Chapter 23 The Ball

Marianna was standing in a dark corridor. Just a few candles were throwing shadows on the stonewalls that were surrounding her. A light breeze let her tremble slightly and goosebumps appear all over her body. Carefully she turned in all direction to see if she would regnorize where she was or if someone was here with her. But to her dissapointment she noticed that she was alone and couldn´t identify in which corridor she was standing. A feeling of fear was slowly arising in her and let her heart beat a little stronger, her breath come out a little faster and her hands sweating. Slowly she eyed both ways to decide which would get her out of this scary place. Either she took the right or the left path. Just when she looked to the right she was blinded by a bright white light. Instinctively she lifted her right arm to protect her eyes. When she was sure that it was safe to watch, she took her arm down and detected to her surprise a door. A door which wasn´t there a few minutes ago. Somewhat confused and alarmed she moved to it.

" Hello! Hello! Is anybody here", her voice was really loud and seemed to echo through the whole building.

For a few moments Marianna stopped and listened intently if she could hear a reply. But nothing was coming. There was just the sound of her breathing and the beating of her heart. Just as she wanted to continue her way to the door a deep frightening voice was startling her.

" You can´t save them. You can´t save them like you couldn´t save your own mother".

Marianna watched around her to look where the voice was coming from. But there wasn´t anyone either behind nor in front of her. " What are you talking about? Whom can´t I save?".

" You will see them die and I will enjoy every moment of it".

Marianna glanced at the ceiling above her. " Who are you?"

The only response she got was laughter, so dark and cold that it send shivers up and down her spine. It seemed to come from all sides now and got louder. She never heared something horrible like that and her fear arose instantly again. Her heart felt like it wanted to spring out of her chest, her breath was going faster and faster and she thought she would throw up every moment.

" Marianna!".

" Please help us!".

Marianna startled. That were the voices of Rath and Vilandra. Quickly she turned to the door again and saw that it was open. And there she catched sight of the owner of the voices. They were hurt, their clothes were dirty and torn at some places. Both were stretching their arms out to her.

" Rath. Vilandra", no that had to be a trick of her mind. They couldn´t be here. They should be at home safe and sound and not here in this hell with her. Marianna shook her head to make the picture disappear. But when she looked there once more, it didn´t change. In that moment she realized that it was no imagination and her friends needed her help. " Hang on! I´m coming".

However her feet didn´t move from the spot, no matter how much she strained her legs to work. Desperately she looked down to figure out the reason her feet wouldn´t cooperate with her. Shocked she noticed that the ground beneath her had changed into black slime and was pulling her under.

" Help! Somebody please help me!" Marianna struggled to get her feet out of there, but the more she moved the faster she sunk into the pulp. Tears were streaming down her face and were leaving stains of blood on her cheeks. Just when she gave up the fight, because she realized that it was hopeless anyway and the only thing that wasn´t in the slime were her arms and her head, something grasped her hand.

" Don´t worry. I´ve got you", Marianna was never so relieved to see Raths smiling face looking down at her. With ease he pulled her out of the pulp and pressed her tightly at his body.

Marianna clung to him like her life would depend on it. Her body shook with sobs that were threatening to choke her. " I´m so glad you´re here. It was so horrible".

" I told you that nothing bad would happen as long as I´m here. I will always be there to save you", Rath tenderly stroked her back and tried to calm her down.

Marianna leaned her head back a little to look Rath in the eyes. " Do you promise me that?".

Rath wiped the tears from her face with his right hand. " Of course. Besides it´s just a dream".

Marianna leaped up from the mattress with her upperbody and opened promptly her eyes. The first things she regnorized was Raths worried face in front of her. He was holding her at her shoulders and seemed to have tried to wake her. Then she realized that she was still in her bed and everything was just a bad dream.

" Are you alright?", Rath looked at her like she finally lost it. And who could blame him? She must be looking like a crackpot right now.

Marianna rubbed her face with her hands, althrough it was a bit of a challenge, because her hands were shaking like mad. " Yeah. It was just a nightmare".

Rath seemed not to buy it. He leaned closer to her and saw deep in her eyes. " That had to be a hell of a nightmare. You even had me scared with your screaming".

