How To Love Your Archnemesis [Romance/Drama/Fantasy - Completed]

As the sun dipped down, lanterns hung atop posts made their appearance along the streets of Tudor to keep the festival draped in soft golden light. Despite performances having already lasted all day, the music had never been as rowdy as it was now. Candy stalls vendors swapped out for sizzling skewers and beer-battered meats as children were led home, and the square filled with adults eager for a night out on the town. Naomi sat on a nearby bench beside Cassien, the two having returned shortly after their quiet embrace. Cressida approached after some time, body sagging as she flopped dramatically against Naomi's shoulder, fanning herself with both hands. Her red hair was frazzled and slick with sweat, dress bunched at the hip from continuous dancing.

"I don't think I could do another jig," Cressida let out a loud exhale.

Naomi laughed, nudging her. "Your legs are in for a rough time tomorrow."

The music of the square began to shift into a more formal, graceful tune compared to the previous high spirited melody. Men and women began to pair off, their movements more controlled and formal that it had been during any other dance.

Recognition passed through Cressida's eyes as she grasped Naomi's hand. "Oh! My lady, this looks like the Luciole dance back home."

She was right - it looked very similar to a waltz practiced frequently at court in Thaibarrus, though it was still quite a bit more spirited and relaxed compared to her home city's version. The patterns and formations themselves were still familiar but less formal, partners twirled each other freely, while some simply improvised their movements.

Cressida stood, reinvigorated with energy as she tugged Naomi to her feet. "I've seen you do this a million times, you have to show off your talents!"

"Does it really count if I was pretty much forced to practice every day for years?"

"It just means you're way better at dancing than the average noble, my lady!" Cressida chirped, ever the optimist.

Naomi shook her head, leaning away. "No, thank you. Besides, it's not the same dance. But you should go on without me."

"Oh, please? It's close enough, isn't it? Plus you can always do what you're used to instead," Cressida pouted. Her eyes glinted mischievously as she turned towards Cassien, and Naomi squeezed her eyes shut in anticipated embarrassment. "Your Grace! Perhaps you could convince my lady here to join you for a single dance?"

Cassien, who had been watching the exchange quietly, raised an eyebrow. "I think the duchess has already declined your request."

"But this wouldn't be my request if you ask, would it?"

Naomi groaned. "Cressida-"

Cressida leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper. "One dance, my lady. I'm trying to do you a favour."

She froze, her face growing warm as realization dawned at her friend's implication. "I… appreciate the help, but I don't think that's a good idea."

For a moment, Naomi stood awkwardly between them, pulling down the edges of her hat to shield her face. Cassien simply watched with an amused look on his face, leaning back against the bench in a relaxed pose. The sight of Naomi's flushed cheeks were too adorable to interrupt the moment.

Cressida crossed her arms as she smirked, raising her voice just loud enough for both to hear. "Well, Your Grace, it seems my lady is simply too shy to be the first to ask."

Cassien's lips tilted upwards ever so slightly, straightening from the bench. Naomi thought he looked every bit like the midnight cavalier; his black hair was swept in short waves, the light of the square highlighting the sharp lines of his jaw and twinkling within his golden eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as she considered how he looked as striking and dreamy as a prince in a storybook.

He extended his hand, palm up. "We can do whatever you'd like, whether it's here at the square or back to the castle. It's your choice."

His consideration made Naomi's heart flutter. Suddenly, the nerves melted into something giddy and almost a want to impress him. Maybe, she thought, she did want to dance - if only to show him a little of the world she came from.

"One dance, then," she said quietly, unable to conceal a shy smile as she placed her hand in his, ignoring Cressida's squeals of glee.

He guided her into the circle of dancers, slipping into the pattern seamlessly as they initiated their first steps together. Cassien placed one hand at the small of her back as they fell naturally into rhythm; Naomi's nerves immediately evaporated as her own skills kicked in, her posture immaculate and footwork almost an instinctive part of her. She was surprised at how well he could read her movements, his body responding in a complementary fashion. For all his reputation as the brooding, stoic duke, he matched her so well that she would've thought him as classically trained. Though Naomi guessed she should've known he'd be expected to at least know some semblance of ballroom dance anyway - in the end, he had his own great expectations from his parents to meet.

