Rosetta

"He was an odd one, was he not?" Jean asked me over the pot of soup boiling on the stove that night. He was wearing a bright white apron and periodically stirring the concoction while still managing to look over the sales, assets and conduct a conversation with his eighteen-year-old daughter Rosetta (me). I knew who he was taking about, the boy Mist had introduced to us in the store, Raguna, and I had been thinking about him all that evening.

"Indeed." I replied casually, setting plates on the table. In fact, my mind had been filled with swirling images of him ever since he had left earlier on that day. He had stammered through my questions, seeming unsure of his name and Mist had to tell us that he was from Sharance. It was as if he didn't know who he was. I wondered for not the first time if he was completely sober.

"Rosetta, would you help me with this?" her quiet father asked her, motioning with a wooden spoon to the soup in the pot. She quickly went over to dish it out, and told herself not to worry about him. He was a full-grown man after all, capable of caring for himself. Or was he?

Raguna

When I went to go open the door, there was a girl standing there. She wore a simple maid's uniform and had her hair tucked into her cap. Though she tried to hide it, I could tell that she was an elf; her ears rose in a point.

"Mister Raguna," she said quietly. "Miss Bianca de Saint-Coquille sent me to give you this letter." the slender maid said, handing me an envelope with gold leaf and what I took to be the de Saint-Coquille family crest stamped on it. I took it and thanked the girl, who curtsied and departed.

Inside, I opened the envelope and extracted a piece of cream-colored stationery with the same crest printed in the top left-hand corner. I read the loopy handwritten note. It said:

Mister Raguna,

I would be honored if you were to attend dinner with my family tonight at the de Saint-Coquille manor. Mayor Godwin, his daughter, Felicity, and my cousins Max and Rosalind de Saint-Coquille will also be attending. There will be dancing afterward.

I sincerely hope that you will honor us all with your presence.

Yours,

Miss Bianca de Saint-Coquille

I stared at the note for a minute before my still slightly intoxicated mind registered the meaning. I was going to a party at de Saint-Coquille manor, and I better look my best to impress a certain hostess named Bianca.