Douce Dépendouce

Chapter 16

His grin widened. "I've planned a few things out over these long days, more specifically for tonight I suppose."

"Those things are?" I asked, getting lost in his gaze.

"I've decided to place the Circus in the fools hands for tonight, or for the next few days at least. As I suspect you know, tonight is a night of celebration," he said, his eyes going to the tent. "Based on the amount of work that is put into this place, I do suppose I deserve a break."

Just as I was about to reply, the sound of something clustering came from it, along with another muffled voice. I grimaced, seeing Ydris peer over, his expression furrowing. I swallowed down a slight smirk when Xin stepped out a few minutes later, his body stiff and his eyes on the ground. Once he walked away, Ydris let out a breath.

"I'm debating whether or not I should bring dear Zee with us as simply leaving the tent for a few minutes was enough to make his incompetence strike again. It makes me wonder if he can handle a simple horse as well," he said, his eyes searching the grounds as he surveyed behind me.

I followed his gaze, trying to imagine how Xin would take care of the place. By what I had seen, he wasn't much of a communicating type, let alone someone who was trustworthy.I smiled at my thought, turning back towards Ydris, his gaze flickering back to mine, a sense of uncertainty visible which soon turned to a devious grin. As I felt the slight nerves in my stomach, Xin returned once more, walking as close to the tent as he could. He seemed like he was trying to stay away from Ydris, or anyone in fact, giving me the impression that something had broken. Ydris soon turned and looked at him, watching him as he was about to enter before he called out his name, making him freeze. I had never seen Xin on edge, yet alone fearful of what was to come. His head slowly turned around, whatever expression he had was hidden by his mask. Ydris soon fostered for him to come over, his grin turning into a smirk as his stride was slow, his hands hanging limply at his sides. Once he reached us, I tried to look away from his gaze, hoping to avoid any contact with him.

"I need you to take mademoiselles horse to wherever Zee is," Ydris said, his eyes scanning over him. "You'll now be taking care of the horses, but also the Circus itself. I hope you can accomplish that during my departure."

Xin nodded quickly, his manor still on the edge as I dismounted, trying to think of something to keep myself from smirking in the slightest way. I then gathered the reins and took them over Hu's head before I handed them to him, watching as he walked away with Hu at his side. As soon as he started to walk away, his shoulders relaxed, turning back to look at us before heading back into the tent, a slight dreding feeling in my stomach on what had happened back there.

"Goes in one ear and goes out the other does it not?" Ydris commented, watching him disappear into the tent.

I smiled. "That must have been quite a decision," I said.

He smirked. "One that I hope will lead to something good." He said, then dusting off his coat and soon reaching for my hand. Once he had my touch he guided me towards him until I was up against him, his eyes locking on mine.

"Moving on from this, we might as well get going shall we not?" He asked, slight heat forming in my chest.

I gave him a small nod, seeing him smile lightly before a sudden cloud of purple smoke covered my vision before I could ask anything. Before I even could think, it slowly faded away, my eyes jumping around to see where I was, immediate realization coming over me. As I looked, I was standing near the Moorland Whitehouse, the view of Fort Pinta clear as I looked over, something catching my eye a few in front of me. A few feet in front of me was a blanket, settled on the ground not too far from the cliff ledge, getting a good view outwards. Along with that, a pile of cushions were piled up, forming a good solid look of comfort.

"How did you-" I started, seeing him adjust a few of the main pillows.

"Jorvik is full of magic that not many can explain," he said, taking a seat and leaning against the pillows as I walked over, taking a seat next to him and soon leaning against him as I felt myself relax. My eyes then jolted up when a sudden bang erupted, bright colours filling the sky as more and more went off, going in a steady rhythm. I then rested my head on his shoulder, feeling him wrap his arm around me, intertwining his fingers with mine as I continued to watch the colours erupt.

"Now looking back, I suppose that fool does have things sorted out," Ydris spoke. "He despises loud noises for some erupt reason, despite making them himself."

I laughed. "Does he not like much?"

He turned, looking at me. "What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Not recent, but back in October I found him what seemed to be hiding behind a rock," I replied, thinking back. "He seemed off guard when he told me that the forest made him uneasy and begged me to take him back to you. That was the most of a conversation I've ever had with him. I don't even know how he got there."

Ydris smirked, turning back to look out, my gaze following. "That doesn't surprise me that he got in that situation ma cherie. As I'm sure you've seen he gets himself into anything even its harmful to himself."

I sighed, remembering that night clearly. I then continued to watch the fireworks above as my mind slowly started to drift. I knew I should have at least texted Linda and Lisa to let them know that I wouldn't be able to attend instead of simply not showing. Knowing my luck, they probably thought of what came to mind at first which was something else than what I thought. I then thought back to a few days back, repeating the conversation in my head that we had. If I didn't tell the rest of the Druids, no harm would be done. I would, however, have to improve my skills of lying on the spot, but I truly thought that there would be no issue; unless the others said something before I even had a chance to explain.

"What events have been going on with the Druids?" Ydris asked, catching me off guard. "I suspect something leading in a certain direction that could lead to many things."

I sighed, deciding to be completely honest. "Besides obsessing over going back to Pandoria and going out of their way to find out anything, that's about it." I could see him smile out the corner of my eye as I smirked slightly, thinking of our past meeting. "Everyones a bit on edge. There's so many things that need to be fixed that they're forgetting the main point."

"Which is?" He asked, my eyes going back towards the fireworks.

"Getting Fripp to wake up after being asleep for half the year. I know the answers lie somewhere, but with the amount of concern for him as he's fading, we're not doing much about it to be completely honest."

Ydris nodded. "I see where you're coming from my dove, from what I've seen they have the act of focusing on the side things do they not?"

I nodded, thinking back to the time where Fripp was first declared to be gone. I honestly hoped that Avalon or Linda would realize this and soon bring everyone together in order to have things figured out. All we truly seemed to focus on was getting rid of Pandoria completely in an attempt to get rid of any magic or affects that could be causing Fripps situation. In all, I truly wished that it wouldn't come to that as based on the previous events, any time we went to Pandora, it always turned into something else.

I let out a breath and soon drifted myself back towards the fireworks, not letting myself think about the Druids anymore as the night went on, everything soon out of my mind. 

A/N: Apologises for not publishing for a while, these past few weeks have been busy, along with a full schedule. Hope you all are doing well <33