Stay light on your feet, know your steps to avoid running over your partner, hold her gently, and always smile. Fiyero had learned his lessons well, for once.
At least the girl in his arms seemed to think so, giggling as he spun her. Her name was Lia, or Lee, or something, she was pretty enough, and Fiyero will have forgotten her name by morning. They were one of many pairs in the center of the packed ballroom, surrounded by all of Oz's most prestigious guests in their best suits and flowing dresses. The band played an upbeat tune, and the Vinkun palace had been cleaned to spotless perfection. Wine and liquor flowed freely, and Fiyero hoped to sneak away with a drink or three later despite his parents saying he was "far too young for such indulgences." It was his birthday celebration, after all.
Every so often, he spotted a flash of bright green among the guests, which was usually accompanied by golden medallions, slicked hair, and black boots. The Wizard's private guards. They were everywhere. Not only were they threaded through the crowd, they patrolled the second floor overlooking the ballroom and loomed over the proceedings from behind the railings. A closer look revealed stern, hollow expressions, although that was the only uniform thing about their faces. Fiyero spotted everything from blonde Gillikinese, to dark-skinned Quadlings, and even a few native Vinkuns all working under a single force.
Gale Force had made themselves a constant presence in the palace even without a party. It wasn't unusual to see them circling the castle or lurking in the corners of the throne room. They had been circling the halls like vultures ever since his parents had granted an audience to the Wizard's ambassador from the Emerald City.
He'd been there during the meeting. "It'll be a necessary learning experience," his papa had said. "He'll need to know how to do this one day." Seated to the side of his parents' thrones, Fiyero had traced the grain of the wooden chair with his fingers and tuned out everything said by anybody. His father spoke in that tone of voice Fiyero swore was designed to make people fall asleep right where they stood. How was he supposed to listen to that?
Nothing anybody said made him take notice until the tiny, nasally-voiced, and green-clad City ambassador slammed his hands on the table placed before the throne. "These are direct orders from the Wizard himself! You are to send all the forces you possess to capture the fugitive "Resistance" group on your land."
"The Vinkus is a large place. We cannot control everything and everybody."
"These are dangerous Animals we're speaking of. They have to be apprehendified to the Emerald City as soon as possible. Think how it would look to the rest of Oz if your province was caught sympathizing with fugitives. Our unity will be forever disrupted."
Unity. Always necessary for any dance. If one was out of sync with their partner, the entire routine would fall into a labored mess.
The meeting had ended abruptly when his father gave some vague speech about how they'd do whatever it took to keep Oz safe. They'd excused the ambassador, a Vinkun palace guard flanking him on either side as he departed the throne room. Gale Force had shown up shortly afterwards and hadn't left ever since. His father said that if they kept resisting, the Force would stop the intimidation game and go hunt the fugitives themselves. They'd undoubtedly turn the entire country upside down in the process. Hard desicion. Good thing it wasn't Fiyero's.
"Aren't you scared?" Lia asked breathily, barely making herself heard over the music and chatter.
"Huh? Of what?"
"All those Animals, of course! Those fugitives could burst in at any minute. Haven't you heard? It's in all the papers."
He nodded and smiled just long enough to look engaged in the conversation. Oh, the papers. He'd seen the papers. In the time after Gale Force arrived at the castle, the Resistance issue had been on the front page of every newspaper that was thrown his way at the breakfast table. Between those and his parents' prattling in circles about it, he'd heard all the unimportant details whether he'd wanted to or not.
The Emerald City Times wrote that the Resistance had a sinister plot to overthrow the Wizard's government and plunge the nation into past barbaric times where the provinces warred constantly with each other. To enact said plot, Animals broke into a new military training center to sabotage its dedication and murdered two high-ranking officers. The perpetrators had then fled to the Vinkus, where they will be brought to justice as soon as the royal family took action. The Vinkun Daily wrote that the Resistance was a reactionary group of troublemakers whose violent actions went against their claimed goals to bring Oz true equality. In protest of a law banning Animals from the military, they attacked the training center. Two security officers and one Animal died in the ensuing conflict. Remaining Resistance members' whereabouts are completely unknown. Underground Resistance publications confiscated by Fiyero's parents wrote that they were the last hope Oz has in the face of extreme Animal discrimination and silencing. Upon the unjust Bann of Animals from the military, Resistance members planned a protest on the military training center. The security officers, in a show of unbridled tyranny, responded by firing on the Animals and murdered one. Resistance fighters are encouraged to recoup in a remote location as detailed to members.
Fiyero could drive himself crazy with all the inconsistencies if he so chose. He could also overwhelm himself on the ballroom floor by analyzing every single clinking glass or passing glance by those in the audience. Doing either would only end in falling on his face.
The next issue of the Emerald City Times mentioned that the Resistance had killed six people, not two. As if it had always been that way. But that didn't matter. Fiyero stopped reading the papers after that. It was a pointless exercise. He hadn't been there when the training center was attacked, so why should he be expected to figure out what happened? Why kill himself over the ambiguities? Why not lose himself forever under the dazzling chandelier lights and never-ending wine fountain, where everything was certain?
The soldiers. Of course. He accidentally met eyes with one of them before the man pulled something silver out of a holster around his waist. A tiny gleaming pistol. What the hell? Why? Fiyero's breath caught in his throat. The soldier pulled out a white cloth and began cleaning the pistol out in the open in a crowded ballroom, glaring at anything that moved.
While the sight was out of the corner of his eye, Lia hadn't seen it yet. Without a hitch, he spun her around to face the opposite direction so she had no way of seeing it. He didn't have the energy to analyze the man's motivations. Answering any of her possible questions about it sounded hellish. He could hear his father's voice in his head, droning on about what would she think of their family if she saw, or the political repercussions, or if she thought their family was enough of a liability for Oz to where soldiers had to pull out a gun at random, blah, blah, blah.
"Wasn't it so kind of the Wizard to send his guards to protect everyone here? From the Resistance?" she asked. He hadn't missed a step. The girl hadn't noticed a thing, and only tried to lean further in against his shoulder. He let her relax against him as the music slowed down.
"Don't worry about all that now. Let's dance," he replied.
Dancing was impossibly harder than it looked. Keeping the right posture, knowing the right steps, not bumping into anybody else, and keeping one's partner in sync was a delicate balance that left him to focus on eight different things at once. But none of that was important. All that mattered was that it looked easy from the outside. All anybody else should see was an effortless performance. And there was always an audience to perform for. He was safe. He was fulfilled. Those soldiers were there to keep them safe. He didn't have a care in the world. Nothing mattered except the glittering lights above him and a pretty girl in his arms whose name he had already half-forgotten.
Stay light on your feet, know your steps to avoid running over your partner, hold her gently, and always, always smile...