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"I must thank youfor helping my cousin with that littleaccident she suffered a few years ago." Salem caught Ulrik by surprise. They had just been done settling a few of the matters concerning the trade and the remark seemed completely random.
Yet, it appeared that the remark did not cause Ulrik any discomfort and he only replied modestly. "She was in dire need of help and it would have gone against my beliefs to not help her." With that, he looked at Oliza as she gazed at him and caused her to look away from him instantly.
Salem nodded, quite unaware of the effect Ulrik had on Oliza. "She always has been quite disorderly at times." He looked at the flustered Oliza and a playful smile came across his lips, most likely as he thought on all the trouble they caused as children.
"Salem, it was only because I had you as an influence." Oliza laughed.
Ulrik looked at the exchange between the two cousins and could not help but smile himself. He had seldom seen Oliza smile in his presence but it appeared to be that Salem had lessened the tension that had been between them throughout the years.
Salem looked at Ulrik. "She says that now that she has become all well-behaved but she gave her parents very weary days at times." Salem chuckled as he looked back at Oliza. "At least, it was so until Nicias came into the picture. Why he made all of her suitors seethe with jealousy! In factm I was quite a bit jealous myself seeing as to how he had taken my partner in crime away."
Salem must have noticed Ulrik's slight confusion as to who Nicias was because he then added. "Nicias was her guard as soon as he was capable oftaking such a responsibility.He's a good guy and to some, as perfect as they come and always at her side." He looked at Oliza and added. "You know, if it wasn't for the fact that he is a falcon, and a royal one at that, I'm sure your past suitors would have loved to be quite rid of him when pursuing you."
Oliza shook her head. She looked at Ulrik, forgetting for a moment of the discomfort between them, and attempted to clear the matter. "He is my best friend. He is very much like the brother I never had." She looked at Salem's crestfallen expression and then added. "But only second to you, Salem."
Salem looked out through window and noticed how time quickly had passed. He had come to Oliza when it had still been morning and already it had become afternoon.
"I have to go." Salem rose from where he was sitting and looked at Oliza who looked at him pleadingly in order to make him stay.
Ulrik, sensing Oliza's discomfort attempted to stand from where he sat as well but Salem placed his arm on his shoulder, indicating him to remain seated.
"I must look for Loeiza. I promised her that as soon as I returned to Wyvern's Court that I would look for her." He then looked at Oliza. "Besides, you have been tiring yourself with work ever since morning. So I'll leave you both together to reminisce about old times."
Finally, after Oliza's silent and failed pleading, Salem excused himself from the room and left. Oliza cleared her throat and attempted to hold on to the light mood that had been in the room.
Ulrik chuckled softly. "It seems that you and Salem have had quite the adventures together."
Oliza looked down at her hands and grinned before looking up. "We were raised together as children. I had missed his company."
Ulrik looked at Oliza carefully. Her melancholy tone at the end of her last sentence caught his attention. "You don't see him often?"
Oliza shook her head in reply. "He loves to travel and I have been preoccupied far too much." She laughed softly.
"And what of Nicias?" Ulrik added.
Oliza had expected him to bring him up and so his question did not surprise her. Nicias had been like her shadow for many years and she had relished in the comfort of it. After all, not even Salem would ever fully understand her as Nicias would.
She appeared to hesitate before answering Ulrik's question. She adored Nicias but more often she would see less of him. In some sense, it appeared as if he was trying his best to avoid her.
"He is no longer my guard and instead has my cousin to watch over instead." The word cousin came out of her lips with a bit of difficulty. It still took her a bit of effort to consider Hai her cousin though strangely, Hai had been strangely pleasant in her demeanor. It was almost as if Hai was finally starting to want to belong but Oliza sensed that her intentions for such a change were not clear enough yet.
"Watch over Salem?" Ulrik asked.
She shook her head. "No, Hai. It is a long story but she is the daughter of my father's late brother… and she is also a mix. Half-cobra and half-falcon. Not the best combination." Her voice lowered a bit at the last sentence. She knew that Hai suffered due to her parentage, it had been quite obvious.
"I have heard of them before but have never met one." Ulrik said quietly.
Oliza stood from where she sat and walked around the room. She had been sitting for a while now and she needed to stretch her legs. She pulled a few strands of her dark hair from her face back and then bit her lip. Slowly, the odd feeling of discomfort began to set in as she realized that she and Ulrik were alone.
"How is Auria?" she asked akwardly. Maybe, by bringing Auria into the conversation, that odd feeling of longing would leave her.
Ulrik cleared his throat. "She is well."
Oliza heard him shuffle in his seat and then finally heard him stand as well.
"I have never told you this before." Ulrik laughed soflty. "In fact, I don't think I ever had the chance to do so."
Oliza turned to look him. He stood there before her as he stood there at loss of words. "What is it?" She attempted to smile to hide her unease and not sound so harsh.
"I know you watched over me during the Ordeal. You were there throughout nearly everything." He looked at Oliza, his silver-gray eyes leaving her frozen in her place as he walked towards her. He placed his hand on her cheek and ran it through her hair and then through the soft feathers at the nape of her neck. The warmth of his body so close to her sent a shiver down her spine and she closed her eyes as she heard him speak.
"You gave me strength that day to do what I did. I believe that if you had not been there, I would have lost all confidence." His words, softly spoken into her ear, left her speechless. She had gone to see over him recklessly but she did not care. Just as she did not care now that she had him so close to her. And when she finally felt his lips caress hers in a soft kiss, she let herself let go one more time. It was what she had feared but it was also what she had longed for all these years.
The small laugh of a child running nearing the room pulled Oliza from her trance and away from Ulrik. It was Loeiza and she would not risk her daughter seeing her behave such way. Just a few moments after they separated, Loeiza ran into the room and to her mother's arms.
"What do you have here, my darling?" Oliza looked at the small golden melos her daughter held on to, no doubt Salem's present. Loeiza had dreams of being one of the best dancers in the court as she got older and the present had more than pleased her. Of course, it was beautiful, with small golden designs at the tip with a large figure of a wyvern in flight in the middle. Besides dancing, her daughter loved gold most of all as was expected. After all, Avaram had lavished her with small golden trinkets since her birth.
She looked at Ulrik as she held her daughter in her arms and noticed his discomfort. Of course, it would not be the last time she would see him and he would still need to stay at Wyvern's Court for a few more days to look over at his merchants. She hoped that she would have another chance to speak to him alone once more.
"Look how it flows!" Oliza's attention went back to her daughter. Loeiza played with the melos and in her innocence, she would never realize the tension between her mother and Ulrik.