" I´m sorry. I didn´t want to do that", Marianna could finally shake the fear from her. She told herself that it was just a dream and it didn´t have to mean anything. It was probably the result of her bad feeling she got last night.

Rath took her right hand and kissed the back of it. " It´s alright. Vilandra tried others things to wake me. And believe me it was worse than this".

Marianna managed a small smile at that. " Really? I can´t believe that. Vilandra is such a nice person".

" Yeah, because you know her just for a short while. I grew up with her and know what she´s capable of".

Marianna had to ask. It was a question that was bothering for a some time now. " Did you never feel more than friendship with her? I mean she´s a beautiful girl".

Rath shuddered at that thought alone. Vilandra was family to him and she would never be more than that. " I love her, there´s no doubt about it. But I´m not in love with her. And I never will. She´s more like a annoying little sister. Why you´re asking?".

" I just wanted to be sure, that´s all", Marianna observed how Rath´s hand was perfectly fitting hers. It was like this was meant to be. Like her hand was only made to be in Rath´s. A perfect match.

Rath became aware that Marianna was miles away with her thoughts. Didn´t she know that to much thinking wasn´t good? " You don´t have to worry about Vilandra and me. There´s never nor will there be anything between us".

" My heart knows that, but my head isn´t so smart yet", Marianna didn´t know why she even had that thought at all. And why just now? Wasn´t it already too late to worry about such a thing?

Rath started to smile. " Listen to your heart. It always tells you the truth".

Marianna faced him a little stunned. That was the sweetest thing she ever heard. And then from a boy who thought that romance was something for weaklings and sissy boys like Zan. Wait till she told that Vilandra and Ava. They both had the opinion that Rath had no romantic bone in his body. Boy were they wrong. He just hadn´t found the right girl then. Marianna wanted to throw him down and have her wicked way with him, when a knock came at her door. Immediately Rath jumped out of bed and hid under it. Marianna tried to do like she just woke up.

" Come in".

The door slowly opened and Vilandras smiling face stretched through the gab. Obviously she was a morning person and extremly happy. How Marianna hated that kind of person, especially when she didn´t sleep well the night before. " Did I wake you?".

" No. I was up already", Marianna faked a loud yawn and rubbed her face. Then she leaned against the headboard behind her. "What can I do for you?".

Vilandra finally stepped carefully into the room and walked the few steps to the bed, where she let herself slump on it. Startled she jumped off it, when she heard a grunting noise coming from it. " What was that?".

" Dammit Vilandra. I think you smashed my nose", Rath emerged from his hiding place under the bed and rubbed his nose furiously. The glare which was send in her direction would have made other people run for their lifes.

Vilandra was slightly upset. Why was everything always her fault? " Excuse me? How should I know that your under Mariannas bed? By the way what are you doing in her room actually?

" That´s none of your business", Rath bend slightly down to give Marianna a kiss on her mouth. " I´ll see you later" With that Rath left the room.

Vilandras smile that was slowly gracing her face could have lit the whole planet, if not more. Marianna faced her again, after watching Raths sexy little butt walk out the door. Oh no that face didn´t mean anything good. It meant that she had a few question to answer and she didn´t have the nerv to play 20 questions right now.

" Well say it. I know you want to".

Instead of saying anything Vilandra jumped on the bed, pulled Marianna to her and embraced her like she wanted to squeeze the air out of her. Marianna was shocked for a minute or two before she

held on tightly herself. She didn´t understand why Vilandra was doing it, but it felt nice and she tried to enjoy every moment if it. She never knew how nice it was to have a girl as a friend, all females she knew were just snobby little princess or too afraid to speak with her. That was actually the reason why she rather hung out with boys. They were neither afraid of her nor did care about their behaviour.

" You have to tell my everything. I want to know every little detail", Vilandra was so excited. Finally everything was going the right way. Rath had found someone and so did she. And her parents seemed to have realized that they couldn´t force their kids to something they didn´t want. After all they wanted to meet her boyfriend and they wouldn´t do it, if they would have something against it, would they?

Marianna parted from Vilandra and looked at her a little surprised. " Every detail?".

