The Journey

Freya stood speechless and immobile as Tori approached her. She barely remembered to breathe.

"Was that...." Tori asked.

"Yes."

"Did he..." Tori continued.

"Offer for me? Yes, in a manner of speaking." Freya replied turning to Tori, as she was finally able to move.

"What do you mean 'in a manner of speaking'?

"He told me I was his, very matter of factly actually."

"Hahaha! Of course he did. Eric never was delicate in anything, always preferring the head-on, blunt approach." Tori laughed and linked her arm with Freya to take her off the dance floor and over to the bar. She could definitely use a drink.

After Freya threw back two shots in rapid succession she took a deep breath and spoke. "So what do I do now Tori?"

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. My head is still spinning, to be honest."

"Ok, let's simplify things then. Who do you want?"

"Eric."

"Of all the men you danced with who would make the best Dauntless King?"

"Eric."

"Ok, now that that is settled....go do something about it."

"But what do I do, do I just accept his offer? Do I wait to tell him, do I wait to tell my parents and the rest of Dauntless? Will it look as though I'm moving too fast and am not really thinking about the Faction? We know each other, but don't KNOW each other. Hell, I don't KNOW anyone that way. What if I'm terrible, what if we aren't compatible? Tori help me!"

"Ok, calm down. Take a deep breath."

"Calm down? How am I to calm down, the man that I think I love just offered for me and now, for one of the few times in my life, I have real fear coursing through me with no solution."

"The mighty Freya afraid, I thought I would never see the day." said a very familiar masculine voice behind her.

Freya turned quickly and then squealed with joy and jumped into the arms of the man before her. Niru was here! What perfect timing too, she needed his counsel desperately.

"Oh my...Niru! I can't believe you're here. When I didn't see you all day I thought for sure you had been delayed and wouldn't be here tonight. Oh, I'm so happy to see you. I need you so badly right now!" She exclaimed, not even caring that people could hear her. Of course, had she known that a certain overly jealous bodyguard was within earshot she may have had the mind to control her excitement.

"Hahahaha, oh Freya, I wouldn't miss this. Let's dance then we can sneak off and catch up." Niru laughed, grabbing her hand and leading her to the dance floor.

After all the years of training together, Niru and Freya knew each other well enough to be excellent dancing partners. The moved together flawlessly. Off in the corner, Eric was seething. He knew that Freya wanted him, but maybe she still wanted Niru. Clearly, she was overjoyed to see him and they moved together so well that his fears of Freya's intimacy with the monk were all but confirmed. He watched as they danced and laughed together. There were many other couples on the dance floor now, and as the Princess had finished her courting dances not much attention was being paid to her. Eric watched her every move though. So he was all too aware of the fact that Niru had just leaned down and whispered into Freya's ear, and that she had responded with a very nervous look and an eager nod. Then they quite stealthily left the ballroom through a dark alcove.

He couldn't take it. He had to get out of here. He had half a mind to follow them but then realized that he couldn't take what he was sure he would see if he followed them. So instead he headed back to his room, grabbing a bottle of alcohol on the way out.