Chapter 117: Just the two of you out there, alone.

Across the hall, Diana was standing in the middle of a small group of noble daughters, all talking over one another in vibrant voices.

"Diana, you have to tell us." One of the girls whispered into her ear. "Did you really faint during the ceremony? I heard you did."

"No, I did not faint." Diana held on to her usual light tone. "And wherever you heard that, it is not true."

"Mother saw it herself." One of the girls said with wide eyes. "The whole hall was gasping."

"Your mother wasn't even at that ceremony." Another girl said to the first one, elbowing her gently. "Stop spreading secondhand rumors."

"I've spread secondhand rumors myself, and they are way more interesting." The first girl smiled. "Is it true Lord Nicole attacked somebody with lightning?"

"That, really, is not something we should talk about right now." Diana maintained with a steady smile, even though her fingers tightened on her own wrist a little.

"Of course, of course." The girl instantly retreated, holding up her hands. "Forget I asked. This is a happy night."

"A very happy night." Another girl slipped an arm around Diana's, redirecting the conversation completely. "Well then, tell us truly, did you buy that dress in the capital? It has way too fine a stitch on its sleeves to have been sewn anywhere near here."

"Yes, I did." Diana cast her eyes downward, thankful for the change of subject. "Mother insisted."

"Well, I thought as much." The girl flashed a smile, pleased. "You'll have to tell me who sewed it. I want one just like it before fall."

More laughter rang out among the group, and Diana smiled with the rest of them, laughing freely, though her eyes continued to drift past them occasionally, wandering idly among the crowd.

Then her eyes landed on her.

Dune was standing a few feet away at the dessert table, exactly where Barbra said she would be, looking intently at the enormous cake, as if trying to calculate how quickly she could get through it.

"May I step out for a moment?" Diana flashed the group a small smile and excused herself from the circle without allowing anyone a chance to argue with her as she gathered her skirts and moved across the room.

"Dune." She stopped beside her, watching the direction of her stare toward the cake. "Having fun?"

Dune did not take her eyes off the cake. "This is a very big cake."

"It is." Diana laughed a little bit. "You're more than welcome to have some, you know. Even several pieces, if you'd like."

This caught Dune's attention and made her turn toward Diana. "I may?"

"Of course you may." Diana's smile grew even larger now that she was further away from the group of nobility. "It's my birthday. It's my treat."

Dune looked slightly puzzled. "But Felix told me not to eat too much."

"One or two slices will be fine." She gestured to a servant standing nearby, and he promptly took two thin slices off the gigantic cake and put them onto a plate along with a little silver fork.

"You told me to." Dune took the plate and started eating, slow and precise, just like Felix had taught her.

Diana chuckled and lightly touched her shoulder with her finger. "This earing is very beautiful. Why only one of them?"

"From Felix. I don't know where the other one is." Dune answered while chewing on her food.

Diana looked at the surrounding crowd for a moment and gently guided Dune to the other side of the room. "Would you like some drink?"

"No. Felix said I shouldn't drink anything except if he passes it to me himself."

"That idiot," said Diana, shaking her head in frustration. "You don't have to fulfill everything that he says, okay? If there is anything that you want, just let me know."

"I understand."

As they came to a certain area in the hallway where the noises had died down and only the faint sound of music and conversation was heard, she turned back and then whispered, "Dungeon girl, there are some questions I want to ask."

"What are those?"

"Do you mind telling me where you went with Hakimi?" Her tone was rather light and casual. "And what kind of training did the two of you do?"

"We went to that area where there were lots of grass and trees. And there was a river on the left side." Dune took another bite of the cake. "He taught me how to use my Numen and how to fight right.

"For a full week." Her smile didn't budge an inch.

"Just the two of you out there, alone."

"Yes."

"Did you talk? Out there?"

"Yes, He talked a lot."

"About what?" Diana moved closer without being able to stop herself.

"Mostly about me," Dune responded bluntly. "He was interested in my opinion on certain things, how I feel about things, things that scare me."

Diana's fingers dug into her arm even more tightly. "Things that scare you."

"Yes, He wanted to know what scares me. Also what I dream about."

"He wanted to know what I dream about?" Diana's voice was lower now and something seemed to be squeezing her chest.

"He cooks for me every day," she continued obliviously. "He said that I need real food to get stronger. He is really good at it."

"Every night," Diana's voice rose higher than she intended.

"Yes. He remained close by as I slept," Dune delivered as she did everything else, flatly and without feeling. "In case I required anything."

"He remained close." Diana's face had stiffened; the smile she'd had before was gone. "The whole night."

"Yes. Every night that we were there."

"And in all that time?" The words were squeezed through Diana's teeth. "Did he never say my name once?"

Dune thought about this for a moment, forehead creased in concentration. "No. I do not believe so."

"Not once?"

"He never mentioned you that I can remember." Dune shook her head slowly. "He only inquired about me."

Diana stood motionless for several moments, staring at something unseen and trying to find words that would not emerge clearly.

"What wonderful consideration," she at last managed, her voice stretched tight as wire. "That he was so very thorough."

"Did he say anything else?" Diana's tone had softened, almost as though she was unraveling a mystery, piece by piece. "Something unusual. Something that felt unusual coming from him."

Dune took her time thinking about it, frowning in thought. "Once, he looked at my back. He said that he sensed something unusual there. That makes it difficult for me to train properly,"

"Unusual like?"

"He said that it was a seal of some sort." Dune turned her head. "He could tell that I'm different than most."

"How?"

"He would not say."

Diana clenched her jaw. "What else."

"One night, I woke up and he was already awake, staring at the fire." Dune's voice was even and untroubled, unaffected by the memory, even as she delivered it to Diana in increasing burdens. "I asked him what was wrong. He told me that there wasn't anything wrong. He just said that he found himself unable to stop looking sometimes."

"Unable to stop looking at what?"

"He said that I didn't need to worry about it."

Diana stopped breathing, and had to make herself ask the following questions slowly, carefully, not wanting to hear the answers. "Has he ever touched your face? Has he touched your hair?"

Dune hesitated, finally really hesitating, something in her expression changing slightly, uncertainly. "Yes. He wiped my hair from the eyes once before a training fight. Said it could hinder me."

"It was just training. Just that."

"Yes it was."

"You believe him." There was a crackle in Diana's voice when she said that word.

Dune raised her head, looking at Diana seriously now, as if considering the question, something slightly curious appearing in her deadpan expression. "Why do you care about this?"

Diana opened her mouth, but said nothing for a moment. "I don't care. It's completely irrelevant."

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms around her chest. For a minute, she looked off into the distance, jaw clenched, and then turned back around, posing another question.

"Dungeon girl." She locked her gaze on Dune's face. "What do actually think about Hakimi?"

Dune thought for a moment and she was about to speak, three young men wearing good clothes stepped towards them from the opposite side of the hall, forming a row in front of them, already smiling.

"Ladies." The first of them bowed respectfully. "Please forgive us for interrupting. We simply couldn't overlook the fact that you were standing here without a partner for the upcoming dance."

"Lady Diana." The second bowed deeply. "Would you honor me with a dance?"

"And you, miss, I think we haven't met yet." The third one smiled brightly. "I would love to have this dance with you."