Breaking Stones (Albert)

[Quinn Allegra Stone]

Pacing nervously in her own bedroom, Quinn was not looking forward to tonight's dinner. Her family had decided to do the unthinkable. They have put her arranged marriage, it wasn't unheard of but pretty rare. It was unexpected, this was a business strategy. She had no idea what her parent's strategy to this plan considering that they have left her in the dark. Now she had met her fiance a few times and of course this had left a few bad impressions. It would start good and then Quinn would put a foot in her mouth and say something that would rub him the wrong way. Then she seemed to either confuse him or upset him. It was all a mess and yet here they were about to have dinner. She could hear a knock on the door. She looked up to see one of their maids coming in, "miss, they are here."

"Thanks Maddie." she said with a nod. She was always friendly with the staff and they seem to like her the most. She was just relieved that her sister Nyx was not the one that got her. She was dressed a dark royal blue dress. She began to head out of her room and descend into the hallway. She made it over to the stairs which was going down where the front entrance is. She took a breath as she could hear voices, her mother with the voice  that was fake and cheery. She was definitely putting on the show. Quinn began to walk down the steps and trying to go slow so she wouldn't fall down.


Albert Alder Coult

[Albert Alder Coult]

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[attr="class","Zinnia"]

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Quinn Allegra Stone

565 words

Music

this song really suits them

[break][break]

I didn't come here [break]



to make friends

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Albert had been invited to this party, and he was fairly sure he knew why, even if he didn't know who.


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Sometimes, he tried to forget his heritage, to set aside the part of him who longed for the wild. He studied combat and then ran into the woods and got buried in leaves. Again and again, he found himself pulled to that old Alder tree. If he was full nymph, would that have been his bound object? It didn't really matter, not with who his father was.


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He wondered sometimes why his mother chose him. Albert had no choice, but she did. The nymphs were rarely contrained and often misunderstood. Many of the fae glossed over his heritage like it could be slipped by on ice, but he didn't. It wouldn't be blotted out or forgotten. In his blood ran the current of all living things in a way even the High King couldn't understand.


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And there was turmoil now, even with that. He had heard murmurs that the King was poisoned. Whispers of flowers wilting. He set his hand on the base of that old tree, but nothing seemed to happen. Could he even heal it? He had no one to teach him even if he could. 



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And soon it wouldn't matter, because he would get married soon to whoever his father had chosen and his mother's blood would be washed aside like an inconvenient sidenote in his pedigree. He was in a ballroom of everyone wearing gold and white, but his suit was blood red. Did he stand out as much as he felt he did? Black tie and white veil. It wasn't that different. He found it ironic that most people knew more about his engagement party than he did.



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His father walked in with him. White wine, red suit, gold champagne. Pastel flowers. His father didn't say a word about the color choices, but his light blue suit fit in with the crowd with much more ease. Albert had charisma for days, but never ease. No comfort. He was a wanderer, made to leave impressions but never real memories.


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"She's from a fine family." his father had said, walking him in. "These people matter, and you'll not have to work a day in your life. Not scrape or scrounge." 



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So much was left unsaid as they paused before the door. Not like your mother. If Albert had his way, he would be gone already. He would have scraped and scrounged just for a taste of freedom. He did not have his way. He set his shoulders back.

He said nothing of this to his father now. He wouldn't. Their distance-- their walls-- would always be there. To protect them both. To pretend Albert didn't have his mother's eyes or his mother's heart. He did what he was asked when it mattered. That was more than she had ever done. 


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He didn't thank his father now, inside the foyer. They were at her family's château. They were waiting for her grand arrival. He wondered if she enjoyed this. At least someone did.


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Quinn. He twisted the word around his head. The name. Maybe one day it would mean something to him, but today it was just a hollow sound, the sound of a future he would never have slipping away. The sound of a door closing. The sound of emptiness and loss. 


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[Quinn Allegra Stone]

One thing about Quinn, she hated to be the center of the attention. She didn't like to be in the spotlight, unless she was singing her songs to spread the love and what she was feeling for that day. Now she was at her own engagement party and it was made to show some kind of a spectacle. Her mother liked to boast and show off, while Quinn was more reserved and wanted to keep to herself. She sighed, trying to keep a polite smile on her face as she descended down the stairs. don't fall, don't fall. was all she could think about. It would be her luck she fell down the stairs, her mother and older sister would be one to remind her how much of an embarrassment she was then.

