Bryanna stretched slowly, memories of the night before returning like scenes from a play to her mind. Since she was just a girl on the Island, she'd dreamed of the Ball of Flames, but her imagination hadn't quite caught up with reality. She had never seen such an intoxicating party. The entire hall had been covered with candles in rich silver candelabra. At the center of the tables, a silver basin filled with water accommodated five slowly moving floating candles. That was all the light in the hall. No torches, just the candles that represented the flame of Vashï Ayman. Outside, a great fire was burning. Firelight streamed in through Shailaja's long windows, illuminating the tables and the dance floor.

When she entered the ball, she heard a slow, delicious song, the rhythm so soft it made her wonder how she would dance something so calm. Her gaze strayed to the couples on the dance floor and she saw to her surprise that they danced almost without moving, their bodies glued together. The pace increased for a brief moment, in which the ladies stepped back and, catching the skirt of their gowns as they circled their partner, made the silvery fabrics shimmer against the candlelight.

Eméline would die if she saw this, Bryanna thought, almost laughing. Either you know how to rotate the skirt with your body or you don't, she would say. Never pull the skirt! She smiled, remembering with relief that Véronique Ainsley did not expect so much from her students.

They all wore rich silver masks that covered the eye region, and Bryanna was amused at the possibility of being unrecognized.

So, when Liam Roparzh led her to the dance floor and approached her body scandalously, she relaxed, knowing they were both protected. Like the other couples, he pressed his body to hers, hugging her waist and making light movements with his hips, turning in a slow rhythm. She didn't know what to do with her own arms and, looking around, she copied the girl beside her, resting her hands on Liam's chest.

She had never been this close to a man before. Liam's chin, which was much higher than she was, touched the top of her head and she felt him, in a gentle gesture, sniff her hair. In the first round of the song, when her body returned to his embrace, Liam's long fingers brushed just below her waist, and she felt her face heat up. So, they danced the first round, then a second and a third... Bryanna had lost count of how many songs had been played, because they were so equal, the rhythm so engrossing that she barely knew when one ended and the other began. Above all, she didn't want the dance to end. Lost in that moment, she realized that her eyes were closed, and when she opened them, she noticed in surprise that the room was even darker. The light from the fire outside was dimmed by the wind off the beach.

- Come on, Miss Yahia - Liam whispered in her ear, and she felt the hairs on her neck prickle with the heat of his presence.

Liam led her through the tables, pausing only to accept two glasses of wine from a servant. They exited the fortress, the cold wind ruffling the skirt of her silver dress.

- Surely you know the reason for the fire - Liam said, as they approached. Bryanna nodded, informing him that, on the Island, they also preserved that custom. The closer they got, the more she marveled at the size of the flames which, at this time of the ball, had already reached six feet. They watched the last few challengers leap over the fire until Liam turned to her and, touching her hair, said: - When I look at you, I feel like jumping.

- Jump the fire? – Bryanna asked, surprised.

But Liam didn't respond. He already had that mysterious smile on his face that she had learned to expect. It was the smile that anticipated a surprise, a novelty, a discovery. It was the smile that anticipated the happiest moments she had lived in Shailaja.

In a quick move, Liam removed his coat and deposited it in her arms. Then he turned quickly and, running as fast as a gust of wind, leapt over the fire. The flames grew and one of them licked his leg, but when he fell on the other side, he was already laughing, proud of his achievement. Baldric and Mateo helped him to his feet, patting him on the back.

- Are you in love, Roparzh? - laughed Baldric, his strong voice echoing across the beach.

Bryanna couldn't hear what Liam replied, but he walked over to her and, smiling, kissed her hand. Baldric and Mateo, who were accompanied by Méline and Zaila, joined them. The six entered and sat at a table. While the men talked about their games and competitions, Bryanna, Méline, and Zaila assessed the other ladies' dresses, tried to guess which couples were behind the masks, and discussed about who had been seen leaving for the inner garden. It was notorious in Shailaja that the inner garden of the main hall was off-limits to any respectable lady, but Méline herself confessed that she had visited it many times before.

- Not always with Baldric - she whispered in secret. The three laughed as a servant arrived with more wine.

- Look, Christine Gwenaël is following the Kaal - Zaila observed. – Aren't you two very close? – she asked Bryanna.

