Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.
Author's Note: Written for the November challenge on the Tamora Pierce Experiment: Writing Challenges forum, where each sentence is to start with consecutive letters of the alphabet.
A man stood along the side wall, so shrouded in darkness that no one present saw him uncross his arms and rest them at his side.
Before him was a spectacle: baubles filled with light hung from the ceiling, put in place by fastidious palace mages, spreading light over the large room filled with humans, creatures and immortal beings in their finest clothing – or cleanest fur, hair or scales as may be applicable.
Celebration was in the air, for tonight was the Midsummer Ball, and this was the most illustrious of them all.
Drawn by some untold force, the eyes of the shadowed man shifted when a servant door opened slightly, opening so little that no one else but he noticed the young woman who slipped in.
Errant curls were astray, the silver-stitched tunic slightly askew, as the young woman slipped a sapphire drop into her earlobe before trying to right the rest of her attire and bring her hair under some semblance of control.
From his position against the wall, he saw her offer distracted smiles to the various beings looking her way, ignoring those palace courtiers that would seek her attention if she let them.
Gripping the small object majicked firmly to his cloak, the man made his move, stepping forth from the shadows.
Her body was turned from him, but the instant he moved, she somehow seemed to know.
It had been too long since they had seen each other – he away on king's orders, and she kept at the palace to help with the unfortunate malaise striking the palace and army horses – and as she turned to face him, her smile was now genuine, her eyes sparkling as they met his.
Jonathon and Thayet – King and Queen of Tortall – walked in the door then with great fanfare, but none of that mattered to the newly reunited pair, crossing the floor to come together via some unseen force.
Kisses between them was not something out of the ordinary, but this particular show of affection was electric, sensation running through them both as the powerful mage tugged the Wildmage up into his arms, breathing now a forgotten necessity as their lips crashed together.
Love was all around them, and when they both finally pulled apart, the distance between was nothing as Numair Salmalín cupped the cheek of his beloved.
"Magelet," breathed the black mage, "how I have missed you."
"Not as much as I have," replied Veralidaine Sarrasri breathlessly.
Our couple might have indulged in a longer reunion if it weren't for the page who drew the attention of all and announced that the Royal Family would now address the assembly.
Proper manners in such a formal setting had both automatically turning to the front of the room where a stage, resplendent in hues of green and silver, had been set up.
Queen Thayet was speaking with the aid of an amplifying device when Numair shifted to stand behind Daine not long after, placing his large hands on her hips as he dropped his head to whisper into her ear, the gaze of neither leaving the monarch.
"Ready to go?" he asked in a low tone, his desire clear.
She didn't object when her lover reached for her hand, twining her fingers with his.
Taken through the crowd with the aid of a shielding charm, the couple slipped out of the room and into the palace gardens where Daine took a moment to greet all the animals before smiling as she looked up at her stalkman.
Underneath the starlight, magic shimmering all around with the weakened barriers at Midsummer, her jaw dropped as Numair went down on bent knee.
"Veraldaine Sarrasri," he said, all seriousness as he brought forth the ring. "Will you marry me?"
"Xanthe," swore Daine, swearing to the God of marriage as her gaze remained locked on Numair's serious face, struggling to think, but then, just as sudden was the proposal, the young woman threw away her insecurities and doubts – little things that seemed so insignificant when thinking of their shared past, and the future to come – and knew the answer.
"Yes."
Zazalias took flight from the bushes nearby as a gentle breeze suddenly blew through the small courtyard, a whirlwind surrounding the newly to-be-wed man and woman as they found the embrace of the other once again... and forever more.
Finito.