Luckily her older brother was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up at her and smiled, she felt like she could breathe. Her brother was the only good person she had in her life. She didn't know what she could do without him. She linked arms with him and he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Relax Quinn."

"Easier said then done." she whispered back, he led her away and soon she found herself in another room. People were staring at her as she walked in, it was like she was being whispered about and she didn't like it. Her eyes found the fiery red head. Her betrothed, she breathed, "Albert."

She didn't know what to feel about the whole situation. They met once before but barely had a conversation since the meeting was so brief. Her brother escorted her over to her and nodded at Albert. He then left her their like she was some kind of present. No conversation or any other interaction with Albert.

"Um hello." she said, giving him a small smile. Now what?

Albert Alder Coult,

[Albert Alder Coult]

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[attr="class","Zinnia"]

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Quinn Allegra Stone

435 words

Music

this song really suits them

[break][break]

I didn't come here [break]



to make friends

[break]



Albert crossed his arms. She didn't seem like she wanted to be here. Didn't seem like she wanted any of this. Then again, in the wheel that was their families, it rarely mattered what either of them wanted. Albert, at least, had been raised for this. [break][break]

Albert's father made it clear that the Coult family stayed neutral. Stayed out of issues. Didn't cause problems. They advanced through marriage and diplomacy where others struggled with war and famine. They kept to themselves for the most part. His grandfather and great-grandmother had sat on the advisory panel to the king, as had his father, as would he someday. Until the king was killed. Until the world was turned upside. Then his father had withheld their family's loyalty until the die had been cast. Until the cards had been dealt. Until more was clear. Until it was safe again.  [break][break]

But the family kept moving. The wheel kept grinding. His father married a girl half his age and no one batted an eye. They were now in a royal family. And this girl, with her parents and their bloodstained history? With her warmongering family? As close as he would ever come to a battlefield. He was raised in comfort and neglect, he would die in stifled luxury, if he ever died. It wouldn't be a violent end. Not a bloody one. Not his father's son.  [break][break]

He should be grateful. He mostly felt bored. Even if this girl was the greatest beauty in the world-- and she was lovely, for sure-- it would only matter for so long. He was a wanderer in spirit. He wasn't built to rot in silks and gold and the money her parents stole. He had heard all the rumors. He knew all the stories. It didn't change the facts.  [break][break]

And the facts were that she stood in front of him, brown hair and blue eyes, not unique for the fae, exactly, but no less lovely. She looked afraid. Afraid for him or afraid of him? He didn't know. He expected a bloodthirty killer or a dark-haired beauty like her brother. He heard of an older sister. Didn't see her now. The older brother was a looker. Walking away now. It was just them now.  [break][break]

He extended his hand, all courtly manners. No wild wandering boy was he, with wandering eyes and wandering hands. In this moment he was everything he had been built to be. Had she ever been built? Or only been broken.  [break][break]

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I would call you Ms. Stone, but we both know that won't last, don't we?"  

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[Quinn Allegra Stone]

All eyes were on her and she felt like her skin was crawling. She swallowed and tried to compose herself. Her family was watching, mainly her father, mother and sister were the ones that she had to worry about. They were the ones really keeping an eye on her to make sure she wasn't going to mess things up. Quinn gave polite smiles at different guests. Was it obvious that she was on the verge to bolt somewhere, anywhere that wasn't here.

Just breathe, Quinn. Focus. she thought to herself and when her soon to be husband answered her. She felt like she lost all the words from her head. "Well, Quinn is just fine."

"I feel it is silly that we are being formal when we are gonna be married soon." she added quickly. She wasn't trying to be impolite. She rather not be called Ms. Stone. That was what everyone addressed her sister and she rather not be like her. She wanted to be far away from her family as soon as possible and not associated with them. "The party seems... excessive."

Quinn could kick herself, if her mother heard her talking like this....so much pain would be unleashed on her. She could only imagine what her sister would do to her.


