AN - OK, I am succumbing to the masses and writing more chapters! Read and
review please!
The first hour of the evening passed quickly for Lara. She was lucky that Yugi had noticed her and decided to look after her while Yami was.preoccupied with Mai. Many of the dishes served Lara had eaten before, but some of the more expensive food she did not know. Yugi did not seem to mind telling her what certain things were. He also pointed out people and told Lara who they were. Lara was surprised at how quickly the meal went, and before she knew it the entertainment slaves were playing some relaxing music whilst people talked and let their meals settle.
Once or twice she caught Yami staring at her. He smiled before returning to his conversation with Mai. So far he seemed to have done very little talking. Discretely Yami nudged Seto under the table. Recognising their signal Seto struck up a conversation with Mai, giving Yami time to relax. Yami called over on of the waiters and handed him a piece of paper without anyone else noticing. Nodding the waiter straightened up, refilled Yami's glass and walked along the row of seats, filling up glasses. When he reached Lara he bent down to her and whispered, "A letter from the Pharaoh, Madam." Placing a folded piece of paper in her hands he pretended to be cleaning her glass as she read it.
'Save the first dance for me.' She read to herself. Smiling she handed the piece of paper back to the waiter who pocketed it, promising not to look at it but to throw it away. She looked over to Yami and smiled at him, nodding slightly. He grinned for a moment before averting his gaze to avoid suspicion.
After about half an hour Mai grew tired of talking about herself to Yami.
"I must just pop to the little girl's room to freshen up!" She announced, getting up from the table. Yami waited a few minutes before standing up and calling for silence.
"Lady Lamella, with your permission, the festivities shall no begin!"
The band struck up the introduction to the first dance, but no one got up. They were waiting for Yami to take the floor, as it was customary that the King would start the dancing. Yami walked towards Lara and was just about to ask her to dance when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Now where is that first dance that we agreed on?" Asked Mai, and without an answer she led Yami onto the dance floor. Yami looked apologetically at Lara, who avoided his gaze, hurt.
"Please don't fret over him Lara. He obviously wants to dance with you. But it is his duty to keep good relationships with Mai's country. He is doing his job." Assured Yugi as he got up to dance with another guest.
Lara nodded and sat alone whilst almost everyone danced. About twenty people remained seated, either without partners or choosing not to dance. A shadow fell over her and Lara looked up, her heart in her throat. But the figure standing over her was not Yami.
"Care to dance?" Asked the stranger. Lara glanced at the filling dance floor.
"Why not?" She replied, standing up and taking the strangers hand.
"My name is Ryou." Said the man as he led her to a space.
"Lara." She replied.
Ryou took her hand and they began to dance. It was a traditional Egyptian dance that Lara had learned from an early age and she began to have fun.
Meanwhile Yami was dancing with Mai half-heartedly. Occasionally he glanced over to where Lara was sitting. Now he saw that she was no longer in her seat.
'I hope she hasn't gone home.' He thought. Moving Mai subtly he cast his eye around the room until he saw Lara dancing with Ryou, one of his advisers. 'Oh no! If Ryou works his charm on her I will lose her!' Yami could not wait until the dance was over, but Mai kept him dancing for the next one, a slightly slower one. Yami constantly looked over his shoulder for Lara, causing him to tread on Mai's toes on several occasions. Finally Mai gave an exasperated sigh and broke away from Yami.
"Yami, you never used to be such a terrible dancer!" She ranted. "Look at my shoes, they are ruined. If you will excuse me I will have to go and change them, lucky for me I have spares pairs of shoes in my room!" With that she flounced off, leaving Yami with a smile on his face. Purposefully Yami made his way towards Ryou and Lara, who were still dancing.
"May I cut in?" He asked Ryou. Lara found herself being handed over by Ryou and she looked up to see Yami standing in front of her. "I'm sorry we missed the first dance." He muttered. "But, to compensate, how about the best dance?"
"That sounds like a good compromise." Whispered Lara as Yami took her small, delicate hand in his large, strong one, leading her to the centre of the dance floor just as the song finished. The band began a beautiful slow song as Yami turned to Lara and put one arm around her waist, holding her hand in the other one. She rested her free hand on his broad shoulders as they began the intimate waltz. (AN - I know that technically the waltz had not yet been composed but let us just imagine that some clever Egyptian guy wrote a waltz for Egyptian instruments to play!) For some reason neither could tear their gaze away from the other's eyes as they danced in silence. When the waltz finished they broke apart slightly, awaiting the next song. It was the tradition Egyptian dance and the dance floor cleared as it was tradition that only the King and his partner should dance to this song.
"Do you know this dance?" Whispered Yami quickly.
"My father taught me before he died, but I may be a little rusty." She replied.
"Then let's see what you can do!" Said Yami cheekily as they began the dance.