Spectators whistled and gasped in admiration as their presence inadvertently overtook the square. They spun through the area as Naomi emitted just the faintest sparkle of radiance from her, like a trail of fireflies amidst the background of Cassien's dark attire. For the first time in her life, she let herself enjoy the attention, lost in the admiration in Cassien's eyes and the warmth of his hand steadying her.

Naomi smiled suspiciously, her brows quirked upward. "You didn't tell me you could dance, and definitely not one from Monroe."

Cassien cocked his mouth to one side as the two moved closer together towards a particularly slow portion of the dance. "You never asked."

"Well, I'm asking now," her eyes glinted with humor. "Was there a secret lady in my nation that you wanted to impress?"

The tips of his ears turned red. "No."

"You're blushing."

"There is no other lady," he said, stifling a cough. "I just happen to be a man of many talents, one of which includes dancing."

Naomi's lips tilted up. "So if you can dance, I'll take it you can sing as well?"

"No," he said, eyes crinkling. "And that's a warning."

She tilted her head back in a giggle, eyes shining. "I'll keep that in mind. What else is there about you that I don't know about?" Her voice came out as a low murmur, more intimate and flirtatious than she had intended.

Cassien spun her outwards before gently pulling her in so closely that his breath tickled her ear. "I have to keep some secrets. Otherwise, you might lose interest."

A thrill rushed through her, though she forced a bemused look. "Is that so? You think you're that fascinating?"

His lips curved in a wicked smile. "You say that, yet you've been asking all the questions."

Before she could retort, he spun her once more before drawing her back to him in a single, swift movement. Her hands landed against his chest, both of his grasping the small of her waist. For a breathless moment, neither of them spoke, their hearts pounding so loudly they both wondered if the other could hear it. Every inch of Naomi brimmed with anticipation as her eyes fluttered shut, the distance between them closing in. Cassien, with bated breath, lowered his face to take in her rosy softness.

But just as their lips were less than a whisper apart, startled cries from the crowd cut through, the charged moment vanishing. Cassien jerked back as Naomi's hands dropped from his chest, face burning; but her eyes caught a bright orange glow in the reflections of his eyes. She turned, heart dropping at the sight of angry flames burning through the side of a nearby tavern. Dark smoke coiled above the roof as people surged away from the blaze, some staggering out in a haze from the inferno of the tavern doors.

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Cassien's demeanor instantly shifted from tenderness to seriousness, releasing Naomi's body. "Stay here. Please."

His plea was not patronizing, but with something of a little desperation that she wouldn't fall into harm's way again. Before she could react to his command, he was already moving towards the fire with blinding speed, a trail of white frost swirling from behind him. Naomi watched in shock at the sight of the fleeing crowd, the previous jovial aura having descended into complete chaos as carts were knocked over, the musicians' platform abandoned, souvenirs discarded along the stone streets. Her eyes landed on Cressida - wide eyed and terrified - snapping her out of her daze. Naomi rushed towards her, gripping her forearm roughly. Naomi knew she couldn't just sit by and do nothing.

"Go find help," Naomi's voice was eerily calm despite the pounding of her heart. "There should be fire brigades, guards, watchmen - whoever you can find."

"You're not doing what I think you will, are you?" Cressida's eyes pooled. "What if you get hurt again?"

Naomi roughly grabbed her arms, shoving her away from the increasing heat. "Don't think about me, just go! I'll be fine!"

Naomi bolted then without sparing a second glance at Cressida, refusing to be stopped otherwise. At the front of the tavern, Cassien's gloved hands were pure white with magic, a frozen cold blasting outwards in a wide, intense arc towards the concentration of the flames. The air hissed aggressively as ice met fire, but even then, the raging inferno had already engulfed most of the building, its flames spreading around its proximity.

