(A/N: dang, I wrote this lyk...how many months ago? I was just too lazy to
put it on the site. If u wanna disclaimer, go look at chapter one and read
it again, and if you wanna read the stupid chapter instead of this, y
aren't u reading it then?! Everything taken care of? O well, too bad, just
read and review the retarded thing.)
Chapter 3 – Dancing, Candles, and a Lover's Moon
A band in the corner played a catchy tune that sounded so mischievous that Ali was positive that had her mother been here she'd be off in her room muttering some horrible fate for prodding parents. A girl, around ten timidly ushered her to an elderly man that had her seated at a table with five others. Two of them were female, both blonde haired and blue eyed. The taller and more slender of the two, probably in her early twenties wore a pinkish lavender dress that looked just as delicate as the owner who tightly clutched the arm of a thin, clean-shaven man with dull, dark brown curls who had the tired, crackling honey eyes of either an inventor or a mage with such strength that it seemed he lacked the need for circulation in that area. Appearing to be in his early to mid thirties, he was obviously not a full-blooded Scanran if one at all. They made an interesting couple, since the female towered over her partner by almost a full head. They both smiled widely and broadly at the whole room with flashing white teeth. The other woman looked older, about her late twenties or early thirties even and only came to Alianne's chin. Her skin strained tightly against the cloth of her low cut, sky blue dress. Her arms were covered in a heavy, white lace shawl so that one could only see her small hands with their violet manicured fingernails. Her plump, pink painted lips were set in a pout beneath a small nose, and bulging blue eyes all on a ever so slightly tanned face. She was no special prize but the way she set herself made her vaguely attractive. The man who stood beside her was the typical Scanran and tall. Rather boring in appearance, he stood alone, slightly apart from the rest of the party. The last remaining man stepped forward and introduced himself.
"Evening fair maiden," he drawled.
He bowed low and whipped her hand up in a delicate kiss from his sensitive lips.
He glanced up at her with a wide, mischievous grin, "Heh," he laughed in a rich, mesmerizing tone. "We weren't quite introduced beforehand I'm afraid."
Alianne stared at him, her lips slightly parted and closed although not a sound came out. She was absolutely paralyzed. This couldn't be the young man from earlier. Before he had sounded merely like some servant boy but now he was evidently the Scanran court flirt.
'Stop acting like those idiot ladies back home and say something instead of falling for your everyday player.' Quite prepared to set a yearning stare on her face and say some nauseatingly sweet remark she opened her mouth but her mind had other ideas. "Hi. I'm Alianne, nice to meet you. Now let go of my hand before it withers. You're drooling on it," she snapped, ruining the moment (which was very much unlike her).
The boy looked so shocked this time that reassembling all of his dignity he shot up and retaliated, "I am certainly not drooling and you have about as much of a romantic vibe as a...a rock...no, a block... of, of wood, no, even better, a sandal! Ha!"
But it was too late because Ali was trotting away and half the hall's company was staring at this crude, inelegant young man. He gulped. "Sorry already, she was mean to me too you know! Gods these people sure are nosey..."
// After dinner...//
Later, as the ball progressed in another room known as the Candle Gallery for its variety of large, candle lit balconies and staircases that overlooked several large gardens, grandly dressed peoples twirled, danced, and flirted as small groups of both men and women encircled most often two or three members of the opposite gender hoping to get lucky one way or another (if you catch my drift). One group in particular, consisting of both married and single men and women all offered drinks, fruits, pastries, fans, and dances to a rosy cheeked Ali. She gently fanned herself with the red silk, Yamini ladies' fan she had received from the queen as a gift for her seventeenth birthday.
It was as much a decorative item as it was a deadly weapon. She had at first admired the intricate gold embroidery and had expected to treat it as a show and tell accessory at court functions until her mother had persuaded Ali into taking lessons on its use from one of Princess Shinkokami's ladies in waiting along with her. Now she appreciated the classes because she could use it if she was ever trapped in a quick fix on any mission because it both was small in size and held its own disguise. Now a pair of teenage girls- twins, admired it.
"What a pretty fan you have there, where did you get it?"
"Is it Yamini? I remember Papa brought something home once that looked just like that but it wasn't so well made."
"Is that part metal? Or is it real gold?"
"I think its just painted wood Niecie'." She said the other girl's name teasingly. "May I see it please lady?" the girl, fifteen by her size, asked eagerly.
