James walks down one of the many hallways in the Ferdillon Estate which lies in the great trading city of Corillian. Situated at the southern end of the island of Torence, Corillian boasts one of the largest shipping ports in these waters. The trading houses here ship goods to all the known kingdoms, many having offices in every major city and capitol.
He pauses in front of a door he’s entered many times over the past seven days, ever since they were brought here by Nate’s cousin after they’d fled the destruction of the mines.
Knocking, he waits until he hears a ‘come in’ from the other side before opening the door. Inside, he finds Miko sitting in a chair next to Nate who’s lying in bed, recovering from the effects of the poison he consumed when Black Tooth had tried to extract his revenge upon Miko. Miko had been poisoned as well, but hadn’t consumed as much of it as had Nate.
When they’d arrived at the docks of Corillian, the captain immediately took him to the nearest temple where he’d arranged for a priest to purge the poison from his system. Once the poison had been purged, the priest had told them the damage to his insides was far reaching and that it would take a long time, if ever, for him to fully recover from the effects.
“Feeling better today?” he asks Nate as he comes over and sits upon the edge of the bed.
“Some,” he replies with a raspy voice. Still wracked by pain, he at least is able to hold down solids and can move around on his own for a short time.
James turns to Miko, “Jiron and I are ready to leave soon for Cardri.”
A pained look comes over Miko as he asks, “What about me?”
James glances toward Nate before replying, “Nate’s family has offered to let you stay here with them for as long as you desire.”
“That’s right, Miko,” Nate adds. “We’d be more than happy to have you remain here with us.”
“But…” he says as he looks to Nate, pausing momentarily. Then he continues, “As much as I appreciate the offer to stay here with you and your family, I wish to return to Cardri with James.” He looks to James for his response.
James glances again to Nate and says, “I thought we should at least give him the choice.”
Nate nods in reply.
Turning to Miko, James says, “Then we’ll be leaving in the morning. There’s a trader with whom Nate’s father has arranged to carry us with them as they make their way to Cardri. They have several stops before they get there, but said they should be docking at the capitol within a couple weeks.”
“Tomorrow?” he asks, sad to be leaving his friend so soon. He turns to Nate and says, “I’m sorry to have to leave you.”
Nate lifts his hand and pats Miko on the knee, “It’s okay, Miko. I understand. Remember, you always have a friend in me and if you’re ever in the area, I expect you to stop by for a visit.”
Giving him a sad smile, Miko replies, “I will.” He turns to James, “I’d like to stay here with Nate until we leave in the morning.”
“Sure thing,” James assures him. “Now, I need to go arrange a few things with Jiron before we go.” Getting up from the bed, he goes over to the door. Looking back at Nate, he says, “You get better now.”
Nate smiles at him and replies, “I will.”
Opening the door, he leaves the room and then closes it behind him. He proceeds down the hallway toward the room that he’s been sharing with Jiron.
On the way, he sees Essin coming toward him and he’s wearing the livery of House Ferdillon. As they approach each other, he says, “So you’ve taken service with them then?”
Smiling broadly, Essin replies, “Yes James, both Eril and I have.” Eril was the other slave that had jumped aboard at the last minute when they fled the volcanic eruption which had consumed the slave mines. “Nate put in a good word with his father on our behalf and they’ve made us part of their servant staff. Not a glamorous position to be sure, but better than what we had a few weeks ago.”
Laughing, James nods his head in agreement, “You got that right. I wish nothing but the best for both of you.”
“Thank you,” he replies.
“I don’t know if I ever expressed my thanks for the fair treatment you gave Miko when he was part of your team in the mines,” he says.
“Well, I’ve always believed that if you treat someone with respect and fairly, they’ll work harder for you,” he explains.
“I’ve found that to be true, too,” he tells him.
“I must be off,” Essin says to him. “Can’t afford to make a bad impression with the master of the house.”
“Good luck, Essin” James says as he begins to walk away.
“You too, James,” Essin replies.