" Ok. Not everything. After all I want to sleep tonight without having nightmares", Vilandra didn´t have the wish to imagine Rath and Marianna mating like animals or doing things she couldn´t even think about.

Marianna pretended to think about it, before she bent a little forward. " Alright. I´ll tell you".

Midday in the ballroom

The last preparations were in the process. A few servants were almost running through the halls and were carrying trays of food or something else. The male servants were arranging the tables on which the food would be stored. The female servants had the order to look if everything was alright and clean. Marianna was just on her way to the dressing room, when she noticed the hustle and bustle in the room through the open door. Curious like she was, she stepped into it and took a look around. Everything was perfect. The ruby coloured drapes were matching the table cloths, the lusters were sparkling like they were new, the beautiful flowers were execuding a sweet scent, the tables were standing at the big windows and the food on it was looking mouthwatering. Marianna wondered if anybody would notice it when she took something of it. Slowly she sneaked quietly straight to the table to steal a bit of the shnit ( canapé ). But before she even came in close proximity of it, a voice was startling her.

" What are you doing here?".

Marianna winced appelled. Damn she was busted. Smiling sheepishly she turned around and detected that it was just one of the servants. Corly to be exact. " I just wanted to see how everything is processing".

Corly lifted one eyebrow at that. " And I thought you wanted to pilfer something from the food table".

" No. I would never do something like that", Marianna heard that the excuse even sounded lame in her ears. And judging after Corly´s face she thought so too. " Alright. You got me. But I can´t help it when it looks so wonderful".

Corly was astounded. Usually the lady´s of the castle didn´t eat anything the whole day to fit in their dresses. But Marianna seemed to be different than the princess she ever came in contact with. Maybe that was the reason she like her so much. " Tell you what. You take something and I pretend to not have seen it"

" Thank you. You´re a livesafer", Marianna went to the table and took a handful of shnits, which one of it immediately dissapeard in her mouth. Abidale told her that she wasn´t allowed to eat before the ball. But she didn´t care, she was hungry and therefore she had to eat or she could get really nasty.

Corly watched all sides to see if anyone noticed something. But thankfully they were all too busy to realize that someone was here who wasn´t allowed to be here actually. " Don´t you have to be at the dressing room now?".

" Technically yes. But I´ll try to stall as long as possible. I hate to dress up and wear a gown", Marianna stuffed the remain of her dinner in her mouth. Hopefully the dress wouldn´t fit anymore then and she had to wear something else instead.

Corly´s eyes widened to twice her size. Why didn´t she like to wear beautiful gowns and do your hair and everything else? Since she could remember she envied the girls who were born rich and could afford all the expensive gowns. Sometimes she dreamed to be a princess and do all the things she always wanted to do. But all she had was a little bed in little room she shared with her mother. " Why? It must be wonderful to dress up and dance all night with a beautiful boy".

" If you think it´s so great, then you can take my place instead", Marianna had no objections. She could use her time better than flounce through the room, smile shyly at people she didn´t know and listen to boring topics like a mindless little dolly.

Corly directed her eye contact to the ground to hide her embarassement. " I could never do that. I´m just a servant".

" And? You´re a person like everybody else. If you would wear a expensive gown, made your hair, put on a little make up, nobody would notice that you´re not of noble heritage", Marianna hated that small minded thinking of some rich people, who thought they were worth more than others. She had just two criteria. Either she like the person or she didn´t, no matter if rich or poor. Period.

Corly raised her head a little with a shy smile on her face. That was the nicest thing she ever heard, at least directed at her. Just as Corly wanted to thank Marianna for her beautiful words, she saw Rath entering the ball room. And his expression wasn´t exactly the friendliest. In an instant she tried to look really busy.

Marianna wondered if she said something wrong, because Corly just turned away from her without saying anything. Then she regnorized a reflection she knew rather well in one of the windows. Smiling brightly she reversed. " Hey. What are you doing here?".

" I could ask the same question. I was sent out to get you", Rath skipped purposely the warning about cutting something vital off of his body. That was too humilitating for him. Threatened from four women was not good for his reputation.

Marianna didn´t think that she wasted so much time, that someone had to fetch her actually. " I was just talking to Corly".

