Ari could barely hold anymore by the time they made it through the market. Her arms were full of cloth bags and baskets. Evidently she needed this little trip into town more than she had anticipated. Arellan had purchased a few more outfits and trinkets as well while Ari had been rushing around on the brink of distress. Luckily Vida and Ronan were there to help them haul their souvenirs back to the palace in time for dinner.

Ari tried to act as natural as possible at their last family dinner. Her brothers, however, all had sour faces and Mei Lin would have tears in her eyes every now and then. Her father was uncharacteristically quiet while eating. Ari was the one who tried to keep conversation going by asking questions about their day and talking about the trip to the market.

"And he said that they only have salt there..." she trailed off as everyone sat in silence after finishing their meal. She sighed, not looking forward to having to address the elephant in the room. "I realize that you all are upset that I chose to leave, but could you at least make my last night less gloomy?"

Aasif scoffed while the other two brothers looked at Ari with guilty expressions. Ari stood up and nodded at Milli who was waiting close to the hall's entrance. Milli bowed her head softly and exited the dining hall.

"Before everyone parts ways to sleep, I'd like you all to join me in the garden. Just briefly. Please." Ari gave them all puppy eyes. They were all weak against their little sister's puppy eyes.

King Assur stood up first. "Of course, my darling daughter. We'd be happy to." He looked pointedly to his sons, who then stood up as well. They went towards the garden while Arellan bowed softly, then turned to head to his room.

Until he felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Ari's teal eyes looking up at him.

"This is for you, too. You'll come, right?"

Arellan felt his heartbeat speed up for a moment as he nodded at her. She grinned in response and it felt like an arrow through his chest. Gods, what was she doing to him?

The royal family with their guards and maids stood in the candlelit garden with paper lanterns ready to be tossed into the sky. Ari smiled as she noted how perfect the wind was tonight. It felt like the heavens were praising Ari for her difficult decision to leave Atrana. Milli smiled softly as she handed Ari and Arellan their paper lantern.

Ari turned to address her family. "Thank you for doing this with me. I think this is as good a time as any to light wishing lanterns. I know not everyone is keen on me leaving, but I hope that doesn't stop you from wishing Prince Arellan and I well in our futures." She turned to Arellan as everyone began whispering wishes close to their paper lanterns.

Before she could speak, Arellan said, "Call me Arell," and looked at her with his piercing green eyes.

Ari gulped, then tried to smile normally. "Arell, then. In Atrana we send our wishes to the gods with these floating lanterns. You whisper your wish to the lantern and it will deliver your wish to the heavens. I'll start." She leaned close to the glowing red lantern and whispered softly, "I wish future happiness and peace upon our families."

Arell leaned close to her face, gazing down directly into her eyes as he whispered, "I wish happiness upon my future wife and I for years to come." As he spoke, his breath warmed Ari's cheeks and she pulled back, clearing her throat awkwardly. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips and his eyes glinted wickedly.

Ari tore her gaze from his face. "And... and now we lift it up!" They both pushed the lantern into the air and let the wind take it away from them. Everyone watched the lanterns rise into the starry night sky until the lanterns looked like stars themselves. Then they bid each other good night and Ari was glad to hurry into her room to calm the beating of her heart.

It wasn't that he was handsome! Of course, he WAS. But it was mostly that he KNEW he was handsome and used his looks like a cunning fox hunting down prey. Ari didn't like they fact that she was becoming a type of prey in the eyes of her fiance. It was becoming more of a challenge to deny attraction to him. But it was just attraction, that's all. It's not like she knew anything about him and he never showed any emotion other than amusement from taunting others. He was so steely and serious most of the time. She wanted to crack him open and see what was going on in his head.

The next morning, Ari woke up early and had breakfast in the garden to let Milli and Jannah pack her room up. Vida had already packed up the ritual room the night before, which was mostly herbs and candles. Ari decided to walk the palace grounds while she waiting for the caravan to ready itself. The wind blew her veil gently and felt nice on her arms. It also brought the sound of weapons clanging and Ari was intrigued as to who might be in the practice courtyard.

As she rounded the corner, she saw Jai, Prince Aasif's guard, sword-sparring with a blindfolded man with familiar ash blonde hair. Arell's jaw was tense and his eyebrows were furrowed as he focused on fighting without his eyesight. A bead of sweat gleamed as it trailed down the side of his neck and pooled into Arell's undershirt.

Ari had to ignore his magnificence and focus on the sword match because, frankly, it was mesmerizing. Although Arell couldn't see, Jai was having a hard time getting anywhere close to a solid attack. Arell moved like he knew exactly what was happening. Like the black blindfold wrapped around his head was nonexistent. He countered every attempted strike until he finally caught Jai off-guard and held his sword mere inches from Jai's Adam's apple. As Ronan walked up and handed Arell a cloth for the sweat, Jai's eyes were dark with contempt at the outcome of the match. But after a minute, Arell pulled the blindfold off and bowed to Jai anyway out of respect.