Albert Alder Coult,

[Albert Alder Coult]

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[attr="class","Zinnia"]

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Quinn Allegra Stone

274 words

Music

this song really suits them

[break][break]

I didn't come here [break]



to make friends

[break]



Albert raised an eyebrow. Did she know? Did she care? The fae didn't have principles of bastardy, exactly, but he was a half-blood either way. If it was her sister getting married, his father would have wrangled his true-blooded son. But her sister wouldn't be getting married-- her brother probably wouldn't get married either. His older siblings wouldn't. They were the important ones. They were the heirs. They made their own choices. Maya was a younger sister. [break][break]

Everything was blood. Everything was position. Everything was politics even when the high king lay dead. Even when his children were in threat of being murdered. Even when their country was preparing for war.  [break][break]

He didn't want to see this girl be like his father's wife. He didn't want to be like his mother. They were all running from their history.  [break][break]

History claimed or history forgotten. He would make her mistakes anyway. He had fallen into the same prison again.  [break][break]

"What would you rather?" He asked. While that reply didn't show any debauchery of character, perhaps she would prefer something on the wilder side. The fae had few homebodies, and fewer who preferred to be alone. Communal creature. Wild creature. It made isolation lonelier, when you hadn't grown used to it. [break][break]

"Is the party not wild enough for your taste?" Nobles were expected to show a certain restraint at times, but for a girl like her, what she wanted was what she got. Perhaps she preferred girls. He didn't want to get ahead of himself. Faerie was a land of fortune and fates, but bad fortune was never suspicious and always looming. It was what it was. [break][break]





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[Quinn Allegra Stone]

She wanted to run, she wanted to hide.This was probably the most she and Albert had talked since they have been arranged to be married. It was strange to be engaged to someone that she barely knew. She looked over at him, really looked at him. He was taller than her. He was outspoken and definitely different than what she expected. She thought he would try to charm her and use the typical strategies that she had seen her brother talk to others in such ways. It was sickening to see her older sister do the same thing, especially since Quinn knew that she was being manipulative.

"If I had a choice, I want something more quiet and personal. I want the man that would love and adore me to look at me in a way when I enter a room. I am a bit of a romantic. So I do want to do something intimate with the guy I am with." she said, a bit of a rambler. She wasn't realizing she was talking so much and then stopped, "sorry I talk sometimes way too much."

She didn't know why but it was easier to talk to him and she wasn't as nervous. "How do you like this party?"

Albert Alder Coult,

[Albert Alder Coult]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Zinnia"]

[break]

Quinn Allegra Stone

440 words

Music

this song really suits them

[break][break]

I didn't come here [break]



to make friends

[break]



Albert didn’t quite know how to respond. Her family was the heir to the West court throne, and he could see her sister, the duchess, in the corner, a jeweled diadem on her brow, ever the center of attention, even at her sister’s engagement. The girl was older than him, sure, but he still wondered why he wasn’t marrying her. Maybe his father had tried and she had refused. Maybe he was marrying Quinn to keep her out of the way, because no one would want her half-blood husband near the throne. 

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”Do you want to be the heir?” he asks. ”I understand that your sister is, yes? But if you were ever expected to rule, intimate affairs would hardly be common.” Maybe she didn’t want it. Maybe she thought more like a mortal, or a homebody. Maybe her dream was really just to be quietly in love. He wasn’t sure what his dreams were, but they certainly weren’t that. 

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He felt a certain degree of pity for her, because he could hardly promise they would ever be in love. Something in him fled from the idea. Staying in one place, stuck around so many of the same people, never having the chance to wander or explore was bad enough. Marriage? Heirs? Thinking always of the future and never living in the present? He wasn’t built for it. He wasn’t born for it. It wasn’t in his blood. 

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Nymphs could die and they knew it, but they didn’t dwell on it like mortals. They would become one with nature, as they were in life. They spent their lives in one place, but they weren’t sedimentary. They would travel for days, enjoying their solitude, knowing that they always had a home to return to. That was the life his mother had. That was the life he was meant to have. But she was the one who took it from him when she left and left him behind. 

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He couldn’t blame her. If he had taken after his father, this would have been his dream, the pinnacle of his success. He would live his life never wanting for anything, and if he played his cards right, he could even find himself steps away from a throne. But he hadn’t taken after his father, and he was left playing a game by an entirely new set of rules. 

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”The fae are not skilled in intimate affairs, I’ll agree.” he said. ”I find myself missing the solitude of the outdoors often. Not to insult your family’s estate.” Still, this place didn’t feel like a home. It felt like a coffin.



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[Quinn Allegra Stone]

Her eyes darted back and forth, she was expected to be leading discussions and mingling. She was expected to do a lot of things and the expectations were kind of a lot. She looked over at him and gave him a wry smile, "Doesn't matter what I want, I have a duty to my family."

