#apprentice ella

Beatrice is in the library again. The book in her hands seems to be written in a language she can’t understand but that’s not unusual these days. It’s freezing cold in the library, colder than usual and her cloak doesn’t seem to make things any better. 

Lysander sits across from her, seemingly focused on his own book, but she feels his gaze on her. Beatrice doesn’t look up, not wanting to be caught staring. She tries to devote herself to her work again, but the words just swim across the page. Finally, she gets fed up and decides to ask Lysander for help.

“Lyse could you help me with this? I think I’m having trouble parsing the nominative from the genitive case in this passage,” She explains, trying to keep her voice steady. He looks up to meet her glance and nods, but instead of holding his hand out for the book he stands and makes his way around the table to stand behind her. He stands close, and when he leans down to look over her shoulder their faces are only inches apart.

“Which passage?” He asks, and his voice that close to her ear makes her suppress a shiver. 

“Um, this one here,” She points to it, though if she’s being honest the entire book is impossible to understand. He says nothing for a moment and when she looks up at him she finds his eyes on her instead of the book. “Do you think it’s similar to Prakran? That’s my best guess,” She tries to stay focused, but with him this close her brain feels like it's running in slow motion. 

“Hmmm..” Lysander muses as if he’s thinking about her question, though it’s clear he’s not. His dark eyes burn with an intensity she’s really never seen from him, and she can’t look away. He leans towards her then, and all she can see is Lysander, all she can smell is earl grey. She finds herself echoing the movement, leaning towards him almost unconsciously. Beatrice thinks she should say something to break the tense moment, but Lysander hasn’t moved an inch and his eyes are now focused on her lips.  

“I’m sorry-” She starts to say, intent on moving back to give him space, but her words are cut off by his lips pressing to hers.

Her brain completely short circuits and she freezes, stuck in place as he kisses her. His hand comes to rest on the side of her face and she’s too shocked to even kiss him back. His lips are softer than she would’ve thought, and warm, so warm, against hers. When he pulls away a second later he lingers, resting his forehead against hers and she sighs, then leans in to kiss him again, properly this time. Just before their lips connect she’s startled by a loud noise that sounds like someone knocking on the library door and Lysander stumbles backwards away from her. 

And Beatrice wakes up.

She’s disoriented at first and looks around the room, half expecting to be in the library. She finds herself in bed in her usual guest room at the palace, no Lysander in sight. 

“It was a dream, that didn’t actually happen,” She whispers to herself, shaking her head to try to rid herself of the fog of sleep. She mentally chides herself for dreaming about Lysander in that way, even if it was just a simple kiss. Still, she finds herself quite flustered and more than a little disappointed that it was only a dream.

“Beatrice?” A voice calls at the door, a knock sounding against the wood. That explains the source of her disturbance. Beatrice groans and rolls out of bed, grabbing her robe from the chair in the corner. She ties it closed as she opens the door.

“Oh, good morning,” Beatrice says, her tired face morphing into a smile at the sight of her friends Leila and Ella standing in the hallway in front of her.

“Good morning to you too, Beatrice. You were supposed to meet us an hour ago,” Leila smiles, looking only slightly annoyed.

“It’s not like you to be late, we thought we should stage a rescue mission,” Ella says, “Are you feeling alright?” 

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Beatrice apologizes, another thing to mentally chide herself about later, “I’m feeling fine, I’ve just been a bit overtired lately.” 

“Are you sure? I could ask Julian to check just in case, you’re not getting sick are you?” Leila asks in concern.

“I’m fine, I promise!” Beatrice tries to laugh it off, but truth be told she’s still a little dizzy from her dream and from waking up so suddenly.

“Actually, you do look a bit flushed, Beatrice,” Ella inspects her face, which only makes her flush more.

“You two worry too much, I don’t feel sick at all,” She smiles, waving off her friends. “I’ll be dressed and ready in a minute, I’m sorry for the delay.” Beatrice disappears back into her room to try to gain some composure before she has to face her friends again.

“Do you think she’s ok?” Ella asks once Beatrice has shut the door behind her.

“She has been a bit off lately, but I think I know why,” Leila smiles knowingly and simply says, “Lysander.” 

“Those two! Will they ever figure out that they like each other?” Ella laughs, “They’d be cute together if they could ever get their heads out of a book long enough to notice.” 

