NAIVETY, s 'ghost' riley

VII.

The unexpected encounter of their eyes meeting eachother had made Annika flinch, yet the man did nothing, nor did he even look surprised. Again, a wave of wind had passed by yet didnt disappear as fast. The breeze shuffled the hair of the woman, momentarily blocking her gaze as the zeypher continued it's passing.

Her rosy and slender finger was all it took to easily rid of her long vines of hair that no longer covered her face and limited how far her frank blue eyes could go.

Once more she was met with the gaze of the marquis. Like Annika, his coffee brown colored hair had been rearranged and it's longer strands hung past his eyes, flowing the direction of the wind.

The mans hand had lifted from behind him, a small smile on his face as he patted the concrete fountain ledge next to him, gesturing the noblewoman to join him. His smile had put her on edge, the black haired woman's grasp on the shawl wrapped around her shoulders gradually clench as she bit the bottom of her lip.

The woman readjusted the fabric more securely before taking a seat a few inches next to the man as she tried to ignore how he was blantlantly staring at her as it made her conscious of her body language.

Finally, his gaze moved from the woman next to him and flickered to the sky as he cleared his throat, making annika side eye him while her lips curled into a thin line.

"Cant sleep?" He asks the obvious, Annika exhaling a breath she seemed to be holding, "Yeah. what about you?" The blue eyed woman returns the question, turning her head to her left to face the man. Seeing her gaze from the corner of his eye, he turns his head to face her too before he hangs his head down as he previously did earlier, "Something like that." he answers and goes silent.

Annikas mind wanders, thinking to how they had been sparring earlier that evening, coming up with a question to continue their awfully awkward interaction.

"Where.. Did you learn to fight like that?" The woman asks, clenching her jaw as she was quite anxious of what his tone and reply would be like while her eyes wondered on the flowery scenery around them to wait for his answer.

The mans gaze doesn't leave the floor and his mouth didnt move which made a wave of embarrassment wash over Annika, "You don't need to answer if you don't feet comfortable," She quickly says, fiddling with her nails on her lap as she rolled her eyes to look at anything but him.

"I was enslaved," He begins, his gaze finding it's way to the woman who had been desperately trying to avoid his, "Being a plaything for the aristocrats ended up making me this way, i suppose." He finishes, his voice and facial expression showing nothing.

Annika's eyelids lower as she had seemed to forget the fact that he was no normal human being, or a noble from birth. If she can recall correctly, his family was killed and he was forced into slavery. Many artistocrats would borrow the boy as they often took a liking to his face, explaining why is it now he partially covers it with a mask.

The two beings eyes met again, the mans eyes overfilled with what seemed like sadness as he continued to keep a straight face with utmost composure. Annika couldn't even utter an apology to explain what pity she felt for the man, but a big part refused to.

Pity? Why.. would he want that?

The black haired woman wasn't one for being able to express her feelings well or understanding them. She clears her throat and stands up, breaking eyecontact with the man as she rewrapped the shawl around her,

"Goodnight, marquis." she says, turning her head only slightly.

"Simon."

She turns around completely, "What?" she asks which made the man smile.

"My name. It's simon." he tells her, leaning forward and positioning his back straight as he never fails to remove his eyes from her blue ones, "We're friends, remember?" He reminds the woman of their interaction which included her sister.

Annika slowly nods her head, "Right. Goodnight, Simon." She finally says, not waiting for him to respond as she begins walking away.

"Goodnight, Annika."