A shrill wail from a residential building near the source of the flames caught her attention; the rooftop cracked and split under the flames, and Naomi caught the face of a terrified child stuck at the top story, hands plastered against the glass window. She looked to Cassien who was preoccupied with stowing the flames with one hand, while urgently ushering out a stray patron from beneath the collapsed door frame of the tavern. Naomi knew she was on her own. She ran towards the building, finding the front door locked shut. Holding her hands out, she channeled a burst of energy at it, shattering the wood into pieces.

Naomi could hear Cassien's shout, but she pretended not to hear him as she continued just before the door frame collapsed from behind her.

Naomi pulled her scarf off, using it as a mask against the black smoke that began to fill the building. The inside was a typical family's home, though the menacing red aura of the flames overtook the comforting setting. She rushed up the stairs as her skin became slick with sweat, bits of smoking seeping through the thin veil of protection that the scarf offered. Bits of debris and ash began to rain down, and she held up one glowing hand that obliterated any falling pieces of wood that would've otherwise struck her. Still, she could not avoid every angry flame that licked at her skin, red hot pain burning momentarily as she continued. The child's wails grew louder, until finally she reached the top, barely able to catch her breath.

Just then, a section of the roof groaned as it collapsed, the gust of smoke and ash knocking Naomi off her feet. Her arms and legs screamed with pain against the scraping of burnt wood, her hat flying off into a burst of fire. Naomi let out a fit of uncontrollable coughs, her newly healed throat scorched and raw. As the raining debris slowed down, it revealed the now-exposed room that the child was seen in, their tiny hands scratching helplessly at the locked window. The grey soot on their dark face had streaks of tears cutting through, black coiled hair singed at the ends. She guessed they were no more than five or six years of age.

"H-hang on!" Naomi croaked. The child turned his attention to her then, face frozen in a terrified expression.

Part of her dress snagged onto the sharp end of something, shredding the fabric and exposing much of her upper leg. The sensations of the flame were starting to become unbearable, but she had to push on. Naomi forced herself up, ignoring the pain as she pushed onwards. When she broke through the debris to the child, they threw themselves around Naomi's waist, screeching with heavy cries that sank her heart.

"It's okay, you're going to be alright! I'll get you out of here, I promise," Naomi said in a hushed voice against their ear, rubbing their hair smoothly.

She pulled the child back as gently as she could, their fists still clenched against the fabric of her torn dress. "You've been very brave being all by yourself, but you have me now as well, okay? I'll need you to stick with me and keep this scarf on. Can you do that for me?"

The boy nodded rapidly. Naomi removed her scarf-made mask from her face, securing it over the child's mouth and nose instead. She held her breath as she stood, grasping the child's hand with hers.

The burning sky loomed above the open roof, watching for her next move.

**

Cassien could not see Naomi.

The last he saw of her was a glint of moonlit hair and delicate pink towards a row of homes that had begun to catch stray flames. Before he could follow, people began to swarm the square carrying buckets, cups, wash basins - anything that could hold water - desperately trying to quench the flames. Steam hissed in the air as cold water soaked timber, the visibility of the area enshrouded in white and black coils of smoke. Cassien roared for Naomi as he searched, but his voice was lost in the pandemonium. She could not be seen.

Fear crept through him at the thought of her yet again charging towards danger. Of course she would not be able to help it if she saw someone in need; her compassion was both her best quality and worst flaw - though it wasn't like she couldn't protect herself either. But he felt helpless at not knowing where she was. He simply wanted the reassurance that she was okay, even if she didn't need his help at that moment. At the very least, Cassien knew she couldn't be too far away due to their psychic tether.

An idea struck him like lightning: their connection. The spontaneous, fleeting moment of which he could see through her own eyes. They hadn't tried yet to recreate the phenomenon, or if it was even a possibility. But it was the time to try.

