Sir Elias of Dawnberg focused on maintaining his calm as he bowed to Lady Ilyrana of the Silverwoods, who smiled as she curtsied back, and he tried to pretend that she was the same as any lady of the court that he had danced with before. But elves were rarely seen in this kingdom, and even more rare were those whose fae heritage was as strong as Lady Ilyrana's.
He was of mixed feelings about the fast pace of the musical piece that had just started; on the one hand, it was fast enough that speaking was not going to be considered a requirement, on the other, he had rarely been called upon to perform a waltz at such a pace, and doing so when paired with a person of such elegant grace made him feel clumsy. However, Elias had little choice in the matter. For this particular ball, most of the dance partners were preselected in specific slots, and it was his turn to dance with the elven noble woman.
It started well enough, and there was enough room amongst the other dancers that he only had to pay a small amount of attention to the space around them, but he was expected to lead and to ensure that she enjoyed her dance. That meant more than keeping to the steady rhythm and maintaining a spin suitably fast for the atmosphere of the music, but not so fast as to make either of them dizzy. At least she was only a little shorter than him; dancing with a partner who was too short made certain moves impossible and many of the rest felt rather awkward.
Elias was just glad that at least he knew the piece of music being played, so he did not have to wait to learn its changes and pauses, and could anticipate good places to add a little to the dance. He kept it simple at first, a half-spin that left her briefly at his side, before he spun her back out. He almost failed at that last step; her long, platinum blonde hair flowed over him as Ilyrana glided into the crook of his arm and cast a glance up at him, the corner of her mouth turned up in a hint of a smile. That alone was distracting enough, but the delicate floral scent that drifted up from her practically stunned him. Thankfully, she had committed to the brief dance move, which left her weight resting against his arm. That was enough to help his reflexes recover in time to spin her back out.
At least he was performing part of his duties well enough; the elven beauty did look entertained. However, given the lightly wicked smile she was wearing and the brightness of her eyes, at least some of her amusement was at his expense. It was a gentle enough amusement that he did not feel slighted, and her expression carried a hint of a challenge.
Fine. If he was going to be able to avoid any political failings by simply amusing her, then he could afford to relax and enjoy the dance more. Elias skipped testing out a single spin, and with the next opening, guided her out to spin her twice before drawing her back in to resume the steps of the dance together. She flowed like silvery water and seemed to move almost as much to his intention as to the subtle pressure and motion of his hands.
He wasn't certain if he had missed a step of his own while he was focused on guiding her correctly, but Ilyrana's grace covered for any mistakes on his part, and he quickly found himself having fun as he pushed his dancing skills, blending moves together such as drawing her up from a dip to guide her directly into a reverse spin. Soon, scarce half the beats of the music were done to basic steps as Elias allowed himself ever greater risks.
Then the song was done. The closing notes surprised him, as he had lost track of where they were in the music piece. Lady Ilyrana stepped back and curtsied a little deeper than before. "Thank you for the wonderful dance, Lord Elias."
"It was an honor and a pleasure, Lady Ilyrana," he responded sincerely as he bowed back. "Perhaps I will be fortunate enough to dance with you again sometime."
"Perhaps." She gave him an enigmatic smile before turning to return to where her retinue awaited, and where her next dance partner would meet her.
Elias found that he didn't enjoy that thought, and he mentally scolded himself for crushing on a woman after a single dance like he was some teenage boy. This distracted him enough that it wasn't until he had sat down that he felt trembling exhaustion hit. That made no sense at all; it had only been a single dance. He spent hours drilling and sparring most days, how could a simple dance have worn him out that much?
No answers came to him, and he waved a servant over for a goblet of wine. "I will need another shortly," Elias said, and then spent much of the rest of the evening trying to remember exactly what had happened during that dance. The pieces of the dance blurred together in his memory, but the number of moves seemed far too many for a song of that length.
After his second goblet was done, it was late enough for him to be able to gracefully retire, and Elias was glad to take the opportunity to return to his room. It was a little early for him to go to sleep, but this night felt like a well earned exception. Once in his room, Elias doffed his cloak and sat down on the edge of his bed to remove his boots, but then a soft floral scent drifted across him, and he froze.
"Now, about that second dance," said a familiar, feminine voice, just as amused as it had been earlier, and he watched Ilyrana step out from a sliver of shadow that seemed impossibly small to have hid her. "Entertain me enough tonight, and I might still be here come sunrise."
Elias found himself eager to find her still here in the morning, and discarded all thoughts of sleep or rest.
