Chapter Fifteen: Dancing Through Life

Loras's Point of View

I sneak a drink of wine. I am not supposed to have any, but I am curious to see what it tastes like. I am not sure I like it. I watch my sister dancing with all the sons of the politicians here and decide I want to have a dance with her. I need to steal her away from her dancing partner.

I cut in and the boy bows to me. I cannot get over how breathtaking she is. She is the most beautiful woman in this room. The tiara on her head fits her perfectly. My sister is a princess in every facet of the word.

"Thank you for the dance, sweet brother," Margaery says after the song ends. The orchestra goes right into another classical song but no one is really dancing anymore most people are drinking and gossiping. Some ball this turned out to be.

"You are welcome, sweet sister."

I kiss my sister and leave her with Jon. He is deep in conversation with the Vice President. I have no idea what they are talking about but it seems important. I pat Jon on the shoulder and make my way to Robb.

"Hi," I say, looking at my feet. I said some stupid things to Robb. Our friendship has been a bit rocky ever since but I think we are patching it up.

He looks really pale tonight.

"How are you?"

"Getting by," I say.

"May I ask you a question? Why did you bring Quentyn?"

"We're not together. I needed a date and he was the only one available."

"So it wasn't about making Renly jealous?"

"Why was he jealous?" I ask.

Robb laughs like I said something funny. I never intended to make Renly jealous, I just wanted a date. I felt if Renly and I came together things might be awkward. This is an important night. There are a lot of people to impress I cannot let things be awkward.

Robb watches Meera dance with a seven-year-old boy with the dopiest smile on his face. I can see in his eyes he is falling in love with her all over again. They could barely keep their hands off each other earlier tonight if I recall.

"How are things with you and the Mrs.?"

Robb smiles so wide I could count all of his pearly white teeth. A light blush creeps across his cheeks. I seem to have stumbled upon something. I will have to dig that information out later.

"Things are perfect."

"Are we okay?" I ask.

"I have a difficult time staying mad at you."

Robb pulls me into a headlock where he rubs my head with force. He then hugs me. I hug him back tight. He kisses my forehead and releases me.

"I'm glad."

"Listen, I am having a wonderful time talking to you, but there is a cute girl over there that I really have to kiss."

Robb abandons me to kiss his girlfriend. And kissing they do. Robb takes Meera by the hand and leads her out of the Ball Room. I hope he uses caution with this one. The last thing he needs is another baby to take care of. Speaking of, I wonder who is watching Torrhen tonight.

I spot a Targaryen. I do not believe I have met this one. He is shouting at a servant about something. I am a little skeptical about approaching him.

"Hi, I'm Loras."

"You're shorter in person. I imagined you'd be taller and maybe a little more fierce. What's this? You look remarkably like your pretty sister."

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I, child, am Lord Viserys Targaryen. I am not impressed by you enough to talk with you."

He walks away with a drink in his hand. How rude.

"My brother is very rude sometimes. I am Daenerys, but you can call me Dany," says Daenerys Targaryen. Why are their eyes purple? They are so pretty. I wish my eyes were purple.

"That was a very odd encounter."

"Yes, I believe it was. I would like to talk more, but I have to get back to my date. It was nice meeting you. I will start coming home more often. We can talk then."

She is so glamorous. That girl should be on the cover of magazines. Suddenly the orchestra stops playing. When I hear the sound of the electric guitar my attention goes directly to the stage. Suddenly all the young people start screaming. I eventually see why.

"Oh my goodness," I say.

The lead singer of the Ironborn steps up to the microphone. What kind of political ball is this? This is new. When hard rock starts booming around the Ball Room the lights go down and multi-colored party lights light up the room.

"Is that the Ironborn?" Robb asks appearing beside me as if by magic. Meera is clutching his hand. His tux jacket is on inside out and tucked into his pants. Meera's hair is starting to fall down. Robb missed a few buttons on his shirt.

"It seems like it."

"Well this party just got a lot more awesome," says Robb.

"You look ridiculous, come with me," I say taking Robb's wrist and dragging him to the bathroom. I fix his tux jacket and he fixes the rest. I straighten his tie and try to tame his messy curls.

"Don't judge me," Robb says, smiling like an idiot.

"No judgment from me."

"Who hired the Ironborn?"

"I don't know but I want to kiss them."

Robb and I go back out there to see that Margaery has fixed Meera's hair somehow. You can no longer tell they had been doing anything they were not supposed to. Jon joins us and he and Robb push their way to the front to enjoy the band. I lose them completely.

"Margaery, do you know who hired them?"

"Aegon did. He asked me what your favorite band was and I told him and he booked them."

"You are the best sister ever."

Gendry and Arya make an appearance. It is the first time I have seen them tonight. For once they are not arguing. They are enjoying the band with their respective dates.

"My boyfriend abandoned me for a band," Meera says.

"You have to sleep over tonight?" Margaery says.

"Okay."

The band plays some covers of classic pop songs. Some of them are popular crowd dances. Everyone forms lines to dance. I grab my sister's hand and we jump in the crowd. This is the strangest Ball I have ever been to, but it's definitely my favorite.

Twenty minutes after the band begins playing they are interrupted by the Ambassador. The lights come on suddenly and feedback from their microphone nearly deafens all of us.

"Who is responsible for this farce? This is an outrage. This is a Ball not a rock concert. Get out."

