Chain Mail and Butterfly Wings

Aiden and I woke up early the next morning and starting moving despite our aching limbs. Mine particularly weren’t the easiest to get moving, Aiden seemed to have the right amount of perseverance, but I was lacking in that area.

What made my attitude worse was Aiden’s contrary attitude, you know, bright and optimistic, while mine was dreary and pessimistic. How could he always see the bright side of everything? I had always thought that there wasn’t always a bright side to everything, and yet Aiden was proving me wrong. I was almost certain that he could find a positive thing to say to the mourning family at a funeral ceremony.

“At least the snow is gone,” Aiden pointed out happily, walking much faster than I was willing to go.

“Yeah. Great,” I mumbled tiredly. “I’m practically kicking up my heals,” I added sarcastically, twirling my finger unenthusiastically through the air once.

“That’s the spirit, Angel!” Aiden mocked, hanging back a little so that he could throw his arm around my shoulder.

I squirmed out from under his arm and managed to smile when I could finally see the forest Aiden had pointed out the day before and it was significantly closer. “Hey, we’re getting closer,” I relayed the information aloud, trying out my most optimistic tone, which sounded similar to how I imagined an enthusiastic rock might sound.

“Yeah. It’s only about a mile now. So I think we’ll get there in about an hour, maybe forty-five minutes,” Aiden replied, sounding excited for some reason.

“Where is this place anyway? Is it a town? Are we even close to Castle Reloir?” I shot off questions lazily, hardly noticing that I wasn’t waiting for answers.

“You’ll see,” was all Aiden said, and when I looked at him with a scowl of annoyance he only grinned.

Great. A surprise. I hated surprises.

_______________________________________________________________

“Check it out, Angel! We’re here.” Aiden jabbed my side and I squirmed away from him, glaring as he continued to grin.

I looked to where Aiden’s finger pointed and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Just barely twenty yards away was a large gate, which I assumed led into a town. So I had guessed right, it was a town? Then why was Aiden so excited about it? “A town?” I asked aloud, sounding perplexed.

“Not just a town,” Aiden said, quickening his step. Where the hell was he getting all of his energy? “Makkalin,” he corrected happily, grabbing my hand and tugging me behind him when he realized I wasn’t walking any faster.

“Makkalin?” I inquired, my tone hinting at a question, I had never been good with geography, so I had no idea what the significance of this town was.

Aiden paused to turn at look at me, gauging whether I was being serious or not, “You serious?” he asked finally. I nodded and he groaned, “Jeez Angel! You gotta get out more! This place is the most well-known town for its market! People come from all across the country to trade in Makkalin markets!” Aiden said with so much enthusiasm I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. If I were to take a guess, I’d think Aiden had been here a lot in his life time.

I shrugged and Aiden groaned again, grabbing my hand and pulling me up the remainder of the hill and to the mouth of the large gates.

Aiden halted absently at the back of small line and frowned in annoyance, I half-expected him to start bouncing where he stood because of his anxiety. “Come on…” Aiden murmured, finally letting go of my hand to stand on his tip-toes and peer over the crowd. “Oh, great. Everyone’s getting their market permits for the day,” he grumbled and fell flat on his feet again.

“So? We’ve gotta wait ‘til they’re done?” I asked nonchalantly. Honestly, I wasn’t too opposed to the idea, maybe I’d get to sit on the ground until it was our turn, I wouldn’t complain about a little rest. Besides, shopping wasn’t something I was going to get excited about. Shopping was fun and all, when you had money to spend, which I didn’t.

“I don’t think so.” Aiden turned a smile on me and then grabbed my hand yet again, now dragging me to the front of the line where two guards stood on either side of the large gates, occasionally allowing people through after only a second of talking. One of the guards looked up at our approach, looking cross at first, and then recognition lined his features.

“Aiden!” The older guard (possibly in his late thirties or early forties) said happily, ignoring the person that he had been talking to about permits.

“Hello Harry,” Aiden responded, meeting the man’s enthusiasm with his own, flashing a grin at me first as if to say “I’m awesome” and then turned his attention to the guard--Harry.

