by O. J. Lowe
As it was, he didn’t have long to wait before she showed up and he had to admit it was worth waiting for. She looked fantastic, he let out an appreciative little whistle as she walked over, clad in a little black dress with white and red flowers all over it, her hair a fresh mixture of shades of black and blue up in a tight little bun.
“Wow,” he said softly. “You look beautiful. Really, really beautiful.” His tongue felt thick in his mouth, he suddenly couldn’t think of anything else to say and he felt his cheeks flush. If she noticed, she didn’t say it, instead giving a shy little laugh.
“Really?” she said. “Thanks. Thank you. I’m glad I brought this now. I sometimes wear it when spirit dancing.”
“Yeah? Cool,” he said, offering her a hand. She took it and grinned at him. “Shall we go in then? You and me?” He didn’t know if her brother was showing up and she was waiting for him. He hoped not. That’d make it uncomfortable. Yet at the same time, the two Arnholt children did appear to have a close bond. He had no siblings, he envied that about them.
“That’s the way it should be,” she said. “I’m glad you asked me. I probably wouldn’t have come otherwise.” It was her turn to blush a little and Scott felt his heart leap.
“Well that makes two of us,” he said. Never mind that he might have come with Jess… He rejected that thought. He wasn’t thinking of her tonight. Not with this enchanting girl in his presence. He grimaced a little. Had he just thought of her as enchanting? Wow...
“Something wrong?” she asked. Maybe she’d seen the twitch in his face. Scott shook his head quickly.
“Nah, just had a strange thought.”
“Want to tell me about it?”
“Not even in the slightest,” he said. “It’s a bit…” He shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
That brought a small frown to her face, but she didn’t push it. Privately he was glad, it’d be embarrassing if he said it out loud. Instead he squeezed her hand and smiled at her. “It doesn’t matter. Just something I needed to do but didn’t. It doesn’t matter now.” Not entirely true but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. “Let’s just focus on tonight. Because, well…”
He looked at the building in front of them, one he hadn’t really noticed before tonight. Kanu Hall, a squat building that looked far grander than it probably warranted with the marble steps leading up to huge glossed wooden doors. A pair of ICCC officials stood at the entrance, both in suits, greeting everyone who entered. The roof was flat, barring a trio of thin chimneys protruding into the skyline. Already there was a queue forming, Scott kept his arm linked with Mia’s as they found themselves caught behind a bulky caller who was talking with a broad accent, tricky to place but enough to make him sound like a Premesoir burntneck from the south although the woman with him was anything but. Studying the backs of the two of them, Scott was privately amused. That guy must have something going for him. As if he’d sensed someone staring, the man turned back and caught his eye. Scott didn’t break the gaze for a few moments and slowly the ruddy face broke into a grin.
“Well hey there friend,” he said. “Nice to see you. You and your lovely young lady. Enjoy your night, yeah, you see you do that.” Scott had seen him before, the name escaped him, but he might have caught one or two of his bouts on the viewing screen.
“Thanks, you too,” Scott said, offering him a hand which the bulky man took and shook. “Scott Taylor.”
“Connor Caldwell. And this is Countess Amelie Richert of Serran.” He jerked his head towards his companion who inclined a lovely head and gave them a smile not entirely laced with warmth. Scott returned the smile, he’d never met a countess before. “And who might your lovely companion be?”
He took Mia’s hand and kissed it, her blush combining with amusement to paint an interesting picture out of her face. Scott felt a stab of jealousy in his gut.
“Mia,” he said. “Mia Arnholt.”
“Daughter of the famous Terrence himself?” Caldwell asked, raising an eyebrow. “A fine man, to be sure. I’ve had the pleasures of his hospitality on more than a few occasions and well, I’ll be sure to offer my congratulations to him on such a fine daughter when next our paths cross.”
Yeah, good luck with that, Scott thought as the queue moved on and Caldwell and the Countess with it. “Are you in the tournament, Mr Caldwell?” Mia asked. If she was moved by his words, she didn’t show it. He wondered if she was used to people knowing who her father was and how she felt about it. Her expression could have frozen fire.