It really didn't matter, being trapped with someone who wouldn't love her back was probably something her sister would want. To make her feel weak and small. Quinn was a giving soul and she cared a lot about others and safety. She looked around and caught her sister's eye. She looked over to Albert, "How are your conversation skills with other people?"

"We are expected to mingle with some other people and if we don't I am getting into trouble." she said hurriedly, she linked arms with Albert and began to lead him around the room. "Sorry, I just have to put on a show. Sometimes I feel like that is all I am doing."

She felt it was easy to talk to Albert. He didn't make her nervous but for some odd reason she felt warmth, something she felt with her older brother.

Albert Alder Coult,

[Albert Alder Coult]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Zinnia"]

[break]

Quinn Allegra Stone

370 words

Music

this song really suits them

[break][break]

I didn't come here [break]



to make friends

[break]



Albert tilted his head. "No," he said. "It only doesn't matter what you want if you don't care enough to get it." He wasn't a brutal one or a brave one. He wasn't sorry of it either, but even he knew that. If he wanted to see his mother, it would mean leaving the rest of his family. Not just leaving. Disappointing them. He couldn't stand to do that. 


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His cousins, his siblings-- they used to treat him like a disgrace. Now they treated him with respect. They had expected him to run, expected him to flee like his mother, but now when they really believed he might stay, he couldn't prove them right. He was tired of being looked at like a tragedy waiting to happen. 


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She linked her arm through his and Albert found himself getting pulled around the room. "You could at least take me to dinner first," he muttered, but he didn't fight her. What would it do? He had what he wanted, not her, but the symbolism of being married. He felt a little sorry for this girl, always consigned to a symbol, but not sorry enough to give it up. 


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"We're all symbols here," he mused, not really listening to her. No one really cared if they seemed to like each other so long as there was no open contempt. But her family could be different. He didn't pretend to know. He knew most of the people here. His sister smiled at him for the first time in months. He couldn't pretend that didn't make him smile. Quinn was pulling him away from her family. He didn't know how to feel about that. It wasn't as though he disliked his older brother, but he did understand petty jealousies. 



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"We can talk to my sister," he said. "Lana. If you want to put on a show." He couldn't admit how he was always seeking her approval, how she forever made him feel like a child. She was married before he was born, a wise lady of the West. He would never be as graceful or put together as her. But maybe he could make a show of it. After all, they were all symbols here. 



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[Quinn Allegra Stone]

"I care but there are other factors that get in the way." she said, it was kryptic. She was talking about protecting those she cared about. Her family decided what she did, who she associated with and what she shouldn't be doing. Not that she was ever caught doing anything wrong. At least by society standards. Her job was to follow her family's rules and if she didn't well there was consequences. A lot of pain would be added.

"Would you even eat it with all of your complaining?" she retorted in a hoarse whisper. Like did this guy ever crack a smile. This was a guy that she was going to marry? He was pretty....dull personality. It was like her parents personally chose her own tormentor. She grimaced, as she spoke quietly "This is gonna be a long night."

"What is it you want exactly from this?" she asked, though her eyes scanned the room. She met Isaac's eyes and she gave him a small smile. Her brother gave her an encouraging nod. He did a weird look as his eyes went cross eyed to make her laugh. It worked. It was something he always did to make feel comfortable. Quinn took a deep breath and looked back at Albert.

"Sounds like a good plan." she said, at least they will be kept busy.

Albert Alder Coult,

[Albert Alder Coult]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Zinnia"]

[break]

Quinn Allegra Stone

288 words

Music

this song really suits them

[break][break]

I didn't come here [break]



to make friends

[break]



Albert glanced at her. "It's the principle of the thing," he said sarcastically. He had no respect for the proper way to do things, for principles. He was, as a rule, whimsical and wandering in spirit. "That you at least show some sort of care before you are trying to drag me into a closet or into your bed." He was not really concerned. She seemed far too anxious to be that forward, but he enjoyed giving people a hard time. 


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He snorted. "Fair." The fae didn't need to eat much, but he also enjoyed being difficult. "I could suggest other appropriate gifts. I'm sure I have a list somewhere." He said this all with a wry smile, like making light of this would make it any easier. Like he could make this situation anything but what it was. 


[break][break]


The fae were talented in illusions but that was not always a boon. Oftentimes, it was a weapon. They could smile and promenade, but it would change nothing. A gilded cage was still a cage. Golden bracelets tied to the ground were not jewelry, they were chained. He was a toy to wound up and thrown away. He was a ship to be pointed. He had no direction or destination in and of himself.


