Desmondesa walked down the narrow bridge that went over Terkel pond and was awed at how beautiful it was, with water lilies floating around, frogs leaping, their slimy bodies glistening as they hopped, how she wished...

She glanced at devon who walked beside her, head held low and told him for the umpteenth time

"nobody is going to recognize you,devon"

"i hope so"

"look... i didn't mean those things i said"

"yes, you did" he gazes into her eyes and she finds herself unable to look away

"watch out" he says and grabs her waist, she is about to pull back and give him a piece of her mind when she notices the horned cobra right in front of her, hissing at them, if she had taken a step forward and had been bitten, she would be dead in three minutes or less

"i... Thank you"

"yeah"

He says but his arms are still wrapped around her waist, she glances down at them, devon who had the skinniest arms she had ever seen now had muscles,what a surprise, her cheeks grow red as a passerby chuckles at them and mutters something about young love

"you can uh let me go now"

"oh" devon says and immediately releases her, she blinks as the feeling of warmth slowly fades away

"sorry" he says sheepishly

"i... Its Okay"

She begins her walk, slowly this time, what was wrong with her, she had imagined seeing devon again and this was not how it went, it was supposed to be hugs and kisses, instead she had completely broke down, threw a dagger at him and now the awkwardness was overwhelming

As she searched for words to break the silence, devon was in his own little world, how stupid was he? How could he have left?, and with xàra... Gods, how he wished he could go back in time, rewind the clock,he wonders if desmondesa knows he was responsible for the death of her sister and her mother, if she knew, what would she do?? Would she want him dead?? Probably...

He should have said something, done something to stop xara back then but he had told himself he had no choice because he couldn't betray a friend as she would be killed once found out, now he wished he had said something, he had seen the look of hurt on lekan's face when he had found out a tad too late, when he had found out devon had known but had kept it a secret...

Desmondesa stops and buys some fishsticks, ‹fish on a stick, what a drag› devon blinks when tears come to his eyes

"devon... Are you okay??" desmondesa asks concerned

Devon looks up

"not really..."

"cheer up, a carnival is supposed to be a place of high spirits"

Devon smiles at that

"you look good"

"i... Thank you"

Desmondesa blushes slightly, she's wearing a blue and white gown and wooden slippers

"come on, the play's about to start"

Devon stands and desmondesa glances at him

"are you crying?" she asks shocked

"allergies... Must be those fishsticks" devon says and blinks a few times

"oh, sorry" she says and tosses the fish sticks into a nearby gutter

"much better" devon says with a smile

"come on" she says and subconsciously holds his hand, not realizing she's doing so

They walk hand in hand to the theatre and are at the door when an artist approaches them

"you must be a couple? Yes?"

"i... U h...n o, n o...we..." desmodesa stutters

"no" devon says

"But you are holding hands, are you not?"

"what..." desmondesa says before realizing they are holding hands, she blushes slightly then pulls back and regains her composure

"i assure you, we are not dating"

The artist ignores her and turns to devon

"Today we are celebrating love and if you wish we can have your portrait painted and put on that wall for all to see" he gestures to a wall with pictures of couples

"i don't know" devon says uncertainly

"good, they agreed!!"

"what!"

"what!"

Desmondesa and devon say simultaneously

The artist claps his hand and a canvas is brought

"move a bit closer to each other, hold her, look him in the eye, you too, move from there, a bit closer, hold him" he rattles off instructions to a confused devon and servants rush to get them into position

"you're in love are you not? show it"

"actually..." devon starts but is interrupted

"don't talk, gaze into those beautiful eyes and see the woman you love"

Devon chuckles inwardly and thinks{that shouldn't be hard}

"perfect!!!" the artist shouts in delight

"now señorita, are you going to just stand there looking flustered?, you know what just do that!!!" the artist starts to paint

Desmondesa is flustered, devon's hand tightens around her waist and she gasps wondering if they could do this for real, devon is smiling mischievously and his eyes are twinkling with amusement, desmondesa blushes as he holds her gaze and suddenly he leans in and his lips brushes against hers, she shudders as he smirks…

"perfect.[immortal moment] " the artist says and devon leans backward

"welcome one and all, to the ariq theatre, where all your sorrows dissapear!!!! We are privillaged to have with us.."

Someone yells announcing the start of the play and desmondesa still blushing stutters

"i… we… we should…go…play's starting"