Tristis Nox

"Tristis, my dear, since I will most likely not see you tomorrow, let me bid you a farewell and a hope to see each other soon.” Carson grinned as he swept up my hand and kissed it right in front of everyone. I sucked in a breath. “I will miss you, and I also hope you come stay with me again. It was most fun having you in my castle.” Mischief sparkled in his eyes as everyone gasped.
“Stop giving people the wrong idea, and no I will not be visiting you. Ever.” I whipped my hand out of his grasp. “And thank you for making me once again a gossip topic, Carson.”
“Darling, with your looks of course people will gossip about.” He smiled charmingly.
I growled at him. “Stop.”
“But it is true you are so beautiful and charming.”
“Are you a masochist or something?”
“If I am?” He grinned seductively as he raised an eyebrow.
“Go find some sadist or some pointy object and leave me alone.” I cried exasperated.
He chuckled as I got flustered. *I can’t beat him at this stupid flirting game of his.* “But you are always so entertaining and unlike anyone I have ever met. Maybe I will take you away with me.”
“I guarantee you won’t make it two feet with me.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Carson! Numquid et vos placere leae me solum et relinquat iam?” I cried and placed my palm over my eyes. The next time I looked, everyone was staring at me.
“Say that again, love, it was beautiful.”
“No, now stop flirting with me.”
“But I am having so much fun.”
“I’m leaving.” I declared and turned on my heels. I heard padding after me and I turned my head so see Carson following me. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“With you.”
“No you’re not.” I leaned in closer to him. “You have to say farewell to these lovely people.” I grinned triumphantly. “Bye.”
Carson grabbed my wrist and whispered, “I genuinely do like you, Tris. Until we meet again.” I said nothing as I sprinted off and Carson grudgingly turned to bid the other guests good-bye. I did not see anyone once I entered my room, which I was grateful for. I feared I would have to escape out the window if Carson decided to try and pay me a visit.
Just as he warned, Carson was gone before I was awake the next day. At breakfast, it was only the king and me. I tried to convince him again not to trust Carson, but he would not listen. Besides Carson being a huge flirt, especially to me, Able found no sound reason not to trust Carson. I left feeling disappointed and decided to work out since I had not done so in a while. Anita still would not speak to me even although I tried a few times to talk to her. As soon as she saw me, she spun in the opposite direction and left. By day four of Anita knowing about my plan, everyone in the castle and quite a few outside knew Anita was mad at me. Everyone gossiped to why we went from being great friends to almost enemies. Neither Anita nor I addressed the issue except when Tristan got involved. It was the only time Anita willing spoke out that her falling out with me had nothing to do with him; this was the first time I saw her show any anger to anyone besides me. When questioned about it, I told them it was none of their business and walked away, but it was getting harder to deal with not talking to her. *More than anything, I wish I could explain things but it would probably make it worse.*
A week passed since I first spoke with King Able about not trusting Carson and every day I tried to convince him, but to no avail. On the seventh day he put down his foot and told- no commanded that I never speak of it again. Begrudgingly I agreed and walked away like a kicked puppy; I knew I could change nothing. So I headed back to Jonathan’s shop and finished my dagger. It was all put together, it only needed now was detailing. I was so quiet as I worked diligently on the blade, that neither Jonathan nor Robby disturbed me as I worked. With angelic precision I carved both sides with two saying that always kept me going no matter how tired, beaten down, or hopeless I felt. As the Hart’s cleaned up their areas, I finished polishing my blade and looked at it satisfied.
“What does it say?” Robby whispered.
I looked up and then tipped the blade so they could see the words. “Custodite credendo.” Then I flipped it to the other side. “Ibi semper est etiam spes.”
“What does that mean?”
“Custodite Credendo means Keep Believing. Ibi Semper Est Etiam Spes means There is Always Hope.” I twisted it in my hand to look at the curves of the lettering.
“May I see it?” Jonathan asked. I nodded and handed the precious metal to him. “It is so light.” He weighed it in his palms and then swept it across the air. “It is a marvelous blade, a true masterpiece. You are very skilled, Tristis, if your ever need work, you can come work for me.” Jonathan grinned as he handed me my weapon.
“Thank you, I am so glad you approve.” I smiled genuinely at him. I slipped the weapon into a sheath on my leg. “I better be off.” I hesitated before I pulled Jonathan into a hug. “Thank you, Jonathan for everything, you have been wonderful to me.”
“Tristis?” He asked confused.
I pulled away and looked at him. “I’m leaving tomorrow. I don’t belong here anymore, my job here is done.”
“What?” Jonathan and Robby asked flabbergasted. “So soon?”
“Yes, I’m sorry for the short notice.”
“We will see you again right?” Robby asked, sadness in his eyes and voice.
“Most likely.” I pulled him into a tight hug. “You have been a great friend, I could have wished for nothing more. I’ve had a lot of fun working, talking, and hanging out with you. At the party, save me a dance okay?”
“Of course, I will miss you.” He kissed my knuckles before letting me leave.
“Where is Rayna? I want to say good-bye to her.”
“She is at the Cole’s. You can say good-bye to her tonight, we are having dinner with the King tonight.”
“Really?” I smiled with excitement.
“Yes, so we shall see you there.”
“Okay, farewell for now.” I skipped off towards the castle to change for tonight. I actually had time to clean up and put on something somewhat nice. When I entered the dining hall, everyone but King Able had arrived.