Wendy gave the doorkeeper a polite grin as he ushered her through the wooden double doors and into the ballroom attached to the Councilmen's Chamber. As her teammates filed in behind her, she swept her gaze over their elegant surroundings. Tall candlesticks with intricate, hand-carved ornamentation lined the walls, punctuated by equally beautiful banquet tables. The tabletops nearly overflowed with the delectable dishes. Aroma alone attested to the epicurean nature of the food. 

The blonde swept her gaze over the rest of the space and noticed the sizable dance floor. We must be early. she thought to herself as she noticed only about sixty people milling about and socializing on the tiled floor. Most were dapper young men, muscular in build, but often short in stature. Female faces also appeared among them, adorned by equally fashionable dresses and primped up hair which was in some cases needlessly fancified. 

"So, what do we need to do here, Wendy?" Aaron asked from behind her. 

Wendy turned to face him and cleared her throat. "I'm...not exactly sure. It doesn't look like the musicians are quite ready, so dancing would be a bit...premature." 

Aaron smirked. "Your heartbeat's the only rhythm I need to hear." 

The blonde rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You're gonna be doing a bloody dirgeful step, then." 

"Certainly." Aaron mocked. "Well, eating it is, then." 

Wendy nodded before frowning. An acrid odor swept across her nose. She pierced Ace's eyes with her judgmental gaze. "What do you think you're doing?" 

"Smoking." Ace said as he slipped his lighter back into his pocket. 

"Go do it outside! You make us look bloody uncivilized!" 

Ace slipped out of his dinner jacket and unceremoniously draped it around Keira's shoulders. Then he pushed through the door and wove between a crowd of scarlet-clad newcomers. 

Keira wrinkled her forehead and glanced at her brother, who lightheartedly shrugged. Then with one hand on her back, and the other on Wendy's, he guided them to the nearest banquet table. Sila followed, its movements as stiff as the collar on its shirt. 

Keira's eyes brightened. "I've never seen so much Danlashian cabbage in one place!" 

Wendy shrugged. "Well, look where we are, and it shouldn't be a bloody surprise." 

Aaron grinned as he swept a couple cabbage-wrapped sausages off a plate. "Yeah, well, for as long as we've known, it's a delicacy." 

"I know. I'm gutted that I should have to feel the same way." Wendy remarked bitterly as she snatched up three for herself. 

After the trio had stood around for a few minutes, devouring food and conversing in turns, a kind-faced young man with slicked-back blond hair stepped up to the group. He flashed his pearly white teeth at them in a warm smile. 

"Welcome to you!" he greeted kindly, reaching out to shake Aaron's hand first. "I'm Councilman Veirs!" 

Aaron accepted the handshake and returned the grin. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aaron." 

In rapid succession, Keira and Wendy introduced themselves to the man, each accepting a courteous kiss on the hand as they did. 

The man's smile widened on Wendy once she spoke. "You're from around here, aren't you?" 

"I am. I grew up in this very city." 

Veirs nodded. "Well, again, I welcome you." He glanced over at the stage off to the side of the dance floor. "It appears that the musicians are preparing to play. I have to use the restroom real quick, but then, perhaps you could be my first dance of the night?" 

Wendy slowly nodded. "I consent." 

With that, the man shuffled off. Both Keira and Wendy looked up at Aaron, who met both girls' gazes for a second, smiling around his mouthful of food. 

Sila pointed at Aaron. "Jealous." 

Aaron frowned. "Jealous?" he echoed, "No, not at all! Your circuits are messed up, bud." 

Wendy turned her face away and covered her mouth to conceal her laugh. Finally, she turned back with her usual uninterested facade. "I think you are." 

Aaron snorted theatrically. "Of who?" 

"Veirs." Sila replied. 

"Nothing could be further from the truth!" Aaron exclaimed with wide eyes, "I can hop up onto that dance floor, grab any girl I want, and dance with her 'til the end of the night!" 

Keira and Wendy both choked on their laughter. "Let's see you try." they said in unison. 

Aaron shrugged and handed Keira his last uneaten sausage wrap. Then he strolled onto the dance floor. He tapped a button-nosed redhead on the shoulder at the exact same moment as the guitarist on the bandstand strummed his first chord. The bass player began arpeggiating along as she looked up at Aaron and nodded at the words he spoke in her ear. She threw one arm around his broad shoulder and placed her other hand in his. 

Wendy rolled her eyes as Aaron winked at her from across the room, slowly beginning to dance with the redhead. She turned to Keira. "He's not gonna be able to keep her at his side all night." 

Keira snorted. "No, of course not." 