“Let’s just hope Beatrice is patient, Lysander will take his time,” Leila says with the endearing smile that always appears when she’s talking about her brother. 

When Beatrice steps out of her room a minute later, fully dressed and looking much more composed. Leila and Ella turn to give each other a look that seems to say “let’s talk about this later”. Beatrice is in better spirits now, and as the girls walk towards the palace gates their conversation turns to their plans for the day.

It’s been too long since the three of them had seen each other for more than just a short catch up over a cup of tea, so they’d decided it’s high time for a girl’s day out. The first stop is the marketplace to pursue the clothing stalls, Beatrice isn’t usually a fan of shopping but no doubt the company of her friends will make it more enjoyable. 

Ella heads straight for a dress stall that displays a wide selection of blue fabrics, her favorite color, and the other girls follow behind. She holds up a dark blue dress, inspecting how it looks in front of a mirror.

“That’s beautiful Ella!” Leila smiles, reaching out to feel the silky fabric, “It’ll look great with your eyes!”

“Which eye?” Beatrice jokes and Ella scoffs at the comment, rolling her multicolored eyes. “I’m sorry I had to.” 

“You really didn’t need to, that was a terrible joke,” Leila laughs, busy looking through a rack of black dresses.

“Were you planning to attend a funeral, Leila?” Ella says as Leila holds up a particularly gaudy lace number. 

“Here Leila, these look more your style,” Beatrice gestures to the rack of more colorful items she’s currently looking through. She pulls out a cream colored dress that looks exactly her style, with little puffed sleeves and delicate lace details.

“Oooh Beatrice, you have to try that one on!” Ella gushes. Beatrice lifts it off the rack to inspect it further and finds that it has an incredibly low cut neckline and she balks, not her style after all. 

“Noooo- now you really need to try it on,” Leila grins, a look of mischief in her eyes. 

“I don’t know, it’s probably a little too revealing,” Beatrice frowns, she usually dresses pretty modestly.

“Come on Beatrice! You dress like a grandma sometimes, a pretty grandma, but still a grandma.” Leila says, pulling the dress back off the rack. Beatrice grimaces but laughs, she knows it's true.

“I’m sure you’d catch Lysander’s eye in this dress,” Ella teases and Beatrice immediately flushes and turns away from her friends, busying herself in the clothing racks.

“Oh I don’t know, she seems to be doing that just fine on her own,” Leila adds, still inspecting the low cut dress.  

“Lysander wouldn’t notice me if I walked into the library in my underwear,” Beatrice grumbles under her breath,“Nothing could tear him away from his research.” 

“Now that’s the spirit, Beatrice!” Ella laughs and Leila joins in, “Just walk in there in your underwear and-”

“Ok fine! I’ll try it on,” Beatrice interrupts, holding her hand out for the dress. Leila and Ella squeal in excitement and wait for her to emerge from the dressing room. When she comes out in the dress they ooh and ahh and she can’t help but admit, the dress does look good on her. She decides to buy it, and if she has the reaction of a certain dark-haired research partner in mind, that’s her secret.

“What about this one?” Ella asks, holding up a beautiful red dress with a deep slit up the side as she looks in the mirror.

“Ohh trying to catch Lachlan’s eye now, are you?” Beatrice teases, thinking of Leila’s other older brother who had piqued Ella’s interest at the masquerade.

“Stop..” Ella blushes, and adds defensively, “I’d be buying this for me!”

“There’s no accounting for taste when it comes to your crush on him,” Leila rolls her eyes, but her smile betrays her joke, and genuine care for her friend’s happiness.

“Well let’s find you something for Julian then? It’s only fair,” Beatrice says, “Though you already look good in anything.” 

“Why Beatrice, are you flirting with me?” Leila says in mock surprise and Beatrice just shakes her head in exasperation, “I do believe you’ve got the wrong Lonan!” 

“I was trying to compliment you, but I guess I’ll keep my thoughts to myself,” Beatrice laughs, and Leila reaches a hand out to grab hers, squeezing gently.

“I know, Beatrice, thank you,” Leila says with a genuine smile, a bit embarrassed as she always is when someone compliments her. 

When they’ve finally decided on their purchases they head to their next stop to get lunch. There are more bad jokes and plenty of gossiping about palace life, and by the time they get back to the palace late that afternoon Beatrice is already a bit drunk from all the wine she’s had. Ella has the great idea to keep the night going, and they all agree. They run into Nadia on their way into the palace and invite her to join them, but she politely declines and tells them she’ll send her best wine over later. 

