The weather outside was dark and chilly; Will wondered if he should offer Jane his coat. But then again, she probably would freeze before she took his charity. He held her hand tightly in his, as if to prevent her escape from him.
At his sudden tightening, Jane glanced over at him. "Are you all right, Will?" she asked nonchalantly, as if she didn't care what his answer was and the question was posed out of sheer English good manners.
Will blinked and loosened his grip. "Fine," he croaked out. "I just am cold. And worried that the Dark is ready for us coming to this thing." Will turned his head to face the opposite direction. "And the fact that my escort would rather swallow broken glass than be within ten feet of me."
Either Jane didn't hear the last statement, or chose to ignore it, because she rambled on anyhow. "I'm just concerned that Simon is angry with me. And the fact that the Dark MIGHT be there waiting for us is a bit of a worry I have as well." She laughed softly and genuinely, with a slight trace of nervousness.
Will felt her hand tighten around his.
* * * *
The piano and strings were lively, and Will cringed at the thought of dancing. He was never very good at it, and any extra attention drawn on the klutz falling all over the dance floor wouldn't be very good for the Light's case. So he decided to play incognito and just observe. Play it cool. He practiced his lurk while Jane was in the powder room. He slipped and slunk around in the side hall, flattening up against walls and slinking around like a spy.
"What are you doing?" Jane asked him when she came out of the room.
Will pushed himself away from the wall and ignored his blushing cheeks. "Just…surveying the situation."
Jane stared at him for a moment. "Oh. Shall we go in to the ball now? At least for a few minutes, then you can come back out here, 007." She smiled and held out her hand.
"Oh, well, you see, I was just…" Will stammered then sighed. "Yes, let's go in."
The hall itself was huge and circular, decorated in a Neoclassic French fashion, the types of halls Will remembered seeing in movies about Louis and Marie Antoinette. Will scanned the dancers carefully as they bumped and twirled their way around the dance floor. Strange how they could dance, and Will had trouble even snapping his fingers. He supposed that some people were just born with rhythm. A sudden rumble of thunder from outside startled him and brought him out of his thoughts.
"Excuse me," said a dark, booming voice.
Will and Jane turned around to see a tall boy, around the same age, with black hair, pale skin and piercing blue eyes. He was very attractive, and clothed in a completely black tuxedo with a light grey tie. Jane's mouth dropped open and she made an nearly inaudible squeak. She was clearly impressed.
Will, however, was not.
"Yes?" he said, standing plaintively in front of Jane like a little boy who snatches a toy up and declares, "MINE."
The boy smiled slightly. "I was just wondering if I could borrow your lovely escort for the next waltz. I simply haven't been able to take my eyes off her since you walked in." He offered out his arm, and Will resisted the urge to slap it away. "May I?"
"Actually," Will began, "we were just about to—"
"Of course," said Jane quickly, offering out her arm to the boy. "I would love to waltz. I'll be back in a while, Will."
With that, they flounced away to the center of the dance floor, leaving Will speechless. Ignoring the surge of jealousy and anger rising up inside him, Will moodily sat in a chaise lounge and stared at them hotly.
The boy held Jane gently by the hand and around the waist, and they seemed to float around the dance floor. She was looking into his eyes with such admired intensity, and he was bestowing the same courtesy. Jane felt butterflies in her stomach as he led her around the beautiful room, spinning her gently under the chandelier. Her eyes caught a glance at Will every moment or two, and her heart softened at his round face. But it hardened again with every twirl that took him out of sight.
"You seem taken with your companion," the boy mentioned, breaking Jane's reverie. He looked over at Will with an element of disgust. "He seems hardly worth your time."
Jane dropped her eyes to the ground, not knowing what to say. "He's made mistakes."
The boy tipped her chin up. "Well in life I learned that you have to pay for your mistakes. Shall we make him a bit more jealous?"
Before Jane could answer, the boy pressed his lips gently against hers. But as soon as they touched, Jane's entire body froze and the room stopped moving around her. Panicking, she opened her eyes and saw that the entire room was dark with the exception of her and the boy. She tried to move, but found herself paralyzed.