" Who?".

Marianna looked at Rath like he was stupid. Didn´t he know the names of the servants? " Corly. One of the servants?", but nothing was clicking in his brain or what he called a brain. He just watched her with a confused expression. Marianna went to Corly and dragged her to Rath. " That´s Corly".

Rath eyed her for a few seconds, but she was keeping her head down and he didn´t regnorize her, or at least the part he could see. " Great. Let´s get going. Everybody is waiting for you".

" You could at least say hello. This is common courtesy", sometimes Marianna asked herself if he either failed the class who teached manners or if he actually showed up at all.

Rath thought that steam would come out of his ears every moment . He would probably die of a heartattack with her. But what didn´t one do out of love and to prevent a fight. Slowly Rath directed his gaze at Corly. " Hello". Then he turned to Marianna again. " Satisfied. Good. Then we can go".

Marianna shook her head. He would never learn it no matter how much time she would invest in it. But that was alright, as long as he didn´t take this attitude with her. Marianna send a apologetic glance at Corly, before she made her way out of the room with Rath.

Corly watched after them longily. How much she wished to be in Mariannas shoes right now. Rath was her crush since she could remember. But he never acknowledge her existence. Not once did he look at her directly or spoke one word. She was invisible to him and that would probably never change. And now more than ever. Corly could still hear them both bicker. Something about Marianna eating a tiny bit and she was denying it vehemently. Until Rath pointed out that she still had some remains of the shnits at her mouth. That was the last thing she could hear before they vanished out of her sight. Sadly Corly applied her attention to her work again. After all she was not of royalty.

Dressing room women

Marianna was dreading to enter the room, althrough she knew that nothing bad (at least not to others) happened in there. Slowly she opened the door and stepped in. Immediately eight arms were pulling her deeper in the room and pushed her in a chair, which was standing in front of a dressing table with a large mirror. Somewhat shocked Marianna could only stare when the other women started to apply Make up to her face and brush her hair.

" Where were you? We were waiting for you", Abidale held a little can of powder in her left hand and dabbed it all over her face with the right.

Marianna almost had to sneeze because some of it went into her nose. But thankfully she could prevent it in time. " I was looking at the decoration in the ballroom and forgot the time. Sorry".

Vilandra rolled up a few strands of Mariannas hair and pinned them with small brackets. " And was Rath mad that he had to find you?".

" What do you think? Or do you know him any different than on the brink to strangle someone?", Marianna had to roll her eyes. She knew that it was wrong to tell Vilandra everything. Now she made comments in front of her mother and her aunt. That was so not good.

Queen Lutezia hid her smile by searching for the lip gloss, althrough she knew where it was. " Oh I don´t know. But when he´s with you he´s pretty likeable".

" I didn´t notice it", Marianna had the qualms that the queen knew something and she didn´t want that. In the inside she started to quiver and had to struggle to not show her condition on the outside. Hopefully nobody noticed anything.

Abidale kneeled beside her and laid a hand on her arm. She waited until she had full attention before she spoke. " We know that there is something between Rath and you".

Marianna had to repress the urge to jump off and run away. Her heart was beating like crazy and her hands began to shake. But she tried to keep calm and to carry it off well. " I don´t know what you´re talking about".

" Yes you know. We´re maybe old but we´re not blind. We saw it before the both of you noticed it", Queen Lutezia was against it at first. But now she was happy that her daughter and her nephew found their significant other. Even if it wasn´t the one they choose for them. The happiness of their children was more important than tradition or politics.

Marianna saw in the eyes of a smiling Queen before she turned her gaze to Abidale beside her. " Are you mad?".

" We´re just mad that you tried to hide it in front of us and didn´t trust us enough to be honest. But otherwise no. Why should I be mad that my son found someone that makes him happy? Besides you´re part of the family and we love you", Abidale could partly understand her. She didn´t want to hurt anyone, especially not the family, who was so kind to take her in. But she should know them better now and know that the kids couldn´t hide anything in front of their parents. Especially something obvious like that.

Marianna was really touched that she was treated like a member of the family and she was glad that her secret was finally out. She didn´t think she could have kept it up any longer without making mistakes. " Thank you. That means so much to me. And I feel the same".

