Temperance {Celvi}

[Celvi Gray]

Again Celvi couldn' help but joining in his laughter, though she now kept her voice a bit hushed. The sun was rising with alarming speed and every second some early servant could walk across the courtyard and being attracted by the laughter might see her sitting here – with Chase! Not that she was ashamed of being seen with him, but she knew well enough that some servants just wouldn't keep their mouths shut, and any gossip sooner or later would pass Dagmara's ears. The consequences… unthinkable!
"Die of laughter?" she repeated with a little amused snort. "Oh well, please don't, else the Mar'volian army won't have to strike a single blow to beat us. And wouldn't that be a shame? Us giving away this war so readily?"

Time was a wicked thing, Celvi thought while squinting up at the rising sun. Often enough it couldn't pass slow enough when in fact one felt so bored and wanted the hours to fly past. And just now, when she wanted to hold on to every second, it mercilessly trickled past, letting the sun creep higher and higher into the sky. Again reason chimed up inside her, warning her to get up now, before anyone saw her and jumped to false (or maybe right?) conclusions. She was dancing on knife's edge with every minute she stayed. But over and over again she couldn't make herself. Instead she sent a silent prayer to her Goddess.
'Runnori, I know I'm asking too much already, but please would you in your endless grace grant me another five minutes without being disturbed? I will ask for nothing more, just a bit more time!'

Celvi had almost expected Chase to stumble over the new instruction. It was so highly uncommon and the common people just were so obliged with calling their superiors various titles – it couldn't just be erased inside a day! Not that she had anything against privilge and titles, no girl in her own mind would!, but with Chase it was different. She hated that he saw her as some unreachable Lady, and she feared he would never see the woman behind the title.
Therefore she just returned his grin and nodded. "They really do die hard. Don't worry, you'll get used to it in time!" That she so readily assumed there would be other secret encounters made her cheeks flush the tinest bit. How bold she was! That had never been her policy accept from rare occasions. Did Chase's presence influence her that much?

To overplay her anew confusion she quickly changed subjects. "So what are your plans for today? Any dangerous missions?" The let it sound slightly teasing, trying to hide her concern. Would she ever learn to not care for his well being while he was away?

[Chase Cantwell]

Every muscle in Chase’s body ached, from either the cold temperatures he endured during the night on a bench in the courtyard or from the growing fact they would soon have to part. His childish and greedy nature that rarely showed its ugly faced, clawed at his mask of cool, yet gay composure. It wanted to be free, to show Celvi that she shouldn’t leave but bask here forever by his side. But, impossible as that was he valued her life over his an a relationship, they could never hold for reason held by strong tradition. No commoner and nobility relationship, if there ever was one, lasted long enough to be recognized in history to show that social boundaries couldn’t stop love.

“Oh, truth be to that, but I still would probably loose that battle for it would still be a humorous sight to behold” he mused lightly, the once over powering feeling of great need to laugh and sputter jokes to hear her heavenly voice in a joyous ring, faded into a small warmth in his heart knowing this was going to be one of the moments he cherished forever, even if it was based on a childish fantasies.

“You make my lowly job so glorious and adventurous” he replied, catching her gaze in his own, momentarily getting lost in their depth. “I hope something entertaining will arise, but more than likely I will be running petty errands for the Queen” he muttered, letting a bit of his cross attitude with her Majesty display then immediately regretted his words, and ducked his head in shame. Here he was bashing on the Queen, while sitting next to a Lady of Court, Goddes almighty could he make himself look like any more of a fool in front of Celvi?
“I really shouldn’t say such things, I should be grateful I even have a job like the one so graciously given to me” he started again, then pitifully looked back toward the Lady beside him, failing at trying to find words to voice his need to show how much regret he felt for saying those negative words.