Leaving Essin behind, he proceeds down the hallway and admires the hanging tapestries on the way to the stairs leading down to where his room is located. Down the stairs, he turns to the right and comes to his room which is the third doorway from the stairs. He finds that Jiron has already left, probably to find another serving girl to spend time with. Leaving the room, he continues down the hallway past his room in search of him. Jiron often takes the serving girls to the inner atrium at the end of the hallway, where he says the plants growing there helps to ‘get them in the mood’.
The atrium is roughly forty feet by sixty feet with an open ceiling that allows the sun, and at times the rain, to fall upon the many plants growing there. Three benches are placed along the cobblestone walkways that meander their way amongst the plants. It’s on one of those benches that he finds Jiron sitting and talking with Nate’s sister, Miriam.
“…that’s when we took off and left the soldiers far behind,” he says to her.
James can see her sitting there in rapt attention as he relates another tale of their exploits. He’s been wooing several of the serving girls as well as Miriam, much to the chagrin of Nate’s mother. That’s partially the reason why they’ve agreed to expedite their return to Cardri.
“Ahem,” James says, clearing his throat to announce his presence.
Turning to look over his shoulder, Jiron sees him standing there at the entrance to the atrium and gives him a big smile as he says, “Hi James.”
James nods his head to him and then says to her, “Good day Miriam.”
She nods her head in reply and gives him a shy smile as she says, “Jiron was just telling me about your escape from Al-Kur. It’s amazing you both got out of there alive!”
“Yeah, it was,” he says to her. “Luck was definitely on our side that day.” Turning to Jiron he says, “I told Miko we’re leaving and he’s decided to come with us.”
“Thought he might,” he says. “Though if it wasn’t for Tersa needing me there, I’d never leave.” He flashes Miriam a smile and she gives one to him in return.
“I must go,” Miriam says abruptly as she gets up from the bench and rushes past James as she hurries from the atrium.
“Wonder what made her…” he begins to say when he sees Miriam’s mother entering the atrium from the other direction.
As she approaches them, Jiron comes to his feet and gives her a slight bow, “Greetings lady.”
“Flirting with my daughter again, have you?” she says to him with a not too happy look on her face.
“Just whiling away the time before we leave in the morning,” he assures her.
“I’ve spoken to Captain Caril, and he said all is set,” she tells them. “They’ll be leaving at first light.”
“Good,” exclaims Jiron. “Though I’ve enjoyed the hospitality of your house, I am anxious to return and find my sister.”
“Yes,” chimes in James, “you and your family have been most gracious in allowing us to stay here with you.”
She turns a warm smile to James as she says, “It is the least we can do for having our Nate back. I had given up all hope of ever seeing my son again.”
“Miko will be going with us as well,” he tells her. “I told him of your offer to have him stay here, but his mind is set to continue with us.”
“That’s too bad,” she says, “Nate has grown awfully fond of him. We all have to tell the truth, he’s a good lad.”
“Yes he is,” agrees James.
She begins to leave but pauses and turns back toward them, saying, “We’re having a banquet tonight in your honor, to send you off properly. I took the liberty of arranging for suitable attire to be brought to your rooms later this afternoon.”
“Thank you lady,” James says to her graciously.
“You’re welcome,” she replies as she again turns and makes her way out of the atrium the way she’d come in.
James turns to Jiron and says, “You’d better stay away from Miriam until we leave.”
“I don’t intend to do anything with her,” he assures him. “Truth to tell, she was the one who found me. I was sitting here just relaxing when she shows up and starts talking to me. Before I even knew it, she had me relating the tale of our escape from Al-Kur.”
“Be that as it may,” he says, “we’re not out of here yet and an angry mother can screw up our way back to Cardri.”
“I’ll do my best to avoid being around her, okay?” he asks.
James nods his head in reply, “That’ll be just fine.”
“Wonder what ‘suitable attire’ is?” Jiron asks.
“Don’t know,” he replies, “but it’s usually stiff and uncomfortable.”