“What brings you back to town? You know, your parents have been waiting for you to come back. It’s been too long, what? Four years? Your mother’s been worried sick about you. I’m not sure they expected you to come back at all. And yet here you are! How old are you now twe--”

I started tuning out the older man by that point, damn he could talk. I had the vaguest impression that people like this was why Aiden was so patient. I turned to look at the people in line, who were staring at me, and--in some cases--glaring at me. As if it were my fault it was taking so long for Harry to finish talking. With a glare of my own, I turned my attention back to Aiden and Harry.

“--Yeah, yeah. Well, Harry, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind letting me and my friend here, into town. I promise I’ll pay a visit to my parents,” Aiden said with a charming smile--although I doubted it worked as well on men.

“Sure, sure!” Harry, turned to a younger guard behind him, who was eyeing Aiden anxiously and pushed his shoulder lightly as a silent order for the guard to move. The younger guard stumbled, grumbled and then moved so that Aiden could get past him. “Tell your parents I said hello,” Harry said jubilantly and smiled at me as I followed closely behind. There was a strange look in the older guard’s eyes, bright and, and…I don’t know, there was something different about it.

“What the hell was with that?” I asked, walking alongside Aiden rather than behind him.

“What? Oh, that was Harry, he’s an old family friend. You know, a bit of a talker.” Aiden replied with a shrug.

“No, no, no, I meant that look. He looked like some envious old lady looking at a pregnant younger lady. Or something,” I added, knowing my simile was a little strange.

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” Aiden answered with another shrug. “That’s not important though, what is important is that you’re going to buy some clothes befitting a lady such as yourself, get that chain mail fixed and then we’re browsing the shops,” he said forcefully as if I was going to disagree.

New clothes? Hell yeah. I needed a new shirt, some new pants, my boots were okay, but what the hell? If he was buying, it was cool with me.

Aiden paused, noting the decorations around the town. Vibrant colors of purple and blue were strung up all over the buildings while people marched through the streets with similar colors applied to their clothing, while some children even had their faces painted with designs with the same colors. I felt like I had walked into the center of a cult headquarters.

“Hey, Aiden? What’s with the purple and blue?” I asked warily, glaring at a child that refused to look away from me when I caught them staring. The kid looked away quickly, eyes wide like I’d held a knife to its throat. Paranoid little brat.

“Uhh, nothing. I’ll tell you later. But you’re definitely going to need a dress…” Aiden muttered, probably hoping I didn’t hear the last half of his sentence.

“Okay…wait…what?” I stopped walking and saw Aiden hesitate, but stop as well, turning to smile at me in the most sincere way. “Why would I ‘definitely’ need a dress?”

“Well, hmm…I’m not sure how to explain it. Okay I am, but I’m not sure how to explain it to you,” Aiden admitted, then smiled again. “Angel, you want to do me a favor. Please?” he asked in a sincere tone which only made me even more suspicious.

“What sort of favor?” I asked, already certain it had something to do with that dress he was talking about.

“There’s this sort of ball, tonight,” Aiden began, then paused to see how many people were around and then leaned close to me as if to tell me a secret. “And I’m sort of gonna have to show up there, but I sort of need to accompany someone there. So, I was wondering if you would sort of go with me? As a favor?” Aiden raised his eyebrows hopefully, and I chose to ignore all of the “sort of’s” in his explanation.

“I…umm…I guess so…but how long would we be there? And why do you even have to go there?” I asked with a frown, feeling as if Aiden was keeping a secret from me.

“I’ll tell you later. For sure,” Aiden assured me and then grabbed my hand and began dragging me through crowds of people to reach a particular store with a sign out front with a picture of clothing on it. Which could only cause me to assume that this is where I would be getting clothes.

There was the sound of a bell as we entered the store and the sound of the street outside was instantly muted as the door swung shut behind us.

In this particular shop Aiden pulled me right up to the counter where he let go of my hand and smiled at a young girl that was working there. The girl was maybe sixteen or seventeen with blond hair and blue eyes and a coy smile that she threw Aiden’s way when he finally asked, “Is that you Lonnie? I haven‘t seen you in years, you‘ve gotten so much bigger.” He ruffled her hair slightly and I felt my jealousy lurch in my stomach but pinned my lips shut before I could growl at the girl.

“Aiden?” she asked quietly, her eyebrows raised in surprise, “I didn’t know you were back in town! How long will you be staying--? Oh! I’m sorry, can I help you with something Miss?” the girl--Lonnie--asked, looking at me suddenly.