He hated the hard reality that this encounter was brought upon by black humored gods who loved to toy with the beings in the lower classes, causing havoc in their already brittle life styles. He shifted uneasily, clenching the horse rug closer around his shoulders as his graze flickered from item to her face, back to ground and back around, not wanting to linger to long on the precious item he dared to secretly admire. He was slowly loosing all self control of his emotions. He fought a inner war, slowly loosing toward the temptation of asking for a kiss. He couldn’t do such a thing with out dire consequences!
Maybe it was from lack of a good nights sleep, or that what he wanted most in life sat beside him taunting him with her divine features. What ever the reason, he was about to make the worst mistake of his life, or the best if this encounter didn’t end soon.

[Celvi Gray]

Please Runnori, please... grant me one more minute, just one!
Celvi felt like a child as she made that silent plea. As if the goddess really would look down from where she ruled and granted one little reckless Lady more time to get herself up into more mischief. But as a child you did strongly belief in the Goddess power. Celvi of course worshipped Runnori still with all her heart, but she had all but stopped asking things from he which she knew were impossible. She had stopped doing so the day her father had went to war.

"Oh well, there is a time for laughter and there is a time for fighting", she teased him. "At least so it is written by the chroniclers. But", she winked, "if your priority lies with laughter for the time being, I will not complain. There are enough people risking their heads already!"
The thought of Chase going to war frightened her senseless. Therefore her smile most likely appeared forced. She had to force back horrid pictures in her mind, of him lying there on the battlefield, blood all over him, with a gash to his head or some bolt protruding from his chest… No! Sweet Goddess, no! Runnori prevent he was ever sent to war, though some of his message journeys also were far from safe…

When she heard him talk so badly about his job she raised her head in interest. And here she was thinking he enjoyed working for the Queen. Not for Bell, that much he had made clear, but the Queen? Weren't the two of them like …close? She was not shocked though, or indignant for that matter. It just came as a bit of a surprise.
His bashful look though told her he now feared she might dislike him for what he said. As if! No one should be afraid to speak his mind!
Impulsively the young Lady reached out to grab his shoulder, to make him look at her. "Chase, stop fretting! You just spoke your mind, that is no crime! And besides…" she swallowed, working up the courage for her next words. "Nothing you said or did could… ever convince me to think badly of you. You should know that!"

There, she had voiced the unspeakable! Masked, in a way of course, but still… Would he detect the silent meaning behind her kind words? Silently she prayed he wouldn't… and yet would!
There was a tension once again, a tension between those two different people, but it was no ill-tempered tension, it was something Celvi couldn't quite define. Again she felt drawn to Chase, felt the need to be yet closer to him, though they were already closer than what was thought appropriate.
And with this oddly sheltered morning, as she felt like being in a dream, Celvi Gray, only heir to her name and therefore highly responsible, got reckless. Her eyes started gleaming in a fairy light, and like in trance, she leaned in closer to the man she secretly loved, seeking to touch his lips with hers. Scandalous… but for the moment inevitable.

[Chase Cantwell]

The small action of wink may have been a considerably useless to anyone else who happened to catch one from the divine Lady that sat next to him, but to the mere common bred messenger that worshipped the ground she strode upon it made his heart sputter with a new rush of adrenaline. He grinned senselessly before musing brightly, “Well I’m glad you won’t for I plan not to risk my head anytime soon. ” ‘In hopes of staying intact to win your heart someday’ he silently answered dulling his grin into a pleasant upturn of his lips, knowing that it was a impossibly high start to reach for…

Out of shear dread for the words he let slip from his lips, his gaze dropped to the ground, brows furrowed in anger at his own stupidity of allowing his feelings toward his resentment toward a job that many in his own class would kill to have. Oh how he wanted to rewind time and keep his mouth shut to avoid the problems now presented at his leather boot clad feet.

With the touch of her hand on his shoulder, Chase nearly jumped out of his chilled skin with the ecstatic shock it sent through his veins. With the sensible thought of flinching away to save her from the embarrassment of touching a lower classmen touched his mind, he beat it down into the far depths of his brain basking momentarily in the euphoric feeling she caused. His muddied gaze matched with her own intensely pristine, and clung to every word that floated gracefully on the morning’s breeze. His heart began to play pingpong against his ribcage with a realization that made him giddy to the point of being a classified loony.

