Reve:
Reve opened the window slowly, a gust of wind blowing her perfectly curled hair in every direction, the chill hitting her in a sudden burst. Moonlight fell in shafts across the scarred oak floors, shadows stretching into grotesque monstrosities, long clawed hands wishing to drag her under, she could almost feel their ghostly tongues against her ear, could smell the sweet smell of rot on their breath.
"Hurry up," Gail ordered from behind.
Reve inhaled sharply before crawling slowly out onto the roof, the darkened gardens far enough below for a jolt of panic to surge through her, but she didn't dare let it show. Gail wasn't afraid, so why should she be?
She turned back, watching as Gail confidently stepped onto the roof, her choppy short hair imperfect in all the perfect ways Reve loved, blown even further askew by the breeze.
"What?" Gail questioned, her stare sending an ache through Reve's heart.
"Nothing, you're just short," she remarked, the joking tone completely forced.
There were a million words clawing their way out of her heart, a million thoughts lodged in her throat. Reve's whole life had been a blur of words, she found her mind often narrating her own experiences, pictures converted to text so she could make sense of them, could make sense of this world. She had lived through books, through the stories her head constructed to cope with the utter dullness of her own limited experiences.
If Reve was a weak beam of sunlight in a dusty library, Gail was the sun at the peak of a summer afternoon. Everything about her was bright and vivid, a bold Reve could never quite grasp herself, Gail was something she could never find the words to describe, recreate.
"You're being awfully quiet," Gail observed.
"Just thinking," she responded, letting out a sigh.
"Worrying over your engagement? Don't dwell on it, I'll beat him up if he says a word to you," she stated, smiling.
At one time her words would have been comforting. As children, when all their problems seemed so distant, she would have believed Gail, but they were no longer kids. The days of skipping lessons and napping under leafy forests and warm light, eating wild berries and staining their fingers all sorts of colors, of suppressing their laughs as they were inevitably punished were over. Just like the days of dreaming they would never have to part, the days of yearning for a world where she could grow up something magical, a world where she was the main character of some epic tale.
"Him and I have spoken a few times at lessons and shared a dance last Kings Day, he seems nice enough, I guess," she whispered, looking down.
It was not that Farris was particularly lacking, actually she quite liked him, but that did not mean she wanted to spend the rest of her life bound to his side.
"I'm sorry, Reve, really. You shouldn't have to marry someone you've barely even spoken to," Gail murmured, looking truly pained by her predicament.
They had always known this would happen, yet had spent their days in a blissful chosen ignorance, a lovely dream. Now, it was time they woke up.
"What about you? Prince Cassius Dawnfire of Prynn is visiting, is he not?" she asked, trying to keep the bitterness from her tone. Everyone had heard the rumors, the whispered reason behind his visit.
Gail grimaced, looking away before responding. "Father is already discussing marriage and he hasn't even arrived yet. Even worse, I've heard he's some sort of religious extremist who won't even show his face."
"Yep, and I've heard he wears the mask to hide his deformed face, maybe the rumors will be false, they can't both be right," Reve said.
"Either way, I refuse to marry him, I'll run away and live in the woods if I must."
"There's always plan B," she prompted.
"Us getting married instead?"
"Well, I was going to say murder, but I guess that can be plan C," Reve replied, laughing though she wasn't entirely sure she was joking.
"Hear me out, if we act gay enough maybe we can scare him and his religion obsession away," she continued, refusing to accept the hopelessness of the situation.
Reve smiled, nodding, but it was hard to force a good mood, hard to pretend she believed anything would work. What could the two of them do to stop the plans of kings? It was time they grew up. They had a duty to do for their families, and no matter what unnamed emotions had settled in Reve's heart, they would always stay there, caged behind her ribs, tucked carefully away inside of her to rot.
"Let's just enjoy these last few hours of peace, things are going to be hectic with the prince's visit and preparations for the Kings Day ball," she stated, laying back, her hand close enough to brush against Gail's own.
If she turned to her side she knew they would be only centimeters away, she knew that maybe, in the dark with no one else to witness, she could make a mistake, could keep it tucked away here on this evening, but she didn't turn. She focused on the ghostly lights in the sky, let them blur as tears rose to her eyes but did not fall. She could never let them fall, it would do no good to cry over the inevitable. She could never make the same mistake again, could never let the night bring out her emotions. She had kept them on such a tight leash all these years that when she finally let them out they were wild, unruly things, leading her into decisions she couldn't afford to make.