It was an immensely complicated one, full of turns and pirouettes. (If you have ever seen the Ice Dancing imagine it a bit like that mixed with ballroom and swing!) Yami found that Lara was an excellent dancer, and extremely light, meaning that he could pick he up easily when necessary. At the end of the dance they broke apart and Lara curtseyed to Yami, who bowed in return. The room was filled with clapping and other couples returned to the floor to continue their dancing.
"Can we sit down?" Asked Lara, slightly breathless.
"Of course!" Replied Yami, holding out his arm to escort her to a chair. He led her to the grand table where he sat on his throne, indicating that she should sit in Mai's chair. Lara hesitated but Yami was insistent and so she sank into the chair and sipped at her water. Yami gently leaned over and said, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"I haven't had so much fun in years!" She replied.
"Me neither." Admitted Yami.
"But I would have thought that you would do this kind of thing all the time." Said Lara.
"I do. It becomes tedious after a while. These evenings are all the same." Yami tenderly put his hand on hers on the table. "However tonight I find the company I keep most enchanting."
Lara was about to reply when she heard someone call out, "Yami!"
A second later Mai swept towards them. She faltered as she saw Yami and Lara so close, and Yami quickly removed his hand from Lara's.
"Ah, Mai. You have met Lara. We were just talking." He said calmly.
"I'm sure that you were." Said Mai. "I heard that I missed the King's Dance. I would have thought that I would have been your partner for that!" She looked annoyed that Lara was sitting in her place, so she sat on the other side of Yami, glancing at Lara with a calculating look.
"Yami?" Spoke a voice. It was Seto. "Sire, I must speak with you privately for a moment."
"Very well Seto." Yami said, getting up. "Excuse me ladies. I shall only be a few minutes, I hope!" He said, squeezing Lara's hand surreptitiously under the table.
"So." Mai said when he had gone. "You are the new one, are you?"
"Oh, I don't understand." Replied Lara.
"Yami's new girl, of course." Continued Mai. "Shame, it is always the young, pretty ones with so much potential."
"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow you." Said Lara, puzzled.
"Don't you know?" Asked Mai. "I should probably warn you then. You aren't his first, you know. I have seen him do it many a time. It is because you are his slaves and he has power over you. I'm sure he must have done it to at least ten girls in this very room. Those crimson eyes are little charmers themselves. I must admit that even I fell for him once." She looked at Lara, who still looked puzzled. In a condescending manner she reached over and patted Lara's shoulder. "But don't worry. This time he may have changed, although I seriously doubt it."
"Sorry?" Asked Lara.
"Oh you poor, naïve child. Yami is obviously using you, like he has so many like you. Let me spell it out in layman's terms. Yami finds a pretty servant girl, courts her briefly, sleeps with her once and then dumps her like used rags. I saw it happen to a pretty girl only last month. He had her under his spell and had his wicked way with her on an evening just like this one. The next week he had stopped talking to her. She was sold to a slave trader for ten rubies and that was the last we saw of her. I think that her name was Alyssa or something like that. Don't be another notch on his bed head Lara. Turn him down while you still can!" With a sinister smile Mai got up to go and talk to some women by the wine table.
Lara sat stunned alone for a moment. So, Yami was using her. In a sudden angry and embarrassed rage she stood up and walked towards the exit.
"Hey Lara. Are you leaving already?" Asked Yugi, worriedly. He had noticed Mai talking to Lara but had not seen Mai being outwardly nasty, so had not intervened.
"Yes Yugi. I am leaving. Thank you for looking after me this evening."
"Why don't you thank Yami? He is over there with Seto!"
"No that is OK. But would you tell the Pharaoh that I refuse to be another notch on his bed head? Thank you!"
And with that she strode off, leaving Yugi looking puzzled behind her. Yugi didn't like the sound of this. He quickly located Yami.
"Ah, Yugi! Have you seen Lara? I left her with Mai a few minutes ago but I can't find her anywhere and Mai says that she hasn't seen her."
"Yes Yami. Lara just left."
"Left?" Yami looked hurt. "I would have thought that she would have at least said good night!"
"She did say something Yami. She 'doesn't want to be another mark on your bedstead' or something like that!"
"Hmm." Said Mai, walking up. "It seems that she got the wrong idea from our little talk."
"What did you say to her Mai?" Asked Yami, suddenly suspicious.
"Nothing. I simply warned her that some men only want one thing with a girl. I thought that I should warn her as quite a few men were staring at her tonight. Did I..?"
But she couldn't finish her sentence as Yami was already pushing towards the door that led outside, following Lara. He reached the doors and ran out, and standing on the top of the steps, looking out over the sleeping servants quarters and courtyards outside. But he couldn't see Lara anywhere.
