Seraphina guided me to the ballroom that Xion had shown me before. Not the room with the massive fire in the middle. The formal, big ballroom. The one that was indeed safe for dancing.

I didn't know what to expect. People like me didn't frequent ballrooms of any kind. Certainly, less with royalty floating about. But it was all very...unroyal. Seraphina opened a door and allowed me to pass through. No one glanced towards me. For a very brief moment, it was as if I didn't exist. I was just a ghost floating through. Maybe I would actually remain unseen tonight and few would notice my presence at all.

Then an awful squawk filled the air. And all the chatter and the dancing immediately came to a low hush. Even my head jerked towards the noise.

And there was Xion, his perfectly shaped lips parted, dark eyes wide. His gaze was set only on me, the violin pressed against his shoulder seeming to be forgotten for a brief moment, the bow dangling precariously between his fingers. His chest rose with a harsh breath, like breaking the surface after an icy plunge in a spring creek.

I stared back, too many feelings whirling within me to be identified. The only thing I could understand was that he looked exquisite. Hair amess, eyes a little wild, but his clothes were impeccable. I felt like I couldn't breathe either, but I knew that the dress was not the problem.

Devlin, who sat with a cello between his legs, twisted his body just so, and stomped a foot down on Xion's. The king winced, jerked a little, then brought the bow back up to the violin in a smooth swing. The music rose once more and as it did, the conversations floating around resumed and dancing began again.

"Lark!" The voice that rose above the crowd belonged to Daisy; her dark skin as radiant as ever as she waved her hands dramatically.

I floated over to her. It wasn't like I had anyone else to see, anywhere else to go. Seraphina had found her place against the wall, watching the festivities like all the other guards. But unlike the other guards, she didn't have a cup filled with red liquid in her hand and her stoney expression remained glued to her features while the others were already starting to come undone.

"Everyone, this is Lark," Daisy introduced, grabbing my arm and tugging me into her circle of friends.

There was a chorus of hellos and gentle greetings. I did my best to smile and nod and not think too hard about what could possibly be in the glasses they were holding. Daisy was certainly the prettiest, as well as the most enthusiastic. Though, I doubted there were many rooms that she entered where she wasn't. They all introduced themselves politely, which was such a shame because I forgot their names almost instantly.

But in her little group of friends, there was a dashing young man with dark hair like Xion's, but skin pale and eyes a bright blue. A stormy redhead stood beside him, her smile was bright and beaming, though there was something unnerving about her. Or maybe I was just unnerved by the fluids that they all drank.

"Would you like some wine?" Daisy asked, her eyes following my gaze.

"Oh." I jerked back, a little startled. "Is everyone drinking wine?"

"Of course," the red haired girl said with a smirk. "What did you think it was?"

I faltered, my face flaming redder than her hair.

"Oh, don't tease her. It took so much coaxing to even get her here," Daisy pouted, already handing me my own glass of wine. Even knowing what it was, I had a hard time looking at it. "I just want to drink and dance. Is that too much to ask?"

"Can't we have a little fun?" the other girl argued. "It's so rare that we have one of her kind around. Especially one naive enough to think we would drink stale blood out of goblets at a party."

My stomach dropped at that, being spoken about like I was some plaything. I was just a toy to be used and tossed aside.

"Drink," Daisy ordered, her voice edged with iron.

I did as she commanded. When more than half my glass was gone, she seemed content with her work, grabbed me again, and dragged me towards the center of the room.

"Oh." I watched the way the others were moving. Fast steps, tight circles, flaring skirts. "Daisy, we don't have dancing like this where I'm from. I don't know how to do this."

"Neither do I!" she laughed, and tugged me onto the floor anyway.

She held me tightly, an anchor in the mess of people. Her grip was sure as she spun me, then showed me how to twirl her just so. For a woman who claimed she didn't know how to dance, she certainly moved like she did. Every step spoke of fluidity and grace that I could not muster. Thankfully, it didn't stop the smile that was slowly creeping onto my mouth.

The music slowed to a point where haphazardly twirling each other and shrieking with laughter no longer seemed appropriate. Daisy smiled over the soft pleas of the violin and the whine of the cello, giving me a halfhearted shrug. We returned to her group of friends, the three of them jumping back into conversations that I could not follow. Instead, I sipped my fresh glass of wine, forcing myself to not think about the colour too much.

