AN: I don't own Aveyond, but Amanda's fine with fanfiction anyway. This was written for GhedahrianVampress for the Aveyond Winter Gift Exchange and it takes place between Aveyond 1 and Aveyond 2. Since it's closer to Valentine's Day than Christmas, I thought I'd write a Valentine's Day-ish fic.
"Dancing with a Vampire"
By EsmeAmelia
"Rise and shine, crumpet! The sun is down!"
Galahad pulled the blankets over his head even though he no longer felt the cold. He was in no hurry to see why Te'ijal was so excited to go to Candar of all places. She'd even had them stay at the Candar inn for the day, saying she wanted to make sure they didn't miss it – though she wouldn't tell him what "it" was.
"Come on Galahad, we do not want to be late!" his wife said in an overly-cheerful voice.
"Late for what?" Galahad grumbled from under the blankets.
"You'll see."
"If this is a hunting trip . . ."
Te'ijal stroked Galahad's head through the blankets. "Crumpet, we already had a banquet of monsters on the way here. I didn't bring you here to feast on the Candar citizens – not this time."
Finally Galahad peeked out, seeing that his wife was grinning at him. "Come on, my tasty," she continued. "I promise you will like it – and if you don't, we can leave."
Galahad groaned. "Fine, but you had better keep your word on that."
. . .
A snow flurry was falling as the couple made their way down the streets of the so-called "city of love." Every few steps, pink or red heart-shaped banners decked the lampposts as if they were showing the way to something.
"Are you planning on telling me where we're going any time soon?" Galahad asked.
"Patience, husband," Te'ijal said, that cheeky grin back on her face. "We are almost there."
It was then that Galahad noticed several other couples heading in their same direction, some holding hands, many wearing suits and colorful dresses, some humming in sync with each other, others gazing into each other's eyes so deeply that Galahad wondered how they didn't bump into anything.
More and more couples joined the fray, slowing down their pace as the crowd built up, but the lanterns lighting their way became more and more numerous as they progressed, illuminating the dancing snowflakes and bringing their destination in sight.
"The palace?" Galahad exclaimed.
"Surprise!" said Te'ijal, her grin showing off her fangs. "We're going to the Love Ball!"
"The . . . Love Ball?"
"Yes!" Te'ijal exclaimed like a child excited about a new toy. "Isn't it wonderful?"
They were nearing the palace now, close enough for Galahad to glance upwards and see the banner that said "WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL LOVE BALL" draped at the top of the door, along with a nauseating assortment of fabric hearts.
"No," he exclaimed. "No, I'm not doing this!"
"Galahad . . ."
"You said we could leave if I didn't like it," said Galahad, glaring up at the banner. "Well I don't like balls."
"Have you ever been to a ball?" Te'ijal asked, pursing her red lips. "And no, standing by the king and guarding him during a ball doesn't count. Have you ever actually participated in a ball?"
"No," Galahad was forced to admit. "Back in Sedona, I spent balls making sure no assassins had snuck in with the guests."
"Well that is no way to experience a ball," said Te'ijal, taking her husband's hand. "Come husband, just see if you enjoy the ball the way it should be experienced. If you don't like it, we can leave."
Galahad thought of saying no and demanding that they leave now, but he had to admit that her request was reasonable. In his younger days, before he'd become a vampire, he used to have fleeting fantasies about taking a beautiful woman to a royal ball, but he was part of the king's guard for his entire adult human life and his dedication to the guard left little room for romance.
And, well, in those childish fantasies he wouldn't have imagined the beautiful woman to be a vampire, but no matter how much she drove him crazy, he couldn't deny that his wife was indeed beautiful, and he was always wanting to cling to anything that reminded him of his human days.
"All right," he said, "let's go."
. . .
Hearts, hearts everywhere. The expansive ballroom had hearts on the walls, garlands of hearts decking the ceiling, even little paper hearts scattered on the buffet table's pink tablecloth. Galahad was tempted to yank away some of those hearts and rip them up, but he restrained himself from doing so – the last thing he wanted was to call any attention to himself or his wife.
A small band stood on a dais, playing slow, romantic dance music laced heavily with string instruments. Near the band, Queen Ella II sat on her throne, greeting the guests as her guards stood next to her. Galahad couldn't help but imagine himself there instead of actually on the ballroom floor.
"Come Galahad, let's dance," said Te'ijal.
Galahad swallowed, glancing around at the other couples spinning around each other as if they had been dancing their entire lives. "Wife, I'm sure you would have fun dancing, but I would simply embarrass you."
"Why crumpet, what do you mean?" Her voice was so jovial, as if the prospect of dancing with her husband at a ball was even more enticing than blood.
Would he ever figure his wife out?
"I don't know how to dance," he finally admitted.
Te'ijal's eyes widened, as if she were genuinely surprised by the notion. "So . . . when you ran off at Rhen and Dameon's wedding reception, it wasn't just to get away from me?"
"Oh, it was to get away from you," said Galahad, a bit of hardness in his voice, "but if I had attempted to dance, I would have humiliated myself."
Te'ijal cocked her head briefly, as if unsure how to respond to that information. "All right," she finally said, "you don't have to dance, though I think if you tried, you might find that you are better at dancing than you think?"
"And why do you say that?"
"For one thing, we're vampires, and for another thing, I've seen you run – you are quite graceful when you do so." She gave her vampire grin. "You won't know whether or not you enjoy dancing until you try."
The former knight groaned. What was it about her that made it so hard to say no to her? "Fine. One dance."
That seemed to satisfy her. As the band started up their next piece, she took his right hand in her own and placed her other hand on his shoulder. "It's the waltz, darling. One of the simplest dances in the world. Simply do what I do."
Galahad put his free hand on her waist as he'd seen men do at balls and almost before he realized what was happening, he was spinning around with Te'ijal. He glanced down at her feet, trying to keep in rhythm with her own steps, but once he started paying attention, his foot landed on top of hers.
"Sorry!" he automatically exclaimed, possibly the first time he'd ever apologized to her, feeling that his face would be reddening if he were still capable of blushing.
"Don't worry about it," said Te'ijal, scooting her foot out from under his and sweeping back into the dance. "Just let yourself dance. One-two-three, one-two-three, feel the rhythm."
One-two-three, one-two-three, Galahad counted silently in his mind and sure enough, he didn't step on her foot again. He had to admit, this wasn't so bad.
"When did you learn to waltz?" he found himself asking.
Her red eyes shifted slightly. "I don't know. Likely when I was still human. Odd, since I don't think I was nobility when I was human, but perhaps I still attended some balls."
Galahad couldn't think of what to say. He knew his wife remembered very little of her human life, but since he refused to ever eat humans, he still remembered his own. Sometimes he wondered what sort of person she was all those centuries ago before her transformation.
The music and his wife's arms kept spinning him around. She was smiling – not a wicked smile, but a content one. She seemed happy.
"You are quite good at waltzing for your first time," she said in a dreamy voice, gazing into his eyes.
In moments like this he could almost forget what she was.
"Thank you," he said.
All things considered, dancing with her wasn't so bad.
THE END
