of fire, of water | ✔

t h r e e

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E s m é r a l d a    A l b y

Lord Sebastian Ellington conveyed his decision two days earlier.

The twenty-seven year old lord had personally come to express his interest in Laura which had her bouncing on her feet and excessively bragging about how she was going to be a Countess, a rank just lower to the Marquesses and the Dukes.

I stretched a smile onto my lips to not ruin the joy that seemed to bounce off the walls of the Louth villa. Alby was my mother's maternal name which I embraced after my father refused to let me be called a Louth. I didn't dare speak a word about what I had heard a day ago. I was already in a cage, I didn't want to be shackled immobile.

Confronting would mean killing away the last of freedom I had. It would mean no more wandering around the market in the crisp air of morning, under the summer sky, and no more fresh breaths to share with the stars. It would mean losing contact with Mr. Clark and never seeing Eirik again.

Eirik.

After he left the day before yesterday in what seemed like failure masked by distress, I was left to figure out the reason why I never ended up going to the place he was taking me to.

I sighed, waiting by the counter for Laura to finish talking with the sixth seamstress of the day. I tapped my fingers restlessly, my mind revolving around Eirik like he was my sun.

I figured the whole thing that went down in the market was the cause of his erratic change of behaviour, but it wasn't like any of us could do more than what he'd already done. My hands quickly interlaced in a prayer to not let Eirik get in trouble for the right thing he did. I was anxious to meet him again and be sure about it but I couldn't knock the doors of the palace, or do anything more than idly waiting in hopes that he'd want to see me again enough to seek me out at Mr. Clark's.

Two mere meets, and it scared me to long for him like we'd known each other for countless hours.

"It's useless," Laura scoffed, sashaying her way out of the door, expecting me to follow. I pushed myself on my aching feet, and hurried behind her.

"I thought you liked that dress," a frown marred my face, too tired to go through the same routine that we'd been doing in past shops for four long hours.

"I'd give it for that sweetheart neckline but the colour was just horrible!" she wanted to scowl, I could tell, but that was too unladylike to be done in public place like this market road. She settled on pressing her pink lips into a thin line. "My engagement dress, from thread to form, is going to be perfect."

"Amber is rather a very beautiful colour," I commented, smiling at the memory of how Eirik's eyes glowed under the sunlight.

"I want purple. It's such a delicacy."