The Ball - Part 6

"So…we're getting married?"

Sylvia choked on air as she heard Octavia say that and had to be patted on her back in order to get her breath back.

"It…It was a spur of the moment…" Sylvia replied still struggling to breathe a little. "It was the only thing… I could think of."

Of course, Octavia knew that, but what she didn't know was what happened now. Surely there were expectations now that everyone knew. A wedding for instance.

"I know that, but how do we deal with everyone thinking we are engaged," Octavia whispered to her, not wanting people nearby to know it was phony.

"It's-it'll be easy," Sylvia replied, trying to sound confident on the matter. "Plus, it will help both of us. I get to keep Sir Roderick away from me and Marquis De'vamillion from you, and you will have a higher standing with nobility and not just as the person who saved my life. It's a win-win."

"Wait, did she say to keep Marquis De'vamillion from me? Why would that matter to her." she wondered.

Putting that aside, what Sylvia did way was true. Surely the novelty of her being the one who saves Sylvia's life would wear off after a while. At some point, Lord Desmon couldn't keep her as a guest just for that. But as the fiancé to Sylvia, she would be expected to remain with her.

"Yes, but won't they be expecting, oh I don't know, a wedding."

"Oh,*pfft* they take ages to put together. If anyone asks, we just say 'we're taking our time making it perfect'. Soon people will just forget about it."

Octavia wasn't too sure that would be the case. Were they likely to forget about the wedding of the never-before-seen Lamia, whose engagement to another was kept hidden from the nobility?

…

They could have kept talking about this, with Octavia's worries about now being engaged to a member of nobility and Sylvia stating it would all be fine, but a short while later the song the band was playing ended. They then shifted around a bit and started playing the next one, the tune of which sounded very familiar.

Galadro's Reconcile.

They both looked at each other after hearing the song start to be played and they knew it was time to get up and move to the dance floor, so Octavia thinking it would be funny, jumped in with the offer, like a good fiancé would do.

"Milady, would thou care to join me for this dance."

"Err, of course…but why are you talking like that to me," Sylvia asked.

"How else would a fiancé of a member of nobility talk." was Octavia's final words as she quickly took them to the dance floor, stopping Sylvia from retorting. She had been dreading this dance, but with all that had happened so far, it felt like it hardly mattered and just decided she would go for it.

Journeying into the centre of the room, many other couples were standing at the ready, waiting for the main section of the song to start. With all the mingling and people around, the band played what was effectively an introduction to the song first, in order to let everyone, make their way over and get ready. So, when they made it over there, they had ample time to pick a spot to start.

There were still several places left, but neither wanted to be in the centre of the thing. With the embarrassment that had happened so far, being the centre of attention for the dance was not on their to-do list. So, they ended up close to the edge of the area.

As they looked around, they could see many people by the walls, standing around eating and talking as they waited for the dancing to begin. Along the edge, she also saw the guards still standing at attention, and saw some were changing with others for their shift, heading out of the room once they were relieved. Towards the end of the hall, she saw Lord Desmon and his family standing by watching them, waiting for the dance to start. All of them had smiles on their faces, aside from Elliot who was sulking a little as he watched her with Sylvia. She had to imagine it was probably both the surprise engagement and not being able to dance with Sylvia that had put him in a mood.

As time drew on, the tune the band was playing reached the crescendo of the introduction, and then the all too familiar tune she had spent most of the last few days dancing to, started.

In their starting pose, they got to work and followed the same steps that had been drilled into Octavia's head. It was more or less second nature to her now, and things just flowed rather than needed to be thought about.

Her tail was up like they practised, and with the people dancing around them, none had been hit at all as they got into their stride, meaning the system worked. Using her tail as feet was still odd to do, but all the training made it happen with ease.

As they moved and flowed through the dance, it was at this point that Octavia realised her eyes had not left Sylvia's. During the training, she had been looking down to watch where her tail was moving and where Sylvia's feet were heading to. But now, with it all being muscle memory and just moving with the tune, she had no need to do this, and just ended up lost in the pools of Sylvia's eyes.

