Chapter 17:
To Dance with an Angel
THE SONG BEGAN. A WALTZ. MELODY MADE to take her first step.
Huh?
But her foot had already moved somehow. Ciestine had guided it into motion, just as Schue had during their practice dance at the county estate.
A less skilled dancer would not have noticed such a technique. They might assume they had suddenly and miraculously improved, and that perhaps it had something to do with their compatibility with their partner, but a practiced dancer would recognize the truth, just as Anna-Marie had. Ciestine was a puppeteer, fooling her toy into thinking it had free will, a psychological technique she’d inherited from Schroden.
Melody finally knew why the girl irritated Luciana. It’s because she moves just like Schue.
She couldn’t contain her laughter. Such an odd coincidence. They looked alike too, but it was a testament to Schue’s idiosyncrasies that she hadn’t noticed. Fascinating, the way a tan and a silly smile could hide such an obvious resemblance.
But anyway, I’m used to this style of dance. Melody knew how to handle it, how to enjoy it, even. We’ll see who’s the lead, Your Highness!
This night would produce yet another legend.
Ciestine let her eyes wander as she whirled through the ballroom. As expected, many watched her dance in awe, while others failed to hide their disgust behind plastered-on smiles. A few didn’t even do her that courtesy and sneered openly. Even fewer showed no interest whatsoever. The Theolan peerage was a rich tapestry indeed.
She made mental notes about whom to follow up with, and then felt something. Something wrong. Instinctually wrong.
What’s this, now? The princess scanned her surroundings but found no threats. What could have sparked that twinge of wrongness in her gut?
She began to turn, and then it dawned on her. I’m…I’m not leading!
Cecilia should have been under her thumb. She’d thought she was leading the dance this entire time—because she was, just not of her own volition. It hit her then. This was the wrongness. Cecilia had realized what Ciestine was trying to do and adapted to it, allowing her to lead and effectively making herself the true lead in the process.
Impossible!
It was worse than she thought. Cecilia had assumed complete control in the short time the princess let her attention wander. Every move Ciestine tried to make, Cecilia circumvented it.
This has never happened. How can this be?!
Their eyes met. Ciestine spied a glimmer of childish amusement in the commoner’s gaze. Cecilia grinned at her, proud of her little prank, and simply continued to dance. She said nothing, but Ciestine could hear the taunt as clear as day. “Took you long enough.”
Is that a challenge? The princess’s eyes twinkled. Her handsome grin sharpened into a smirk.
It should come as no surprise that Ciestine was a sore loser. Dancing was her forte. She would not take it lying down when someone so brazenly provoked her. Her initial objective be damned—this mattered to her more than anything.
Lest it be forgotten, however, the song was a waltz. Not at all a competitive endeavor, and not at all given to the kind of fanciful, showy acrobatics that might coincide with a contest.
Nonetheless, their dance morphed into something that enraptured the entire ballroom and elicited fantastical images. Ciestine was as a lovelorn knight beseeching an angel. The angel could not stay, however, and their love could not flourish. The dance told a story of desire, of longing for that which lies just out of reach.
Which was to say, metaphorically speaking, Melody was winning.
“How beautiful,” Celedia sighed.
Anna-Marie and Luciana observed the dance from the sidelines with her and Sable.
“Oh, I wish so badly that were me with Cecilia right now,” Luciana said. “But it is a breathtaking sight.” She looked torn between swooning and ripping her handkerchief in half.
The others were on tenterhooks waiting for one or the other.
Anna-Marie had never seen the Angel in action, not like this, anyway. She was starstruck. Her dance with Lect had been something, but this—this was divine, an absolute spectacle. Cecilia’s best by far.
It reminded her of a certain type of person.
“She’s like the main character of the ball,” Celedia said for her.
But her voice was dead. Lifeless.
“Lady Celedia?” Luciana said, worry creasing her brow.
Celedia turned to her, expressionless. “Lord Maxwell is your partner, yes?”
“Th-that’s right.”
“How did that come to be?”
“W-well, he…asked me, I suppose,” Luciana replied. The memory brought a brilliant shade of red to her cheeks. She hung her head, and therefore could not see the emotion flickering across Celedia’s face.
“I see. He asked you.” Her lips moved but made no words, as they’d done before. “…me.”
“I-I’m sorry?”
“Lady Celedia!” Sable said.
Anna-Marie tore her eyes from the dance to find the lady near to collapsing. “Oh my goodness. Are you okay?”
“Y-yes. Just a little lightheaded is all.” Her complexion went pale as a ghost’s. “I’m terribly sorry. Sir Sable, might we retire early?”
“Of course, my lady. Take my arm. The entire shoulder, if you must.”
“Goodness, but we’ve only just met,” Celedia said. “That won’t be necessary. For now.” Steadying herself against the knight, she turned to the ladies. “Send my apologies to the others. Excuse me.”
“Be well,” said Anna-Marie. “Sir Sable, let not a speck of harm come to her.”
“Over my dead body, my lady,” he said.
“See you at the academy,” Luciana said.
Celedia replied with a smile before bowing and taking her leave.
Anna-Marie watched her go, her apprehension lingering like a fog hanging around her. Please be okay.
As the final note of the song warbled into silence, applause erupted. Ciestine and Melody bathed in an ovation that dwarfed what the first dance had received.
Ciestine, somehow out of breath after a mere waltz, panted as she reassessed the situation. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. I never did manage to reassert myself. And yet…
And yet she had never felt this way before. Showers of applause were nothing new to her, so what was so special about this time? Why did it feel so different?
What the princess did not understand was that this was what she’d always sought. Recognition. Acknowledgment of a job well done. Things she had never experienced in her life and thus failed to recognize.
“Your Highness, thank you for the dance. It was a riveting experience,” Melody said.
“Yes. Yes, it was. Thank you for indulging me, but enjoy your victory while it lasts. Next time, things will be different.”
“We’ll see about that.” Melody beamed, and the princess’s heart leapt. “Shall we return to the others?”
“Y-yes, let’s.”
Even as Ciestine escorted Melody back to their group, the pounding in her chest didn’t abate. What this could mean, she yet lacked the faculties to deduce.
“Oh. Has Lady Celedia gone home?” Melody asked when they rejoined the others.
“She wasn’t feeling well. She didn’t look well either,” Luciana said.
“Then I suppose it’s for the best. It’s a shame I didn’t get to say goodbye.” Especially since this was to be her last appearance as Cecilia. She wouldn’t get this chance again.
Regardless, the ball went on. Lect, desperate to satisfy his lord’s conditions, danced again with Milliaria, then Luna, and even Anna-Marie, but this attracted an actual, physical line of women, each eager for their turn with him. For better or worse, he would have no issue meeting his quota.
Melody, now free, danced with Maxwell and Christopher, but primarily passed the time chatting with Luciana and her friends. Though few, some brave souls did dare to ask for the Angel during a couple of songs, but no one prevailed against her guardian. Luciana’s defenses were impregnable.
After some time, Ciestine and her guides moved on to converse with others. The princess didn’t leave without requesting a second dance with the commoner at a later ball, but Melody could offer only a noncommittal promise. Cecilia may not ever appear again, after all. Some stalwart men invited Ciestine to dance thereafter, though most of her partners were female. She’d only ever practiced the man’s side of ballroom dancing, after all, and therefore had to turn down those intrepid few men who asked.
However, Ciestine did take some satisfaction in the fact that her charms worked on both sexes.