She sat in a corner of the immense ballroom, staring moodily down at her empty cup of wine. She assumed it was the alcohol in her system that made her glare at a particularly merry couple on the dance floor.
The couple in question, a long, tan and handsome man and a slim but curvy blonde, laughed at some hidden joke, leaning closer while doing so. A combination of potent wine, rich food and a third unidentifiable emotion made her want to retch.
And retch she did so.
She left the stuffy room in a rush and barely made it to a nearby terrace before 3 cups of wine, sautéed chicken, and steamed rice were expelled from her system. She kneeled motionless for a moment as if in prayer before heaving to her feet and wiping her mouth, mindless of the expensive gown she wore.
She stole a furtive glance around the empty terrace before closing her exquisite blue-gray eyes and scrunching her face in concentration. Slowly, bit by bit, her brown curls changed to sleek brown and red feathers, her outstretched arms became wings and her feet turned into claws with inch long talons.
Without another noise the she-hawk rose into flight and glided off into the moon, leaving only a lone pink, frilly dress in her wake.
--
He was only vaguely aware of each of the many buxom, beautiful court ladies that had graced his arm that night. While dancing with one he would smile at another and vice versa just to keep a particular young lady out of his mind.
That, however, would prove impossible. She was there, flitting at the corner of his eye. Her intoxicating and unique smell of light cotton and animal musk constantly drifted into his nostrils while her cheerful laugh could be heard across the room of 100+.
He grimaced. These feelings he had for his student weren't natural and he knew it. With no one to confide to, every emotion a human could feel was bottled up inside him.
He glanced around the room, trying not to look to the corner where she sat. Finally his dark orbs settled on one of the many ladies he had danced with that evening. She was a chest blonde with a bit too much air in her head to be completely memorable but none-the-less a pretty woman.
He put on his most charming smile and strode over where the woman stood chattering,
For the rest of the night the couple was barely seen out of each other's sight. He placed the part of the infatuated court gentleman, laughing when she laughed, complimenting with a smile, and touching all the right places at all the right times.
And so the end of the night drew near. With a husky smile he asked if she would permit him to escort her to her rooms and with an equally husky smile the lady agreed.
It was then that he couldn't help but peek back and notice a young lady with brown locks and a horribly pink, frilly dress rushing out onto one the terraces. His heart jumped into his throat before he saw a certain clerk scurry after the young lady.
So it was then that he left the grand ballroom, about to spend his night with one of the famous court jewels and yet be completely, utterly alone.