Chapter 3. No Dreams Without Sleep

Faye couldn't believe how hard this was. She knew probably every fighting techniques there was to know, she could fire a ballista and knew how to lead an army. But this, this was the hardest thing she ever had faced. Placing one foot in front of another, then back, then swirl around, then repeat.

"No, Faye! That's all wrong! You really need to start paying attention."

Of course it was wrong, she had done it wrong all day but that stupid Orlasian dance teacher demanded her to do it over and over again. Who needed to know how to waltz anyway?

"It's one, two, three, one two, three..." the dance teacher said over and over again to the beat of the muffled music played from the small orchestra in the big dance hall. "One, two, three, one two, three..."

Faye's dance partner was a tall, dark man, called Jules, who could have been quite handsome if he didn't shown how irritated he became over the fourteen year old Faye's inability to learn the dance steps so clearly. The man had followed the dance teacher and talked in a very deep, dark tone the few times he actually said anything.

The dance teacher on the other hand was a tiny, skinny little fellow with grey hair that was laid in a flamboyant hairdo. He was wearing very fancy clothes in fancy colourers and moved in a way that reminded Faye about flamingos, but that might be because his shirt was bright pink.

"One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three..." Faye kept saying to herself quietly and moved across the ballroom. Her mother was standing over by the door, peeping in on her progress. She had always wanted Faye to become a little bit more womanly and every woman should know the art of waltz. "One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three..."

Faye stumbled on her feet just as she started to think she was doing better and accidental stepped on Jules foot, witch made him cry out a small, surprisingly bright shriek.

"You stupid girl!" he said in his Orlasian accent while lifting his foot of the ground so he could inspect it closer. "We have been over this a hundred times, you should know it like the back of your hand by now!"

"Now, now Jules. Don't get upset." the dance teacher said and walked over to Jules to pat him on the shoulder. He laughed nervously, looking over at Faye's mother to see if she had been gotten offended by Jules comment, without even thinking that maybe Faye was the one the gotten offend. "Young madame Faye is a slow learner, but we will get there in time."

"I really don't think this is something for me, mother."Faye said and looked at her mother over by the door. Her mother was a beautiful woman, with a slender physic, long brown hair that was tied into a elegant knot on her head and a long swan-like neck.

"Oh don't say that." her mother answered and walked across the floor over to them. "I couldn't dance when I was your age either. It just... Takes time to learn sometimes. Just remember to keep your head up and relax."

Faye opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced with a swift hand movement with her mother. Faye had given her hell about this dance business, and Faye had been told that if she didn't go through it, her mother would just make her do something much worse. Like learn how to cook or sew. And nothing scared Faye more than sewing.

So when Jules reluctantly grabbed Faye by the waist again and the orchestra started playing, she bit her lower lip and started moving across the floor, while repeating "one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three..." quietly for herself.