Had she just hinted at caring for him, even if it was meant to be in a friend to friend sort of way? Had her words suggested that she, a goddess amongst mortals, had the empathy in her gold coated heart to comfort a mere lowly bred mutt like himself? It had to have been a trick of his ears! It had to have been! No Lady in her right mind would show compassion of any sort to anyone below rank to her, unless she had taken a turn to being mentally unstable. But here was Lady Celvi Gray, her hand on his shoulder, eyes locked with his, murmuring words of comfort to the messenger that would give his life away to please her. She was defying the standards of the normal limits of a conversation between their classes! She had broken every unwritten rule about how different social classes should treat each other, crossed the line of decency….

And she had stolen his heart.

Chase, wanted to shake his head and awake from this dream, for surely this couldn’t be reality. He wanted to pinch his own arm and be rid of this terribly fantastic fantasy that was leading him into false hopes of what could never be. He had to end what had already gone so far, but he found himself leaning in closer to the one he worshipped, yearning her touch with a need unhealthy.
His lips were but a hair’s breaths away when his dream came crashing down with the undoubted and unwanted sound of servants’ conversation coming from across the courtyard. A natural reaction of jolting backward from Celvi was the only thing Chase could fathom doing, without the consult of his love stricken heart.

[Celvi Gray]

That it could make yourself so happy to make someone smile and laugh Celvi hadn't known before. Well, of course, to a certain extent, she was always relieved when she had managed to please Dagmara, or she had been very happy the other day, when they had laughed together for what seemed the first time in a lifetime. But this, this was different. Celvi felt like she would burst any minute from within, because there was something inside that needed to break free. But this time it was no oddity, no urge to do something completely unladylike. It was simple and utter happiness. This whole encounter with Chase had aroused so many different and downright disturbing feelings, but this happiness was the most prominent and purest.

So when Chase replied again, reassuring her he would stay around for a while and wasn't planning to go to war anytime soon, it only added to her jubilant mood, making it impossible to reply, because she feared instead of words a loud cry of sheer glee would escape her lips, awaking the whole palace in a second. Instead she smiled a blitheful smile that maybe said more than a thousand words and probably also bared her feelings down to her very soul. Celvi didn't care anymore. She was beyond caring for anything except Chase. The completely unexperienced girl was helpless with those new emotions and maybe needed a brutal waking call to fall back into her rightful state and manners.

That such a waking call was under way, the Lady didn't know either, everything, even the exposed situation in the courtyard was immediately blended out as Chase actually moved in to meet her in what was about to become her first kiss ever. For a split second Celvi panicked, not because of whom she was about to kiss, but because she feared she might do something wrong. What was she to do anyway? Oh well… The thought was quickly discarded as her heartbeat accelerated to an unknown rate. Chase was leaning in… did that mean he felt the same way? Or did he just readily seek an opportunity that so readily offered itself to him? 'Oh well' once again…

Then, the very second their lips actually would have touched, a noise reached her ear and a split second later her mind. A noise she dreaded more than anything else in the world right now: Human voices!
Like she had been drenched with ice cold water, Celvi jerked from her wonderful daydream. What was she doing?! She was about to kiss in public! And not just anyone…. Chase Cantwell, whom literally everyone knew by sight as to be her Majesty's messenger. A COMMONER!
In an instant, even if her heart was about to break this very minute from having to leave Chase like this, she almost jumped away, getting to her feet in the very same instant. Blessed be her lonely hunting trips to grant her reflexes almost similar to those of a seasoned warrior! Before the voices could become incarnated and visible in servan't bodies, Celvi turned around, ready to flee the scene like a scared fawn. A stuttered "I – I – goodbye!" left her lips, then she was gone, with a flutter of swishing fabric and flashing colors – not thinking about the horse rug Chase still had around his shoulder.