Wendy watched the pair sway to the music for a minute before Viers reappeared. He took her hand and led the way to the dance floor, leaving Keira and Sila to watch from the sidelines. 

Viers twirled Wendy with a gleeful grin, apparently delighted by her litheness. She smiled back at him, desperately wanting to match his enthusiasm, but she felt an inexplicable burden on her mind, one that worsened every time she cast a glance at the head of fiery red hair rested on Aaron's arm. 

Don't be daft, she told herself, it's not him. You have no bloody reason to envy her. 

"Are you alright, dear?" Viers asked, peering into her eyes. 

Wendy shrugged. "Not perfectly," she spoke slowly, finally remembering the true purpose of their presence here, "but that's no matter. I didn't come here merely to tickle your fancy." 

Viers chuckled. "Of course not. I figured as much. What grievance or other topic of discussion do you have for me to bring before the Council?" 

"Well, to put it briefly, Princess Chariya of Kemaria desperately entreats Danlash to provide aide to her insurgence force." 

Viers frowned. "Why can't she appeal to that bloomin' Alliance of hers?" 

Wendy sighed. "The Alliance is dead, sir. All Kemaria's bloody allies have forsaken her. And without help, any effort to free itself from Alconte's clutches will be in vain. For that reason, Chariya had no choice but to resort to requesting foreign aide." 

"What sort of aide does she seek? Men? Food? Weapons?" 

"I believe she needs all of those things. The bloody traitors were the ones who had abundance, not her. On her own, Kemaria doesn't stand a chance." 

Viers nodded. "I shall ponder it, and certainly will bring it before the Council. However, I must say that I don't look favorably upon this proposition." 

Wendy frowned. "Why's that?" 

"You're Danlashian, aren't you? You know that we don't meddle in affairs not our own. How is Kemaria's plight our problem?" 

Wendy huffed. "Don't be daft! Against whom are they rebelling?" She paused before continuing. "Alconte!" 

"All the more reason our interference is both unwelcome and unnecessary. Alconte's bloomin' empire won't be made better through our interference. If this rebellion is a worthy cause, then they ought to have the grit to stick with it and win it for themselves." 

"They've got the bloody grit. They just need numbers and equipment to back it up." Wendy laughed wryly. "But why am I surprised? Danlash holds out a closed hand, a clenched fist, out to the world. I already knew this would go nowhere." 

"Better to keep what you have, than to lose it through excessive generosity." Viers said in a recitative tone. His face shifted, and a tight line appeared across his lips. "Your remarks have made me skeptical. Are you really from here?" 

Wendy glared and wriggled out of Viers' arms. "Of course I am!" she exclaimed, taking a few steps back, "What bloody nonsense are you insinuating?" 

"What contact do you, an ordinary citizen of Danlash, have with Princess Chariya of Kemaria?" 

"I'm no citizen of Danlash! Not anymore! I'm very much a self-imposed exile from my home, because I have comrades on the mainland!" Wendy bit her lip and squinted, cutting her eyes over at an unaware Aaron. "Friends, actually! And their plight concerns me! Unlike you, I have a shred of humanity left alongside my nationalism!" 

"My bloomin' job is to protect the interests of my country and its people, Wendy!" Viers roared, setting his jaw unapologetically as dozens of pairs of eyes landed on him. "I'm sorry, but your personal vendetta against Alconte's rule over Kemaria is irrelevant to the Danlashian nation as a whole." 

"It's not just my vendetta!" the blonde woman retorted, "All of Danlash shares my view, that the Alcontean Empire is an abomination, a minging blot upon the face of the mainland! We say we oppose her, but yet, when a nation such as Kemaria adds their voice to ours, we can't be bothered to lift a single bloody finger to help. We are a selfish nation, Viers, and I am quite gutted!" 

Viers chortled. "And you think that one bloomin' lassie being loud and obnoxious in a civilized gathering is gonna mean a single bloody thing?" 

"Excuse you, sir, but you were the one who shouted." 

The councilman inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly. "You know the saying as well as I do, dear. 'The soil of the mainland pollutes a Danlashian from the soles of her feet, to the top of her fair head.' And who does that apply to more than you? You've come here with your radical ideas, rash proposals, and you expect us to go your way? Get lost, foreigner!" 

Wendy spat at the man and spun on her heel. She stormed over to the exit and covered her face with her hands. Tears had covered her cheeks by the time she reached the double doors and swung them open. 

******************* 

Aaron had glanced up sharply at the sound of Viers' shout. He'd watched the neatly-groomed man argue with Wendy, before he'd said something that caused her to stomp outside in a huff. Presently, Aaron's forehead wrinkled as he watched her disappear through the exit doors. 