A groan escapes Jiron as he rolls his eyes upward.
He walks with James back to their room and as they near their door, they see one of the servants coming out of their room. The servant fails to notice them as he shuts the door and walks down the hallway in the opposite direction.
With trepidation, they open the door and walk in. Lying on each bed is indeed a set of clothes, one which has bright green tights and a darker green upper tunic. The other one is light brown tights with a dark brown upper tunic.
They both race for the brown set and Jiron cries out in triumph as he gets to them first. “Ha ha ha, my peacock,” he says to James as he’s holding the brown set.
“Oh, shut up,” replies James as he goes over and holds up the other set. “I hate green,” he says miserably. He turns to Jiron and has an imploring look.
“No way, man,” he says and then indicates the clothes James is holding, “I’d rather go naked than wear that.” He begins taking off his clothes and putting the new ones on. When he sees James hesitating, he asks in all seriousness, “You don’t want to insult our hostess do you?” Then a playful smile spreads across his face.
Resigned to his fate, he replies, “No.” He takes off his clothes and first slips on the bright green tights. When he has them on, he looks down at himself and realizes they are truly tight and forms to his every curve down there leaving nothing to the imagination.
Feeling naked, he pulls on the tunic which helps to cover his nether regions, though not as well as he would want. Despite being rather revealing, they are quite comfortable. Once he has them on, he goes over to look at himself in the mirror standing in the corner. Aside from the fact he’s green, the outfit actually looks pretty sharp on him.
Jiron has his own set on as well and they look at each other, nodding in admiration. “Actually, James,” he says when he sees him, “it doesn’t look so bad once you have them on.” He comes over and joins him in front of the mirror.
“You look pretty good too,” he tells him.
“It’s still another hour till mealtime,” Jiron says. “What say we go and show off our new clothes to some of the serving girls?”
Smiling at his friend, he replies, “You go ahead, I’m going to go and find Miko. He’s probably still sitting with Nate, and I need to make sure he gets ready for the celebration.”
“Alright, then,” he says. Going to the door, Jiron opens it and pauses a moment as he says, “See you there.” Shutting the door behind him, he heads down the hallway to find one of the several serving girls he’s been ‘impressing’ since they’ve arrived.
Under his tunic, he straps on the belt holding his slugs so as not to be conspicuous. He really hasn’t felt safe anywhere since coming to this crazy world, and he always likes to be prepared. A couple days ago while they were sight seeing in the city, he’d found a store where he was able to restock his supply of slugs. Sitting over in the corner of their room is a box holding a hundred of them. When Miriam had found out why he’d wanted them, she had bought him the box.
Straightening his tunic so it will hide his belt of slugs, he leaves his room and makes his way back up the stairs to Nate’s room. When he gets there, he knocks but receives no answer. Knocking again, he waits but no reply is forthcoming. Opening the door a crack, he peeks in and discovers Nate and Miko are no longer there.
Closing the door, he continues down the hallway toward where they’d put Miko. Being Nate’s friend had warranted him a room to himself next door. As he approaches Miko’s room, he hears arguing inside and raised voices. Fearing the worst, he readies a slug and bursts through the door.
Standing in the middle of the room is Miko, bright red tights in hand and a stubborn look on his face. Nate is there sitting in a chair and it seems as if they’ve been arguing. When the door bursts in, they both turn to see James framed in the doorway.
“James,” Miko cries out holding the clothes out to him, “do you realize what they expect me to wear?” Turning to Nate, he says, “If I have to wear this, then I’m not going!”
“Miko,” James says to him as he enters the room, “we’re their guests. And if they want us to wear these things, then wear them we shall. It’s the least we can do for the hospitality we’ve received.”
“But…” he starts to say and then stops abruptly when he realizes just what James is wearing. Breaking into a laugh, he drops his clothes to the floor and sits down in a nearby chair. “Man, would you look at you!” he says as he starts laughing even harder.
Turning a little red, James looks to Nate who says, “You do look good, James. It’s what everyone will be wearing tonight at the celebration.”
