by David Petrie
“Corvin and Kegan are already hidden in the palace, and Berwyn has been stealing glances our way for the last few dances. So I should have him just where I want him before the night is done.” Ginger smiled. “So we don’t need you checking up on us.”
“I suppose not.” His tone fell, but his face remained enthusiastic. “I see Kira is having a good time.”
Ginger turned, whilst narrowly missing Alastair’s toes. Kira was near the edge of the floor, attempting to eat while holding two glasses. “Yes, she’s been a very… helpful plus one so far. At least her gown has made the right impression.”
“Yes, that is quite the dress.”
“Speaking of plus ones, where is your special someone tonight?”
“Right there.” Alastair lead her in a circle so she could face the other side of the room.
Ginger suppressed a laugh as she found Alastair’s assistant, Jeff-with-a-three, over by a statue, clearly putting in effort to act nonchalant. “That is unexpected. I wouldn’t think this was J3ff’s scene.”
“Actually, he insisted on coming to check up on you.”
“Really?” Ginger arched an eyebrow.
“Of course, this whole heist was his idea from the start. I hadn’t even thought of it.”
“I think I like him a little better now.” Ginger smiled, realizing that the uptight assistant might have a wild side that she hadn’t seen before.
“Indeed, I was surprised, too when he suggested it. Alastair dodged her foot again. “He really is full of surprises.”
“Speaking of surprises, what is this reclaiming Rend quest about?”
“I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.” Alastair chuckled, giving her an annoying grin. “I told you all last year that we had plans for that place. I’m just glad that someone has set them into motion. And honestly, I can’t think of a house that I’d rather see take on the task.”
“That’s unhelpful.” Ginger frowned as the orchestra finished their piece. She took that as her cue to spare Alastair any more injury. Apparently, he wasn’t going to give her a straight answer anyway. “Well, if that is all, we should probably part ways before people start to question how well we know each other.”
Alastair’s body relaxed. “Oh thank god. I wasn’t sure how much more my feet could take.”
“I’m not that bad.” Ginger forced a smile for appearances but squeezed his hand a little too hard. “Would you rather dance with Kira?”
“Umm… no.” Alastair lead Ginger off the floor. “Kira would probably blow her cover immediately.”
“I don’t know.” Ginger returned to the fairy. “She can keep it together when it counts.”
“Who can keep it together?” Kira handed over a glass of champagne as soon as she was off the dance floor. Ginger held it up, finding a couple toothpicks floating in the glass. She glowered at the fairy.
“Oh, sorry.” Kira took it back and handed her the other one, sans toothpicks.
“Well, it has been lovely meeting you, and I wish you the best of luck in Rend,” Alastair said a little louder than necessary.
With that, he took his leave, greeting one of the other Lords just as politely as he had greeted her.
That was when Max’s voice came across the house line, “Heads up, Ginger, you got incoming. Berwyn is making a beeline to your position.”
Ginger suppressed a grin, pretending to a sip of her champagne. “It’s about time.”
With everything that she had been doing all night to build House Lockheart’s mysterious reputation, Ginger would have been surprised if the man hadn’t taken an interest.
There was, however, still one problem. She was a worse dancer than she thought. Sure, Ginger had plenty of… rhythm when it came to other activities, but after using Alastair as a test subject, her confidence was shot. She would never make the right impression with Berwyn if she stomped all over his feet as well. She had to come up with another way. Fortunately, she had other options. Ginger might not have been able to dance, but what she did have was the devious mind of a Coin.
“You ready to make a good first impression?” She turned to Kira who was trying to sip from her glass without swallowing a toothpick.
The fairy gave an expressionless nod along with a simple, “Nope.” Then she spun on her heel and attempted to exit the situation before it began.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Ginger expected the reaction, cutting off the mage’s escape with an outstretched hand. “You’re just as much a part of this house as I am.”
“Nah, I’ll just get in the way,” Kira brushed the argument aside.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Ginger slinked toward her with a predatory smile. “I think I can find a use for you.”
Kira took a sharp breath and held it in a way that inadvertently improved her posture.
“Perfect.” Ginger gave her a wink then laughed as if the fairy had just said something funny. She didn’t want to seem like she had been expecting anyone as Berwyn appeared beside her.
“Oh!” She pretended to be surprised.
“Hi there.” Berwyn gave a friendly wave then shoved his hands into his pockets. He wore a casual smile that was downright charming on his handsome face. It made him seem less intimidating, as if he was genuinely having fun. “You must be the Lady of House Lockheart that I’ve been hearing so much about tonight.”
Ginger returned the smile. “Thank you for not adding an infamous before that.”
He let out a laugh. “Well yes, I will say, I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone tonight with a house affiliation with Rend.” He jumped right to the point. “I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect when Samhain messaged me to say he was sending some interesting guests in his place.”
Ginger gave him a knowing smile. “Yeah, we don’t exactly conform to the norms.” She stepped to the side. “That reminds me, let me introduce my Archmage, Kirabell.”
Kira let out a squeak followed by an unintentionally pretty laugh. Berwyn’s face lit up.