“Erm…Yeah, I guess, do you have some breeches, maybe a traveling tunic, a cloak, some sturdy boots, a few shirts, long sleeve and short and--” I glared at Aiden when he cut into my sentence.

“And a violet dress? Something a little older style, but with some masterful embroidery?” Aiden asked, and I was forgotten.

“Yes, of course…Is this your company?” Lonnie asked, picking up my things from behind the counter as she spoke to Aiden.

“Girl friend,” I corrected in my haste to pull the attention away from Lonnie, and I instantly bit my tongue, but remained calm, even as Aiden turned to look startled in my direction. I made sure Lonnie was digging behind the counter before I shot Aiden a glance that ordered him to go along.

“Uh, yeah. We’ve known each other for a short time now. I plan on taking her to the ball. Are you going with anyone Lonnie?” Aiden asked, sounding completely composed, although I’m sure he was dying to know why I had said what I had said. Which made me thankful that Lonnie was there, since she gave me time to come up with an answer.

“Oh, and some longer pants,” I threw in before Lonnie could answer and she nodded quietly, going behind the counter once again and coming up with two pairs of long pants which looked extremely comfortable.

“Yes, actually. So I guess I’ll see you there won’t I?” Lonnie replied with a serene sort of smile on her lips and then disappeared into the back room.

Aiden whirled around to grin at me. “Girl friend?” the words blurted from his lips as a smile cracked out across his features. “Honestly Angel, what the hell would possess you to say that?” He obviously thought my correction was hilarious on several different levels.

“Come on, how could I resist?” I asked with a shrug, working this response over in my head for the past several minutes. “Did you see the look on her face? She was practically drooling over you, so, you know, I thought I’d play a little joke…of sorts.” Thank God for my excellent quick thinking and lying skills. Seriously, if this guard thing doesn’t work out, I’m definitely considering becoming a player.

Aiden grinned even wider, accepting the lie as far as I could tell before he had to turn and look at what Lonnie had brought out. I tried to peer around him, but Aiden instantly covered my eyes with his hand. “Hey! No peeking,” he objected, keeping his hand over my eyes even as I tried to pry it away.

“What? Why not?” I demanded, giving up on prying his hand away and feeling myself being pushed toward the door.

“Because, it’s gonna be a surprise, so, go across the street to the flower shop or something,” Aiden ordered.

Before I could even turn to object, the door swung shut and I was standing alone in the crowded street. “…Flower shop?” I asked, with a grimace and saw the shop he was talking about. I snorted to myself and crossed the busy street, pausing in front of the flower shop, looking to the right and finding something much more interesting: The smithy.

I walked into the open-fronted shop and my ears were greeted by the sound of metal on metal. There was a circle of people gathered around two young men sparring with what looked like red-hot swords, sending sparks flying into the dirt. Instantly, my guard instincts kicked in and I shouldered through the crowd, to the edge where I assessed the situation, chose the correct moment, and lunged into one of the young men’s backs. He shouted in surprise while the other’s eyes widened and he swung the blade at my neck.

I ducked below the blade, although it cut the back of my shirt which only managed to piss me off. I rolled the other young man over and off of me, kicking the sword away from his hands while the other drew back his sword for a second strike. I rolled away from the second blow and rested my hand on the hilt of the fallen sword, I picked it up and parried the third blow, smiling when the young man yelped in surprise.

These two seemed really inexperienced to be fighting with swords, but I shook the thought away, applying pressure to my own blade and knocking the other from the young man’s hands. He threw his hands up in defeat and instantly said, “I give, I give. Jeez, Lady, it’s just a demonstration.”

I paused. Perplexed. Demonstration? Hmm…I had a feeling I was about to feel extremely stupid.

“Demonstration?” I asked aloud, looking to the young man that had already spoken.

“Yeah. It’s not like we were going to kill each other,” the young man retorted, brushing dust and dirt from his clothes.

The other young man rose to his feet with a grumble, glaring at me as he slunk away. Hmm, it seemed being outshined by a girl was a bit embarrassing. Whoops. Oh well, his ego probably needed the bruise.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” I muttered to the blacksmith, stripping myself of my chain mail and handing it to the smithy.

