The Price {Completed}

Chapter Sixteen

We did our new ballet almost every night, but only the Common Army and visiting dignitaries from the countries around our former kingdom seemed to be interested in attending. The officers loved it, always clapping with vigor even though they had seen the ballet multiple times before. The dignitaries clapped warily, not sure if they wanted to support a group that had overthrown their ruler. The bulk of the Common Army, though, the ones who wore the white rose with their uniforms, clapped less and less enthusiastically. They began to thin out, and we played to smaller audiences every night.

In an effort to attract more attention, Doctor Alkaev brought in a singer from Flauns, a country to our north. She was to accompany one of our dances, and she came with fanfare and even a parade, complete with tickertape and a band. Everyone showed up to cheer her, even the staunchest Vigilant Men supporters. Everyone knew the name of Hannabella Lephard. She played on radios everywhere, the one person you needed to know from the opera. Her voice was so pure and clear that it could have been mistaken for a crisp spring morning, and even though she was now in her late forties, her beauty was still astonishing.

All the girls from the corps were silly to meet her. They all clutched ghostly black-and-white photos of her dressed in the costume from her most popular opera, and handed them to her when she arrived at the theater. She signed each one with a looping autograph, and flashed her perfect white teeth. She offered Mr. Lennox her hand and he kissed both of her pale cheeks.

"It is a pleasure to be performing here with you," she said, her voice heavily accented. The corps girls swooned and giggled, each trying to imagine themselves anywhere near as glamorous as she was.

Her eyes cut to me, standing by Mr. Lennox's side, and she smiled gently. But then her eyes traveled on and landed on Ferdinand. For once he was with the rest of the Company, though it was mostly because Doctor Alkaev thought that revealing he was once again part of the Company might bring in some of the audience that we were losing.

Hannabella's smile broadened and warmed, and she clutched his hands in hers. "You are Ferdinand Popov, yes?"

"Correct," Ferdinand said, turning on his charm. His grin went lopsided and I felt an urge to grab his arm and remind him that I was there. "I am surprised you know my name, Mrs. Lephard."

She waved her hand in front of her face. "Pish! Whyever wouldn't I know the young man that took the ballet and made it his own? You are almost always the topic of conversation at the Flauns Opera. The girls are quiet taken with you, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true," Ferdinand said. "I'm just honored to be standing in your presence. I do not dare to even imagine that you would know who I was, much less talk about me with your friends."

"I've seen you perform as well, and I know talent when I see it," she said. "I hope we will get to talk further when we have more time."

"Yes, we must get you indoors out of this cold," Mr. Lennox cut in. "I have set up a warm tea, and then I thought we'd get you acquainted with the score and your lyrics."

"Wonderful idea," Hannabella said, taking his offered arm.

The rest of the company trailed behind, and the doors shut on the crowd that still tried to get one last glance of their idol.

Mr. Lennox let the ballet rehearse on its own on the stage while he and Hannabella stood toward the back of the seating accompanied by the orchestra. With the music playing parts entirely different from the ones we were supposed to be dancing, it became increasingly harder and harder to keep track and beat. Eventually the corps petered out and began to just stretch and do a few simple exercises along the edges, and I soon followed suit. It felt strange to finally be practicing with Ferdinand anyway. I couldn't help but keep thinking that Mr. Lennox would notice and break us up, so my concentration was even more scattered. So we called it quits and joined the others with stretching.