" Alright. Now that the whole melodrama is over, we should continue", Vilandra didn´t plan to spend the night in here. And she wanted to do something to cover her nervousness. Today her family would meet her boyfriend and she was close to lose her cool.

Marianna tried to wipe a few tears from her eyes without smearing up her make up. Then she made herself comfortable on the chair she was sitting on and let the women work on her.

At the foot of the stairs

All the men of the royal family were standing well dressed in a line. King Salem and Zan were wearing their royal cape, which was in the colours of the kingdom, namely green and silver and their growns, which were adorned with diamonds. Rath and Mael were dressed in their uniform, which contained dark blue pants with the matching jacket. Around the hip was a white belt with their weapons in it. The hands were in white gloves and their feet in black polished boots.

" Can I undo the first button, I can´t breath in this thing", Rath was tearing at his jacket the whole time they were standing there and were waiting for the women to appear. It was the same everytime he had to dress up for a ball.

Mael threw his son a nasty glare. Why couldn´t he stop the whining? It didn´t work anyway. Not today and not the other times before. " You won´t change anything. Do I make myself clear?".

" Yes father".

Zan leant closer to Rath until he could talk to him without somebody hearing it. " Why you´re trying that everytime? You know it doesn´t work".

" Maybe someday I´ll be lucky", it could happen. But that could be when he was too old to enjoy his victory.

King Salem took a look at his timer and noticed how late it was actually. " Where are they? The first guest are about to come".

Just as the sentence was finishd the voices of the women was floating through the halls and down the stairs. Obviously someone wasn´t happy with the choice of clothes. She was complaining that her dress was to tight and she probably would destroy it or make it dirty, the torture tools on her feet were squashing her toes and she would fall on her face with them.

Rath started to laugh, when he regnorized that it was Marianna who whined the whole time. She was obviously in the same mood as him if not worse. That made him feel a little better about tonight and he couldn´t wait to tease her with it. But as fast as his smile came it disappeared when he saw Marianna. She was absolutely beautiful and he forgot to breath for a moment. He could only stare as she descent the stairs with her right hand holding the bannister and the left the skirt. Her dress was perfectly fitting. The green was matching the colour of her eyes. The bodies was accentuating her petite figure and the cleavage was just showing a bit of her breasts. The skirt was floorlength and seemed to move with every step. Her shoulders were bare, because the dress was strapless and gave sight of her slender throat, which was decorated with the dog tags. Her face was glowing. Althrough she was a true beauty the light make up was emphrasing it more. Her hair was in light curls and the side parts were held with two golden clasps. And on top of her head was a silver tiara with emeralds. Rath didn´t pay attention that there were still four other women with her, he just had eyes for Marianna. No matter what would still happen in his life, this moment would be forever in his mind.

" One laugh and you´re dead. I´m serious", Marianna needed all her effort to survive the many steps with this things at her feet. And then she couldn´t use a joke at her expense. She felt uncomfortable like it was and a sarcastic comment would make it worse.

Rath was still speechless because of Mariannas beauty. Until he got a nudge from his father to remind him that it was rude to gape at somebody like that. " You look absolute gorgeous tonight".

" Really? Do you really think so?", ok she had to admit that she loved the dress. It was beautiful and the kind of gown she would have choosen for herself. Maybe it wasn´t so bad to behave like a princess for one evening.

Rath took her hand and hinted a kiss on it, something he learned from Zan. Then he looked deep in Mariannas eyes while a little smile appeared on his face. " I don´t think so. I know so".

Vilandra and Ava meanwhile were observing them with their heads bent together. They couldn´t believe what they heard coming from Rath´s mouth. The planet was doomed because Rath grew a romantic bone!

" Oh my godness! My brother is possessed!", Ava acted like she was shocked. She knew him for a long time, obviously as sister, but she never saw him act so much like Zan.

Vilandra linked her arm with Avas. " He´s not possessed, he´s in love".

" I hope he remembers that when he starts to tease me about Zan", Ava was sick of Rath´s sarcastic comments about the love puppy stage Zan seemed to be in. Now he couldn´t say something, because he acted just like that, too.