“No pro’lem,” the large man replied as he grinned, taking my chain mail from me. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen fightin’ like that. You new in town?” he asked with a heavy baritone of a voice.

“Sort of. My friend used to live here. I think.” I considered that for a short moment, then decided that it must be true, otherwise he wouldn’t know so many people. “Is there a certain time you’ll have it fixed?” I asked, gesturing to the chain mail I had handed him and changing the topic abruptly.

The man shook his large head. “Not really. What inn are you stayin’ at?”

“Not an Inn,” I heard Aiden’s voice behind me and jumped at his sudden presence. “Just send it over to Rosalyn and Isaac Stone’s place.” Aiden smirked when I looked at him with a question in my expression.

“Aiden!” The blacksmith exclaimed happily, shaking Aiden’s hand with exceptional force and then asked, “How long you been back in town? It’s been too long yeh kno’. ‘Aven’t seen you in years. But I’ve ‘eard about yeh, yer dad’s right proud of yer reputation.”

Aiden nodded exchanged some mindless banter and then said, “Thanks a lot Horris. I’ll definitely catch up with you later. Right now I’ve got to get this lovely young woman ready for the ball.”

“Ah. Of course, of course. I should’ve known a fighter like that gal would know you some how.” Horris waved his large hand in farewell and turned to bark an order at an assistant.

“So, Angel. What have you been up to since I’ve been gone?” Aiden asked innocently, hinting at why Horris had called me a “fighter”.

“Nothing.” I shrugged with an innocent expression, “I was just looking at flowers, like a good girl,” I retorted. Tch, send me to look at flowers, will he.

Aiden chuckled. “I see. Then I’m assuming you got in a heated battle with one of said flowers?” He raised a curious eyebrow.

I shrugged again. “It called me a name.” I stole a glance at Aiden and noticed for the first time that his arms were empty and frowned.

“Hey. Where’s all my stuff?” I asked, hoping he wasn’t that forgetful.

“Oh, don’t worry about it Angel. It’s all at my parents' house. I figured we would be staying here until tomorrow anyway, so I had it sent there,” Aiden replied, watching people as he spoke to me and we made our way down the main street of the town.

He was analyzing people again. I could tell from the concentrated glint in his eyes. So I did the most logical thing as we walked in silence, I analyzed his expression while he analyzed people. Aiden’s gaze lingered on a particular young man for a second too long before he looked to the next person.

“Who was that?” I asked before he could forget the young man’s face.

“Hmm?” Aiden looked startled, apparently he had forgotten I was there, and didn’t expect me to be watching him.

“That guy you were analyzing. Who was he?” I clarified.

Aiden smirked when I used the term “analyzing” and then answered, “Oh, no one important. Just the town jack--” Aiden hesitated, looked at me, considered something and then finished, “ass. I was just wondering if he was still the same. He used to have his own pack of cronies when I was a little younger…we never really got along.”

I turned quickly to look over my shoulder, maybe get a glimpse of the guy before he disappeared, but he was already gone. I huffed in annoyance and then turned back to Aiden to ask, “Where are we heading now anyway?” But Aiden was gone too. I hesitated and saw him weaving through the crowd to a stand that was off to the side. “H-hey! Come back!” I demanded, hurrying after him.

I scowled when I had to shoulder through a group of girls who were murmuring excitedly to each other. I had thought I heard one of them giggle something along the lines of “so cute!” but I wasn’t sure.

Once I was at his side again, Aiden turned with something in his hands and asked, “Hey, Angel. What do you think of this? Would it be a good gift?”

The fishy smell assaulted my nose before I even caught sight of the disgusting creature. I held my breath and turned Aiden by the shoulders in the direction of the table he had gotten it from. “Erm. It stinks, and no, not much of a gift.” I responded, turning away to take a deep breath of air that wasn’t contaminated. I mean usually fish stink, but this fish seemed to stink more than usual. “Who would it be for?” I asked, hoping beyond hope that it wasn’t meant for me.

“Nailah.” Aiden responded quickly and then added, “And why isn’t it a good gift?” What threw me off was that he looked completely serious when he was questioning it’s gift worthiness.

