eyes he's come to know well. "Oh." He steps forward, and the crowd parts without even realizing they do so. Their attention on him burns. "You look... Nice." The long pause is not because it is not true (she looks beautiful) but because it doesn't really seem like a compliment when it's coming from him to her. If anything it's the opposite, because what has niceness ever done for them? And how often does it come at the expense of someone else? Normally he'd try to make it clear he didn't mean the compliment in a left-handed way, but right now he's distracted. His eyes and ears take turns scanning the room, and when his lips curve up ever slightly it is a hollow smile. When he becomes aware of Seraphina's company staring at him, he steps closer to the queen. Someone somewhere laughs loudly at a poor joke and he winces at the sound. Its so damn loud in here, he can hardly think. The thought of unleashing his magic in this crowded place makes him queasy. "I was looking for you. Can we speak alone? It's important." Surely she'll hear the importance in his voice, but he says it anyway.. Eik leads the young queen through the crowds and deeper into the court. Although he does not know where exactly he's going, he's certain that there must be somewhere quiet. Finally they stop in a room painted in sunset shades across the floor that deepen as the walls rise, until they become the dark silver-blue-black colors of night where the walls meet the ceiling-- except there is no ceiling in this room. Above them starlit clouds lazily drift across the sky, and the crisp air brings a summery nighttime smell that makes him nostalgic for a past that was not his own. He turns away from the night sky and back to Seraphina. "There's a dangerous man on the loose." But of course that does not really explain the tension in his voice, the race of his heart. The world is full of dangerous people, the two of them know that well enough. "He attacked Isra once. He might do it again." Eik is so full of love and fury that when he says Isra he starts to pace back and forth. The sound of his heavy steps echoes on the painted stone walls until he sounds like two angry men, then three. Not even the gentle night breeze can cool him. "and a forest will grow where our blood was shed" |
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