Amar Fidgeted Staring up Again at the Stairs and Then Back Down at the Floor. in His Right

Chapter 1

Amar fidgeted staring up again at the stairs and then back down at the floor. In his right hand he twirled his gold pole. Across from him Dhalia was adjusting Jade’s robes and his blue sash. “I don’t feel comfortable with this,” she mumbled now and again. “This is so not traditional.”

“It can’t be helped,” Remus said. “He’s going to be fine. He will keep Maxine’s necklace on and he’s displayed a marvelous sense of control over his powers these past few months.

Dhalia made a disgruntled sound and continued to fuss over him. Beside her in another chair was Kriss swinging his legs as he waited. “Is Jade really going to be able to meet the Elementals, too?”

“He’s a Sorcerer,” Remus answered. “There is no risk of interference if it’s just dealing with a Sorcerer. You and Amar, though, are a different story. You may come along with us on the trip, but you will be spending the time waiting. Are you sure you want to come?”

“Disappointing,” Kriss said softly. “Still, a brief glimpse is better than nothing. Besides, I’m tired of being locked up in this castle.”

“No problem here,” Amar answered shortly, staring back up the stairs again, barely paying attention to the conversation. “Damn, how long does it take for one girl to get ready? Especially with all of those servants that you sent in there with her, Dhalia?”

“Sorceress Dhalia, thank you, warlock boy. You boys are getting much too comfortable with the Brotherhood and the Elementals for my opinion. Observe your honorifics and your manners.”

She was moody, go figure. The Sorceress in charge of Temperance couldn’t even keep herself in check.

“She will take as long as necessary,” she continued. “Getting dressed up for something like this takes time for a young lady. I hope the girl learns from the experience and enjoys it. She acts far too much like a boy in my opinion – no wonder being surrounded by guys all the time. Not healthy for her for her. She’s so pretty. She should learn to do more with it.”

He couldn’t agree more. Dear stars he was looking forward to seeing her all dolled up. He would have been content if only just to see her in a better outfit, but… a dress. And a dress that Dhalia had picked out for her. Maxine was very beautiful. He had seen her once, completely naked… it had been a fluke and an accident, but the image was forever imprinted on his mind. It was almost a sin that she wore the most simple peasant-like clothes that she could manage to find.

He was done waiting. He couldn’t stand another second of it. Leaving his gold pole behind he started up the stairs. “And just where are you going, Amar?” Jade’s voice shouted after him.

None of your damn business, he wanted to shout back at the Sorcerer. Instead, he didn’t even favor him with a response, ignoring him completely. He could hear Kriss’s giggle coming up the stairs. “Clearly patience is not a virtue that Amar possesses.”

Did he possess any virtues? That was almost laughable. He was a warlock and a murderer. The only reason Sorcerer Morkoth didn’t throw him in jail was because of Maxine and all that he had done to help.

He reached the top of the stairs and crossed over to her door, about to raise his hand to knock, but the door opened startling him. He stumbled back out of the way as several servants, talking and giggling amongst themselves, walked out of the room and disappeared down the hallway. He waited, but there was no sign of Maxine, and the door was left partially open.

Debating on just pushing the door open or knocking on it again, he finally just stepped inside calling out her name. “Maxine? It’s Amar. Can I come in?”

He heard a gasp and a small crash of something hitting the floor. “No!” Maxine’s voice squeaked. “No, so not ready!”

Except that she was. Oh dear stars, the sight that his eyes fell on as he entered was perfection. Maxine was standing in front of a vanity, a small jar of perfume laying on the floor. She was hunched over the vanity, though, so all he could see was her back. The dress looked like a simplistic white silk dress, completely strapless, a puffy bow in the back, the dress extending down maybe two inches past her knees. Come to think of it, he thought with a thrill, he had never seen her legs or her arms revealed like this. She usually wore long sleeved shirts and long pants. Besides the one time he had seen her naked briefly, this was the most skin he had ever seen. Setting to the side, not on her feet yet, were a pair of simple white slippers. Heh, right now even her feet were bare.

He crossed over to her. She was hunched over hugging herself tightly, not staring up into the mirror or wanting to turn around to meet him. Perhaps this was the best part. This wonderful beautiful girl that he had seen take on evil Sorceresses, a dragon, and even demons, was terrified right now all because she was in a dress.

“Maxine?” he asked gently. He reached out almost afraid, laying his hand on her bare shoulder. “Can I see?”