Cassien squeezed his eyes shut, drowning out the background of the chaos as he willed solely on their connection.

Where are you?

Then, as quickly as he willed it, a flash of violet erupted in his left eye as his vision morphed to an entirely different scene: burning timbers framing the open night sky, her pale, freckled skin holding a childlike hand with dark skin and black, tightly curled hair. She was somewhere at the top floor of a building, desperately searching for a way out - but every path she looked at was obstructed.

Cassien looked around desperately with his right eye for any buildings that matched the collapsed top, his vision immediately locking onto one a few houses away parallel to the tavern. He launched himself towards it, leaving a trail of frost behind.

"Naomi!" Cassien forced every bit of air out from his lungs to project himself above the noise. "Naomi, can you hear me!?"

He swung his hand up in an open-hook, launching a mass of ice into the air before bursting into a crystalline shower. "Naomi!"

In her projected vision, he could see her turn just in time to see the icy shower. Her voice pierced through the air as she moved closer towards it, sending out a spike of her own light. "Cassien, I'm here! I need to find a way down!"

His mind scrambled for something - anything - to get her down before the rest of the roof collapsed. One idea flitted across his mind, and he could only hope she trusted him enough to follow through with it.

"If you can climb through the hole, I have a plan to get you out!" he shouted, all too aware of how ludicrous his suggestion sounded.

But in her vision, she didn't hesitate. Naomi released the child's hand as he watched her turn to them momentarily lowering herself. Showers of embers glowed around them as she hauled whatever she could to build enough verticality before holding the child to her chest, climbing it. Now, even in his right eye, he could see her physically peeking from the top of the roof. Relief flooded him at the sight of her wavy hair billowing in the wind. Even amidst the heat of the flame, he thought he had never seen anyone shine more brightly - she could rival fire, the moon, even the sun and stars themselves.

The groan of collapsing wood behind her elicited a yelp of fear, snapping him back to reality. "Are you able to jump?"

"What?!" Her eyes shone with disbelief at his words. "And then what?"

He readied his hands. "I need you to trust me!"

Her expression changed then from wary shock to a determined nod as she hoisted the child more tightly against her as if they were a babe. Even at the sight of the twenty foot drop, she steeled herself before planning one foot precariously along a broken edge of the roof, gingerly testing her weight. Then, in a quick, swift movement, she pushed her weight off in a leaping jump, the wood bursting as she fell through the air. Naomi let out a shriek as she buried the child's head against herself like a human shield, plummeting to the ground. With quick thinking of her projected trajectory, Cassien rose both his hands upwards as if he were raising the dead from the ground just as his vision cut out.

An aura of frost immediately manifested from the ground as it rose in a heavy, thick mound of snow and thin chips of ice. It was like a pillow of cushioning nearly five feet thick as she landed, a deep indent of her and the child's body in the snow as it broke her fall. Cassien ran to her, dropping to his knees as he pulled her out, and the child wriggled out from her clutch. The two of them scarcely paid attention to the child who bolted straight to their frantic parent who had been searching endlessly for them; the pair were simply engrossed in the fact that the other was safe.

Around them, brigades of people had finally taken out most of the flames, with only a few stranglers of smoke points left to smother. Cassien and Naomi stayed put, kneeling in the cold. He couldn't focus on anything but her - the bits of frost that clung to her hair like a princess caught in winter, the way her hands felt against his chest, and the way her pink lips parted in awe.

Naomi finally let out an almost breathless sigh. ''I guess I really do have a knack for falling."

Cassien laughed then - really laughed - like a mixture of both pure relief and shock that she was in front of him. He couldn't stop himself then as he leaned forward, his large hands cradling the sides of her face as he pressed his lips against hers firmly. Naomi's arms wrapped around his neck as she reciprocated so passionately that one would think she had been waiting eons for this very moment. The two melted deeply into the hush of the snow, feeling neither cold of the frost or heat of the smothered flames - only the devouring fervor between them.