“It’s for Nailah?” I asked incredulously and snickered at his poor gift choice, “Holy shit Aiden! I don’t like fish and I’m less girly than Nailah. Let me guess, she’s quiet and delicate, right?” Aiden nodded once, looking attentive as he listened, “Well then your best bet with gift giving for her would be jewelry…not fish,” I finished knowledgably.

“But, it’s a special fish,” Aiden said as if it might change the value of the fish.

“Special,” I repeated, unconvinced.

“Yeah. It’s a lucky fish. You know, it’s caught in the ocean, but only after a certain amount of years, since it’s known to find and eat valuable treasures at the bottom of the ocean. But, you know, it’s sort of all chance, some of them don’t have anything.” Aiden explained as if he’d done serious research on the fish.

“That’s weird. Is it a requirement for the fish to smell twice as bad?” I retorted, scrunching my nose to display my displeasure more adequately.

“I guess so. Since it is the Skunk Fish,” Aiden answered, turning away from the table.

Ew.

“Regardless, if you’re looking for a gift for Nailah. Jewelry. Not fish.” I reminded him, steering him away from the Skunk Fish. “You know you’re a terrible gift-giver, right?” I joked, although there was some truth to the joke.

“Fine then. If I’m so terrible at picking gifts, you find one.” Aiden insisted, crossing his arms over his chest. “And make sure it’s the gift for my one and only love,” he added with a mock-dreamy sigh at the end of his sentence.

Eesh, one and only love? That would be a toughy. I paused and wandered over to a nearby table which had just the right thing: tons of jewelry. I skimmed over the rings, nope, too cliché. Bracelets, too annoying if you had to write. Necklaces…perfect. I reached out with the hand of judgment and indicated to the perfect gift. “There. One and only love necklace, right there.”

Aiden followed my finger and gazed at the simple yet beautiful necklace I had found within only moments. It was a amethyst cut into the shape of a teardrop on a thin silver chain.

“Really? You think she’d like it?” Aiden squinted at the necklace as if to get a better look at it.

“Positive,” I confirmed, thinking to myself that I liked it, so I had to assume that Nailah would. Besides, even if she didn’t like it she would pretend she did and I would just steal it from her room while she was sleeping.

With that confirmed, Aiden purchased the gift, put it in a small white box and dropped it into the virtually unopened pack at his side. Sometimes I forgot the thing was even there, except for the fact that my father’s armor was currently inside it, so I was a bit more aware of it.

We walked in almost complete silence, since I wasn’t willing to talk over the crowd, but as soon as the crowd thinned out and I could hear properly I asked Aiden, “Hey. You gonna tell me what’s up with the purple and blue?” I gestured to more banners that decorated a nearby building as well as almost every stand we passed.

Aiden looked at the decorations I had pointed out and smirked. “Oh. That. There’s a tradition in this town, you know, to celebrate it’s founding. There’s a festival every year which takes place during the day, and then the same night is a ball in which every girl in town wears pretty much hundreds of different shades of purple, while the guys wear every shade of blue. Then again, most guys were dark blue anyway.”

“Where’s it at?” I wanted to know.

“The town leader’s place. They’ve got a huge room dedicated to the ball alone, they’ve probably been setting up all day. Them and the servants, of course,” Aiden answered.

I rolled my eyes. “How long does this thing go on for?” I asked suspiciously.

“Oh…you know, just a few…mhmds…” Aiden trailed off and I glared at him, even though he was avoiding my gaze deliberately.

“What was that?”

“I said just a few…mhmds…” Aiden repeated, in the exact same muffled reply.

“Aiden…so help me God, I will hit every pressure point in your body and make it so that you won’t be able to move your arms or legs for at least three hours,” I threatened and Aiden finally looked at me, eyes a little wide with fear.

“Erm…in that case, I suppose I’ll just tell you. It lasts a few,” he hesitated and I could have sworn I saw him flinch, “hours.”

My eye twitched, drawing Aiden’s attention with ease, he looked a little concerned at the involuntary action. “Hours,” I repeated, contemplating whether or not I really wanted to be in a dress--that was probably poofy--and some sort of slippers for more than an hour or two while people around me danced and laughed and made a bunch of noise that would make me want to crack my head open. “Deal’s off,” I stated firmly and suddenly, turning and heading back toward the beginning of town.

“W-what? Hey! Angel, come back!” Aiden caught my upper arm before I got far. “Where are you going?”