The band packs up to leave. I have no idea what is going on. I thought the Ambassador approved. Why would Aegon hire a band he knew Illyrio would not approve of?

Several people start to leave. I guess the party is over. It's a half an hour until eleven. The Ball is not supposed to end until midnight. Now people are leaving early. I have not had the opportunity to meet all the politicians yet.

I spot Aegon and Viserys whispering to Illyrio. I hope they are coming clean about this. What's the big deal? If a rock band showed up at one our balls back home, my parents would move the grownups somewhere else and let the teenagers enjoy the band.

I find my sister and hold her hand while we thank people for coming. Several members of the press linger to find out what happened. Robb and Jon come back from near the stage with the lead singer of the Ironborn following them.

"Princess Margaery," says Illyrio.

People make room for him. I hold on tighter to my sister's hand. I can feel her getting tense beside me. I give her hand a squeeze to reassure her I am here.

"Yes, Ambassador," says Margaery sweetly.

"Vis tells me you're the one responsible for this farce. I bring you into my home and you make a mockery of a Ball thrown in your honor," He says angrily.

"No. I would never. I was honored to be here, I would never sabotage your Ball," says Margaery.

"She didn't do it," I say.

"Until this matter is investigated in full I am banning you from the next Ball."

"But I didn't do anything," she says.

"Vis said he heard you tell Aegon that this was your favorite band. And look here they are."

I want to punch that creep in the face. Margaery is on the brink of tears. I look at Jon and Robb for help.

"Ambassador, surely Viserys made a mistake," says Jon, "Come let's talk."

When they walk away together Margaery sits down and starts to sob. I pull a chair up and sit with her and stroke her hand. Meera and Sansa sit down to comfort her as well.

"Why is the princess crying?" asks Arya who just realized something was amiss. Where has she been?

"Because some jerk told the Ambassador she is responsible for hiring the band," says Gendry.

"Princess, I will take care of this," says Aegon.

"Wait," I say.

I grab him by the collar of his tux. No one is going to stop me because I am the prince. His rank whatever that may be is below mine. Come to think of it, I outrank Illyrio. There might be something I could do.

"Tell him it was you," I growl.

"My prince," Aegon says.

"Tell him it was you," I growl again even deeper.

"It was me, my prince," Aegon says.

"Then you won't be lying," I say.

I look at my sweet sister's face. Seeing her in tears makes me want to break Aegon in half no matter how pretty he is.

"As you wish, my prince," he says. I release him and he stumbles away like a coward. I kiss my sister.

"You're a bad ass," says Gendry.

"No one messes with Margaery," I say, "No one."

"You told Aegon to lie for that bitch," says Viserys.

"Viserys, stop it," says Daenerys, "Princess, I am sorry."

"Shut up, whore. You had the mind to tell Aegon to lie for her?"

I stand up. This man is taller than me but skinnier. I am not afraid of him. I catch Renly staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I know he would back me up if he could, but he cannot touch the Targaryen children without risking punishment.

"It was you," I say to Viserys, "You did this. You want me and my sister out of here so you did this and then blamed Margaery. You're a sick bastard."

"How dare you call me a bastard?"

"What do you think you can do about it? I am a prince. I outrank you. In fact, I outrank everyone in this room. You are banned from the premises."

"You can't do that," Viserys says.

"Actually he can," says Illyrio, "Princess, my apologies. I hope you can forgive me."

"You're going to let this cock-sucking rose petal throw me out of my own home?" Viserys asks.

"Yes," says Daenerys. She claps hands with Aegon. I smirk.

"May we throw him out?" Gendry asks referring to himself and Robb.

Illyrio nods. They grab Viserys by his arms and carry him out of the Ball Room. Arya goes along with them throwing ice chunks at the back of Viserys's head.

"Princess, please let me make this up to you. Accompany me on a date," Aegon requests.

That perks my sister up. She accepts by hugging Aegon. Her makeup is runny. The Ambassador leaves to deal with the press to make sure they print up the right story. Jon claps me on the shoulder.

"That isn't exactly how I would have handled that, but not bad," says Jon.

"No one messes with Margaery."

"Loras," says Margaery.

I open my arms and she jumps into them. I swing her around and hold her tight. My sister is one of my best friends. It's my job to protect her, and here more than anywhere. I will not let stupid jerks like Vis hurt her.

Several of Margaery's maids take her upstairs with Sansa and Meera who are both sleeping over. Soon it's me and Renly left in the Ball Room with the people who are supposed to clean up. I look him in the eyes.

"I admire what you did," Renly says.

"I would do anything for Margaery."

"As would I," says Renly.

"Do you want to have dinner with me next Friday?" I ask.

"Just dinner?"

"I'll cook."

"For the love of humanity I beg you not to," Renly says.

"Okay, I will put in a request for a dish. I should get changed. Thank you for coming," I say.

"I'm going to go check on Gendry. Thank you for an exciting evening. Good night."

"I lo—you look nice," I say.

"You too."

I almost said I love you. I stop myself. I watch Renly walk away. A few servants come in to help me get ready for bed. I will shower in the morning. I am pretty tired. As I step into the pajama bottoms the serving boy is holding out for me I think of Renly.

Renly fills my mind as I lie down to sleep. The serving boy pulls the blankets all around me. I barely notice him because I can still feel Renly's arm around my waist dancing with me. Renly and I dance right into dream land.