#paso doble

You exhaled, glancing around at the darkened room that was filled with the swaying forms of dancers as you idly pondered how you’d managed to land yourself in this situation. But dancing with the crown prince of Kremnos was certainly an odd thought. Especially considering the fact that he was better known for war and fighting than any form of arts.

But there had always been more to Mydei than just his warrior side. You’d known that for years now. Even with that knowledge, though, the thought of dancing with him of all people was admittedly rather awkward.

It wasn’t hard to spot him amid the crowd of people, leaned against the wall in the shadows of the room. And there was no denying the way your gaze trailed toward him all too naturally.

His eyes flicked up to look your way, somehow seeming to glow with a faint golden light even from across the room before he straightened and started forward. Crossing the space purposefully, as if no one else mattered as you walked toward him silently.

And you had to hand it to Aglaea. She’d set the scene perfectly. No one would be able to ignore the prince as you both emerged into the middle of the room. Surrounded by a ring of people whose dancing started to trail off alongside the gradually lulling music. A marked contrast to yours and Mydei’s purposeful strides.

You stopped short though as you reached the middle of the space while he continued, starting to walk right on by you. Not stopping until his back was to you as you glanced only slightly over your shoulder toward him, though you avoided looking fully at him.

How long had it been since you had last seen him? 

Aglaea contacting you to request that you dance with Mydei in a performance that would reveal his return to the entire city had been surprising enough without even considering how much time had passed since you’d seen him. Which had been none other than the very same day that he’d left to face the black tide with little promise of returning.

You swallowed slightly as your fingers twitched, almost itching to reach back and brush against his. To just go ahead and get this started so that you could move on the way you always seemed to end up having to try to when it came to Mydei.

After all, it seemed like for better or worse he had some sort of doomed fate. Everytime things looked like they were taking a turn for the better, they’d slip back the other way.

You didn’t get the opportunity to take the first step though as he turned. And, almost instinctively, you pulled your hand away from him and toward your chest as your fingers curled into your palm. 

Distantly, you could hear a woman singing softly. Her quiet lyrics melting into the moody music that seemed to feel the space with a weighty somberness that was somehow drowned out by the raw amount of your attention Mydei managed to hold despite the fact he hadn’t said anything.

But, even without words, there was a heaviness to the atmosphere that had you pressing your lips together before you leaned lightly to the side and spread your arms. Feeling him catch you all too easily and guide you in a largely controlled fall toward the floor as one of your legs stretched out beside you while the other bent under you.

And then he was guiding you to the side and pulling you back up as you simultaneously turned to face him in one fluid motion that ended with you standing once more. Almost nose to nose with the man in question even as you kept your gaze downward. Determinedly avoiding eye contact as his hand caught yours while your other palm braced itself against his shoulder and he cupped your side.

You exhaled softly as you both knelt. Your bodies lowering together in one long motion. And when you straightened, you barely met his gaze. Your eyes flickering up to meet his before you stepped past him. Doing your best to ignore the way his hand reached over to gently catch you even as you move on by him.

And silently, you almost cursed Aglaea for picking an Argentine Tango, of all the dances, for you to dance with Mydei.

You understood the logic behind the dance, of course. Not only did both of you know this style, but it was also a moody sort of dance that could hardly be ignored when it was performed well. But the weighty emotions and story wove by such a dance always involved being in close proximity to your partner.

Proximity that was, in this case, almost painfully close considering you were dancing with Mydei whom you hadn’t seen or heard from in years but who somehow managed to have haunted you all this time.

You largely knew what was coming, but somehow your breath still caught slightly as his hand, warm as ever, closed around your wrist and tugged you backward into a twirl that ended with your arms wrapping around his shoulders as you caught yourself against him.

The motion paired almost perfectly with the jarring drum beat that slammed itself into the previously quiet music. Changing the tone of the dance floor and startling the other couples who’d been unprepared for the sudden beat change. Just as Aglaea had planned.

But she wanted all eyes on you and Mydei. No one could miss his reappearance. And even now you largely wished they’d just gone ahead and had some sort of parade or something instead of this. Because this felt cruel and unusual. Especially since Aglaea knew about your relationship with Mydei.

You barely had time to consider any of that though, since you could feel the way Mydei’s gaze sought yours even as you kept your head stubbornly turned. Casually tracing a pattern on the floor with the toe of your shoe before you stepped to the side with him. 

Both of you kicked back with one leg as he subtly pivoted you. And, predictably, you reacted to that motion. Briefly looking his way to see where he was taking this dance only to find your gaze colliding unforgivingly, and perhaps condemningly, with those perfectly gold eyes of his with their too-sharp pupils. Always too perceptive and unflinching in the way they held your gaze.

He gave a tug that was almost gentle despite the way it caused you to swing over in front of him with an exaggeratedly long step that fell perfectly in time with yet another beat in the rhythm of your music.

And then you started into a slow circle of careful steps that landed mere inches from one another as you stayed painfully close, but in pristine dancing held with the prince. 

And this time your gaze didn’t leave his. Almost as if you were entrapped by his stare despite the way you lifted your chin. Refusing to quail or tremble no matter the emotion that threatened to well up within you at the mere sight of him. Here, and safe. Miraculously unharmed by the war he’d been waging all this time against the seemingly unstoppable black tide despite the fact no one had known anything about his whereabouts or well-being until he’d stolen back into the city under the cover of night.