In her mind, the all too familiar voice screamed at her, "TELL ME WHAT THE LADY TOLD YOU, JANE!"
* * * * * *
"Oh, would you look at that," tsked an old man by the punch bowl. "You think that children that young would have some shame."
Will, who had been downing cups of punch in hopes of getting drunk and forgetting this entire disaster, looked up to see where they old man was pointing.
There was Jane and the boy, locked in a kiss in the middle of the dance floor. Will dropped his punch glass, and it landed with a shatter on the ground. His hands began to shake uncontrollably. How could she kiss a boy she barely knew? She had to have done it to get him jealous!
"I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and take this," he huffed to himself. Right before he turned to leave, a bolt of lightning from outside lit up the room. For a split second, Will saw into the boy. It was not a boy at all. It was the White Rider.
* * * * *
"Tell me Jane, or I'll have to do something horrible," the White Rider cooed sweetly, keeping his voice steady in Jane's head.
"No!" her mind hollered back at him in a desperate cry. "I won't tell you!"
"I hope you're not trying to protect Will Stanton," the White Rider said, an edge to his formerly gentle tone. "Because he doesn't even care about you. He took your affections for him and tossed them away. He doesn't love you, Jane, and he never will. But the wonderful boy you're kissing, his real name is Luke O'Bronwyn. I've only inhabited him for this night. He could be your new love. I could make it so, if only you would tell me…"
"Never," whispered Jane tearfully.
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light struck up the entire room and Jane's body went tumbling back into Will's waiting arms. "I've got you, Jane," he whispered into her ear. She was so weak that she couldn't even reply. The last thing she remembered from that night was being carried out and the White Rider crying out, "Will Stanton, I shall blast you out of Time for this! The Dark will prevail!"
* * * * * *
"Jane, please wake up," Will pleaded as he gently tapped her cheeks with his fingers. She had been unconscious for nearly twenty minutes and Will was at his wit's end. He'd laid her out on a garden bench outside the ball, and cast a spell over them so that no one else could see them there, including the White Rider. "Jane, please."
Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked hazily at Will. She stared at him for a second or so before bursting into hysterical tears and throwing her arms around him. "I was so scared," she stammered. "He was making me tell about the Lady's message…I wouldn't. He told me that you never loved me and I shouldn't bother trying to help you…but…. but…" She buried her face in Will's shoulder.
Will held her tightly as she cried, and after a moment gently pulled her away. The intense beating of his heart and the blood rushing through his body was overtaking his metaphysical senses. " And did you believe him?"
Jane swallowed and sniffled. "Well, I know that you don't love me." She glanced over at the ocean, miles away. "But I know that I love you no matter what happens, so I would never do anything that would hurt you."
Her words incensed Will. "You still love me?"
She shakily got up and walked away from him. "Of course I do. It's foolish and I shouldn't, but I still love you. I still think about you all the time, I still look at your old letters, and I still fall asleep wondering how you are…and if you ever think of me the same way. But I know you don't so I might as well just forget you." She turned her back on him and began to run her fingers on a growing rosebush.
Will got up. He didn't really understand what he was doing. But he knew he had to do it. He gently turned her around to face him. "I do love you, Jane. So much that it hurts sometimes. And I'm going to kiss you now. So, um, get ready."
And he did. They were both nervous and Jane tried to push him away at first, but eventually she gave in. When they parted lips, Jane stared at him for a long time, fresh tears building up in her eyes. "How do I know you're not fooling me again?"
"Jane I've had to pretend I didn't love you for 5 whole years, I don't think I could ever not love you." He ran his hand through her loosed hair and smiled. "And I hope you know that you're stuck with me forever now."
Jane threw her arms around him again. "Will Stanton," she cried out as he picked her up and spun her around, "I will love you until the day I die!"
Will's heart froze when he heard her say that. He tried to push it out of his mind as they walked back to the cottages, hand in hand.
After they had vanished from sight, a rustle was heard in the bushes. A dark figure with leaves stuck in his hair stood up and eyed the departing figures.
"You bastard," Bran said angrily, swiping the leaves off his head.