“I’d say we need more players in Noctem that stray from the norm. I don’t think I’ve had a fairy in the palace before. Especially not a Breath Archmage. Color me impressed.”
“I have some good housemates. They do their best to keep me alive.” Kira stared at the ground for a second before finding the courage to look him in the eyes. Her violet irises sparkled.
“And I’m sure you must do the same for them.” He shifted his view back to Ginger as if to confirm.
“That she does. She may even be one if the game’s strongest healers when it comes to raw stats. At least, that’s how we planned it.”
“I should probably be careful of you then. Any house with that much forethought must be a force to be reckoned with.”
Ginger placed a hand on his arm. “Well, as long as you don’t go marching your army on Rend, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.” She took a sip of her champagne. “Oh, and keep throwing parties like this. The palace is absolutely beautiful by the way.”
“Thank you. It made the chore of choosing a capital easy. There’s something to be said for having your own private beach. You both will have to come by sometime when it’s not so busy.”
“We would love to,” Ginger chortled polity at his invitation. Though, in reality, it took everything she had to keep from full-on cackling.
Excellent! My plan is unfolding perfectly. Now to seal the deal.
“You’re quite that dancer by the way.” She gave him her most charming smile.
“I can’t take all the credit.” Berwyn took a slight bow. “Dancing is all about teamwork. It’s a partnership. One that I happen to enjoy.” He held out one hand to her. “Would you care to give it a try?”
“I would be honored, but,” she withdrew her hand and placed it on her chest, “unfortunately, while I may excel at many things, dancing is not one of them.”
Berwyn’s hand dropped a few inches as his smile fell a little. With that, Ginger acted fast. So fast that Kira didn�
��t have time to react when she snatched the fairy’s hand and placed it firmly in Berwyn’s.
“But Kirabell here is quite light on her feet.”
The little mage froze as a shade of bright pink consumed her. She might as well have had a sign on her forehead saying, ‘Please be gentle with me.’
The Lord of Serpents lit up like the sun. “I would be absolutely thrilled. That is, if you don’t mind, Kirabell?”
“Umm, no.” She gave him a shy smile. “Of course I don’t mind.”
It wasn’t like she actually had a choice.
Ginger was going to catch hell about it later, but that was later. Right now, there was just the mission and the waiting at the end.
That was when a man with long, blond hair cut in. “Excuse me, Lord Berwyn, sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping that we could talk before the night’s over.” He was pale and seemed to be sweating.
Ginger nearly throttled the man. Damn it! Go away, you freaking jackass. Can’t you see we almost had him?
From the look of it, Berwyn may have wanted to throttle the man as well. A flash of anger streaked across his face, then settled into an expression of general annoyance. Finally, he sighed and let his friendly smile return. His eyes fell to Kira as he pulled back his outstretched hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I understand.” Kira’s shoulders relaxed.
Berwyn turned to the nervous looking man. “Yes, Mr. Holiday, it’s good to see you. You’re right we do have things to discuss, but this is a party, and as such, it’s not a place to talk business. Plus, I have just asked this lovely lady to the floor. There will be plenty of time to talk afterward.” He offered Kira his hand again and shot her wink.
She glanced to Ginger for a split second then reached out and gave him her hand.
Berwyn bowed to her in return, raising her hand at the same time as if to place a kiss on it. Kira immediately turned several shades of red at once. He stopped, just inches from her skin, his mouth close enough to activate the house ring on his finger. “Mr. Dartmouth, would you mind coming down to the door and showing Mr. Holiday up to my study while I get in one last dance for the night.” He finished with a gesture to the man that told him to go and wait elsewhere.
Holiday winced, then nodded to Kira and Ginger as if it was an apology before heading back toward the entrance.
Berwyn gave his attention back to Ginger. “Sorry about that. I will bring back your Archmage as soon as she tires of me.” A goofy grin took over his face again as his gaze fell to the trembling fairy. “And Kirabell, I am now in your debt for giving me an excuse to ditch that guy for a few minutes. I know you just met him, but trust me, he’s super annoying.” He rolled his eyes as he spoke, giving her a glimpse of a more casual side that was clearly meant to put her at ease. “Now, what say you and I go make everybody jealous?”
Without another word, he led her off on to the dance floor. Kira’s panicked face was only visible for a moment before disappearing into the crowd. Though, in that last second, she made sure to stare daggers at Ginger.
“Yeah, I’m definitely gonna hear about this later.” Ginger accepted just as Max’s voice came over the house line again.
“Did you just throw Kira to the wolves? Or Snakes? I guess in this situation.”
Ginger looked up to make eye contact with her guard. “I stand by my actions.” Then a wry smile crept across her face. “Besides, Berwyn has been stealing glances over at us all night? And I’ll tell you this, he wasn’t looking at me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Kira clenched her jaw as the house line erupted with chatter. Several voices overlapped and talked over each other.
“What’s happening?” Kegan asked.
“Ginger just gave Kira to Berwyn as a dance partner to save herself,” Max answered.
“Oh, she’ll be fine,” the Coin insisted. “Quit making me out to be a monster.”
Kegan laughed. “Oh my god, I can’t believe we’re going to miss this, being stuck up here.”
