Fearless

II

The morning sun awoke Arielette. The sun did just the job that morning, but its happy rays were nothing compared to the glee she felt at the upcoming change in her status.

To ask of the masked-man his courtship was something that did not strike her as odd. There had been many men who had tried to capture her favor. None had succeeded, and this one was won by her own choice, so Arielette had high hopes for both of them. The logistics of their relationship would be a problem for much later.

She put on a regular dress and snuck past her sleeping parents and brother, knowing very well they slept far heavier than she ever would. Besides, it didn't bother her that they might wake and find her fleeing the flat, though her brother might rat her out, it wasn't anything she could not handle.

Arielette was so excited to approach a man she wanted to love, that a meal before she left was beyond her mind. She didn't even think to stop with a few francs and grab something small from a bakery. The warm smells couldn't even reel her in as she passed by them at a gallop.

There was only a short time until Arielette reached the gypsy camp she had been in the day before. It was the same, not that she expected it to change or anything, and the path to the masked-man's tent was not hard to find. The jeers were all true to the day before as early-comers to the fair meandered around, though he wasn't currently gracing the air with his melodies.

Arielette could see her future, listening to the masked-man's music as though it was her job, and she was thrilled at the prospect of it. She could feel his lithe and thin hands on hers, and nothing sounded more enticing than the idea of finally having someone she cared for as her own. Sure, any of the suitors that had been pining for her could have done well, but this one was special. The battle that would come with getting him out of the camp was far from her mind.

The young woman went unnoticed as she pushed back the tent flap which brought her to Erik. The man was sitting at his desk, seemingly composing, as the sheets of parchment were white and blackened with lines and purposeful dots. Arielette wanted nothing more than to hear whatever it was those notes would end up as.

"Monsieur?" She wondered aloud. Her stance was proud, and the quick glance he took to her, then another one, made her lips upturn into a grin.

"Mademoiselle Lestat?" A smile graced the masked-man's face, though he tried very hard to hide it. It was more of an impressed smirk, not thinking her fearlessness serious.

Of course, there was no reason her brother should lie to him, but that didn't mean it hadn't been some grand joke on his gullibility. He did not even bother to know why she was there, seeing her face again was a miracle of itself. And what a pretty face it was, he thought.

"Hello," Arielette said, feeling slightly fuzzy before the man she fancied.

"Why are you here?" The hairline on his left side raised, so there could only be an assumption that his eyebrow did too. If he had one, that is.

"I wanted to ask you a question."

It was presumptuous of her that he didn't already have a partner, but there was almost no doubt he was free. If she had thought about it any longer, Arielette would have realized her thoughts were slightly insulting.

"And that question would be?" The musical man drawled his tone and timbre enough for her to melt.

She had always appreciated music, as did their whole family, but he was something else entirely. Monsieur Erik had a talent that hadn't ever been before, though she was sure that he would disagree. What he had been put through proved that enough for her.