And I watched. I should have watched the people, should have watched for an exit or an escape. But my eyes were drawn to my captor instead. He rested against his violin, moving as if he and the instrument were one. On certain notes his brow would furrow as if he were in physical pain, his features would soften over others, nothing but bliss written on his face. Devlin played beside him dutifully, and as much as I willed myself to move my eyes to him instead, or to find Seraphina in the crowd, I could not. Instead, I watched the way Xion's mouth moved, like he was singing to himself, watching the hair fall onto his brow without him noticing, watching the gentle sway as he moved to the sound of the piano.

"He's quite something, isn't he?" the girl said from beside me.

"Who?"

She snorted. "Would you like me to pretend that you have been nonchalant? King Xion, obviously."

"I imagine all kings have a certain way about them. He just happens to be the only one in the room," I said, keeping my voice flat and my eyes as far away from him as I could manage.

"He's certainly different from the kings before him."

"Is he so different? Is that why you're wearing the old queen's bracelets? Because he's just so different?" she taunted.

Suddenly the cuffs felt as if they were burning into my skin. I felt my hands curl into fists as I resisted the urge to rip the silver off and send it clattering onto the floor.

"These were Xion's mother's?"

"Not his mother's. The vampire queen's. but that was before, you know, they were killed."

Xion's mother had not been the queen of the vampire kingdom? When I had heard he had killed his father, I had not even spared a thought to the woman who undoubtedly ruled beside him. And now, I was wearing some dead woman's jewelry at all ball.

The woman disappeared into the crowd, offering no more conversation and no more answers.

I only shrugged and found myself another glass of wine, this one thankfully a white wine with delicate bubbles that burst on my tongue. Daisy's friends were just trying to rattle me, to worm into my head. Their words held no real value. I went for another glass of wine, hoping to ease the tightness in my shoulders.

Having the wine made it a little easier to not feel so uncomfortable, like someone was going to slap my wrist and scold me, when I snagged a fresh bun and some hard cheese off the long table. It also made it easier to melt against the wall when I realized that Daisy had detached from her friends and accosted Seraphina.

The guard blushed a wild red, so bright it was visible even under her tanned skin, but went with the little seamstress. The hold that Daisy had on Seraphina was infinitely different than the way she danced with me. And when Daisy dipped her head downward, resting it on Sera's chest, I feared the guard was going to drop dead in the middle of the floor. But the two of them swayed, one graceful, the other staggering, but both of them glowing.

I had drained another glass of wine and was in the middle of shoveling berries in my mouth by the handful when the music shifted. No more cries from the violin, no more sounds from the cello. Just a piano, starting out so soft and sweet.

"The fruit is grown here, in the greenhouse. It's the only way we can get it fresh year-round here," Xion said, materializing beside me.

I had been so swept up in watching the couples twirl around the room in synchronized chaos to the heavenly music -- and eating-- that I hadn't paid attention. I hadn't noticed that he moved, that he had sought me out in the crowd.

"Marvelous," I muttered.

There was a beat of silence between us, weighing so heavily that I could not hear the music, could not understand the words coming from anyone else. "Would you dance with me?" he asked suddenly.

I almost choked on a blackberry.

"You don't have to," he added instantly. "I can make my rounds. I just thought that--"

Seraphina was still on the floor, still looking as stricken as she had the instant Daisy pulled her out there. But she was still moving and Daisy was still in her arms, glowing up at her as if they were the sun and the moon together.

"One dance," I agreed, though I could not fathom why.

Xion bobbed his head and allowed me to lead the way to the middle of the dancefloor. If others took notice of us, I did not take notice of them. I saw him, the way he discretely gestured to the piano player and the song changed.

"Clearly, you had something in mind," I pointed out. "I hope that my lack of dancing skill does not disappoint you. I only know the dances from my village not...whatever it was that Daisy was trying to teach me."

"I could never be disappointed in you, Lark," Xion stated, then softer. "I would love if you showed me a dance from your village."

"After you show me the dance you clearly had imagined for this song," I shot back.

When I raised my hand to clasp his, I was horrified to find that my fingers had been stained red by the berry juice. Xion just chuckled, his grip warm and sure around mine. Fingers pressed against the small of my back, bringing me closer to him. "Hold on to me and I will do the rest."

And he did. It could have been the wine flowing through me or the magic of the evening. It could have even been the effects of the mate bond. But I clung to him, relishing the feel of his hand in mine, the press of his arm around my body. It felt as if my feet barely even brushed the floor as we twirled. He moved so wonderfully around me, using tiny gestures and encouragement to get me to move. The melody played over my skin, seeming to catch in my hair and curl around my ears.

The piano softened to silence, the song ending.

"I'm sure your guests are missing your entertainment. The poor pianist cannot carry this party alone."

"I think we are creating a new form of entertainment. Now, show me one of those dances from your village."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

If you were a horse, what breed would you be?