Their faces began to heat up as the dance continued, heading into the next spin and synchronised step. Octavia wanted to believe it was exhaustion from the day and the dance, but with their proximity and the intimacy of it all, she knew that was not the case. Sylvia herself had done this dance many times, and even though she had been hiding most of the day, she also knew that it was probably the eyes peering into hers that were making her blush.

It was cliché, but it felt like time stood still. As if they were the only ones dancing in the room. It felt perfect. It looked perfect.

It felt like they were doing it for hours, but the dance only lasted several minutes.

As they came to the final twirl, the music came to an investable end, the band making the tune flow off getting quieter and quieter to give themselves the perfect and subtle ending to the song. Both of them just stood there, muscle memory knowing that the dance had ended, but they remained staring at each other blocking out everyone around them.

Neither knew what to do at that moment, not wanting to be the first to look away. With the mood and the atmosphere, it was like they were looking into each other's souls, communicating the deepest feelings that the dance had brought out in them.

But all good things must come to an end.

The ending of the dance brought along applause from the members of nobility that had been watching from the sides of the ballroom. This managed to break them out of the trance it felt like they were under, waking them up and seeing the reality around them. It also made them see how close they were.

Sure the dance required you to be close to your partner, but it would seem that in the final moments before the applause, both had slowly moved their faces closer together without even realising it. You could barely fit two fingers between their faces. That was how close they ended up.

"Err…I…"

"Yes…it's…"

The sound of footsteps all around them, heading off the dance floor caused them to pull back suddenly, flushing even more with embarrassment.

"That was…good. Very…good, very."

"Yes. You did…good. I mean well, yourself… yes, no mistakes."

Both kept looking just past each other and could hardly keep eye contact as they spoke a broken version of the language. All they could do now was slowly head away from the centre of the room, back to where they were before the dance started.

Now standing in silence, it felt like all they could do now was just wait for the ball to be over. The dance was done, they had fulfilled their obligations, and all they wanted to do was get some sleep and hopefully not recall how embarrassing it had been at the end of the thing.

But while there was the embarrassing aspect of it, neither could deny the intrigue and pounding in their chests as they wondered what would happen if the applause came a little later than it did.

Thoughts of which, obviously, made them as bright as tomatoes.

…

As they tried to stop the plague of thoughts on the matter, they were startled by a voice nearby.

"That was a wonderful dance. I am glad to see all the practice paid off Octavia."

It was the loud but affectionate voice of Lord Desmon that had startled them.

"Ah, yes. It was…very good. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it, but I really did in the end."

A slight grin arose on Lord Desmon's face as he heard that.

"Yes, it did look like you were having fun…in the end," he said before turning to Sylvia. "And Sylvia, I am glad you were able to enjoy yourself too, even with all that nonsense with Sir Roderick and Marquis De'vamillion. But I must say" he moved closer so that it was a whisper, ",this is also the first I have heard of an engagement between the two of you."

"I…its…"

Both of their mouths flew open as they tried to figure out what to say, but thankfully, Lord Desmon beat them to the punch.

"As you know I have been very busy in the castle, so you will have to forgive me for not noticing the romance blossoming between you two. I must say though that I wholeheartedly approve and wish you luck on your pending nuptials." Lord Desmon said with a quick wink.

Before either of them could retort, the grin on Lord Desmon's face just grew when he started to walk away. Even with the wink, neither of them was sure if he was messing with them, or was actually fine if that was what they wanted to do. All they could do was hang their heads and promise each other that they would talk to him after the ball.

…

Things were starting to wind down now. For Octavia and Sylvia that is.

There was still a good amount of time left for the ball and a few more dance numbers to occur. But thankfully, they didn't have to attend either of them. Right now, all they were doing was sitting at a table and slowly eating some food.

The atmosphere had slowly gotten back to how it used to be between the two, and they now spoke of the usual day-to-day stuff, along with the gossip they both had heard as they walked past people. So, while there was still some time before they could head off and get some rest in an actual bed, they decided this would be the best way to spend it.

"Attention members of the nobility. Sorry to say this, but the festivities will have to be cut short."

That is until they heard a man shout this from the stage, all the while holding a sword to the neck of one of the guards.