She was elegant. She was everything that he could have ever longed for. More than that, for she had within her being all the things that he had never even thought to long for, and now he yearned for them as desperately as the swollen grey clouds yearn to break open and pour down upon the earth. He could not be without her, and he know that he could not let her slip through his grasp. If only he had known, all those years ago, that this burning willingness to do anything in order to have her would lead to the downfall of a kingdom. If only her elegance had not blinded him…
On another continent, in a time far removed from them, he stood. She watched him, counting her blessings that she was privy to his most quiet moments. How could she justify what was happening in her heart, though? She was meant to have been serving him. It was her duty to care for him, but by now that word had taken on a very unexpected meaning. And as much as she resisted it, how could she not let her knees go weak when he looked at her? He, who came from an entire lineage of elegance… And yet, she could not imagine anything more endearing than the prince’s touch.
There was also the pair that so few would have suspected…
“It’s a bit too elegant for my taste,” the young knight admitted as he handed back the velvet cloak.
The other man raised a brow. “Too elegant for one who serves the prince? I would have thought you’d want to surround yourself in it.”
The knight shook his sandy-blond head, then turned to look over the cloaks of dyed wool. The other man stayed close by his side.
“Am I, then, too elegant for you, with all of my silks and velvets?”
“You still have the warrior spirit,” the knight reminded him. “You manage to fight so… gracefully, without even making it look like a battle. It’s more like you are dancing.”
The other man grinned. “Does that mean that you will also dance with me tonight? I can promise you, it will be far more exquisite than my skill in battle.”
“You mean at that ball?” the knight replied incredulously.
“Did you think that I head meant something else?” The other man chuckled. “I can show you elegance as well as in elegance; take your pick.”
The knight held back a smirk. “I should have stuck to sparring.”
“Even battle can be elegant,” the other man reminded him. “You cannot be a knight without realizing that. You know the art of the sword all too well.”
Legends of Lorata 