“We should wear our new dresses, just for fun,” Ella suggests and they all agree. Sufficiently glammed up, the girls retire to one of the many empty sitting rooms in the palace. Beatrice lounges on one of the couches, glass of wine in hand, listening to Leila recount a funny story about a customer who once ordered ten cups of tea in the span of twenty minutes. “I don’t know how he managed to drink all of them so fast, the tea was boiling hot!” Leila explains and the girls erupt into giggles.

“He must’ve been very thirsty!” Ella laughs, downing the rest of her wine.

“Who’s thirsty?” A voice says from the doorway. Beatrice turns to look at the door and sees Leila’s brother Lachlan standing there, a confident grin on his face. “Looks like a party’s happening and I wasn't invited!”

“Get out Lachlan, this is a girl’s only event!” Leila says and he laughs in response. 

“No it’s not!” Ella calls, suddenly sitting up with a smile on her face. “He can stay if he wants, right?” 

“If he must,” Leila sighs, but her smile once again betrays her true feelings.

“He must!” Ella says, already pouring a glass of wine for him.

The night’s revelries continue. Lachlan regales them with stories of his life on the sea, Nadia sends more wine. Meanwhile Beatrice snoozes on the couch, drifting in and out of the festivities and trying not to spill red wine on her new dress. At one point she thinks she hears Lysander’s voice and her eyes shoot open, but she assumes it was just a dream. She’s surprised the next time she opens her eyes and finds him actually standing in the doorway.

At some point Ella and Leila have managed to create a new game out of the empty wine bottles where the goal is to knock down as many as possible with a ball. Lachlan and Ella seem to be tied for winners, and Leila has given up and is dutifully trying to clean a pile of broken glass. Lysander stands watching with his head tilted slightly to the side like he does when he’s trying to solve a difficult problem. He notices Beatrice and gives her a nod in greeting.

“Lachlan you’re cheating!” Ella calls from across the room and Beatrice’s attention is drawn by the noise.

“You dare insult my honor?” Lachlan jokes. “I promise Ellanora, I am a perfect gentleman.” 

“Yeah, and how many women have you said that to before?” Leila grumbles, collecting the broken pieces of bottle with a slight gust of air provided by her magic.

“Can you keep it down, I’m trying to nap,” Beatrice mutters and Leila laughs as she walks over to sit on the end of the couch.

“I think we need to call it a night before Lachlan breaks something else.” Leila sighs, watching her brother struggle to balance a bottle on his head.

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” Beatrice says, stifling a yawn. She sits up and notices that Lysander’s still watching from the doorway, a look of slight disapproval on his face as he watches Lachlan trying to impress Ella. She’s suddenly hit with the memory of her dream from the night before and finds that she can’t look at him anymore without remembering the ghost of his lips against hers, the memory of something that’s never happened.

“I’ll make sure Ella makes it back,” Leila smiles fondly, watching Ella humming to herself as she gathers up the bottles. “And Lysander can walk you back.”

“Oh, no Leila, there’s no need-” Beatrice starts, but Lysander is already making his way across the room to her. “Oh, hello!” she manages to squeak out.

“Hello, need an escort?” Lysander gives her a smile and she has to force herself to meet his eyes to reply.

“Sure, that would be very nice of you,” She returns the smile. Focus on his eyes not his lips, she reminds herself, don’t be weird.

“Lysander, isn’t Beatrice’s dress nice?” Leila grins as Beatrice stands up from the couch and tries to smooth her skirt down.

“Leila stop it,” Beatrice hisses under her breath and Leila just smirks and walks over to join Ella and Lachlan, leaving her alone with Lysander.

“Yes, it is a beautiful dress. It reminds me of a painting I saw at a museum back in Umbra…” And he’s off, talking about the artist and fashion history and sumptuary laws, so Beatrice is blessedly saved from the embarrassment. The conversation lingers on for the entire duration of their walk back to her room and she’s trying to ignore how equally endearing and frustrating Lysander can be. 

“We can go there together,” Lysander says as they reach her door, “to the museum, I mean. If you’d like to.”

“I’d love to go with you!” Beatrice says, perhaps a beat too quickly. 

“There’s so much I’d love to show you when you visit Umbra someday,” He smiles.