"Excuse me, ma'am," he muttered in the redhead's ear, "but I gotta go take care of something." 

The woman sighed and peeled herself from him. "Alright, then. I shall eagerly await your return." 

"Bold assumption." he mumbled, though the remark lacked much of the humorous vitality he had intended. 

Aaron hopped off of the dance floor and dashed for the door, frowning as Keira blocked his path to the doors. 

"Wendy's upset!" she exclaimed, "I think your annoying face is the last thing she needs right now!" 

"My face is annoying?" he questioned, "Well, I don't care. She'll get used to it. Sit tight for a sec, sis." 

Keira's face still bore a silent opposition, even though she stepped out of Aaron's way. 

Aaron pushed the doors aside and glanced around. A light rain sprinkled the area, the skies darkening through both advancing sunset and an incoming storm. He exhaled at the sight of a blonde woman in a green dress sitting atop the brick wall surrounding the perimeter, her back to him and her head hung low. 

As raindrops hit Aaron's head, the wet grass dampened his shoes. He gripped the edge of the brick wall with his hands and swung his legs over, so that he sat beside Wendy, a safe foot or so between them. 

She glanced at him around the barrier her hands had constructed over her face. "Go away." 

Aaron shook his head. "That's what a jerk would do. Not my style." 

Wendy sniffled. "I said, go away!" 

After hanging his head and sitting quietly beside her for a moment, Aaron said, "Wendy, please, I came here for your sake, not my own. It's warm inside, and even warmer in a redhead's fiery embrace. So, what'd he say to you?" 

"Go back to your bloody pleasure. I'm not stopping you." Wendy snapped, her face still buried in her hands. 

Aaron glanced over and noticed the droplets of rain hitting her exposed arms and shoulders, several sliding down and dampening her dress. He sighed and slipped his suit jacket off. Then he scooted over and draped it over her shoulders, patting it in place gently. He raised an eyebrow when she didn't resist, either verbally or physically, aside from an initial jerk that he chalked up to reflexes. 

"Wendy," he said gently, "I'm asking because I care. You ran out here for a reason, so what is it?" 

"You're insufferable." she muttered, a small crevice appearing between her hands. 

"Aren't we all? Especially that Viers dude?" Aaron replied with a slight smirk. 

"Certainly." 

After a few moments passed and Wendy still refused to talk, Aaron leapt to his feet. "Well, I guess I'll—" 

"Don't go, please." Wendy begged, her tear-covered face glistening as she finally looked up at him. "And...thanks for the jacket, by the way." 

"No problem." Aaron replied, taking his spot at her side again. After a moment's hesitation, he placed his arm around her, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Take your time. Excuse my impatience." 

Wendy exhaled. "No, you're fine. I just...I'm just grieved. My people are so selfish! No wonder the mainland looks so negatively at us! I mean—" 

"Not to be rude," Aaron said, "but forget your people. You're not selfish, Wendy. When I think of Danlashians, I think of you. And you're the smartest, toughest, and most selfless woman I know. If your people can't value that, they don't deserve you." 

"Well, thank you," she said, biting her lip, "but that changes nothing. I care about my people, and I wish...I hate being an exile among my own people, merely because I'm more compassionate and less vain than they are!" 

Aaron nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. But again, it's their loss." 

Wendy met Aaron's eyes and mustered a smile. "Thank you, Aaron. You have no idea how much—" 

"I know enough." he remarked. Then he brushed his finger down her cheek, wiping her tears away. Finally, he closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head before hopping to his feet. "Well, whenever you're ready to stop getting wet, we can go back in. We can find Keira a dance, and who knows? Maybe you're the girl I'll pick up and dance with to the end of the night." 

Wendy laughed as she rose. "Good luck pulling a bloody bird on me." 

Aaron winked. "Considering I know you, I think my luck's been pretty good so far." 

After slapping him on the arm and snickering, Wendy walked back at Aaron's side. He felt relieved that he'd been able to lift her spirits so quickly.

******************** 

A/N: Alrighty, there you have chapter 8! I hope you enjoyed it, and if so, please let me know by leaving a vote and some comments. Thanks in advance. 😁 

Now, since this is the first of two updates today, I'm not gonna linger long here at all, since you have places to be, lol. But I did wanna know, was there anything particular you liked about this chapter? I feel like it was pretty dense with stuff, so I'd really like to know what you personally took away from it. 

And without further ado, I'll get my bum onto preparing the next update of the day. See you there, hopefully, and if not, still, have an awesome day!