As my feet touch the ground, I dust myself off and begin to sneak away from the castle. When I finally reach the castle gates, I simply climb over them before running away quickly and quietly. After walking for about 20 minutes, I finally reach the center of the town nearest to the castle. There, a party is going in full swing. I’ve only ever been to boring balls, and thus, I decide to check it out. I quickly use the face and voice change spells and walk into the celebration happening on the streets as I try to piece together what is going on. I am quickly approached by a young looking guy, and I pray to Thalian that he isn’t a creep before turning to face him. “You look like you’re not supposed to be here. What are you doing in this town?” I was confused as to what he meant before looking down at myself and seeing that I was standing fully straight, with my hands crossed in front of me. I rolled my eyes. “What are you doing in this town?”, I playfully shoot back. He chuckles slightly. “Touche, touche. Vesper.” He reaches his hand towards mine. I smile at him shyly. “Ellie.” I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Ellie. Hope I haven’t made too bad of a first impression.” I look towards all the partying. “It could’ve been worse.” He laughs and looks towards the partying, too. “You want me to get you a drink? It could help you loosen up.” I chuckle at him and look back towards him. “How do I know you won’t spike my drink?” He looks up wistfully. “Well, for one, I’m not interested, and two, to really hammer that point down, I’m gay and not interested. Why, you want some of this?” He winks and rolls his hands down his body for dramatic effect. “Nah, dude. I guess you can get me that drink, then.” He smiles widely at me. “I’ll be back in a minute, princess.”
He walks off to go grab our drinks. I panic for a minute at the nickname before I realize that my face is disguised and he was probably just joking. I let out a breath that I have been holding since he left, and I just keep telling myself that it was a joke. He walks back up to me with two drinks in hand a minute later, smiling when he sees me. “I got you something I think you’ll like. Here, try it.” He holds the drink out to me and I take it reluctantly. I take a sip and I’m immediately shocked because I can’t taste any of the alcohol in it, and it is delicious. I smile at him sheepishly. “I do like it, thank you.” He smirks at me, before looking back at the party. “No problem, princess. So, what's on your mind tonight?” I look over at him. He has this curious expression on his face, like he actually wants to know the answer. I can’t really tell him the truth, though. “Just, the weight of the world feeling like it’s on my shoulders. Basic existential dread. Anything on your mind?” He smiles at me. It’s nice, small. “Just you.” I laugh lightly. “Why so interested in the likes of me, Vesper? I’m not that cool.” He looks at me again, like he’s studying me to make sure he never forgets a detail. It makes me feel slightly uncomfortable and I have the slight urge to squirm underneath his gaze, but I don’t. “You just look like you feel so out of place. Have you ever even been to one of these things?” I smile in a way that looks more like a grimace. “Not really. I don’t leave home much.” That is technically the truth. I almost never leave the palace. He smirks like he can finally understand me. “Okay, now I get you. C’mon, come dance with me.” He holds out a hand to me. I have to stifle my laughter at the fact that he thinks he gets me. “Okay, fine. Let's dance.”
I place my hand in his and roll my eyes as he pulls me towards the center of the chaos. Right as we get to where all of the dancing is happening, this fun, upbeat song that I’ve never heard starts playing. Vesper must see the look of confusion on my face, because he smirks and lightly giggles at me. “What’s wrong, Ellie? Never heard this song before?” I can tell by the tone of his voice that he’s amused. I nod at him. He smiles genuinely, like reassurance. “Well, that’s okay. Just follow my lead. You can do that, can’t you?” I smile lightly back at him and nod, suddenly very insecure about my ability to keep up with him. He takes my other hand and before I can understand what is happening, we start skipping around in a circle. Suddenly, he turns me and turns himself so that we are both facing each other’s backs and puts our arms over our heads. Just as suddenly as we stopped, we are skipping in a circle again, and I don’t think I’ve had this much fun in a long time. He looks over at me and sees me laughing and having the time of my life, and in turn, he smiles and begins to laugh too. I can’t even hear when the song ends, and I don’t register it until he stops me, still laughing. “C’mon, let’s go sit down.” He drags me away from the party, us both still giggling. He sits us down at a bench on the outskirts of the party. He looks over at me, smiling. “I’m glad you had fun. I think we should be friends. You seem cool on the inside.” I look over at him, smirking. “What am I on the outside, then?” He looks back towards the party. “Just guarded, nothing bad.” I roll my eyes, looking back towards the party. “We should be friends, but I have to go in a minute. When is the next one of these things? We can meet up there.” He looks over at me, curious. “Four days, same place. I’ll see you there, princess.” He stands up from the bench and begins to walk away from me and back towards the party. “Wait! How will you know how to find me?” He doesn’t stop walking, even as he turns back towards me and says, “I’ll just know. You’ll see me again, don’t worry, princess.” Then, he turns back towards the party and disappears in the crowds.
