The Night Before

The moon rose on the last night before the Crimson Ball. Once quiet noble dorms were now a lively road of nobles and maids rushing around to make last minute preparations.

With Lacy currently refusing to see me, Mai had volunteered herself to get me ready for the ball. With my lack of fashion skills she was a lifesaver.

Luckily for me, there weren't too many extra preparations to make. For males, it was custom to arrive in a school uniform with a few extra accessories to help differentiate the best of the best.

My tassels were currently sewn onto my uniform–hanging on a spare hanger in the corner. I wouldn’t be touching that for the next day unless I wanted every bit of Mai’s wrath.

Instead, my fate was to sit across from my full length mirror while she wielded her scissors against my hair.

As she trimmed away at my bush of white hair, I tried my best not to flinch, while Mai tried to make me fear for my life. Her scissor and sword skills had a concerning amount of overlap.

But somehow, as she stepped back to admire her work, both my ears were still attached.

“I can’t believe it, you look like a human being.” Mai feigned her shock.

“And what was I before?”

“Some kind of creature. You know that bedtime story about the swamp monster under the house?”

“I may be ugly but I’m not that ugly.”

“Only I'm allowed to call you ugly Rio.” Mai said.

“And who made that rule?”
“I did!” Mai wrapped her arms around my neck in a loving embrace as we both gazed into the mirror. “Maybe I can admit that, with my special touches, you’re a bit handsome.”

“Genuinely didn’t know you could give that big of a compliment.”

“Fuck do you mean by that? I only give compliments.” Mai said.

“Yeah sure, you can believe that.” My lips crept up in a grin. "What are your plans for tomorrow? Campus will be barren, you could take the chance to look around unsupervised."

“And give the spies more ammunition?”

“I’d be shocked if they paid that much attention.” From the snippets I’d been able to gather over the years, every bit of intelligence was currently completely focused on the Crimson Ball. With all those nobles and talented knights–two very separate categories of people–in the same place, well, Mikin had made a lot of enemies over the years. “Besides, just walking around campus isn't a crime. If all they report is you sightseeing during down time there's no real substance to complain about.”

“Maybe,” Mai’s voice made it clear she wasn’t so confident. “I’ll probably end up reading a book or doing homework. Isn’t your girlfriend so adventurous?”

“That’s why I chose to date you,” I gave a long glance twoard the mirror. She really had made me shine. “You know Mai, it feels like a century has passed since I saw you get out of that blue carriage. I doubt either of us could imagine what would come next.”

Mai gave a laugh. “Me? Dating that tall Mikin noble prick I met in Progen? There's no way in hell I’d have ever imagined that. But isn’t that what makes the future so fun, Rio? Not even the holy flame could have drawn out this.”

“Nor the breeze,” I said. “I know we still haven’t been dating for long, but the fact that this is possible gives me hope.”

“Tell that to the rest of your family,” Mai released my shoulders and grabbed a comb, fixing the few calics refusing to give in. “One part spies on us, and the other breaks down doors and threatens to burn me alive every time our eyes meet.”

“Still, just the two of us prove something could eventually happen!”

“Miracles can always happen. We were a miracle Rio, but lightning normally doesnt fucking strick in the same place twice.”

“But why can’t it? I’m not an idiot. I’m the fourth prince, the chance of me ever seeing the throne is negligible, but it’s not zero. Am I so bad for wanting to see that path? To bring our countries together and prevent war?”

“No, of course not! Maybe…” Mai glanced towards the door. Seconds passed before either of us spoke. “Maybe there is a chance. I don’t know Rio. Most of my life, I’ve seen war coming. My parents are idiotic idealists and the people just refuse to see reality. But, ever since coming here, meeting you and seeing that even here there's people who don’t want war, I’ve realized that maybe we can do more than just pushing it off to the furthest future available.”

“Not that it’ll be easy.”

Mai scoffed. “Holy flame, hell no. But do I look like the kind of girl to back down from a challenge?”

“I value my life too much to say no.”

“Smart answer.” Mai stepped back, admiring her work again. “I’ll have to touch it up again right before your carriage arrives, but most of the hard shit is done.”

“Thank you for this,” I said, feeling my muscles stretch as I stood up. “I figured it was best to not show up to my first Crimson Ball looking like a homeless person.”

“You could have pulled it off,” Mai said before stuffing a yawn. “Not to be that girl, but if you want me remotely fun to hang out with tomorrow I need my beauty sleep.”

“Isn’t all your sleep beauty sleep?”

“Of course.” I rolled my eyes as Mai gathered up her things and walked to the door. “Tomorrow, we’ll toast to the start of a new era, an era of peace between us.”

“I see you bought in,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Sue me.”

As she closed the door, I collapsed on my bed. Even this far out nerves still strained every inch of my mind. Beforehand, this would have been an annoyance; now, on top of that there was the beginnings of an opportunity.

I would have to hope the breeze flew my way.