A Light After Endless Darkness

Chapter 8

As the sun rose upon the next day, it seemed that the very air was buzzing with excitement about the upcoming ball. All day long, all anyone in the city wanted to talk about had to do with what they were going to wear, who was going with whom, what kind of food there would be, who would be in charge of the music... Just an endless stream of prattle that seemed to accomplish nothing but still went on and on and on.

Elizabeth was, for once, grateful that sometimes she'd elected to sneak by a sleeping beast rather than run headlong into a fight. Sure, it felt cowardly in the moment, but without learning to be stealthy, she'd have been forced to face the crowds of the marketplace with no reasonable hope for escape. She crept under tabletops, between tittering women, and under swathes of cloth, snagging what she'd needed and discreetly dropping money in the till.

"Okay, okay, okay," she whispered as she crouched down, looking through her basket. "I think that's everything... now I just need to-"

    "Morning, Miss Elizabeth. Have you lost something?" Jackson asked, standing straight and looking even taller than usual from her unfortunate vantage point.

Elizabeth jumped, letting out an undignified squeak, and almost dropping her basket on reflex. But almost immediately, she had a sarcastic retort on her tongue. "Yes. My right to privacy. Think you can help me look for it?"

    Jackson chuckled. "I'm afraid I may not be able to do that... but luckily for you, I do know a shortcut back to the neighborhood."

He extended a hand to her, which she gratefully accepted as she climbed to her feet. Odd. It seemed whenever she touched him, her hand grew sweaty and her heartbeat went from normal to hummingbird in under ten seconds. seconds. The only thing was, it didn't feel like a panic attack. It was... actually quite nice, She'd have to read up on this effect, see if there was anyway to control it.

"Milady, if I may ask, what exactly were you doing out in town?" Jackson asked as they walked down a secluded path, filled with orange trees.

    Elizabeth smiled, choosing to ignore the strange feeling for now. "Just... shopping."

Jackson raised an eyebrow. "You're sure it had nothing to do with the ball? Maybe you were looking for something pretty to wear?"

"Well, I thought about seeing Miss Aggie again, but all her dresses have corsets. So I may just go with this one." She glanced away and added, "although it is kind of casual, so maybe people wouldn't like it.

"Oh, I don't know, my Lady. I think that as long as you were wearing it, any dress would look beautiful."

    A slight smile tugged at Elizabeth's lips as blood ran to her cheeks. "Please Jackson, you know I'm no Lady."

    "Aynna seems to think so." Jackson pointed out. "Plus, I don't think I've ever seen you wear anything but dresses, or really be anything but polite to those shopkeepers."

"The dress and the manners are unfortunate side effects." Elizabeth said plainly. "Any girl can just wear a dress and pretend, I'm not that..." she trailed off, unsure of herself.

    "And modest, too," he purred with a smirk.

    Elizabeth sighed in defeat. It seemed that there was no winning this argument... for now, at least. "Well... there's the house," she said in what she hoped was a calm voice. "I really should be going."

"Oh, wait! I was hoping to invite you over, Rei is making a pie.

"Please, Jackson, I can't. I've really put it off too long as it is." She was backing away as she spoke, before she turned and rushed back to the house (as quickly as she could without actually running,) basket clutched tightly to her chest.