“Back to Castle Burdock,” I replied simply with a shrug.

“What? Why? ‘Cause of some stupid ball? Come on, Angel, it won’t be that bad. You’ll even get to sleep in a bed tonight. Honestly, it’ll be worth it,” Aiden said quickly, trying to convince me otherwise.

Silently I was arguing with myself. It would have been better if I would just leave now, back to Castle Burdock, forget about Aiden and go about my possibly miserable life as a guard. Yeah. It was a little depressing, but it was better than running all over the place with Aiden and getting more and more attached until I would snap when I finally had to leave.

I knew that I should leave, but even as I turned in the opposite direction, I hoped that Aiden would stop me. Like he always had. I didn’t want to leave, that was the problem, and it was a big problem for me. It was stupid for me to want to stay and be with Aiden longer when I knew I would have to give him up in the end, let him get married like he had planned. And I knew that the longer I waited the more painful it would be. But I couldn’t help staying, and it was frustrating, horribly and inconveniently frustrating to battle with myself over what was right and wrong or smart and stupid. Because the stupid-wrong part of me somehow always managed to win.

What I really wanted was for Aiden to convince me to stay, to say something that would make it impossible for me to leave. It was stupid, something that the stupid-wrong part of me wanted instead of the practical-right part of me.

“Angel?” Aiden sounded concerned which snapped me out of my argument.

“I…erm…I really should get back,” I murmured, my brain finally kicking in. “You know. I’ve been gone for awhile, and, and I guess I shouldn’t have left in the first place. This was a stupid idea.” I ran my hand nervously through my hair and exhaled heavily. “Thanks though, Aiden. You know. For everything,” the words passed numbly through my lips. I was shocked I had even gotten them out. I wasn’t looking Aiden in the eyes, because I already knew that he was trying to hold mine with his own.

My insides screamed at me to take back my words, but they were out and I couldn’t take them back now. Now he knew what was bothering me at least, why I was quiet for so long.

“I…guess I can’t stop you…” Aiden murmured, sounding uncertain. “I wanted you to be my Best Maid at the wedding but…If you really want to leave, I won’t mind. I won’t try to stop you.”

My heart surged and it felt like a steel rod had been shoved through it. Ouch. I let out the breath I realized I was holding in and felt Aiden’s hand fall away from my arm. But I couldn’t move, my body wouldn’t let me. This was my chance, I could leave now, with this substantial but lesser pain, save myself the heartache of the future. If only I could get my damn legs to move.

“God…damn…it…” I muttered to myself, only vaguely aware of the couple that walked past us, staring at me in particular. Why did Aiden have to make it so hard to leave? He wasn’t even trying. What was it about him that made my brain whirl around in circles until it lost its sense of direction? “I’ll stay for the stupid ass ball thing and your stupid ass wedding and be your stupid ass Best Maid,” I grumbled, beating the crap out of myself internally.

“Well if you put it that way it sounds unpleasant,” Aiden stated quietly and I looked up to see he was staring at me, trying to figure something out.

“Some aspects of this whole deal are unpleasant,” I replied sighing and putting on the best fake smile I had until Aiden smiled back.

“I guess so. Like the ball, I’m guessing?” he retorted. The serious moment was over. Thank God. I had fooled him, I showed no emotion regarding him whatsoever and even managed to beat the shit out of my inner self. Mission accomplished.

“Yeah. But, I guess it can’t be all that bad, right? No attention will be drawn to me at all, so, I’ll be fine.” I smiled sincerely this time and Aiden gestured for me to follow him.

“Hmm…Yeah, sure.” Aiden led me down the main road and I looked straight ahead to see a giant house.

If you could call it that anyway. It was more like a castle-sized cottage, as if someone had mixed the two contrary living arrangements. It probably had more than twenty rooms not counting the bathroom.

“Holy shit. Does a family of thirty live there? Looks like your home town has a local rich stuff-shirt, eh?” I nudged Aiden’s side jokingly but he didn’t laugh. So, I looked at him, perplexed. “Right?” I nudged his side again.

Aiden grinned sheepishly. “Umm, yeah. I guess. But you’d be looking at him.” Aiden pointed to the large house and said, “That’s my parents’ house.”

I followed his finger with my mouth hanging open. Awkward.