“I look awful,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I look so wrong… I… I don’t…”

He noticed that her hair was not in her normal braid. It was still up, but the dark locks flowed down from a ponytail, fluffed out, ribbons threaded into her hair, and berets to keep her bangs back on one side. It was hard to tell from this angle but he thought it might be a butterfly beret. “Trust me, if the front half of you looks as good as the back half, I doubt you look awful. Come on, let me see.”

It took a moment, a very long moment, before she drew in a deep breath and turned around slowly, dropping her arms, and standing up straight.

He had no idea that make up could make a girl look so different. Her lips were so much more red and her cheeks had a light blush, and her eyes were shadowed with a bright aquamarine color. With her natural tan there was not a whole lot of make-up that was applied, the servants obviously favoring simplicity. But she still looked incredibly different.

His eyes then dropped down taking in her dress. It was strapless as he had thought from the back view. The top held on by clutching her tightly around the waist with a thick light blue sash that had ended in the bow he had seen. The dress cupped her breasts, but it still provided a very tantalizing view of the tops of them. He could hardly keep himself from staring. Yeah, this was the most skin Maxine had ever displayed in her life. The skirt half that extended below the sash sparkled with tiny white diamond-like jewels that had been sewn in to the fabric, stylized into what appeared to be butterflies.

For jewelry she, of course, wore her dragon pendant – there was no way that was ever coming off of her beautiful neck – but she also had a small diamond and gold bracelet around her wrist, with some small rings. On her earlobes were clipped long dangling earrings that looked like lines of silk dazzled with tiny, needle-point diamonds that sparkled every time she moved her head.

“Do you like it?” she asked nervously, reaching up to her hair to touch it.

He caught her hand and pulled it down, desperately searching for his voice. But it was failing him. And then there was the smell of the perfume wafting off of her. To him Maxine had always smelled like rain on a spring day. That smell was still there, but now there was another scent. The scent of flowers. It was making him dizzy. Dizzy and confused. He couldn’t put his thoughts together. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but there was only one true thought in his mind.

Dear stars he had to kiss her.

Before he realized what this own body was doing, he had reached around with his left arm, catching her and pulling her close into him, his right hand caressing her face and titling her head just right as he pressed his lips to hers. She didn’t resist, either, instead melting in his arms. Heh, moron. Why wasn’t she tell him no? Was she just going to allow him to kiss her whenever he felt like it? It was the girl’s job to exhibit self-restraint, wasn’t it? This was going to be a very difficult relationship.

Knowing he should, he didn’t stop his kiss, instead pressing up tighter against her and deepening it, letting his right hand slide from her cheek, down her neck and shoulder, down her back, feeling all of that wonderful bare skin, and then the fabric of the dress. It wasn’t until his hand slid down to her rear that she made any movement to stop him. Her hand, which until then had been wrapped around him, reached back and grabbed his, trying to raise it. Feeling a little villainous inside he fought her keeping it there even longer, enjoying the feel until he finally gave up, moving his hand back up to the small of her back.

It was somewhere in their third or fourth kiss that Maxine brought them crashing back to reality. “Amar, honey, I think you’re getting a little too excited.”

Now?! She noticed this now?! Oh dear stars this was going to be a difficult relationship. Why? Why?! Why was she so slow?

He pulled away with a soft hiss, resting his forehead on top of hers. A thrill went up through him when he realized how perfect an angle this gave him to stare down at the top of her nearly-bare chest. Closing his eyes, he stood back up. “Honey?” he asked, his mind catching up with her words.

Maxine turned scarlet red. “T-that slipped. I mean… umm, I umm… wanted to call you that for a while… but I wasn’t sure…”

Oh dear elements, she could call him whatever sugary name she wanted if only she would let him kiss her again. Calm down, he told himself. Calm down, Amar. “Maxine, I’m a warlock and a murderer. I’m not sure if ‘honey’ should be applied to me.”

The disappointment in her eyes was visible and he felt himself fall inside, too. “Amar, I don’t think of you as a warlock and I definitely don’t think of you as a murderer. You’ve come so far since the first time we met. Look at how easy you smile now. I wish you would stop being so down on yourself.”

Because of you. It’s all you. What reason in the world would he have to not smile? She had rescued him from the dark place of his childhood. Had even freed him from his aunt. “Maxine, I don’t care if you call me ‘honey’ or any other name,” he said. “I’m glad even. It just doesn’t feel like it should apply to me.”

“Well I think it does,” she said with a small smile. “It’s the right of a girlfriend, I think.” She stepped back from him and looked down at her dress. “So, I guess you like it, then?” She picked at it. “I feel so naked.”

