RIDDLES
1523 Words
AMARIS
I tried to focus on anything else—the marble floors, the way the chandeliers seemed to shimmer with starlight—but I could still feel him watching me. I told myself not to look again, but curiosity has always been my downfall.
So I did.
And he was already walking toward me.
The crowd seemed to part for him effortlessly, like the room itself had agreed he should have a clear path. Each step was calm, deliberate. There was no arrogance in it—just quiet confidence, the kind that didn’t need to prove anything.
When he stopped a few feet in front of me, the faintest smile curved his lips.
“You look like someone who doesn’t quite belong here,” he said softly, his tone edged with amusement rather than judgment.
I blinked, startled by the familiarity in his voice. “And..what do you mean by that ?” I asked, keeping my voice even, though I could feel the warmth creeping up my neck.
His smile deepened, eyes glinting. “Not in a rude way or anything, just that it’s my way of saying you don’t hide as well as the others. you don't exactly...blend in”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I tilted my head, trying to keep my composure. “I'll take that as a compliment, but what makes you so certain I’d want to hide?”
“Because I tried to, once,” he said easily. “Didn’t work either.”
I almost laughed, smiling instead I thought "maybe he's as introverted as I am" I thought as I let out a quiet exhale. There was something disarming about him, as if he could take the tension of the room and turn it into something lighter without losing its depth.
“Do you always approach strangers with riddles?” I asked, finally meeting his gaze directly. Wondering what he is playing here.
“Only the interesting ones,” he replied. “Though I suppose it’s unfair to call you a stranger when I already feel like I’ve met you before.”
That line—so casual, yet it struck me like a chord. "well I doubt we met before" My pulse stumbled again.
I tried to smile, polite and controlled. “Then maybe you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
He studied me quietly, his expression softening. “Maybe. Or maybe the mistake would be pretending I haven’t.”
For a moment, the silence between us said more than words ever could. The music in the background faded into something distant and ethereal, like the world was holding its breath.
Finally, he extended his hand, a small smirk tugging at his mouth. “Prince Elias,” he said, as if it were an afterthought.
I hesitated, then placed my hand in his. “Amaris.”
His fingers brushed mine—just barely—but the touch was enough to send a ripple through my chest. Familiar. Wrongly familiar.
He grinned, playful again. “Amaris,” he repeated, like he was testing how my name felt on his tongue. “Now that sounds like trouble.”
I smiled this time, faint but real. “Only if you’re looking for it.”
“I am..if it's with you,” he said, eyes still on me.
I rolled my eyes "that's cute, enough of the flirting" I said with a smirk and looked at him again as I heard him laugh.
And for the first time that night, I didn’t want to look away.
AMARIS
For a moment, neither of us spoke. It wasn’t awkward—just… suspended. Like the air between us was deciding whether to let this continue.
Elias was the first to break it.
“So, Amaris,” he said, still holding my hand just long enough for me to notice before he let go. “Who brings a human to a place like this?”
I blinked and titled my head, unsure if he was teasing or genuinely curious. “You can tell?”
He tilted his head slightly, eyes glinting with something like amusement. “I can tell.”
“Then I suppose I shouldn’t try to hide it,” I said slightly annoyed at his teasing. “My parents are here for the Council’s meeting. I came along with them...and my sister Aria”
“Ah.” His tone shifted just a little—curiosity sharpened into something more thoughtful. “The Council. That explains the sudden stir.”
“You know of them?”
“Only by name.” His gaze drifted for a moment, as if trying to recall something. “But your family’s, last Name Grey? yes?” He smiled when I nodded. “I think I’ve heard your parents’ names before. Important people tend to leave echoes.”
“Or whispers,” I said before I could stop myself.
His eyebrows lifted. “Whispers?”
I hesitated, then shrugged. “Just something I heard earlier. It’s nothing.” I thought I was feeling lost in thought.
But he didn’t look convinced. If anything, he looked intrigued. “Nothing makes you look that uneasy?,” he said quietly, watching me too closely.
I forced a smile. “You like to read people don’t you?”
“Only when they’re worth the effort.”
There it was again—that teasing undercurrent that made it impossible to tell whether he was being charming or sincere. I met his gaze anyway, steady this time. “Then I suppose you must be easily entertained.”
He chuckled, soft and genuine. “Oh, I am. Especially when someone pretends they’re not curious about me.”
I shook my head and shrugged, “I’m not curious at all” I lied.
“Of course not,” he said easily, the grin that followed making it clear he didn’t believe me.
The music shifted again, slower now, wrapping the room in a dreamlike haze. I felt my heartbeat in my throat, unsure if it was the moment or his gaze that made me uneasy.
He stepped back slightly—not away, just enough to put space between us. “Well, Amaris, it seems the Council keeps interesting company.”
“And you?” I asked. “You just… appear wherever something interesting happens?”
His grin returned, a little crooked this time. “Something like that.” Then, softer: “You’ll find I’m very good at being exactly where I shouldn’t be.”
The voice that called his name came from across the hall — deep, commanding, and impatient. Elias turned slightly toward it, an almost reluctant sigh escaping him.
“Seems my brother can’t last five minutes without me,” he murmured, half to himself, half to me. The faint smirk that followed was effortless, but there was something thoughtful behind it, like he’d just remembered who he was supposed to be.
I arched a brow. “Prince’s duties, I assume?”
“Unfortunately,” he said. “Though I’d much rather stay and solve the mystery standing in front of me.”
My lips twitched before I could stop them. “Mystery?”
He took a step closer, lowering his voice just enough that I could feel it more than hear it. “A girl who walks into a celestial gathering, catches every light in the room… and somehow looks like she’s not supposed to exist here.”
I froze, unsure whether to laugh or demand what he meant. "Talking in riddles again I see”
“Only when the truth would be too much, too soon,” he said softly.
Before I could ask what that meant, his brother’s voice cut through the air again — sharper this time. Elias’s eyes flicked toward it, then back to me.
He smiled, a little rueful, a little daring. “I should go before he starts a war.”
I folded my arms, trying not to smile. “Do you always leave people mid-conversation?”
He paused, that same glint returning to his eyes. “Only when I plan on finding them again.”
And then he was gone — disappearing into the crowd, the shimmer of his presence fading like starlight swallowed by dawn.
I stood still, heartbeat uneven, unsure what had just happened. His words lingered in my mind, soft but heavy with something unspoken.
Only when I plan on finding them again.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, I knew he would and I kind of wanted him too.
I stood there, pulse unsteady, unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed. The music resumed its rhythm, people continued to laugh and dance, but the space where he’d stood still felt charged—like the air hadn’t caught up to his absence.
And though I told myself to forget it, my thoughts betrayed me, circling back to his words—
You’ll find I’m very good at being exactly where I shouldn’t be.
- Writer
