Everything was a swirl of color and laughter, and the soft glowing lanterns created remarkably romantic lighting among the guests that moved up the tiers of the gardens. Adraejen had visited this place before, but never in such a festive capacity. He looked about at the masked figures, their identities guarded by the various styles of masks they wore. 

Long black hair clipped back in a clasp and spike of silver, he looked rather regal in his black and gold silk doublet and fancy black shirt, pants and shiny boots. He carried his staff with him, and his thick brocade cloak caught the breeze almost majestically, and the upper half of his face was hidden by a golden mask etched to look like the feathered helm of mythical Valkyries, with a fleur de lis-esque plume in the center of the forehead. He looked at his companion who wore as strikingly cut gown of purple and lifted her hand as he escorted her up the walk ways.

"You know, I think this is the first party we've been to as a married couple," he commented to her lightly as he paused at the lanterns and grabbed one to pass to his lovely red-headed wife. "Our mysterious host has done a wonderful job at making this place even more enchanting that its regular charm," he commented.  

Angela had a way of always being striking. She was gorgeous and she knew it. That in itself was a dangerous weapon to have in an arsenal. She also wasn’t shy. Her dress was more like a very elaborate drape. The color was of amethysts and lighter purple gems. From there the dress cut down and showed her sides. The only way that the dress was covering her breasts as she moved had to have been magic. The edges of the fabric sat snug to each of her breasts. The fabric was daring as it cut even more inward at her waist. The only thing connecting the front half with the back was a small silver chair from a belt of the same materials the collar was made from. From her hips the fabric fully connected with the back and hung down gorgeously. It didn’t need a slit in the legs. The back showed off much of her bare back with some fabric leading down the back under her hips meeting the skirt of the dress.

Her mask was a dark purple dyed lace with amethyst laid all about. Her hair was up in a gorgeous updo with purple violets scattered through out. She held the arm of her husband and she enjoyed the looks and stares she got. If anything could be said about the Red Queen it was that she was a vain one. 

“You know what? You are right,” Angela thought about it thoughtfully as she chuckled. She took the lantern and held it with him until they were able to release it. “Aye, he has always known how to decorate and please the women kind.” She chuckled a bit sadly. “It’s a damn shame she couldn’t at least smile at it.” She spoke of the Ghost’s love.

She let Drae light the purple lantern and she kissed him softly as they let the lantern fly up with the others. “Shall we do the flower release? Enjoy all the things that young couples in love do?” They were still newly married after all.
 

"As a matter of fact, Love, I think the last party we have been to was Rohan's christening," he commented. He looked around at the splendor, and took in a deep breath of the sweet ever-blooming terra season that enchanted the gardens. The collection of flora there could only be rivaled by the Sundering Gardens, and he wondered if maybe the magic of this place was once gifted by the long fallen Tree of Parvpora. He looked at Angela and with her he gently pushed the lantern up into the sky and watched it briefly for a moment. 

"I'm not opposed," he commented. "We can be sappy and cliche for an evening," he chuckled as they moved gracefully past the other guests. "Not that we aren't mushy anyway," he smiled and kissed her knuckles. He held her hand as they climbed to the top tier where the great halo field opened up for the dancers to dance into the sky, and where the lotus flowers were waiting to be let go into the water. 

"I'll admit, I don't know much about the history of this place. Tell me more about this Ghost and the woman he loved," he inquired as he picked up a lotus flower for him and one for her. "Why would she turn away from such a place as this. Surely this is the finest gift any man could give a woman. A show of true devotion, I would think."

He lowered the flower into the water and slowly let it drift down the man-made yet ever bubbling brook towards the edges of the gardens. The music was hypnotizing and he took Angela's hands with intent to dance. 

“I suppose that means we don’t lead interesting lives Love.” She chuckled just a bit as she thought about it. They pushed their lantern up and she tilted her head so she could hear her husband. “Oh? Both sappy and cliché? How lucky of a woman am I?” She joked with him before he could kiss her knuckles. They climbed together as they stole looks from the others. She was wearing quite the dress she was sure. Only so many people had her red curls not to mention her fight with Dalanesca was still in recent memory.

Once they got up to the tier where the dancing was she smiled at him. “He loved her greatly. She stuck her nose up at him so he built this place. He spent his whole life making this place for her. When he was done he brought her here… and she just walked away. He threw himself from the top halo out of sadness… He still waits here for her and takes care of his gardens. It is a sad tale.” She took the lotus in her hand and took in it's unusual tropical smell. “Greed I imagine. Some women could be given the world and they would scoff at it not being worthy of them.”

She lowered the flower with his and smiled at him. Her green eyes stayed on their flowers as they danced around each other in the brook. She took her husband’s hand. “I think the last time we danced… it has been a while.” She laughed a bit as she couldn’t put it into words. 