“Oh please, Connor, my dear,” he said. “And indeed, I await the draw in the morning to see what fate has in store for me.”
“Me too,” Scott said. Again, the queue moved on and he was relieved to see Caldwell and the Countess being waved through by the ICCC officials. He glanced at Mia and rolled his eyes at her with a grin. “He was a bit… What’s the word?”
“He was friendly enough,” Mia said. “Very nice man. Bit pompous, I think is the word you were looking for.”
He nodded in agreement, smiled at the two officials, suddenly hoping they didn’t take it upon themselves to throw him out. That’d probably make things a little humiliating. Although at least it’d make it a memorable first date for him and Mia. Whether they’d get another one or not was open to debate but nothing had gone wrong. Yet. They studied him for a good few seconds, he found himself tugging at his collar with nerves, grinned at them, before they both relaxed and let the two of them go through. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he let a little sigh of relief slip from him as they walked into the well-lit corridor, floor tiles clicking beneath Mia’s heels. On the wall beside the entrance, he glimpsed a bronze plaque giving the history of the Rachmane Alba Kanu Hall. Apparently, it’d been named after a famous Vazaran spirit caller he’d never heard of. Music echoed from the other end of the hallway, behind an ajar door. He could see lights and movement through the crack, another ICCC official stood like a statue at the door.
“Do you get that a lot?” he asked as they made the long walk through. “People knowing who your dad is?” Mia nodded her head. “Does it get annoying?”
She tilted her head to the side for a moment, considering it silently. “Well a bit at times. I think it bothers my brother more than it does me. He’s the one who does the calling, not me. He’s the one who has the comparisons made between them. If I was a caller and not a dancer, it might be me. But I don’t have to put up with it. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s a grating when some people do it, but it doesn’t bother me most of the time.”
“Some caller kids change their name for the early part of their career,” Scott said. “You know, avoid pressure over who their parents were.”
“Why would I do that?” Mia looked genuinely outraged at the suggestion. “This is who I am. I’m not hiding it.”
“I wasn’t saying you should, I’m just saying it happens,” Scott said. They reached the door and found themselves waved through quickly by the official, the music hitting them as they entered. At least it wasn’t overbearing, he could hear himself speak over it. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologise,” she said, smiling at him. “Drink?”
“Yeah, sure I’ll get you one, what do you want?” he said, looking for some credits in his pocket. He’d broken a hundred out of his account, just in case. Suddenly it felt painfully inadequate.
“Well how about I get you one,” she grinned. “My treat. It’s a custom where I grew up. On the first date, the woman buys the man the first drink without knowing what he likes. If it’s something he enjoys, it’s supposed to bring good luck or something.”
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
She nodded, her face deadly serious. He’d half expected her to break out laughing. But no such sign of it. “I’m not joking you.”
“That’s unusual.” He wanted to say strange or weird, some force stopped him, suggesting it might not be the best idea. Nothing ruined a date more than ha
ving a go at someone’s cultural beliefs. At least he’d never had that problem with Jess. “But hey, I’m down with it. Long as you let me buy you the second?”
She smiled at him. “I think I can manage that.” It was only as she walked off, he found himself wondering something about her statement. Out of all those men who’d ever had drinks bought for them by women like Mia, how many of them had faked enjoying the drink to avoid hurting the woman’s feelings. Already he had the image of trying to force something down with a smile on his face to endear himself to the girl. As customs went, it was a pretty ridiculous one, although he wasn’t going to be stupid enough to say. Based on one drink… Doubtless the meaning had probably changed over time but still. You might get someone completely unsuitable managing a lucky guess and two people who really shouldn’t be together found themselves in a hateful relationship. Well, he supposed if someone wasn’t right, you’d work it out eventually. In theory anyway. Eventually just had different meanings of time for different people. Could be weeks, could be months, could be years. Besides. Free drink, right?