“Come on ‘Torchy’,” James says to Miko as he comes over and picks up the clothes from the floor. Handing them to him, he says, “Put them on.”
“Torchy?” Miko asks when he calms down. “Why did you call me that?”
Pointing to the clothes Miko’s holding, he replies, “Wearing that will make you look like a flaming candle.” Nate breaks out into a smile at Miko’s expense when he hears that.
Looking forlorn, he holds the clothes and says to James with a slight whine in his voice, “Do I have to?”
“Yes, you do,” he tells him. “Now stop bemoaning your circumstances and put them on. Our hosts are expecting it.”
Under James’ glare he gets into his new clothes and sure enough, he looks like a flaming candle. When he looks to James for approval, he does his best to not smile.
“You look good,” he assures him.
“You sure?” he asks as he looks down at himself, not entirely convinced.
James glances to Nate for support, who chimes in, “Miko, you do look fine.”
“Are you coming to the celebration?” James asks Nate.
Nodding, he replies, “Yes. In a few minutes, my servant will come and help me into my attire for the evening. You fellows can go on ahead, I’m sure they won’t be upset if you’re a little early.”
“Alright,” agrees James. “Are you going to need help getting back to your room?”
Nate shakes his head and holds up his walking stick, “I can make it that far on my own.” Getting up, he leans heavily upon his stick as he shuffles toward the door.
James holds it open for him as he passes through, “Thanks,” he says to him as he goes by. Once he’s out, James shuts the door and turns back to Miko, “Relax, you do look nice.”
“So do you,” he replies. “Sorry I laughed.”
Smiling, James says, “Don’t worry about it, I do look somewhat funny in these clothes. I just hope we’re not the only ones to be wearing something like this.”
“Me too,” admits Miko.
“Shall we go?” he asks Miko.
“May as well get this over with,” he tells him.
Holding the door open for him, he says, “After you, Torchy.”
Miko gives him an annoyed look and says, “Would you stop calling me that?”
“Okay, sorry,” he apologizes, not looking the least bit sorry.
They leave the room and head downstairs to the banquet hall where they find the servants still putting up the last bits of decoration. Banners and flowers are everywhere, giving the room a festive and cheerful feel. Over to one side, a dozen musicians are setting up on a stage where they will be performing during the banquet. James is intrigued by the different instruments they have. Shortly, he begins to hear the beginnings of them tuning their instruments, somewhat reminiscent of his own short stint in the school band. He’d played the trumpet.
They see their hostess, decked out in a flowing lavender dress and marshalling her servants like a general on the eve of battle. She continually barks out orders and her ‘soldiers’ snap to obey. Noticing them there in their new clothes, she gives them a nod of approval before returning to the business of getting the hall ready in time.
Miriam walks in through a door on the other side of the hall. A flowing blue dress with intricate embroidery about the chest and bodice, she makes a striking figure. She motions them to follow her as she makes her way to the main entrance. “My, don’t we look fine,” she says when they join her.
“You too, milady,” Miko says as he gives her a slight bow.
“Don’t ‘milady’ me,” she says, flashing him a smile. “This isn’t going to start for a while, why don’t we go outside for a bit? There’s someone that I’d like you to meet, James.”
“Oh?” he asks, intrigued.
“She’s a friend of mine and I’ve been telling her all about your exploits, the ones Jiron has been nice enough to share with me,” she tells him.
Tongue suddenly going dry, his stomach makes with the butterflies as he follows her in trepidation down the hallway to the door leading outside. Meeting new people, especially of the female persuasion, has never been easy for him.
When he passes through the door to the outside, he sees a girl standing off by herself under a nearby tree, watching them as they approach. She’s a year or two younger than he is and very lovely. Brown hair flowing past her shoulders and wearing a beautiful dress of blue with a stylish design stitched about the hem.