They wrapped their arms in the right places as she settled his hand onto her waist. They began to dance in the air and she let her eyes lock with his. She did love him truly. “I could never turn away anything you gave me. I don’t know why people do the things they do… I won’t pretend to know for I am not a god of Wisdom or Knowledge. I am a simple goddess of earth and life.” Simple? What was her definition of simple? Still, she would take a sack of dirt from someone and treasure it. Humble was more like it.

They spun around the dance floor and she smiled up at her husband. “Are you sure you want to be in a crazy relationship with me Drae? I bring you a lot of trouble.”

Drae felt the smile on his face starting to make his cheeks ache. That's how being with Angela was, he just couldn't help but smile. It didn't help that they kept getting people looking at them, again, due mostly to Angela, and he felt that it may have been necessary to keep the smile painted on for the rest of the night. 

"I feel bad for the man, mostly, and not because the woman spurned him. I feel bad that he couldn't see past his affection for her. If she had turned him down so many times, I have to wonder why he did not understand that she was not the one for him," he muttered. "I guess, however, that such is life. So many are enamored with the concept of wanting what they can't have. I wonder if he truly would have been satisfied if she had returned his love," he said, voicing his thoughts to her. "If she turned him down before, she clearly was resolved to have no obligation to love him in return regardless of what he did. Many women would have returned the affection out of a simple obligation to the man who devoted the time and energy to create something like this place. I may not be a God of Love or anything, but I do know from experience that obligatory marriages don't always equate with happiness in that marriage," he sighed as he watched their lotus flowers float down the bubbling brook before he straightened up and squared up with Angela to dance. 

"I honestly don't know if I remember when we danced last, love," he admitted sheepishly as his hand settled on her waist and her arm and hand were braced firmly on his shoulder and arm, while he held her other hand in his supporting that hand too with proper waltzing posture. He chuckled softly as they began to move with the flow of the music, the magic enchanting the air allowing them to be carried aloft into the air to create room for the other guests to dance. 
"I don't have a lot to be able to offer you, Angela, but you know that. And knowing you wouldn't turn away a gift from me fills my heart with joy," he told her. "And you, my love, are FAR from simple. Life, while it appears simple, is one of the most complex things in existence. All sorts of parameters must be met in order for life to exist. You are one of the catalysts. That is far from simple," he said as he twirled her. 

Angela thought about it for a moment as his words entered her ears. “Well Love, for some love is a poison. Once it gets its roots in you it doesn’t leave. It begins to infect every part of your being until you just live for that person. Even if they break your heart into a thousand pieces this is the story the fate strings have for you, though one can change their course. I mean I had always told myself I would never get married and I would be satisfied with all the delicate men I came across. Look at me! I am married! I have you!” She laughed a bit as they walked. 

She danced with him with smooth talent. She went to many parties all of her life and she was only getting better with age. “The last time we danced… Oh my.” She blushed and laughed. “I think it was when you came home covered in sea salt. You brought Iva that music box.” She chuckled a bit more at the thought and kissed him while they danced. 

“I’ve never asked much of you Drae. Just for you to be yourself.” She smiled at him and then she was laughed. “I suppose that is true. Forgive me for being mislead about my own simpleness. Though I am appeased by many means. Most of the time I answer simple requests or those with their whole hearts in it. They are the people who will change the world the most for the greater good. Little miracles are the best I think.”

She came close to him as the music changed. She pushed herself up just a tad so she could kiss him softly. “I wouldn’t change our life any other way. Even if I wasn’t a goddess I think we would have met. I am a doctor after all. I am a scholar. I was these things before I became a goddess. My time in Wyllmochvar would have happened anyways.” She shrugged gently. “I don’t know if the old you would have been interested though.” She was teasing him.

Drae nodded thoughtfully. "All right, fair point. Love, when not true, can be just as toxic as belladonna," he conceded. He chuckled when she pointed out that she hadn't ever intended to marry, and yet here she was, happily wed to him. "Yeah," he sighed. "Don't know what you possibly could have been thinking when you did a silly thing like that," he chuckled as they moved. 

He laughed. "That's right, that was the last time we danced! I don't know how I could have forgotten that. Iva was so enthralled with that box," he mused. "She likes it when I turn it on for her at night. She says the music helps her have good dreams," he announced. "Though I won't claim that it isn't because of other things," he added humbly. 

All she wanted was for him to be himself. "Lucky for you, my love, what you see is what you get," he smiled. "If you are convinced that we were fated to meet regardless of if you were a Goddess or not, then what a fool I would be to disagree with you. I'm not going to argue with the best thing that has every happened to me. I take a bit of comfort in knowing that I would have had a chance with you just as a normal woman. But then again, if you were a normal woman, I might have ruined your marriage, and then I would have a jilted husband after me… I kind of like how things ended up this way better," he chuckled. "I would always be interested in a face as pretty as yours," he said charmingly. "Though, you might have had to fight harder to keep me for yourself," he said giving her a bearish grin.