His thoughts were interrupted with her return, a glass of olive coloured wine in one hand, a bottle of black briar beer in the other. With a grin, she placed the bottle in his hand, closing his fingers around the neck of the bottle. “Can’t go wrong with beer,” Mia said. “Old favourite. And it’s from Premesoir. Like you.”
Scott laughed, glanced at the label. It had a printed rendition of an old man smoking a pipe, his eyebrows huge like big grey caterpillars. It spoke of a different time, made him feel wistful. “You want to know the weird thing about that though?” She raised a thin eyebrow. “Was born in Premesoir but my mom was from Serran. I’d take a wild guess and say my dad had some Vazaran in him.” He gestured to his skin, saw her smirk at his way of describing it. “But this is the first time I ever been to the kingdom, so yeah, home is where you make it.”
He took a gulp of the beer, found it rich with a distinctive taste, the liquid went down easily, and he had to hide a smirk. “But the beer is quite good,” he said, trying to sound offhand but grateful simultaneously. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” She couldn’t quite hide her smile, jittering her weight from one leg to the other. He liked her smile, the way it curved the corners of her mouth and her eyes lit up.
“So, what’s the next stage of your wacky customs?” He inquired, grinning at her.
“Well I’ll leave that for you to discover on your own,” she said coyly. “I’m not giving everything up easily.”
“You like to dance?” Scott blanched inwardly as he said it out loud. Why had he asked that? Hopefully she’d say no. If she said yeah, he’d feel obligated to ask her if she wanted to dance. He hated dancing. It made him feel awkward. Like everyone in the room was watching. And given his limited ability, everyone probably would be. And laughing, don’t forget that. Especially Mia. He could see her shaking her head in disgust and stepping away from him.
“Yeah, I do.”
Another blanch. “Do you want to?” He kicked himself mentally, he’d dropped himself in it now. If she said yes, he’d end up looking a fool. If she said no, he’d spend the rest of the night wondering what he’d done to put her off. She smiled, and he felt better, a little more confident. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.
“Sure,” she said. “Lead on, flyboy.”
Flyboy… Maybe he’d adopt that nickname. It was cool. He held out a hand and she took it, though he felt the need to warn her. He didn’t though. He felt a little bad as he led her out to the dance, maybe he should have. But still the words remained unsaid.
In fairness as they came back off, it hadn’t been quite as bad as he’d imagined. At least people hadn’t stopped to laugh. He’d not done badly. Okay, so Mia had grinned a little, but she still hugged up to him on several occasions, maybe she genuinely didn’t care. He’d felt the warmth of her body and found any doubt slipping away about his lack of skill.
“I liked that,” she said. “You got interesting moves, flyboy.”
“Yeah, that was going through my head,” he said, scratching the back of his head uneasily. He quickly stopped, didn’t want her to get the wrong impression that he had fleas or something. “Hope you find my moves ‘interesting’ and the like.” He was grinning uneasily, and she matched it with a big smile.
“Hey, I got to admire your confidence. And your enthusiasm.”
“Well that’s probably my biggest victory of the tournament then,” Scott grinned. “And the one I’ll savour the most.”
“You do that.”
“Mia!”
Scott’s brow knotted as he heard the high-pitched eerie voice, a big bulky man with long dark hair striding into their personal space. He had to avert his eyes to avoid staring at the vicious green colour of his suit, was like staring into an emerald sun.
“Oh hey,” she said. He couldn’t help but notice her eyes had taken on a distinctively glassy quality as he arrived. Earlier glee had been replaced with bemused caution. “Harvey.”
“Saw you out on the floor, girlfriend, you got some style,” Harvey smiled, glancing back to Scott. His smirk grew, it wasn’t an expression Scott found encouraging. It was akin to the sort of look a jackal gave you when you were wounded, when it was debating whether to finish you off. “And you. Interesting moves, my man. You come up with them yourself?”
“I might have done.” Scott didn’t like his tone. It made his skin want to crawl into a corner somewhere.