"Oh yea, make me sound like the ignorant one while you act as blunt as a doorknob why don't you?!" the other trilled, shoving her sister angrily.
With a exasperated sigh, Ali tried deciding how to politely refuse when she instead asked, "Excuse me girls, what are your names again?" They froze in place, red at the ears in embarrassment.
"Bernice of Emerald Quarries," the first girl to speak squeaked, suddenly shy beneath the short pale ringlets of hair, which were pinned back out of her eyes.
"And I'm Trisana of Emerald Quarries, pleased to meet you." Trisana dipped a curtsey, her matching springy curls bobbed freely around her freckled face like bouncing, flaxen springs. "Don't mind my sister, she trying to fetch herself a husband so she's rather shy...and the matchmaker said she was out of her league! Imagine!" She grinned evilly and hastily nudged her sister who also curtsied gracefully red as a beet.
"Thanks Tris," she muttered darkly.
Shortly after, the two were asked several times to dance, as were many others and Ali became very bored. The moment it was noted that the two teens were last seen leaving the hall with their latest male dancing partners quite on the intoxicated side, Ali decided it was her turn for fun before she began attending the baby showers and weddings of a particular pair of girls.
Snapping shut the fan, Ali tucked it into a hidden pocket amidst her voluminous skirts and flirtatiously batted her red lashes. "Well?" she began sweetly, "aren't one of you young fellows going to take a poor lass for a dance?"
//Much, much later...//
Dizzy from a combination of spinning and spirits, Ali collapsed into a rather comfortable chair on a dimly lit balcony, suspiciously unoccupied (A/N: hmmm, I wonder...*grins evilly*). Ready to doze off drunkenly and be ridiculed for the rest of her stay she was saved when a golden crowned man, hair swept back from his forehead, oiled, and neatly combed, perched himself boyishly next to her, red faced and out of breath from either hard running or dancing. She couldn't tell.
"You see tha' thurr? Wha' ish it?" Ali asked as she pointed to the sky.
"What? You mean the moon?"
"Yea, bu' wha' kinda moon hmm?" her words were slurred, the slowly creeping effect of drinking twenty or so glasses of wine and then spinning yourself silly.
He flipped a lock of hair out of his face just to have it fall back in place. "A full moon?" The man began to wonder whether this woman was sane or not.
"Nooooooo. Ish a luva's moon you shilly shilly!" she giggled like a toddler given sweets before supper.
She stood up abruptly and pointed accusingly at the next balcony over. " 'Ey youse guys! Stop tryin ta make a kid chrough your thwoats!" she cackled evilly and continued to scream insults at them (Thankfully it was too dark and far away for them to see the owner of the savage who dared interrupt their "business" although they did try by squinting and waving a few candles out on their outstretched arms).
"You look pretty tired," he noted nervously until the light hit Alianne's red face.
'Hey! It's her!' he thought frantically, 'She's not crazy! She's probably just trying to make me go away or ruin my reputation or something. Well, she'll see that no one out fox's Sir Alexander of Copper's Sweep! Ha!' "Hey you! Lady Alianne!" She whipped around and fell into his lap.
"Yesh?" she swayed back and forth in place.
'Hmmm...,' he mused, 'Stay and enjoy the moment or continue and ruin my chances forever with the most gorgeous thing in silk and shoe leather...'
Against his will his mouth said haughtily "I was trying to say earlier before you so rudely stomped off, that I was certainly was not drooling and that you have the romantic vibe of a..." he was cut off by the sigh that escaped Ali's lips as she snuggled into his lap. He hesitated and then pushed her off his lap and set her down next to him instead. In her new position, she quietly eyed his tunic with a little too much interest for his liking. Remembering where he was he sputtered, "...a...ah yes, no. no, it was a candle wasn't it? wait...or perhaps it was a-"
His rambling was interrupted by Alianne's seductive murmur, "Well, in case ya haven no'iced," she flicked her fingers towards the glowing candelabra, "youse may fink dat candoes are nice an' all bu' in my book dey're vewie womantic. "
With those last few words, she fell drowsily into his lips.
