The Kept

The Dancers

The Queen wasted no time implementing Nerys's reeducation, with her first lessons beginning the very next day. The king's own advisers tutored her in every subject necessary for governing a kingdom: diplomacy, trade, oversight of infrastructure and agricultural planning, and the nuances of kingdom politics. Though she tolerated the lessons with practical applications, the hours spent on courtly customs and etiquette were nearly unbearable.

Nerys was almost certain that her dance lesson were a special form of punishment from the queen.

Maestro Vayk was a short, cherubic man with soft golden waves held back by a large, pale pink bow, and an equally soft demeanor.

"You have made excellent progress, Princess," he cooed after having her demonstrate the same steps she had been forced to practice for an hour every day since her first lesson with him.

"But this is not a dance intended for one . You," he called to Nerys's guard, who usually stood silently off to the side of the ballroom during her lessons. "And you...."

Vayk gestured to Gereon's guard, Xai. She had entered quietly during the lesson and was leaning against one of the dozen marble pillars holding up the domed ceiling of the ballroom.

"...will be couple number two," Vayk concluded.

Nerys expected the elite guard to deliver the dance master a scathing refusal, but she and Nerys's guard both nodded and stepped into their places without protest.

"You and you," Vayk continued singling out two of the players, a young man and woman, from the small troupe that performed the music during their dance lessons, "will be couple number three. And you," he said to Nerys, "will dance with the prince."

Gereon approached from the other side of the ballroom and bowed to Nerys before taking his position opposite her. His black eye had faded to green with yellow edges, with the exception of a few purple patches.

"And remember," Vayk added, noting the unconcealed disdain on Nerys's face, "this is the Coquette's Passacaglia. You should be flirtatiously welcoming your partner, not sizing them up for a fight."

"Kept Apprentices don't flirt," Nerys argued. "I wouldn't know how even if I wanted to."

"Start with a smile," Vayk said, passing his hands by his face and smiling pleasantly. "And tip your head to the side while looking up through your eyelashes, like so."

As he demonstrated, Vayk's troupe of players started up the lively music that accompanied the dance. Nerys gave Gereon a horribly exaggerated version of Vayk's flirtatious smile as they began the dance.

"You are as lovely as ever," Gereon responded through his own exaggerated -though arguably more alluring- smile as they stepped toward each other.

They stepped back, looking away as they parted for a moment, then came back together and Gereon took her by the waist and spun with her.

"And you are as much a thespian as ever," Nerys replied. "Careful, you wouldn't want to work up a sweat. I've noticed the princely charm washes out in water."

"I see your lessons in etiquette have been progressing well," Gereon said matching her snide tone with his own. "You almost insult like a lady."

Nerys took advantage of the shift to shove her elbow into Gereon's diaphragm just as he spun her and released her to the next partner.

"Oh, pardon me!" she said lightly as he doubled over and missed catching Xai.

Nerys was caught by the musician had been conscripted into their dance. He was barely past childhood- with straight black hair, high cheeks, and small, dark eyes. The boy smiled shyly and held her at a careful distance, either from respect of her status, or fear of her repeating the move on him. She smiled reassuringly back at him and the boy relaxed a bit, until Gereon placed a hand on his shoulder.

"May I cut in?" he asked.

It was in no way a request. The unfortunate musician hastily bowed out and turned to dance with Xai instead. Nerys forced a cloyingly friendly smile as they whirled through the steps.

"Miss me already?"

They parted and came back together and Gereon leaned close to her.

"I just find your company so... stimulating," he said, stepping roughly the toes of her thin satin slippers.

"Son of a..." Nerys exclaimed, reflexively lifting the injured foot and hopping back half a step. Gereon pulled her back to him.

"Oh, I beg your pardon!" he said. The corners of his lips quirked up wickedly.

Nerys followed the steps of the dance for a few beats, waiting for the right moment, then stuck her foot behind Gereon's heel as he stepped back. He teetered backward, but regained his balance just shy of falling.

"How clumsy of me!"

"Indeed. Watch your step, darling, we wouldn't want to risk breaking that pretty little neck before the wedding."

Gereon spun Nerys hard and flung her toward her next partner.

She stumbled into the arms of her guard, who continued to move gracefully through the motions of the dance as he caught and righted her. He danced so lightly that she almost felt weightless following his lead. Nerys looked up at his face as they briefly parted; his gaze was fixed straight ahead. Although he was by her side from the moment she left her chamber in the morning until her return at night, she wasn't sure they had spoken beyond passing comments since her fight with Gereon.

"Thank you," she said.

He didn't look at her as he replied, "It is my duty to keep you from falling."

"I didn't fall; I was thrown," Nerys said.

"All the more reason to catch you."

"I have seen enough!" Vayk said, clapping his hands together twice.

The musicians stopped playing and began packing up their instruments.

"Princess, with the right partner you are, indeed, capable of being wonderfully graceful- in spite of your complete lack of feminine wiles," the maestro said sweetly. "I have no doubt that you will continue to improve enough to pass for a lady by midsummer."

Gereon let out a short laugh at the insult, and Vayk turned to the prince, pouting.

"Prince Gereon, I am sorry to say that there is room for improvement in your technique as well. Perhaps you would consider joining the princess in daily practice until the Masquerade?"

"I'm sorry to have to decline your generous offer, Maestro," Gereon said. "But my queen-mother has insisted that I begin keeping Princess Nerys company during her afternoon breaks. I'm afraid if I spend too much more time with the princess outside of that, I might not be able to restrain myself until our honeymoon."

He eyed Nerys's throat darkly as he spoke. The young musicians who had been forced to dance were the last of the troupe to pack up their instruments. They had not recognized Gereon's words as a thinly veiled threat and fled the room with flushed faces to avoid overhearing intimate details.

"Why wait? I'm right here," Nerys said. "

Gereon stepped toward her and the guards moved to place themselves between the hostile couple.

"Move," Gereon commanded.

"The queen ordered us to prevent any further... lover's quarrels," Nerys' guard said, not budging. "We aren't quarreling, are we, darling?" Gereon leaned around the guard to address Nerys. "I know it would trouble your beautiful mind with Martyrs own Tears to cause me any harm."

Nerys briefly considered her options; at this rate, their betrothal would result in either Nerys being drugged into a compliance, or Gereon would attempt to kill her as soon as they were wed. Possibly both. Whether or not he intended to kill her, she needed to be lucid to prevent the wedding night from going however he had planned.

"No," she said through her teeth. "We are simply expressing our deepest sentiments for one another."

"My, my, my..." Vayk said with a small, knowing grin as he looked between Gereon's triumphant smirk and Nerys's small, tight, smile. "It seems I will need to select a more passionate dance for the Midsummer Masquerade."