You weren’t sure even now if you were the one who’d avoided seeing him or if he’d been avoiding you up until this point. And perhaps it had been a bit of both. After all, he’d largely implied that you were not to wait for his return when he left. 

In his defense though, you knew he hadn’t expected to ever return, and he didn’t want you pining after a dead man. Though that was precisely what you’d been prepared to do.

You had tried though. You really had. But moving on even when he wasn’t around had proved impossible. And now, for reasons even you couldn’t put into words, you felt oddly guilty for having even tried.

You pivoted again, but this time he spun you in a swift, almost abrupt circle before pulling you against him. 

He stepped forward, sending you into a dynamic crouched position that had you leaning back and looking up at him as if you physically could not look away from him.

And maybe you couldn’t. Because something unnamed, but potent flickered in the silence between the two of you. Something that wasn’t even shattered as he stepped back and you slid into an upright position once more. Stepping lightly with him before he turned and you spun with him. Your legs rigid as if you were a doll that would spin so long as someone cranked the key that controlled the mechanisms which guided you.

At some point you’d leaned closer to him. Close enough that you could practically exchange breaths as he danced forward, sending you stepping backward in retreat before, on impulse, you spun.

Breaking eye contact and looking away from him as you felt yourself breathe again in that brief moment of separation even as his arm wound around you. Staying locked with yours as if he utterly refused to let you go.

And then he was pulling you back to him. His expression more complex now as you swallowed thickly. Refusing to meet his gaze once more as you pushed yourself to focus on your footwork instead.

But again he interrupted by grasping your arm before he swung you down into a dip that had you grasping his shoulder by instinct. Looking toward the ground as your body crossed over his in something akin to a lunge as he supported you easily with his hands splayed across your back. Brushing against where your skin was exposed by your dress even as he pulled your back upright.

And as you faced him again, your hands were cupping his face, with your fingers stretching into the strawberry blond hair that hung to his shoulders as it faded into a brilliant red.

You exhaled softly, your breath trembling before your hands slid away from his cheeks and down his shoulders, where one of his hands caught yours with infinite gentleness as his expression softened. Something akin to apology there, though you weren’t quite sure what it might be for.

How long he’d been away? His sudden appearance here? Your involvement? Or, perhaps, the way he’d pushed you into this strangely tense interaction filled with far too many unspoken emotions.

He let you go, seemingly releasing you into the crowd as the music lulled while people stared. Almost like they were afraid of interrupting this strange moment where it honestly felt like it was just you and Mydei.

You swallowed though as he stepped back, his eyes staying locked with yours as you squared your shoulders and nodded. A silent indication that you were ready as he stepped back into the center of the ring in one fluid motion that stood in stark contrast to the tales of all the blood he’d shed.

You took off as the drum beat hit. Leaping toward him before locking your arms and legs around him in an embrace as you tucked your head against his shoulder and he spun with you. His arms wrapping tightly around you as he stopped with his head pressing against the side of yours as he supported you with carefully controlled strength and let you down.

Your feet touched lightly onto the ground and you slid apart, with his hand sliding down your arm until it locked with yours and pulled the two of you back together.

And all at once everything seemed to fall in place as you matched the beat perfectly. Mirroring one another’s steps as you danced lightly around the encircled space. Your eyes locked with one another as a million words sped between you in the space of seconds.

You pivoted with him again, one leg extended to cross over his before he easily swung you up so that you could cross both legs against his hip as you sat lightly on his slightly bent leg before he swung you back down and you rapidly spun to the side. 

Snapping into yet another dynamic position that left the two of you with mere inches between you.

Your hand left his to brace itself against his shoulder as he gripped your back steadily. Swinging you between his legs so that you slid smoothly against the floor as the music lulled again.

And everything about it seemed so impossibly careful and precise as he pulled you back upright and your hand found his again before he lifted you to spin. Holding in a careful position that had you mere inches from the ground before he set you back down and twirled you.

You stopped with your back to his chest this time, though. Watching as his arms crossed yours over your chest while his hands stayed tangled with yours. Not letting go until the very last second. And only then did they shift to rest lightly against your stomach and shoulder as you felt his head turn to rest against yours. His lips just shy of your ear as he exhaled and his breath fanned across your cheek in the silence that remained in the aftermath of your performance and fading strings of the music.

And then slowly, the applause started and you came back too. Your breath catching slightly as his hand tightened just briefly on your shoulder. Almost like he too had been momentarily startled by the reminder of your audience’s presence before he stepped back and you straightened. 

Lowering your arms and doing your best to pretend that nothing at all had just happened. There had been no brief moment of rawness where there had been too much said in just a few glances.

But even then, as you lied to yourself, you couldn’t deny the way your gaze trailed its way back to him as he stepped forward to bow slightly in a swift recovery that perfectly concealed whatever it was that had just happened between the two of you.

Though after a moment, he did look back at you. A certain weightiness still present in his golden eyes as you finished recovering and nodded. Managing a smile as you looked toward the crowd and mirrored his bow.

If you would like to read more:

Previous