PeaceMaker

Annabeth followed silently behind Adria, her hand still trembling. She was nervous, beyond nervous even. She had the slightest notion of what was going to happen next but whenever she looked up at Adria's back… her tall back with her long silky hair rolling down her back, right about the curve of her body… whenever she looked up at that woman, she trembled. The scene earlier flashed into her head. 

'That touch…' Annabeth thought to herself as her hand lightly touched her chin. 'It was…'

"Told you I was going to talk to you later, didn't I?" Adria chuckled, walking into the hallways, out of the ballroom. "It took a while… I'm sorry."

Annabeth flinched, her head bowing down on reflex. "Nonono, your highness. Don't apologize for that."

"Your highness?" Adria repeated with a light laugh in her voice as she turned around to face Annabeth, "are you sure you like calling me that?"

Annabeth shuddered when her gaze met with Adria's. 'Just piercing blue eyes…' she thought to herself as her attention was being drawn into Adria. 'She feels… unreal.'

Adria cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing as she peered at Annabeth. "Hello,~~ losing your focus there love."

Annabeth jumped a little at Adria's wake-up call. Her head lowered as her cheeks brightened. "Right… sorry.."

'How cute…' Adria thought to herself as she peered down at Annabeth. 'Too cute…' She turned back around and continued her walk down the hallway. "I'm sorry."

Annabeth's head raised up immediately, a look of confusion on her face. "Y-you're sorry?? What for your highness?" she asked, her voice wavering a bit from anxiety. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing for not referring to you correctly earlier."

Adria chuckled, her head turning slightly to look back at Annabeth. "Quite the nervous and cute one you are, aren't you?" she teased to which Annabeth blushed. Adria turned back around, the smile remaining on her face. "No, I'm talking about before that. I didn't tell you about my identity. It must have shocked you when you saw me up there beside his royal highness."

"Nonono! I apologize for not being able to rec- uh… For not knowing you were the prince's fiance," Annabeth stuttered. 

"Really?" Adria grinned. 

"Y-yes… I should have known once I saw you that you weren't a simple noble," Annabeth chuckled lightly. 

"Hmm~" Adria hummed, her voice humming in a singsongy way. "Really? Why would that be so?" she asked, turning on her heel to face Annabeth.

Annabeth blushed, her head turning to the ground again with the blush on her face. "Because of your beauty. It was something… unreal. Like a goddess of some sort, like you weren't even meant to be on this earth…"

Adria stared at Annabeth blankly for a moment before a little laugh escaped her lips. "A flatterer aren't you?"

Annabeth blushed. "Only to her highness."

To that. Adria smiled, her head nodding towards a little door. "This way."

Annabeth silently followed Adria into the little room, her heart thumping intensely in her chest as she stepped into the room. 'We're alone…' she thought to herself, 'I'm alone with her highness…'

The room was quite small, bare in fact and darkly lit by the moonlight coming from the huge window on one of the walls. Adria walked towards the window and carefully, felt around the wall beside the window until her fingers rested on top of an area of the wall.

POP

The window popped open and Adria slowly pushed it wider. "Ah…" Adria muttered as a wind flowed through her long locks. "That feels nice…"

Annabeth watched from behind Adria, her face frozen in awe. Adria took in the moonlight, her dark skin lit up so beautifully by the white light the moon cast on her face, her icy blue eyes seemed to be enhanced, their brightness intensifying. They stood out like gems on Adria's face. 

"Doesn't it?" Adria asked, turning back to look at Annabeth. A smile spread on her face when she locked eyes with the starstruck Annabeth. "What is it?"

"Y-you look stunning… your highness," Annabeth muttered, her fingers clenching into a fist. "So...alluring… arresting really."

Adria stared at Annabeth for a moment before bursting into laughter. 

"HAHAHHAAHAHAHAH," she chortled, her voice bouncing off the close walls of the room. In front of her, Annabeth watched intently, her eyes sparkling as she gazed up at Adria. 'Even her laugh sounds bewitching…'

Adria's finger wiped under her eye for the little tear that was running down her face. "Oh my.. Haha… wow… you're so entertaining…" Adria chuckled, looking up at Annabeth. "It would be amazing if I could have you around me all the time, I'd be smiling intensely all the time."

Annabeth's blush brightened and her eyes fell to the ground. "I would lov-"

"But then again, you might grow tired of me," Adria grinned, "afterall, a repetitive presence can be annoying."

"What?!" Annabeth exclaimed, a look of disbelief crossing her face. "I could never!" 

Adria's eyes settled into a calm watch on Annabeth, her blue eyes gazing directly at her, watching her. Observing her. 

"Really?" Adria asked, her voice calm in a way that was both unsettling and intoxicating. Like a spell almost. "You'd never get tired of me?

Annabeth immediately nodded her head. "Of course not, your highness! How can someone get tired of you?"

Adria stared at Annabeth for a moment, her head tipping to the side. "That's good…" she smiled, turning to face Annabeth, her steps slowly walking towards her. She paused in front of Annabeth, her hypnotizing blue gazing deeply into Annabeth's eyes. Her hand raised to Annabeth's face, her finger touching under her chin lightly and lifting up her face slightly. "... Because I like you."

Annabeth stood frozen, her gaze completely locked in on Adria. The words she spoke barely reached her ears. When they did, her eyes widened in surprise. "W-what?"

"I like you," Adria repeated with a little chuckle. She let go of Annabeth's chin and turned around, walking back to the window. "A lot really. I like you a lot."

Annabeth's heart raced, her cheeks heated intensely as she remembered Adria's touch on her chin. "You… like me?"

"Yes," Adria smiled, looking back at Annabeth for a moment before gazing up into the sky, her eyes landing on the moon hanging in the sky. "So you better not be lying. I hate people that lie, they make me frustrated… make me angry… make me feel… not really that good haha. So never…" 

Adria turned back to look at Annabeth, her cold eyes locking with Annabeth's sparkling eyes. "Never… betray me."

Annabeth flinched, her heart skipping a beat when she looked into Adria's eyes. It was terrifying, petrifying really. How such a gem… such beautiful eyes could that much coldness, that much power. That much detachment…

Annabeth's head bowed immediately along with her body. "I would never, your highness."

"No… not at her highness," Adria uttered, her voice descending a level. "As Adria. As the lady you met in the ball."

Annabeth looked at Adria with confused eyes for a moment before she understood. "I would never, Adria."

Adria smiled. "It's hard sometimes. Finding someone like you," 

Annabeth cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Someone like me?" 

"Yes… someone whose face holds such beauty, whose eyes can shine brightly. Someone who holds a lot more behind their smiles," Adria smiled, her eyes staring into Annabeth's eyes, "someone who carries a facade as flawlessly as you do," 

Annabeth froze for a moment, an emotion flashing through her eyes. 

Adria smiled. "There it is… that look in your eyes… that stare. It's so short but so interesting and compelling," she chuckled, walking towards Annabeth, her hand softly lifting up Annabeth's head slightly as her eyes got to look deeper into the ivy green, drowning out the barriers, breaking into her mind. "It's so beautiful, your eyes."

Annabeth gazed up at Adria, her facial expression settling as she looked at Adria. "My eyes?"

"Yes…. those scary little holes," Adria grinned, "I wonder if he saw them too…"