Past Heartaches and Present Troubles

Rena giggled as Val sent her into another spin on the dancefloor.  As Rena went into a spin to spin back to her brother, a distant figure in the crowd caught her eye.  Rena froze as her deep violet eyes roved over the crowd to find the person she thought she had seen.  She stopped searching as she spotted the tall human in the simple black mask with deep emerald eyes.  His eyes flashed as he turned and caught her gaze from across the room.

Blaine knew as he caught the eye of the elven princess in the silver butterfly mask, that he had found his Rena.  He bowed slightly as his mouth turned up into a grin before he moved silently out onto the balcony and started down the outer balcony stairs.  It had been years since Dorian had ordered Blaine to end his relationship with Rena, but Blaine had decided years prior to sneak into the Southern Realm to steal far away glances of his lost love.  

Thanerick, Blaine's younger cousin had had a hard time with having to end his own relationship with the only son of the elven king.  Thanerick and Valerian had tried to keep their relationship as secret as possible, but Blaine knew it was only inevitable for Dorian to find out about it.  His older brother had been made king regent while the oldest of them all Vincent, had decided to abdicate the throne until he had traveled the whole of the Realms to better serve all of the kingdoms.

Blaine shook his head as he walked into the gardens, Dorian had wasted no time in moving his right in as king regent in their brother's stead and began the process of breaking off treaties with all the other kingdoms.  Blaine didn't understand anything Dorian had decided, but he also knew that going against a direct order from the king regent would only lead that person to the execution block; and Blaine refused to give his brother that satisfaction.

Lost in his thoughts, Blaine became startled by a fast paced rustling as he heard someone close by moving quickly through the garden bushes toward the pond where he had currently found he had himself walked to.  Placing a hand on the hilt of his shortsword, Blaine stood ready for attack when he watched Thanerick burst through the low bushes and throw his golden eagle mask into the dirt before falling onto a nearby bench in a huff.

Blaine let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and relaxed his whole body, hand moving from his weapon as he moved to his cousin; confusion ripe in his mind as to how Thane had snuck into the ball in the first place.

"Thane?!  What in the Seven are you doing here?!"  Blaine questioned, irritation paramount in his voice even as he felt hypocritical for getting onto his cousin.  Thane turned and glared up at his older cousin as he sniffled loudly, great tears falling from his eyes.

"Blaine, it's not fair!  That bastard Dorian!  How come he gets to treat and flirt with scores of women while I have to sneak around and steal glances at my precious Val like a common thief?!"  Thane wailed as even more tears fell from his eyes and Blaine groaned.

Blaine was no stranger to Thane's emotional outbursts; his cousin was more of a brother to him but he would never be used to seeing the younger man cry as intensely as he did.  Blaine's best friend Sandrine usually could calm the poor sod down from his outbursts, but Blaine didn't dare chance trying to find her now.  After Dorian's order was made, she had made it clear that her brother and sister-in-law were her choice; and Blaine choosing to completely break Rena's heart had moved him to the top of Sandrine's kill list.

"Thanerick what the Seven are you on about?  Dorian shouldn't even be here, same as us as you well know; but it's not possible that he's dancing with scores of women as you put it."  Blaine tried for calm, and a reasonable explanation for the distraught man.  Thane wouldn't see reason however, as he whipped his face up quickly with stark anger mixing with his tears.

"Not possible!?  Go then, and look for yourself!  The bastard!  My Val ever looking the angel, and Dorian traipsing around as if he were to own this castle!  Why if I wasn't so afraid of those damned stocks I'd personally knock him down a few pegs."  Thane erupted with malice etching his voice even as he sniffled loudly.

Blaine only shook his head to keep from chuckling, it all sounded ludicrous.  But, if his older brother were to be there; it would not bode well.  Dorian had made it clear those five years ago that any relations with the elven kingdom would be destroyed as quickly as he could destroy them.  As Blaine moved swiftly and quietly back up into the balcony and into the ballroom, he wondered why Dorian had chosen this Solstice ball of all the others to fraternize with the elves again.

It didn't bode well, and as he looked on at the dancers still on the floor, he noticed that Dorian was in fact; entertaining a woman.  But not scores that Thane had thought, only the one; and to Blaine's confusion, she happened to be the eldest of the Taroc siblings in line for her own throne: Vera.

Blaine could only shake his head at this revelation and tried looking elsewhere for Rena.  The way she had frozen earlier, made him fairly certain that she had recognized him even from the distance that there had been and even with his mask on.  But he had missed Rena fainting after catching his eye and recognizing him in the crowd after all those years.

He had missed Val running to her and catching her before she hit the dancefloor and carrying her through the droves of people out of the ballroom.  He had also been amiss to Sandrine and Lena notice Valerian running with Rena in his arms out of the ballroom and running after them.  Blaine only sighed, he kept an eye on his brother as he moved silently into the crowd; practically moving as fluidly as a snake on the water.

He needed to know what Dorian's true plan was, to learn that; Blaine would have to wait and watch.

"Seven above Dorian, what in the hell are you playing at with Vera?"  Blaine asked out loud, more to his self than to anyone as he stood and waited.