If only. “No, you look amazing, babe.”

Her eyes widened and she stared up at him. “Now that doesn’t apply to me.”

He gave her a malicious smile and pulled her back in his arms. “If you give me some flowery nick name, I’ve got a certain right to give you one right back.”

“But… ‘babe’? That makes me sound way too sexy.”

How in the world did this girl think of herself? “You are. Damn, Maxine, take a look at yourself in the mirror. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met.”

She turned and looked then looked back up at him. “Many of the girls back at the academy were much prettier.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

She fumbled for a bit, staring down at the floor, and then back up at him. “You and Jade are the only guys who have ever said that to me.”

Yeah, because the assholes at the academy were really the sort of guys to go by. He wished he could go back to that school and pummel the shit out of the people who used to torture her. A bunch of rich pompous asses who had found someone to take their aggression out on. He had a feeling that they probably did notice her looks and that had only added fuel to the fire. Being attracted to an orphan who had the status of school troublemaker. He had no doubts there were other orphans just as unskilled as her with poor grades, but because she was so vibrant in everything that she did she just stuck out.

“It’s bad enough that I have to deal with Jade. I’m glad there’s no other guy that noticed. Their loss.” He clicked his tongue then, his stomach flipping at the thought. “Damn… Jade’s going to see you like this.”

She gave him a confused look. “Umm, everyone’s going to see me like this. That’s kinda the point.”

Yeah, but only Jade was going to stare at her with that same look. “Isn’t this skimpy? It’s autumn now,” he grumbled, staring at the chest. “Aren’t you going to get cold? Maybe we should have them re-think this.”

“Amar, it’s only the start of autumn and we’re going close to Isana. I know up here it’s already feeling chilly, but trust me, it gets cold a lot later in that region. It’s going to be uncharacteristically warm. Which is good since you and Kriss won’t even be allowed inside the shrine, I suppose.” She turned around and picked up a cloth and licked it and then reached up to his lips. “You’ve got lipstick on you,” she said starting to clean it for him.

There was something wrong with him. There really was. He couldn’t stop wanting to pull her into his arms again. That wicked perfume was starting to mess his thoughts up again. Why couldn’t he maintain control! He reached up and took the cloth gently from her hand. “Here, babe, why don’t you let me take care of this.”

“I almost got it,” she said.

“Yeah, but if you continue to stand this close to me I don’t think it’s going to matter in a moment.”

She stepped back looking highly amused. “You really like this dress, don’t you?”

“I think Aunt Alain was right. You’re doing yourself an injustice not dressing up.”

She pressed herself up against him with a wicked smile. “Maybe if you’re a good boy I’ll talk to Dhalia. This could be fun messing with you like this. Now I see why she did it with Ares.”

Oh dear stars… he was going down, he knew it. He was going to lose himself and she was going to laugh at him the entire time as she tortured him.
***

Dammit… dammit… dammit! Seeing Maxine dressed up like this and not able to touch her the way that Amar could was a new personal hell. They had not stopped holding hands since they had come down the stairs. He would kill to have Maxine stare up at him with that same vapid expression.

The way that she had done when they had shared their first kiss that day so long ago in the caves back in Dragon Canyon. He cursed himself yet again. Why? Why had he not gone with them?! He had been a coward, trying to escape a Fate that he didn’t want. Now he was trapped in that Fate and he had no Maxine, either.

“You’re awfully quiet,” a voice spoke beside him.

Because it was considered ‘bad manners’ to just use a Janus Key to arrive suddenly on an shrine sight, they had warped to a nearer location in a town where Ares was already waiting with horses for them to take them the rest of the way. The party consisted only of him, Maxine, Amar, Kriss, and the two Elementals.

He looked up surprised to see that it was Elemental Remus speaking to him. He flushed bright red still not quite accustomed to be spoken to by an Elemental. Granted the two had been in his life for a couple of months now, but they mostly dealt with Maxine, talking to him only long enough to provide instruction. “I’m fine,” he mumbled.

“You sure? Because the sour look on your face says otherwise.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just… wallowing in self-pity and chewing myself out a bit. I just… Have you ever wished there was a moment in time you could rewind back to and change a decision that you made?” Then he winced and looked up at Remus. “Uh… well, I guess you could do that, huh? Nevermind.”

“I’m the Elemental of Time, but not even I risk turning back time no much how I might desire to do so. I told you I was there the day that the door to Tartarus was open. There are times I wonder if I had just tried I might have been able to risk it changing the events of that day.”