Uriel's answer bothered the soldier quite horribly, a flash of discomfort washing across her face for an instant. To go against the the orders of her King? Impossible. As the general rattled out a few of those he had spared, Aurora silently added herself to the list. She could not understand why the man would allow himself to give his enemies quarter. To be completely fair, she was grateful that she wasn't left a bleeding mess on the floor while the two went on their merry way, but the faerie couldn't wrap her head around the thought of giving her enemies any sort of mercy. 

The general's admission to borderline treason would haunt the woman for quite sometime, disturbing her enough that she became silent for the rest of the trip. When the ragtag group of Children of Dark and Light reached the border town, the trade was made almost absentmindedly as Aurora flew towards her home. She later brushed it off, asserting within herself that the man was just as bad as the Traitor for not solidifying on a side, but the doubts he had planted would come back full force in time for the upcoming ball. [sub][@Polaris North][/sub]

[hr]
Why?

The most potent thought that ran through the faerie's head as she entered the ballroom, was why this event has taken place. A thousand voices of distress screamed in her head, even as her expression exposed nothing but cheer, as she witnessed the spectacle of both Light and Dark mingling without weapons flashing between them. The [url=https://www.fameandpartners.com/dresses/dress-backless-dreamer-539?color=navy&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&pc=ZHJlc3MxNQ%3D%3D&tn=Ymxhbms%3D&m=PGgzPjxzdHJvbmc%2BUVVJQ0shIFRBS0UgMTUlIE9GRiBZT1VSIERSRVNTLjwvc3Ryb25nLz5VU0UgUFJPTU8gQ09ERSBEUkVTUzE1IDwvaDM%2BPGRpdj48YSBjbGFzcz1cImJ0biBidG4tYmxhY2tcIiBocmVmPVwiXC9kcmVzc2VzXCI%2BU0hPUCBOT1c8L2EvPjwvZGl2Lz4%3D&t=10&s=dmV4LWRpYWxvZy1ib3R0b20gdmV4LWRpYWxvZy1waW5rIHZleC10ZXh0&pop=true&gclid=CjwKEAjw0pa5BRCLmoKIx_HTh1wSJABk5F_4mOS7qdkxoyFsKydRM0HaWSK2QVB3K1E_I6PYgRWI-BoC0-Hw_wcB]navy backless dress[/url] she wore felt more revealing than she first realized as a few turned to look at her entrance. Aurora did not understand the meaning of such a gathering, her mind whirring even as she greeted a familiar face from the Light with a cheery grin, only for said grin to dim exponentially as one of the Dark moved to interact with her fellow off-duty soldier. The faerie moved away from the two, searching for a specific place in the room that would make everything much clearer to her.

Was this a sort of trap from the King of Darkness? An opportunity to rid the world of his brother? Was the Kingdom of Darkness vying for another shot at stealing the Princess? The mere concept of such a conspiracy coming to life forced her to attend the event, even though she would be [i]mostly[/i] unarmed. A single silver axe gleamed by her hip, the metal of the weapon causing more than a few Children of the Dark to instinctively move away from her. She was unable to bring the partner of her weapon, along with any sort of armor or protection, but the familiar feeling of the weight by her side soothed her in this foreign territory. 

Usually, she would be buzzing around, laughing and interacting with her fellow guests at the ball, but the added company of the Children of the Dark unsettled her. Wasn't there a war going on between the two factions? Light versus Dark, Good versus Evil? So why in the name of the Light were the two groups mingling as if such an event never existed? A cold, but hopefully unlikely thought settled itself into Aurora's mind, gripping her consciousness like a parasite and squeezing any sort of peace she had within the setting.

Was this the precursor of a truce? An armistice? A sign of peace? The thought was both calming and terrifying to the woman, a shiver running through her even within the crowded close quarters of the ballroom floor. On one hand, there would be no more fighting. No more killing, nor bloodshed. She could finally put her two weapons of death to rest within the deepest, darkest place she could find in order to distance herself from all of the atrocities she had committed with them throughout the war. But on the other... she loses her purpose. With perfect clarity, Aurora understood that if the war ever ended, so would her life's meaning. No questions asked. There wouldn't be a single reason to live any longer, as there would be no more opportunities to avenge her family and no other ties to the world.

There were many she had interacted with, most of them Children of the Light, but none of them could truly keep her within the world, could protect her from her own mind. The one person who could have become an anchor in her life was Commander Rida, but the older faerie was much too busy for her subordinate to truly form any kind of real bond. Aurora was very well aware that there was something wrong with her mind, a dark presence that keeps itself beneath the surface, only to come out and augment her fury in combat. It never reared it's ugly head above the pools of her psyche, but who could tell in the future if she possessed nothing but the company of her mind.

Shaking off her current track of thoughts, the faerie renewed her search for her desired company: the largest, strongest bottle of alcohol she could find. The entire idea of the ball hurt her in ways that she couldn't express, so she would drown her internal pains with a gallon of whiskey. In all fairness to the party designers, the event was quite dazzling and complimented both sides of the apparently on-hold conflict magnificently, but mingling with any sort of Child from the Dark was appalling. A certain general popped up into her mind for barely a moment before she snuffed it out. They had only met twice, with both times being ones of tension. There was nothing for her there.