As they approach, Miriam whispers to him, “She’s the daughter of one of the shippers on the island, a family of high standing.” When they come close, she makes the introductions. “James,” she says, “this is Meliana. Meliana, this is James, and Miko.”
She gives him a curtsy and says, “Nice to meet you.”
When he stands there tongue-tied for a moment, Miko elbows him in the ribs which snaps him out of it. “Uh,” he says, his voice barely audible due to the dryness of his throat. He swallows and then says, “Pleasure to meet you too, Meliana.”
“Miriam has told me so much about you,” she tells him as she takes his arm. They begin to walk leisurely around the grounds as she continues talking, “You must be very brave.”
“Well…” he starts but then has to clear his throat to try to keep his voice clear. “Well, I suppose so. But at the time I didn’t feel very brave, you just do what you have to.”
“Ooh,” she says as she grips his arm tighter. “I’d love to hear about it.”
What can he tell her that wouldn’t involve telling her about the magic? They walk for a moment before he begins to describe the jail break back at Mountainside. While he is talking, she continues to ooh and aah at all the right times, making him feel very good. Nothing boosts a man’s ego more than a pretty girl hanging onto every word he has to say.
Miko walks along behind him, disgusted at the whole sight.
From atop the estate they hear a musical chime ringing out. Miriam says, “It’s time to go back to the hall, the banquet will be starting soon.”
As they return to the hall, Meliana continues to hold onto James’ arm. As they reach the front doors, a man steps from within the doorway and stops in front of them.
“Papa!” Meliana exclaims happily. “This is James, the one I’ve been telling you about.”
Her father gives a small smile as he reaches out a hand and says, “Nice to meet you young man.”
James takes the hand and says, “You too, sir.”
The father eyes James appraisingly and gives a barely perceptible nod. Turning to his daughter, he says, “It’s time for us to take our places at the table.”
“Nice to have met you, James,” he says as he holds his arm out for his daughter. She releases James’ arm, much to his dismay, and hooks her arm through her father’s. He turns and leads her into the banquet hall, a slight limp in his walk as if his leg is bothering him.
“I think he liked you,” Miriam tells him.
James just shrugs, “Doesn’t matter, we’re leaving in the morning anyway.” He gazes at Meliana as she and her father enter the hall.
Miko tugs his sleeve and asks, “Shouldn’t we go in too?”
Snapping out of his reverie, James says, “Yeah, sure.”
Following Miriam into the hall, they’re led up to the main table where the Ferdillons will sit. Nate is already there at the place of honor and he gestures for them to come and sit next to him.
Miko takes the seat immediately to his left while James sits next to Miko. Shortly, Jiron comes in and makes his way over to sit next to James. “Did you find your admirers?” James asks him as he sits down.
Giving him a big smile, he replies, “Yes, two actually.”
The musicians off to the side begin to play and their music gives the hall a gaiety it had lacked before. The musicians are quite skillful, though perhaps not in Perrilin’s league. James finds himself watching the musicians as they play the unfamiliar instruments, finding it all very intriguing.
From a table further down the hall from where he sits, James can see Meliana looking his way. When she notices him looking at her, she gives him a large smile and a brief, unobtrusive wave. He nods and smiles back to her before turning his attention to watch the other guests arrive.
Many are dressed in similar attire to what he and the others have on, no longer making him feel so conspicuous. From the number of other men wearing similar garb, it truly does seem to be the current fashion trend in the area.
When the tables have mostly filled up, the doors to the side of the hall open up and Nate’s parents walk in. The band strikes up a processional style tune as they enter and approach the head table where James and the others are sitting.
The mother takes her seat while the father continues standing. The band comes to a stop and the hall becomes very quiet. Gazing around at the assembled guests a moment, he then begins to talk.
“Welcome all, to a banquet in honor of the return of our son Nathanial, whom we never had thought to see again.” He gestures to his son who stands up amidst applause from those gathered at the tables, gives the crowd a short bow, and then retakes his seat.