(A/N: oOoOo. Ahhhhh. What will happen next I wonder? Will they get caught? Will they remain all alone to carry on the rest of the night? *wink wink* Or will some overly dramatic event take place bringing them to their senses? You choose the cards, or perhaps you won't... This is my story and there's nothing u can do about it! *evil cackle* god I luv dune dis to yall! Anyways, I'll be seein yah)
Chapter 3 – Dancing, Candles, and a Lover's Moon
A band in the corner played a catchy tune that sounded so mischievous that Ali was positive that had her mother been here she'd be off in her room muttering some horrible fate for prodding parents. A girl, around ten timidly ushered her to an elderly man that had her seated at a table with five others. Two of them were female, both blonde haired and blue eyed. The taller and more slender of the two, probably in her early twenties wore a pinkish lavender dress that looked just as delicate as the owner who tightly clutched the arm of a thin, clean-shaven man with dull, dark brown curls who had the tired, crackling honey eyes of either an inventor or a mage with such strength that it seemed he lacked the need for circulation in that area. Appearing to be in his early to mid thirties, he was obviously not a full-blooded Scanran if one at all. They made an interesting couple, since the female towered over her partner by almost a full head. They both smiled widely and broadly at the whole room with flashing white teeth. The other woman looked older, about her late twenties or early thirties even and only came to Alianne's chin. Her skin strained tightly against the cloth of her low cut, sky blue dress. Her arms were covered in a heavy, white lace shawl so that one could only see her small hands with their violet manicured fingernails. Her plump, pink painted lips were set in a pout beneath a small nose, and bulging blue eyes all on a ever so slightly tanned face. She was no special prize but the way she set herself made her vaguely attractive. The man who stood beside her was the typical Scanran and tall. Rather boring in appearance, he stood alone, slightly apart from the rest of the party. The last remaining man stepped forward and introduced himself.
"Evening fair maiden," he drawled.
He bowed low and whipped her hand up in a delicate kiss from his sensitive lips.
He glanced up at her with a wide, mischievous grin, "Heh," he laughed in a rich, mesmerizing tone. "We weren't quite introduced beforehand I'm afraid."
Alianne stared at him, her lips slightly parted and closed although not a sound came out. She was absolutely paralyzed. This couldn't be the young man from earlier. Before he had sounded merely like some servant boy but now he was evidently the Scanran court flirt.
'Stop acting like those idiot ladies back home and say something instead of falling for your everyday player.' Quite prepared to set a yearning stare on her face and say some nauseatingly sweet remark she opened her mouth but her mind had other ideas. "Hi. I'm Alianne, nice to meet you. Now let go of my hand before it withers. You're drooling on it," she snapped, ruining the moment (which was very much unlike her).
The boy looked so shocked this time that reassembling all of his dignity he shot up and retaliated, "I am certainly not drooling and you have about as much of a romantic vibe as a...a rock...no, a block... of, of wood, no, even better, a sandal! Ha!"
But it was too late because Ali was trotting away and half the hall's company was staring at this crude, inelegant young man. He gulped. "Sorry already, she was mean to me too you know! Gods these people sure are nosey..."
// After dinner...//
Later, as the ball progressed in another room known as the Candle Gallery for its variety of large, candle lit balconies and staircases that overlooked several large gardens, grandly dressed peoples twirled, danced, and flirted as small groups of both men and women encircled most often two or three members of the opposite gender hoping to get lucky one way or another (if you catch my drift). One group in particular, consisting of both married and single men and women all offered drinks, fruits, pastries, fans, and dances to a rosy cheeked Ali. She gently fanned herself with the red silk, Yamini ladies' fan she had received from the queen as a gift for her seventeenth birthday.
It was as much a decorative item as it was a deadly weapon. She had at first admired the intricate gold embroidery and had expected to treat it as a show and tell accessory at court functions until her mother had persuaded Ali into taking lessons on its use from one of Princess Shinkokami's ladies in waiting along with her. Now she appreciated the classes because she could use it if she was ever trapped in a quick fix on any mission because it both was small in size and held its own disguise. Now a pair of teenage girls- twins, admired it.
"What a pretty fan you have there, where did you get it?"
"Is it Yamini? I remember Papa brought something home once that looked just like that but it wasn't so well made."
"Is that part metal? Or is it real gold?"
"I think its just painted wood Niecie'." She said the other girl's name teasingly. "May I see it please lady?" the girl, fifteen by her size, asked eagerly.
"Oh yea, make me sound like the ignorant one while you act as blunt as a doorknob why don't you?!" the other trilled, shoving her sister angrily.