Rath, who listened to the conversation, turned to Vilandra and his sister. And for the first time he noticed that they both were wearing the same dress like Marianna. Just Vilandras was red and Avas blue. But that wasn´t important right now. " I´m not as bad as Zan. He´s the king of all weaklings".

" Hey I heard that. I´m not that bad", Zan was offended. Ok he was a softie that much he could admit, but he wasn´t a weakling.

Before Rath could reply to that Abidale interfered. " Boys not now. The first guest will be arriving soon".

Mael and King Salem sent their sons nasty glares before they took position at the entrance of the castle. After all they had to greet their guest personally like usual. The kids placed themself a little further away so that they didn´t had to listen how much they grew up and how beautiful they got. It was always the same, no matter if the last ball was just a few weeks ago or not. Like they changed over night. Thankfully that evening most of the guest ignored the royal children, because they found a new victim. Every woman was asking Marianna how she was doing and how sad they were that she had to go through something so horrible at her age. Other women were just complimenting her beauty before they dragged their husbands away, because they were ogling her. If Rath wouldn´t know Marianna better he would think that she was enjoying the attention. But he noticed that her forced smile was just an act. And it disappeared the moment they greeted the last guests.

" Now kids you can do whatever you want. But be warned. No nonsense", King Salem knew that they behaved most of the time. But he was rather save then sorry.

Just as the sentence was finished they disappeared in the mass of talking people. Before the night was through their parents wouldn´t see them again. It was actually like they were small children and enjoyed to not be under parental control anymore. Mael, Abidale, King Salem and Queen Lutezia decided to join in a few conversation until they would announce their news to the kingdom.

Marianna, Ava and Vilandra placed themself at a good position from where they could watch all the people. They made comments about the outfits, which ended almost everytime in a fit of laughter and the horrible hairstyle of a few noble ladies. Vilandra and Ava told Marianna the rumours about most of the guest and what was true or just a lie. The three had so much fun together, even without their escort. Althrough Vilandras boyfriend wasn´t there yet. Suddenly the a soft melody was drifting through the room. The orchestra, especially dedicated for this evening, finally began to play.

" My Lady, can I have this dance", Zan appeared in front of the girls and asked Ava for a dance. Quite the gentleman he bowed before her.

Ava giggled behind her hand. Zan was such a sweety sometimes. " Of course".

Vilandra and Marianna saw to each other and broke out in laughter. That was so disgusting to watch. They both looked after them how they floated to the other dancing people in the middle.

" Hey Gorgeous, would you pay me the compliment to dance with me", Marianna hadn´t noticed that there was one more. She turned to Larek, who looked really good enough to eat tonight with his uniform. He obviously found it funny to tease her, judging after the twinkle in his eyes.

" Only if you stop talking like an idiot".

Larek just shrugged, then he took Mariannas hand and guided her beneath Ava and Zan. There they started to dance.

Vilandra watched from the side how the others had their fun. For the first time she looked at the door to see if someone was coming. But to her disappointment it wasn´t the case. Slowly she looked at her timer and asked herself when Davico would finally arrive here. He was already too late and she started to doubt if he would appear at all.

" Do you know where Marianna is?", Rath pulled her out of her thoughts. He was standing beside her and seemed to look for her.

Vilandra pointed towards the mass of dancing people. " She´s dancing with Larek".

Rath turned around and saw them. They both seemed to have much fun together. At least judging from their smiling faces. Usually his jeaulousy would emerge at his picture, but not anymore. He granted his best friend this one dance. After all Marianna would be dancing with him the whole evening. Slowly he faced Vilandra. " So if Mariannas is already occupied, how about you dance with me?".

" Sorry, but I can´t. Davico just arrived. I´ll see you later", Vilandra took off like the devil himself was after her.

Rath looked after her retreating back. Great now he was standing there like an idiot. Hopefully nobody saw that embarrassing scene. Carefully he watched to all side, but everybody was too busy with talking or dancing that they didn´t notice anything. For a few seconds he just looked around the room, before he decided to save Marianna from Lareks killer foot, who was often trampling on her tender feet.

Rath went through the crowd and tapped on Lareks shoulder. " Can I take over?".