“We are also here to honor and recognize those who helped bring this about. Miko, who befriended Nate in the mines, as well as James and Jiron who were instrumental in orchestrating his return. We give them our heartfelt thanks and wish them only the best.”
At this, the crowd breaks out into another thunderous applause. At Nate’s father’s direction, James, Miko, and Jiron stand up and give the crowd a bow before returning to their seats. James looks over and sees Meliana giving him a big smile and seems to be clapping harder than the rest of them.
Once the clapping has subsided, he says “Now, let’s celebrate with food, drink, and entertainment.” Signaling a servant standing at the edge of the room, he says “Let the celebration, begin.”
At that, the band strikes up a merry tune and doors begin to open as servants enter bearing trays laden with food. Roast pig, chickens, a veritable cornucopia of food begins to be laid upon the tables in front of the guests. Servants with pitchers begin passing among the tables as they fill everyone’s glass.
One comes and fills James’ with a sweet, smooth wine, reminiscent of the one he’d become plastered with back when he’d first met Miko in Bearn. Memories of the hangover he’d suffered through the following day makes him take only small sips during the meal.
Miko fills his plate to overflowing, much to the amusement of Nate, as he tries to eat some of everything placed before him.
During the dinner, entertainers come and perform within the open area surrounded by the tables. Acrobats, magicians, and dancers come and go as the meal progresses.
Once most of the guests have slowed down on their consumption of the bounty, the entertainers are cleared away and people begin moving toward the center of the floor as the band strikes up a waltz like tune and everyone begins to dance.
The dance is similar in nature to those James had seen in old movies of England, all structured and choreographed. All the dancers move in a pattern, weaving and bobbing in time to the music.
When the first dance had ended and the musicians were preparing to begin the next set, Miriam comes over to James and says, “Why don’t you ask Meliana to dance?”
He glances over to her and sees her looking eagerly over to him. He turns back to Miriam and says, “But I don’t know any of these dances.”
“Don’t be silly,” she tells him. “They’re not hard.”
He feels a nudge in the ribs and hears Jiron says, “Let’s go!” He grabs James arm as he propels him to the dance floor. Meliana sees him leaving his table and when she gets a nod from Miriam, says something to her father before getting up from the table. She makes her way toward him through the crowded dance floor.
When she reaches his side and gets into position to dance with him, he tells her, “I can’t dance!”
“Relax and just follow me,” she says to him. “It’s easy, I’ll show you what to do.”
He stands there nervous with Meliana standing in line across from him and Jiron in position to his right. When the music starts, he tries to follow Meliana’s lead and feels like he’s making a big spectacle of himself out in front of everyone.
But as he begins to learn the steps and the pattern of the dance, he’s able to relax and starts to enjoy himself. By the time the dance is over, he has the pattern figured out and found that he actually likes dancing. Of course, the fact he was dancing with as beautiful a girl as Meliana helped some too.
Once the dance is over, Meliana takes him over to her table where she sits with her family. “Momma,” she says to the woman sitting next to her father, “this is James.”
She gives him the critical once over all mothers give those their daughter’s have an interest in. Then she gives him a warm smile as she says, “Nice to meet you James.”
“You too ma’am,” he replies, blushing slightly under her stare.
“You dance well,” she tells him. “I just wish I could get my husband out there.”
Turning to her, her husband says, “You know I hurt my leg this morning!”
Nodding, she says, “Yes, dear.” She gives James a knowing look and continues, “He’ll do anything to get out of dancing.”
Meliana’s father just gives her an annoyed look and doesn’t take the bait.
The band is in the middle of another dance number and when they finish, Meliana takes James’ arm. With a quick farewell to her parents, she drags him back to the dance floor before the band has a chance to start up again.
They dance all evening, occasionally taking a break for drinks or just to talk. She doesn’t leave his side all night. At the end of one dance, her mother comes over to them and says, “We need to be leaving now.” She turns to James and says, “Would you be so kind as to escort Meliana home when she’s ready to leave?”
“Yes ma’am,” he assures her. “I’d be happy to.”
