In case we are yet to notice, this isn't much more than an interlude, one in which I am trying to give Cornelia some sympathy, though I do have to give her the short straw for this.. So tell me if it's working please - I don't want to just seem like a bitch to Cornelia.
"I'm sorry." Will Vandom stared up at a boy who didn't have a reason to be sorry, before her eyes swiveled to those staring, of Taranee and Irma. Another glance in Caleb's direction from where she sat, and she saw Hay Lin, watching sadly in the doorway as the green eyed boy crouched so that he was just below her eye level, and clasping her hands once again. Did he really have to do this in front of them too? "I'm so, so sorry if you thought I.. Meant anything to offend you."
It wasn't Caleb, in any sense of the name; it wasn't angry-Caleb, or scary-Caleb, or happy-Caleb, or guilty-Caleb. It wasn't even the scared-Caleb who'd clutched her astral drop for comfort. He just looked.. Sad. "Y-you didn't, I just.. You.."
"I... Thank you for what you've done for me." Will stared at Caleb, as he swallowed, and Will wondered what could ever possibly be so hard to say, "But it's not your job to fight Phobos."
"Are you breaking up with us?"
Whatever odd-numbness, that had earlier been inspired, disappeared to make room for a new, confused feeling as the other girls stared at him with as much accusatory skepticism as she was. He was breaking up with W.i.t.c.h. "Um.."
"You bastard! You.." And Will's hand reverberated over Caleb's face before she could stop it; leaving her staring at her own hand in disbelief as everyone in the room winced, except Caleb who jumped away and backed up several steps. "Oh.. Caleb.. I am so sor-"
"I was just going to say you should get a say in the battle plans!" Caleb clutched the side of his face and practically screeched as Will stared up at him blankly.. Did he just say battle plans? Like real battle plans.. "Forget it though! You needn't bother if you're gonna hit them as hard as that! OW!"
But Will was too busy beaming at him to care.
...
Clumsy beauty, had never been a particularly notice-worthy thing to Phobos; his mother had always liked things pristine; just so. "A dazzling rose.. I didn't even see how she might have done it."
But it was that blundering Venus, who'd seemed to capture his attentions entirely, and Cedric could only grin at how she'd done it. She could survive him; she could even possibly beat him, so Prince Phobos would want to have her. He seemed to think of her already as a flower, and the young Prince may have the ability to capture a being in a rose, but how did he intend to capture a rose, if she was already caught within herself? "Perhaps you should ask her yourself."
It was a moment like this, that Lord Cedric would only be able to send such a girl his kudos, because the Prince looked far more beautiful than he had in months: it would seem that every day that the young prince acted more beautiful inside, his flawless face would look a little more jaundiced. 'Lies can kill a person.' It had always been odd to Cedric, that one man could seem so moral in person, even despite the worlds tragedy around him. Prince Phobos didn't like to lie; he much preferred just to avoid the truth.[0]
[0] Just like Caleb.. O.o