AN - Cliff hanger!!!!!!!
The first hour of the evening passed quickly for Lara. She was lucky that Yugi had noticed her and decided to look after her while Yami was.preoccupied with Mai. Many of the dishes served Lara had eaten before, but some of the more expensive food she did not know. Yugi did not seem to mind telling her what certain things were. He also pointed out people and told Lara who they were. Lara was surprised at how quickly the meal went, and before she knew it the entertainment slaves were playing some relaxing music whilst people talked and let their meals settle.
Once or twice she caught Yami staring at her. He smiled before returning to his conversation with Mai. So far he seemed to have done very little talking. Discretely Yami nudged Seto under the table. Recognising their signal Seto struck up a conversation with Mai, giving Yami time to relax. Yami called over on of the waiters and handed him a piece of paper without anyone else noticing. Nodding the waiter straightened up, refilled Yami's glass and walked along the row of seats, filling up glasses. When he reached Lara he bent down to her and whispered, "A letter from the Pharaoh, Madam." Placing a folded piece of paper in her hands he pretended to be cleaning her glass as she read it.
'Save the first dance for me.' She read to herself. Smiling she handed the piece of paper back to the waiter who pocketed it, promising not to look at it but to throw it away. She looked over to Yami and smiled at him, nodding slightly. He grinned for a moment before averting his gaze to avoid suspicion.
After about half an hour Mai grew tired of talking about herself to Yami.
"I must just pop to the little girl's room to freshen up!" She announced, getting up from the table. Yami waited a few minutes before standing up and calling for silence.
"Lady Lamella, with your permission, the festivities shall no begin!"
The band struck up the introduction to the first dance, but no one got up. They were waiting for Yami to take the floor, as it was customary that the King would start the dancing. Yami walked towards Lara and was just about to ask her to dance when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Now where is that first dance that we agreed on?" Asked Mai, and without an answer she led Yami onto the dance floor. Yami looked apologetically at Lara, who avoided his gaze, hurt.
"Please don't fret over him Lara. He obviously wants to dance with you. But it is his duty to keep good relationships with Mai's country. He is doing his job." Assured Yugi as he got up to dance with another guest.
Lara nodded and sat alone whilst almost everyone danced. About twenty people remained seated, either without partners or choosing not to dance. A shadow fell over her and Lara looked up, her heart in her throat. But the figure standing over her was not Yami.
"Care to dance?" Asked the stranger. Lara glanced at the filling dance floor.
"Why not?" She replied, standing up and taking the strangers hand.
"My name is Ryou." Said the man as he led her to a space.
"Lara." She replied.
Ryou took her hand and they began to dance. It was a traditional Egyptian dance that Lara had learned from an early age and she began to have fun.
Meanwhile Yami was dancing with Mai half-heartedly. Occasionally he glanced over to where Lara was sitting. Now he saw that she was no longer in her seat.
'I hope she hasn't gone home.' He thought. Moving Mai subtly he cast his eye around the room until he saw Lara dancing with Ryou, one of his advisers. 'Oh no! If Ryou works his charm on her I will lose her!' Yami could not wait until the dance was over, but Mai kept him dancing for the next one, a slightly slower one. Yami constantly looked over his shoulder for Lara, causing him to tread on Mai's toes on several occasions. Finally Mai gave an exasperated sigh and broke away from Yami.
"Yami, you never used to be such a terrible dancer!" She ranted. "Look at my shoes, they are ruined. If you will excuse me I will have to go and change them, lucky for me I have spares pairs of shoes in my room!" With that she flounced off, leaving Yami with a smile on his face. Purposefully Yami made his way towards Ryou and Lara, who were still dancing.
"May I cut in?" He asked Ryou. Lara found herself being handed over by Ryou and she looked up to see Yami standing in front of her. "I'm sorry we missed the first dance." He muttered. "But, to compensate, how about the best dance?"
"That sounds like a good compromise." Whispered Lara as Yami took her small, delicate hand in his large, strong one, leading her to the centre of the dance floor just as the song finished. The band began a beautiful slow song as Yami turned to Lara and put one arm around her waist, holding her hand in the other one. She rested her free hand on his broad shoulders as they began the intimate waltz. (AN - I know that technically the waltz had not yet been composed but let us just imagine that some clever Egyptian guy wrote a waltz for Egyptian instruments to play!) For some reason neither could tear their gaze away from the other's eyes as they danced in silence. When the waltz finished they broke apart slightly, awaiting the next song. It was the tradition Egyptian dance and the dance floor cleared as it was tradition that only the King and his partner should dance to this song.
"Do you know this dance?" Whispered Yami quickly.
"My father taught me before he died, but I may be a little rusty." She replied.
"Then let's see what you can do!" Said Yami cheekily as they began the dance.
