Lumina

5 ~ The Ball

Maizie

If there was one thing Maizie wished she would have been prepared for, it was the extensive list of questions nobles asked. Or at least asked in order to lead the conversations to their endless shoe collection, this year's newest trends- really anything that kept the conversation on them.

At first she couldn't wait to get away from Vita, to come down and join the people and talk, actually talk to dozens of strangers. What she hadn't realized was how much those who could afford to journey to Biswich for the ball were interested in that very same wealth.

She almost wished she were still up on the dais receiving lectures from Vita about keeping presentable tonight. As if Maizie hadn't been on the other side of that wrath before- no, she had no intentions of messing up her one night of freedom. One guest began monologuing her hat collection and Maizie tried not to think about the chocolates she could have been eating instead.

A brush against her arm jolted her from her melancholy. A man with wild brown curls stepped in front of her, his emerald eyes moving across the ladies in practiced apology as he maneuvered in front of them. The man- whose hand was still touching Maizie's elbow- flashed a smile at the two ladies who in turn flushed a deep red and moved away.

That deep gaze landed on her and Maizie stepped from his touch, a wary smile across her mouth at the jolt of static his touch had ignited. The man bowed, an apology at his lips, "You looked perhaps a bit overwhelmed."

That was an understatement. Maizie could hardly breathe with the cluster of people surrounding her. A nervous breath of laughter left her, "Well, you have my gratitude, then."

"I assumed by your speech earlier I already had that," he jested and held his arm out towards the marble floor. "How about a dance instead?"

Unable to look away from the tanned face smiling back at her, all she could think to do was nod absently. He was. . .enchanting. She found it hard to look away. He certainly was handsome; well dressed in a burgundy and cream suit with just the slightest stub of a beard framing his face. At her allowance he led her to the middle of the floor where other couples were lining up in wait for the orchestra's next piece. Her partner's hair fell in waves over his face when he bowed.

The first violin began high and sweet, followed by the rest of the orchestra moving into motion. Maizie's dance partner placed a steady arm across her back, his other hand calloused in her own. She wondered what type of noble would have such rough hands and sun-kissed skin. Briefly imagined what type of man she might have seen him become, this noble's son, were she not bound by the chains of her title.

The man towered over her as they danced across the room and his arms, she realized with a flush, were hard with muscle- unwavering with every twist and lift the dance accounted for.

"You are unlike the other nobles here," she admitted.

Green eyes bore into hers before he answered, "How right you are, princess. What gave it away?"

"You have not once talked about yourself yet," she answered frankly, causing him to bark a laugh, "I do not even know your name."

"James," he answered after a pause and added smugly, "Lord James."

Ah, there was the self-satisfaction. "A noble indeed, Lord James," she decided.

Melodies mixed with the beating of her heart, elevated with each step the two made. Lord James held his attention on Maizie throughout the whole song and she soon found herself unwilling to pull away from the intensity of his gaze by the time their dance had ended.

His eyes swirled, an endless field of twisting grass with the barest hint of gold underneath, likely from the lamps glittering above. But the more she was caught in his stare the less she could imagine ever looking away. How could she bear to be apart from him now?