“Good,” she replies. Turning to her daughter, she says, “Your father’s leg is hurting, so we must leave. Don’t stay out all night, dear.”
“I won’t mother,” she assures her.
“Good evening, James,” she says to him. “It was good to meet you.”
“You too, ma’am,” he says.
Her mother returns to their table where she helps her father to his feet and they begin to leave the hall.
The rest of the evening is spent dancing and talking as they share past experiences. During one such break from the dance floor, James is amused when he sees Miriam has gotten Miko out on the dance floor. How she did it, he’d like to know. Miko looked positively frightened and lost out there. When the dance was over, he beat a retreat back to his seat next to Nate.
Miriam sees James watching and gives him a mischievous smile. He smiles back and then resumes talking with Meliana.
When most of the guests have left, James figures it’s about time to take her home. He goes over to Miko and says, “I’m taking Meliana home, would you like to come with us?”
Shaking his head, Miko replies, “I’m going to see Nate to his room and then stay there for a while before turning in.”
“Very well,” James says, disappointed. As much as he likes Meliana, he’s just a little scared of being alone with her. He sees Jiron over to the side of the dance floor talking to a couple girls and makes his way over to him.
When he asks if he’d like to go with them, he just says “No.”
“But what will her parents think if she’s with me all by herself?” he asks him.
“They wouldn’t have asked you to take her home if they were concerned about you,” he assures him.
“I suppose you’re right,” he admits. He looks over to where Meliana and Miriam are standing near the front doors, talking.
He leaves Jiron and makes his way over to where the girls are. They stop talking when they see him approaching. As he joins them, Miriam says, “Well, I better go and see how Nate’s doing.”
“Miko is going to see him to his room and stay with him for a while,” he tells her.
“I better check anyway,” she says. She gives Meliana a hug and says, “Goodbye, I’m glad you were able to come.”
Glancing briefly at James, she gives a little smile and says, “Me too.”
She slides her arm through James’ as they walk out into the warm summer evening. “Where do you live?” he asks, feeling good with her on his arm.
“Oh, it’s not too far from here,” she tells him. Pointing down the street to the right, she says, “It’s several blocks that way.”
Turning into the indicated direction, he slowly strolls along the street with her. There are other guests from the banquet walking along the street as well, while others are in carriages on their way home.
“It’s too bad you’re leaving in the morning,” Meliana says with disappointment as she lays her head on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I know,” he replies. “It’s been nice being here.”
“Maybe you could stay longer?” she asks hopefully.
“I wish I could, but I’m unable to,” he tells her. “I need to help get Jiron and Miko out of the Empire and back home.”
“I understand,” she says. “Maybe when things change, you could come back and visit?”
“Perhaps,” he says, “but that is highly unlikely.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she agrees.
Arm in arm, they walk down the street until they come to her house. A light is on in the front room. “Mother is waiting up for me, it looks like,” she says as they come to the front door.
“I guess this is where we say goodbye,” he says to her.
Suddenly, she embraces him and places her lips upon his, giving him a warm and eager kiss.
When she breaks off the kiss, James is left breathless and a little flustered. “I’ll miss you,” she tells him.
“I’ll miss you too,” he says when he finally gets his voice working again.
She turns and begins to open the door when she pauses and says, “Goodbye James.”
“Goodbye Meliana,” he replies as he watches her enter her home and close the door.
Feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, he makes his way back toward Nate’s family estate. Visions of Meliana and the way her lips felt on his fill his mind until he realizes he’s already back to the door to his room. He doesn’t even remember walking back, he must’ve been on autopilot.
Opening the door, he finds Jiron snuggled in his bed with one of the serving girls he’s been seeing.
“How’d it go?” he asks from the bed, not the least bit embarrassed.
“It went well,” James replies. “Want me to leave?”
“Don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he replies. “We’re done anyway.”
James goes over to his bed and gets undressed in the dark and then slips under the covers. Thoughts of Meliana keep him awake long into the night before he can finally fall asleep.