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"What I want doesn't matter," he said mildly, a truth that she would know well. If it wasn't true, he couldn't say it. But this was more than that. It was that he wanted nothing. It was that he was floating aimlessly. It was that there was nothing to say.


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"Lana." he greeted his older sister with a smile. She turned towards them both, inquisitive. "I'm sure you've heard the news? This is Quinn Stone."

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[Quinn Allegra Stone]

Quinn was well read and she was always having to learn something. Her parents were about being three steps ahead. She even read about mortals, at first her parents were appalled but her brother helped made a point. By learning about mortals and those who do not align with fae that it is a way to learn weaknesses and strengths against any opposing threats. Not that mortals or anyone was opposing threats but in her parent's minds they were always threatened.

for the love that is holy. she couldn't help but think to herself. There was no kind of religion in the fae world but she was on the verge that she was going to kill this guy. He made her blood boil. Normally shy and timid Quinn who couldn't utter words and be charismatic but with him she wanted to spew so many words at him. She stared at him in shock, "i-I am not that easy of a girl. Do you think I am that kind of person?"

She wasn't even sure if he should answer that. Now he was answering her about appropriate gifts and that had her face towards him, "And what is appropriate to you?"

"It does matter...to me at least." she said, he didn't care? Was this all that is gonna be...to be like a business proposal and nothing else?

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Quinn said, giving a warm smile and she couldn't help but bow her head out of a sweet gesture.

Albert Alder Coult,

[Albert Alder Coult]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Zinnia"]

[break]

Quinn Allegra Stone

341 words

Music

this song really suits them

[break][break]

I didn't come here [break]



to make friends

[break]


“Darling,” Albert said dryly, somehow managing to make the term of endearment fall like an insult. “I’m that kind of a person.” His smile was barbed and wicked. His eyes glittered like chain links.





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She did not seem to be anything like him. She seemed to be curious, and thoughtful, and nervous, and cautious. He was none of those things. He could not strictly fault her for being unlike him– uniformity was the cousin of boredom, but he could fault her for many other things. He could fault her just because his father had chosen her, and his father never chose things based on what Albert might enjoy.





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Albert was wild, and free spirited, and tempestuous, and risky. His father was more like Quinn, without the nerves and with less caution. His father wanted Albert to be more like Quinn, but of course, Albert was his mother’s son, through and through. Pity he had never met her.





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What you want matters to me. He threw her a slanted glance. The fae could not lie, not strictly, but he sincerely doubted that she meant what she was saying. For one, he had only just met her. And for another, every other person he had met, at the end of the day, what they wanted mattered more. “I’d thank you if I believed you,” he said, forcing his tone to stay light. Veering off into suspicion would do nothing but ruin the party.





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He tried to throw Lana a dazzling smile as Quinn greeted her and mostly failed. It looked a bit more like a grimace. Lana laughed at that and offered her hand to Quinn. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said. “How are you enjoying the party? Is my brother giving you too much trouble?”






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Albert rolled his eyes. “Please,” he said, smirking again. “I am a delight to be around.” And yet. He didn’t say he was never trouble. Quite probably because he wouldn’t have been able to get the words out. It was the cost of being interesting.



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[Quinn Allegra Stone]

Her face drained, what sort of partner was she going to get. Luckily, he didn't seem the type who would beat the crap out of her. So there was that, he was very blunt and kind of in your face. He definitely likes getting a reaction out of her and she knew he was trying to get a rise out of her. She could feel her face getting warm and she was pretty sure she was getting three different shades of red.

"Believe what you want but it's true." she said, she was to accept him for who he is. Did she think he would ever love her, most likely not. She was pretty sure he would soon leave her to her own devices while he did who knows what. That didn't mean they couldn't establish some understanding. "You may not like me or what I represent but I want to be able to live in the same place and come up with some understanding. To be at peace with one another."

She couldn't get love but at least she had awkward moments and maybe she could make some sort of alliance. It was better than her family and she didn't want to go back to that. She was making a fool of herself but the girl laughed and she relaxed a bit.

"He..he has been a perfect gentleman." in retrospect, it was true. Not a lie, he has been appropriate and she felt way more relax than anyone else. "Easy to talk to. Are you enjoying yourself?"

Albert Alder Coult,