Chapter 1: The Wedding
The wedding had been going great. The guests were having a wonderful feast of delicious meals, thanks to Master Chubb and his apprentices.
Will turned his head left and right, scanning the entire banquet hall and taking note of the guests. Of course, Lady Pauline and Halt were the main attractions, being the bride and groom, but he found numerous familiar faces in the crowd. Horace, Gilan, Jenny, King Duncan, Evan- Princess Cassandra (He never got used to calling her that), and the gorgeous Alyss sitting next to him were just a few of the friends that he saw there. He realized now that he regarded the King as his friend, but something inside told him that Duncan wouldn't mind.
Looking through the room for the third time, he finally noticed the hooded figure in the corner of the hall. He wore a black cloak that concealed nearly all of his features, save for the bottom half of his face. The man realized that Will was staring at him, and in response, he pulled up his hood just enough to reveal his eyes. He looked back at Will and grinned, throwing the apprentice off guard.
The man was strange. Will knew that much. He gave Will a feeling that he had not felt for a long time, not since he met the gaze of Halt all those years back on Choosing Day.
Before he could ponder him any longer, he was prompted by Alyss to begin his speech. He tapped his glass numerous times, and then stood up to speak his mind about the bride and groom, the latter being his long-time mentor and his father figure.
"... And I hope you two have a wonderful life together," Will said with a massive grin.
With the applause that followed, Will took his seat. He let out a sigh, thinking that his last line was far too cheesy.
Alyss gave him a warm smile as he sat down. It was very pleasing to Will, as he felt his blood rush to his cheeks.
"I liked your speech," Alyss said, her smile not fading.
"I hope it was all right," Will replied, his gaze fixing on her gray eyes.
"It was a lot better than 'all right'," she assured him.
But Will had not heard her reply. He was still staring at her, but his mind lingered on the black-cloaked man that he had seen earlier. His smile faded away as he thought about him more and more.
Alyss took notice of this sudden change in emotion, and she couldn't help but ask him.
"Will? Will, is there something wrong?" she said, her grin finally escaping from her lips.
"N-no. It's nothing. I was just thinking about... things," Will hastily said, realizing that Alyss was talking to him.
"Will, I know when you're lying to me," she said, very coldly. She was about to question him about the matter even further when she noticed Gilan, Jenny, and other couples rising in preparation for the dance.
"We're not done talking about this," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "No matter. Will, would you care to join me for the dance?"
At this, Will was taken back by surprise.
A dance? he thought. I haven't prepared for a dance.
"We have to dance?" Will asked, repeating his thoughts in oral form. He already knew what Alyss's reply would be.
"Of course we have to dance, idiot. It is Lady Pauline's wedding, after all," she said in reply, urging Will to the dance floor. "Now, come on. Let's see if you're as good with your feet as you are with your bow."
Evidently, Will was not a good dancer. He stumbled clumsily across the dance floor and stepped on Alyss's foot more than once. Still, he gladly seized the opportunity to be this close to her. Will had a crush on Alyss ever since they were ward-mates, yet he couldn't help but feel as if his "crush" was growing into something more important.
It all started when we he returned home after killing the Kalkara. Specifically, when Alyss kissed him on the lips. He remembered every single detail in that moment vividly. He remembered Alyss's beautiful face, ash-blonde hair, and gray eyes. He remembered her smooth voice as she said the words that still remained in his mind.
"We're all proud of you, Will. But I think I'm proudest of all."
And most importantly, he remembered the kiss. The soft, delicate kiss, like a butterfly landing on a flower. He still felt it on his lips.
And now, here he was, dancing with her. She was just as elegant and beautiful as ever.
He felt as if he needed to return the favor, and he was gladly about to do so.
"Alyss?" he said, seriously but with a hint of a smile.
"Yes, Will?" Alyss replied, in that same, river-over-rocks voice.
But there was no reply. They simply stared into each other's eyes, Alyss into Will's brown and Will into Alyss's gray.
Slowly, as the dance came into its final moments, they inched their faces closer and closer. Their lips were ever so close. And as the dance came to an end...
They kissed.
It was soft and smooth, like their first kiss. But this one had a noticeable amount more passion than the last one. After a few more moments, they broke away from each other, panting and blushing furiously.
They looked around them and saw that they were the only ones remaining on the dance floor. It was hugely embarrassing, Will and Alyss thought, but also quite romantic.
Halt and Lady Pauline were both watching, happy and amused. They were their respective apprentices, after all.
After a few seconds of silence, Horace started clapping. He was very happy for both of his friends, who just shared in a lovely kiss. Then, one after the other, people started clapping with him. The applause was a bit much in the two apprentices' minds, but they accepted it.
Gilan, Halt, Lady Pauline, Horace, Jenny, and even King Duncan. They were all clapping. And as Will saw in the corner of the room...
So was the cloaked man.