“Quit nudging me,” Corvin complained.
Finally, Farn drowned them all out, “Everybody quiet down. Hearing all of you laughing can’t be helping her.” Silence returned for a second before Farn spoke again, “Now, Kira, I know you can’t answer me right now, but just try to relax. You can do this.”
Kira smiled; at least someone was looking out for her.
“And you’re too light to hurt him if you step on his feet,” Ginger added.
Berwyn walked a slow pace through the crowd as if he was making sure not to rush her. He even held her hand gently. Kira’s heart raced as people surrounded her. Her dress flowed around her as her bare feet padded across the floor. Of course, that was the moment that she realized that it wasn’t a good idea to go dancing without shoes.
Berwyn lead her to a space near the center of the floor just as the orchestra paused before starting a new piece. “You know, I’ve never danced with a fairy before. Honestly, I’m kind of nervous.”
“Me too,” she admitted as he turned to face her.
His chest took up her view. “Okay, then let’s just take a moment and breath.”
Kira laughed.
“I’m serious. It helps when I’m nervous.” He held her hands as he took a few deep breaths. The guy looked ridiculous.
She gave in and joined him, inhaling like an idiot. She sighed when she realized it was working. “Okay, I’ll give you that one, and my best advice for dancing with a fairy is don’t step on my feet. I only have fifty HP, so a few missteps could actually kill me.”
“Thanks for the added pressure.” Berwyn cringed. “Good thing I know what I’m doing.” He looked down at her feet. “So it must be true then that fairies can’t equip footwear?”
Kira nodded as he raised her hand in his and held it out to the side. He placed his other on her back, prompting her to rest hers on his shoulder. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about fairies. Just that it’s a tough race to play. So I have to respect you for sticking with it.” He said gesturing to her second caster with his head. “Your house must be pretty lucky to have a healer like you.”
To her surprise, he spoke as if she made her house stronger. Most of the other guests that she and Ginger had spoken to had assumed she had only gotten that far through the protection of others. She let out a quiet, “Thanks,” just as the orchestra got ready to start again.
Right on cue, she felt his hold shift from a loose to firm, ready to lead her. It wasn’t too tight, but it locked her into position and forced their eyes to meet.
Farn’s voice whispered over the house line one final supportive, “Good luck. Just try not to trip or bump into the other couples, and it will be over in a–”
Her voice fell silent as Berwyn stepped forward.
Farn must have been imagining her tripping over her partner and knocking over every couple on the floor like a set of dominos. Kira smiled. That would have been funny, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, Kira simply stepped back, then to the side and so on, executing the same simple box step that Ginger had struggled with. Not only did she not trip, but she performed it flawlessly, transferring what little weight she had from one foot to the other with each step.
Berwyn tilted his head to the side as a smile registered on his face.
Farn’s voice came again, this time sounding shocked, “What the hell? Since when do you know how to dance?”
Ginger was next. “What!”
Kira caught the Coin in her peripheral climbing the stairs by the door for a better view.
Suddenly, Berwyn shifted his stance, pulling her closer. Then instead of stepping forward into the space where her foot would be, he stepped diagonally into her.
Kira adapted, mirroring the move in the opposite. The space between them vanished until their thighs almost touched with each step.
With less room to move, Berwyn also drastically reduced their margin for error. It was as if he was testing her.
He sm
iled.
She was passing.
Max chimed in from above with three words, “Kira, show off.”
Kira let a grin find its way to her face. She could only imagine how smug Max must have been right about now.
Berwyn raised an eyebrow. “It looks like Lockheart was hiding something. You can dance, can’t you?”
The question was also a test. He was obviously checking to see if talking would disrupt her concentration.
It didn’t.
“Yeah, I can play the harp too,” Kira joked, feeling more relaxed. Now, all she had left to worry about was the inevitable teasing from the rest of her party that was sure to follow.
Berwyn leaned down and whispered in her ear, “How about we give everybody something to talk about?”
Kira tilted her head from side to side. “I guess.”
Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, he dipped her almost to the floor in sync with the music. Her body seemed to weigh nothing as she let out a surprised laugh that drew the attention of the couples around them. Many altered their paths to give their host more room.
From her angle, Kira caught a slack-jawed Farnsworth practically hanging over the railing above. If the Shield had been drinking any punch, she would have spit it right over the balcony. Oh, and Max did indeed look quite smug.
Berwyn lifted her back up slowly, making the move appear rather seductive. The act would have made Kira uncomfortable if it wasn’t for a certain experience that she’d had back in college. One that had actually prepared her for this moment.
After a few more steps, he removed his hand from her back and spun her out with one arm outstretched. Her gown swirled around her legs, the tiny morning stars embedded in its folds sparkling as he pulled her back in a fluid motion.
She let out another laugh that blended with the music of the orchestra. At least, if she was going to get made fun of later, she was going to give them a good reason to.
The rest of the couples drifted further to stay out of their way, a decision that proved wise when they both pranced down the entire side of the floor in an exaggerated grapevine that ended in another twirl. This time, he wrapped his arm around her on the return so that she spun into an embrace, her back resting against his chest.