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I smile at myself lightly, before remembering the reason that I’m here in the first place. I begin to quietly make my way away from the party as I walk through the streets of this small town. Eventually, I come to a small building that looks abandoned and tattered. In that moment, I know I have found the perfect spot for my first piece. I take the spray paint out of my bag and get to work. Once I am done, the wall reads in big bright letters, “IS SHE OUR QUEEN? OR IS SHE OUR OPPRESSOR? IS THERE REALLY ANY DIFFERENCE AT ALL?” The goal of this is to make people think, and I pray that this will do that. So, with my first act of rebellion under my belt and a little less of the weight of the world on my shoulders, I begin to walk back home. When I arrive to the gates, I quickly and quietly climb back over them before climbing the wall of my tower and reaching my balcony with ease. Quickly and quietly, I flick my hand and take down the illusion spell. For a moment, I just sit there, the breeze blowing ever so slightly, taking in what I had just done. I just rebelled against my own mother. The thought is immediately followed by another. I actually went through with it.
I don’t know how long I sit out there. I just know that when I come to, Callista is sitting next to me. I panic for a second, before realizing that she is not upset, and probably doesn’t know what I have done. She looks over at me with a tired look in her eyes. “How are you, Elara? Truly, how are you feeling?” I sigh, loud enough for her to look concerned for a moment before I say, “I feel like I'm on top of the world.” She looks back towards the endless night sky, filled with stars. “That’s good, Elara.” I look over at her and I'm suddenly hit with a pang of worry. “How are you, Callista?” She has this sort of sad look in her eyes. “I’ll be okay, Elara. No need to worry about me.” Suddenly, I now know how she feels when I say that, because the worry has not gone away. It has only amplified, and it will only continue to amplify. I want to tell her that it’s okay to feel bad. I want to tell her that she can talk to me. I want to tell her how much she truly matters to me. However, I say none of it. Instead, I ask her a question. “Do you want to hear about the stars?” Her expression softens as the tension seeps out of her shoulders. She looks over at me and smiles. “I’d love to hear you talk about the stars, Elara.” I look up at the night sky, completely littered with stars. I point towards the brightest star above us. “Do you see that star right there?” I can tell that she has no idea which one I’m talking about, but she nods yes anyway. As I begin to ramble about all the stars and constellations, I can tell that this was what she needed.
By the time I have slowed down, the sun has already started to rise and Callista has readjusted so that her head is resting on my shoulder. She is completely asleep, which I envy greatly. My mind has not been able to quiet enough for me to fall into rest. I have been running my hand along her hair, and I continue to do so as I whisper in her ear. “Callista? Darling, it’s time to wake up.” I repeat this over and over again until she finally begins to stir from her slumber. As I continue to try to wake her, she just nestles her head into my chest and clings to me more, as if begging to stay asleep. If I could, I swear I would let her sleep here with me all day, but I can’t. “Darling, please. It’s time to get up now, okay?” She groans into my shoulder. When she finally sits up, she looks around dazed for a moment before realizing what is going on. Immediately, a blush graces her cheeks and she looks mortified. “I’m sorry, m’lady. I just had not had that good of sleep in a long time.” I try to restrain myself from laughing, and I mostly succeed. “It’s no worry, Cal. I’m glad you slept well. I was just waking you up because the sun is rising and we both have to be up soon for different things.” She smiles gently at me, an embarrassed blush still visible on her features. “Of course, El. I’ll get out of your hair. See you at some point today?” I smile at her gently as a warmth fills my chest. “Definitely.” She slips back into my room and makes a quick exit. After she leaves, I go back into my room and immediately collapse onto my bed. For hours, I lay there trying to process everything that happened tonight. One detail sticks out in my mind: I told Callista about the stars.