It was an immensely complicated one, full of turns and pirouettes. (If you have ever seen the Ice Dancing imagine it a bit like that mixed with ballroom and swing!) Yami found that Lara was an excellent dancer, and extremely light, meaning that he could pick he up easily when necessary. At the end of the dance they broke apart and Lara curtseyed to Yami, who bowed in return. The room was filled with clapping and other couples returned to the floor to continue their dancing.
"Can we sit down?" Asked Lara, slightly breathless.
"Of course!" Replied Yami, holding out his arm to escort her to a chair. He led her to the grand table where he sat on his throne, indicating that she should sit in Mai's chair. Lara hesitated but Yami was insistent and so she sank into the chair and sipped at her water. Yami gently leaned over and said, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"I haven't had so much fun in years!" She replied.
"Me neither." Admitted Yami.
"But I would have thought that you would do this kind of thing all the time." Said Lara.
"I do. It becomes tedious after a while. These evenings are all the same." Yami tenderly put his hand on hers on the table. "However tonight I find the company I keep most enchanting."
Lara was about to reply when she heard someone call out, "Yami!"
A second later Mai swept towards them. She faltered as she saw Yami and Lara so close, and Yami quickly removed his hand from Lara's.
"Ah, Mai. You have met Lara. We were just talking." He said calmly.
"I'm sure that you were." Said Mai. "I heard that I missed the King's Dance. I would have thought that I would have been your partner for that!" She looked annoyed that Lara was sitting in her place, so she sat on the other side of Yami, glancing at Lara with a calculating look.
"Yami?" Spoke a voice. It was Seto. "Sire, I must speak with you privately for a moment."
"Very well Seto." Yami said, getting up. "Excuse me ladies. I shall only be a few minutes, I hope!" He said, squeezing Lara's hand surreptitiously under the table.
"So." Mai said when he had gone. "You are the new one, are you?"
"Oh, I don't understand." Replied Lara.
"Yami's new girl, of course." Continued Mai. "Shame, it is always the young, pretty ones with so much potential."
"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow you." Said Lara, puzzled.
"Don't you know?" Asked Mai. "I should probably warn you then. You aren't his first, you know. I have seen him do it many a time. It is because you are his slaves and he has power over you. I'm sure he must have done it to at least ten girls in this very room. Those crimson eyes are little charmers themselves. I must admit that even I fell for him once." She looked at Lara, who still looked puzzled. In a condescending manner she reached over and patted Lara's shoulder. "But don't worry. This time he may have changed, although I seriously doubt it."
"Sorry?" Asked Lara.
"Oh you poor, naïve child. Yami is obviously using you, like he has so many like you. Let me spell it out in layman's terms. Yami finds a pretty servant girl, courts her briefly, sleeps with her once and then dumps her like used rags. I saw it happen to a pretty girl only last month. He had her under his spell and had his wicked way with her on an evening just like this one. The next week he had stopped talking to her. She was sold to a slave trader for ten rubies and that was the last we saw of her. I think that her name was Alyssa or something like that. Don't be another notch on his bed head Lara. Turn him down while you still can!" With a sinister smile Mai got up to go and talk to some women by the wine table.
Lara sat stunned alone for a moment. So, Yami was using her. In a sudden angry and embarrassed rage she stood up and walked towards the exit.
"Hey Lara. Are you leaving already?" Asked Yugi, worriedly. He had noticed Mai talking to Lara but had not seen Mai being outwardly nasty, so had not intervened.
"Yes Yugi. I am leaving. Thank you for looking after me this evening."
"Why don't you thank Yami? He is over there with Seto!"
"No that is OK. But would you tell the Pharaoh that I refuse to be another notch on his bed head? Thank you!"
And with that she strode off, leaving Yugi looking puzzled behind her. Yugi didn't like the sound of this. He quickly located Yami.
"Ah, Yugi! Have you seen Lara? I left her with Mai a few minutes ago but I can't find her anywhere and Mai says that she hasn't seen her."
"Yes Yami. Lara just left."
"Left?" Yami looked hurt. "I would have thought that she would have at least said good night!"
"She did say something Yami. She 'doesn't want to be another mark on your bedstead' or something like that!"
"Hmm." Said Mai, walking up. "It seems that she got the wrong idea from our little talk."
"What did you say to her Mai?" Asked Yami, suddenly suspicious.
"Nothing. I simply warned her that some men only want one thing with a girl. I thought that I should warn her as quite a few men were staring at her tonight. Did I..?"
But she couldn't finish her sentence as Yami was already pushing towards the door that led outside, following Lara. He reached the doors and ran out, and standing on the top of the steps, looking out over the sleeping servants quarters and courtyards outside. But he couldn't see Lara anywhere.
AN - Cliff hanger!!!!!!!