With a exasperated sigh, Ali tried deciding how to politely refuse when she instead asked, "Excuse me girls, what are your names again?" They froze in place, red at the ears in embarrassment.
"Bernice of Emerald Quarries," the first girl to speak squeaked, suddenly shy beneath the short pale ringlets of hair, which were pinned back out of her eyes.
"And I'm Trisana of Emerald Quarries, pleased to meet you." Trisana dipped a curtsey, her matching springy curls bobbed freely around her freckled face like bouncing, flaxen springs. "Don't mind my sister, she trying to fetch herself a husband so she's rather shy...and the matchmaker said she was out of her league! Imagine!" She grinned evilly and hastily nudged her sister who also curtsied gracefully red as a beet.
"Thanks Tris," she muttered darkly.
Shortly after, the two were asked several times to dance, as were many others and Ali became very bored. The moment it was noted that the two teens were last seen leaving the hall with their latest male dancing partners quite on the intoxicated side, Ali decided it was her turn for fun before she began attending the baby showers and weddings of a particular pair of girls.
Snapping shut the fan, Ali tucked it into a hidden pocket amidst her voluminous skirts and flirtatiously batted her red lashes. "Well?" she began sweetly, "aren't one of you young fellows going to take a poor lass for a dance?"
//Much, much later...//
Dizzy from a combination of spinning and spirits, Ali collapsed into a rather comfortable chair on a dimly lit balcony, suspiciously unoccupied (A/N: hmmm, I wonder...*grins evilly*). Ready to doze off drunkenly and be ridiculed for the rest of her stay she was saved when a golden crowned man, hair swept back from his forehead, oiled, and neatly combed, perched himself boyishly next to her, red faced and out of breath from either hard running or dancing. She couldn't tell.
"You see tha' thurr? Wha' ish it?" Ali asked as she pointed to the sky.
"What? You mean the moon?"
"Yea, bu' wha' kinda moon hmm?" her words were slurred, the slowly creeping effect of drinking twenty or so glasses of wine and then spinning yourself silly.
He flipped a lock of hair out of his face just to have it fall back in place. "A full moon?" The man began to wonder whether this woman was sane or not.
"Nooooooo. Ish a luva's moon you shilly shilly!" she giggled like a toddler given sweets before supper.
She stood up abruptly and pointed accusingly at the next balcony over. " 'Ey youse guys! Stop tryin ta make a kid chrough your thwoats!" she cackled evilly and continued to scream insults at them (Thankfully it was too dark and far away for them to see the owner of the savage who dared interrupt their "business" although they did try by squinting and waving a few candles out on their outstretched arms).
"You look pretty tired," he noted nervously until the light hit Alianne's red face.
'Hey! It's her!' he thought frantically, 'She's not crazy! She's probably just trying to make me go away or ruin my reputation or something. Well, she'll see that no one out fox's Sir Alexander of Copper's Sweep! Ha!' "Hey you! Lady Alianne!" She whipped around and fell into his lap.
"Yesh?" she swayed back and forth in place.
'Hmmm...,' he mused, 'Stay and enjoy the moment or continue and ruin my chances forever with the most gorgeous thing in silk and shoe leather...'
Against his will his mouth said haughtily "I was trying to say earlier before you so rudely stomped off, that I was certainly was not drooling and that you have the romantic vibe of a..." he was cut off by the sigh that escaped Ali's lips as she snuggled into his lap. He hesitated and then pushed her off his lap and set her down next to him instead. In her new position, she quietly eyed his tunic with a little too much interest for his liking. Remembering where he was he sputtered, "...a...ah yes, no. no, it was a candle wasn't it? wait...or perhaps it was a-"
His rambling was interrupted by Alianne's seductive murmur, "Well, in case ya haven no'iced," she flicked her fingers towards the glowing candelabra, "youse may fink dat candoes are nice an' all bu' in my book dey're vewie womantic. "
With those last few words, she fell drowsily into his lips.
(A/N: oOoOo. Ahhhhh. What will happen next I wonder? Will they get caught? Will they remain all alone to carry on the rest of the night? *wink wink* Or will some overly dramatic event take place bringing them to their senses? You choose the cards, or perhaps you won't... This is my story and there's nothing u can do about it! *evil cackle* god I luv dune dis to yall! Anyways, I'll be seein yah)