" Of course", Larek bent down to really kiss Mariannas hand. " Thank you for the dance" and then he made his way to the food table.

Rath pulled Marianna tightly against his body without saying a word and moved them a little. He hated to dance actually, but he made a exception tonight. Besides the song that just started was slow and therefore he didn´t need to move much.

This love
This love is a strange love
In that it can lift a love
This love

" You didn´t strike me as a guy who knows how to dance", Marianna knew that they were just teetering from one side to the other. But it was nice to feel Rath so close to her. Even if he was still a little rigid.

Rath put on a smirk. " Usually I try to prevent it. But for you I let my priorities go for this evening".

This love
I think I'm gonna fall again
And ever when you held the hand
And turn 'em in your fingers, love

" I feel so honoured", Marianna replied sarcasticly.

Rath detected to sarcasmus in her voice. " You should be. I´ve never danced with anybody willingly. I do that just for you".

This love
Now rehearsed we stay, love
Doesn't know it is love
This love

" Alright. Thank you and now stop talking. I want to enjoy this moment", Marianna laid her head carefully on Rath´s chest and let her body carry with the melody.

Rath did what he was told for once and just listened to the music. He wanted to bring the time to a stand, so that he could be like that for an eternitiy. Here with Marianna in his arms and the big bad world outside.

This love
Doesn't have to feel love
Doesn't care to be love
It doesn't mean a thing
This love

Rath and Marianna moved slowly to the melody with their eyes closed and their minds in a state of absolute bliss. Everybody watched them. It seemed like they were alone and just needed each other to be happy.


This love loves love
It's a strange love, strange love

This love
This love
This love is a strange love, strange love
I'm gonna fall again love
Doesn't mean a thing
Think I'm gonna fall again
This Love

When the song finally ended, Rath and Marianna didn´t realize it and just continued dancing. Until Corly called attention to that fact that everybody stopped. She just came by to serve the drinks, which she carried on her tray.

" Thank you. That would have been so awkward", Marianna turned to Corly. She seemed not to have too much fun right now.

Corly smiled at her. " Don´t worry. Nobody noticed it actually. How do like it so far?".

Marianna made a sore face. The beginning was cruel, but now it was getting better. " I imagined it worse".

" Do you want something to drink?", Corly stretched the tray with the drinks out to them. After all it was her work to do here.

Marianna shook her head. " No thank you. But maybe you should ask Rath".

Corly turned three shades of red darker when she faced Rath. But he just shook his head, too at her, before he turned his attention to something else.

Marianna noticed the reaction of Corly and tried to hide her laughter. It looked like someone was brought down by Rath´s charm. Damn and she thought she was the only one.

" I´ll have to go. Have fun", with that Corly disappeared from their sight.

Marianna smiled brightly at Rath. " Someone got a crush on you", she sing songed.

" Yeah. And that someone is you", Rath was glad that they were alone again. Hopefully nobody would disturb them anymore. He wasn´t here to make conversation with strangers.

Marianna stepped closer to him and her smile grew even wider. " It´s not me".

Rath entwined his arms around Mariannas hips and tried to keep her tightly at his body. " Who is it then?".

" Corly".

Rath got this weird expression again on his face. Who was she talking about? " Who?".

Marianna couldn´t believe it. She just told him who Corly was that afternoon. How oblivious could he be? " The girl that just offered you something to drink".

" Really. I didn´t notice anything", like he cared about who got a crush on him or not. He only had eyes for Marianna and nobody else.

Marianna just wanted to retort something, when someone tapped on Rath shoulder and asked for a dance with her.

" Of course. Take all the time you want", Rath wanted to prevent more details about the girl. With quick steps he made his way to the food table. He just spotted Larek there and he looked like he needed company.

Marianna turned her neck to the side and followed Rath with her glance. " Hey, we´re not finished here".

All she got from Rath was a wave of her hand in return. Damn him. He just left her alone with a stranger.

" Hello Marianna. You look wonderful tonight", the stranger said.

Carefully Marianna looked back at the owner of the voice. A voice she didn´t hear for a while now and hoped to never hear again. Shocked her colour trained from her face and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. " Nikolai"

TBC