“Yeah, it shows,” he said dismissively. Scott found himself wondering if it’d cause a ruction in his date with Mia if he picked up the closest chair and cracked it over the big guy’s back. Probably, he concluded. But it might be worth it.
“Harvey, this is my date for the night, Scott Taylor,” Mia said politely. Her eyes still had that glazed look as if she were trying not to take him seriously. Scott offered him a hand, Harvey studied it for a moment before grabbing it with one huge hand and pumping it vigorously. His skin was like velvet. Taken by surprise, Scott was powerless to resist being drawn into a hug. He was too surprised even to struggle, probably a good thing. “And this is Harvey Rocastle. He’s a spirit dancer like me. And a talent scout, apparently.”
“Ah I’m done talent scouting honestly,” Harvey said. “I’m leaving in the morning. Got to go file stuff. Ha, listen to me, doing filing like a little secretary. Never thought I’d say that.” He giggled girlishly, and Scott was suddenly glad he was away from him. “Enjoyed it though. Something different and I’ve managed to keep myself in silk for the time being.”
“Who did you scout talent for?” Scott asked. The guy unnerved him, still there was no surer way to upset your date than being rude to one of her friends, no matter how much of a cock he might appear to be. “Anyone?”
“Ah, some company named Reims. They sponsored this whole thing, I was hired to come out and find those who looked like they needed a new direction with their abilities. Anything I can do to help my brothers from other mothers.” Harvey shrugged his giant shoulders, scratched his stomach through the vivid purple of his shirt. “So, you’re her date. Did she tell you anything about her other boyfriends? Remember Andy Donohue, m’dear?”
Mia stiffened, glared at him. If he cared, he didn’t show it. It was the first bit of emotion Scott had seen her show in Harvey’s presence.
“Speaking of, I saw him the other week,” Harvey said. “He said if I saw you anytime soon, to give you a message. He needs to talk to you about something. Don’t think he could get in touch with you or something.”
“I blocked him from contacting me,” Mia said angrily. “I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t want to hear the message either. I don’t care what he has to say.”
Harvey sighed. “Sweetie, I get that, I really do. But please, just hear what he had to say. At least I can say I told you, you still weren’t impressed, we can move on. Easy for everyone. Sucks for Donny, but well screw him.” He grinned at her with glittering black
eyes as if there were more he wished to say but was holding his tongue.
It was Mia’s turn to sigh. “Fine, what did he have to say? Although if it’s begging me to take him back, I’m not interested.” She turned to Scott. “I’m really sorry about this.” Scott shrugged his shoulders.
“Eh, it’s not your fault. Some people don’t know how to take a hint.” He managed to make it sound offhand, all while looking at Harvey who grinned back at him broadly. “I’m sure we all know someone like that. Showing up when they’re not wanted. Not taking a hint.”
“Well it was sort of a private message,” Harvey said apologetically. “I have it saved on my summoner.” He sighed theatrically. “But the damn system is playing up again and whatnot. Can’t get any communication on it. Not in here. If you follow me, we’ll go outside, play it and then I’ll let you get back to your date.” He grinned at Scott who fought the urge to roll his eyes.
Mia shook her head. “Forget it, I’ve got better things to…”
“Please!” Harvey sounded almost desperate as he hissed the word, several people turning to look at him. “Just humour me. I don’t like being used as Andy D’s errand boy. But I said I would. And I keep my promises. I’ll show it to you and we can both get on with our lives. Please, Mia.” Desperation turned to despair, and Scott saw Mia sigh.
“Okay, sure, but make it quick,” she said. Harvey grinned, all worry lost from him and turned tail, trotting away with Mia close behind. Scott watched them walk away, across the floor and out a door across the other side of the room.
“Don’t forget where I am,” he called after her, not sure if she’d heard him. He hoped she had.
Huh, he thought to himself. That just about sums it up and… Huh? The music had changed, finally he heard the next song on the playlist and the words registered in his ears, sending ice rushing through his veins. He froze on the spot, didn’t move.