𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙𝙮

11.

11. You, and only you.

The sound of the door shutting behind us made me realize what I was doing. Following a complete stranger from a crowded room, not knowing his intentions did not sound like myself, and if Elera or Leon were here they would agree with me on that. I hardly ever left my room back in Polis, unless it was to visit the townspeople with one of my handmaidens, but that wasn't the point. The point was that I was letting this man drag me through the halls of a castle, and I was letting him take me wherever he wanted to go, I wasn't fighting, I wasn't trying to stop, I didn't even think twice before I followed Technoblade through those ballroom doors, my heart beating faster than a drum. There was something inside of me that never wanted to leave this man's side.

It was just something, something that made me feel like I was safe with him, that wherever we were going, it was safe. No loud clapping, no clinking of champagne glasses, no parents, no kings, no queens, it would just be us. Us and only us..

The thought sent butterflies through my stomach, and I had only learned that this man's name was Technoblade, not just Techno. What was I doing? I didn't even recognize where we were in the castle, I'd never ventured this far into the palace without proper reason, like when Queen Naomi wanted to have early morning tea with Elera and I, or when Azriel, Leon and I would play hide and seek when we were kids, but never with a stranger with strange pink hair and golden chains.

Technoblade held my hand with a softness that made me feel fragile, made me feel like glass. His footsteps were ringing through the halls, my own mixing in. We long since past the music room doors, having gone by them without much of a glance. We ran past the many empty rooms, the faint moonlight and the scattered torches casting a gentle glow around us, our shadows like lost lovers dancing like never before. I felt alive in this moment, and I haven't figured out why. There was a warmth deep in my body that spread like wildfire, made me feel like I was set aflame by this man and he was burning right beside of me.

His touch lingers on my waist from where we danced, his light fingertips pressing into my skin as we waltzed through that song, his eyes staring into mine as if it were only us in the room. Just us, and only us, dancing through the soft tremors of the violin, the low hums of the strings rattling around my soul forevermore. I would never be able to hear that song again without remembering Technoblade's blazing touch against me, I would never be able to remember the steps to that dance without faltering, my mind will always be too clouded by him.

Sliding around a corner that I didn't even realize we were passing, Technoblade stops, his breath ragged from running, I wasn't much better off. Dresses and heels made running look beautiful if it matched the moment, but was not very comfortable. Before I could catch my breath, Techno grabs my hands with his own and pulls us into a small corner, that's when I hear the footsteps. Two sets of small heels tapping against the tile, and a slight rumble of laughter falling from someone's lips sends a shock through my spine and through my mind. The clanking of metal armor sounded through the gaps in the rough sound of laughter, that and Technoblade's and my own ragged huffs of breath tucked away in a random corner. They must be the guards, but why were we hiding at all?

I stop breathing as I watch the two pass, but not before realizing who exactly was passing us by, there was only one guard out of the two. I knew why we were hiding as I saw the second man walk by.

A man with hair as dark as night, eyes shining a deep forest green that matched his mother, a green that I would recognize without hesitation. The man wore a tailored suit, dark colored fabric that seemed to flash blue in the light, covered in embroidery of the finest detail that would only match someone of high nobility, and the crown atop his head was even more conformation of his status in the hierarchy. The man turned ever so slightly towards Technoblade and I, huddled in the corner, I could see the recognition in his eyes, then a slight surprise, and finally a smirk stretched across his face, he never once stopped walking with the guard. I saw his eyes glance to Technoblade, then back to the guard he was walking with, and went on down the hall, only then did I start breathing again, but hear my own breath hitch when I realize how close Technoblade and I were.