- Not lately. I confess she's been pissing me off for the past few weeks... - Bryanna said, sincerely. Chris' campaign to make her forget about Liam had ended up alienating the two of them, and now a strange atmosphere weighed heavily between them.

- Adaeze must be furious – commented Méline.

- Ah, but the Kaal doesn't seem very excited - Zaila snapped.

- When does he seem excited? - asked Méline. - He's the most bored man I've ever seen. Always serious and frowning, he almost never smiles, never relaxes. I don't know if it's worth being the krali like that. Can you imagine having to put up with him forever?

- Well, Méline, I have to disagree. I don't think it would be bad to put up with him. One look from him makes my legs go weak - Zaila said.

- Of course, Zaila! The man is frightening! – exclaimed Méline.

- It's a fear I'd love to feel - snapped Zaila, making the three of them laugh.

- Ladies, what do you think of a walk on the beach? - suggested Baldric. Everyone accepted, excited. The servants provided more jars of wine and the group headed for the night.

They walked along the shore, drinking and laughing. Bryanna heard, for the first time, famous stories from Shailaja's past years, such as Mateo and the Egg, Blake The Invincible, and Veronique's Raven. She heard stories about the secret passages in the rooms, about scandals between servants and fights in the village bar. Now she knew that Mateo had the strangest phobia of eggs, and one day they had offered him a bag of coins just for him to break one and separate the yolk from the white. However, he couldn't make it. He had succeeded in separating it just making an ugly grimace, but in the end, he had vomited, losing the prize.

Blake had gone two weeks without losing a single card game and, confident he was winning, had nicknamed himself "Blake, The Invincible" until he found out that Rariff had bet in the card room that he wouldn't lose for two weeks. Since no one dared contradict the Kaal, Blake didn't lose for two weeks.

- Meanwhile, Rariff was getting a gold coin every day from Emeka, as he'd bet he could make Blake unbeatable with just one sentence - Liam said, chuckling. - I'll never forget Blake's disappointment when he discovered the whole scheme! 

Bryanna had also heard that Mrs. Ainsley was secretly rearing an old raven who, it was said in Shailaja, must have been at least fifty years old.

- They've been telling this since I came in here, but I've never seen the bird - said Baldric. - She must hide it well, as everyone knows that the raven is a heretical symbol.

- It is said that the black bird brings the bad omens of the Maël - remembered Méline.

- I myself have seen these giant ravens in Palatials. Large birds, sometimes bigger than eagles - completed Liam.

- They are so big that they can carry a small baby. I remember when we went to Palatials once and mom told us to close all the windows, afraid that a bird would take away Zyon, who was a newborn - Zaila said. - And I actually saw such a large one that, with its wings spread, it should have been almost three meters!

- So, it was chance, because they are not so common. I see a big one every summer, if I'm lucky. - Liam said. – Or, maybe, unlucky.

When the wine ran out and they couldn't even see the tip of their nose, they started back towards the lighted fortress. Liam held Bryanna's hand so she wouldn't get lost in the beach, and she kept up with his pace, which grew so slow that at one point she could only hear Baldric's voice up ahead and Shailaja's strong waves.

She felt a slight tug on her hand as Liam released her, making her stop. Bryanna looked around, searching for him, but all she saw was darkness and the outline of the fortress. When a shadow covered the dim lights of the ball, she knew he was ahead of her. She felt the heat of his body envelop her and his lips against hers, eager and urgent.

I'm being kissed, she managed to think. But Liam's lips weren't satisfied. They traced their way up her neck and down her cleavage, leaving a wet trail that made her shiver.

He kissed her again, this time pressing her body tightly against his, and as his shadow moved away from Shailaja, she saw the remaining flames of the fire. She wondered where he was, when she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck and his long fingers on the straps of her dress.

He pushed the straps down, and she felt her breasts slipping out of her dress. Bryanna gasped in surprise, the cold wind making her nipples prickle, but soon Liam's hands wrapped around them in a circular caress as he kissed the back of her neck and the lobe of her ear. He took her mouth one last time and Bia thought her legs were going to give out.

- I need to stop or I'm going to lose control - he whispered against her ear. She felt his trembling fingers moving up the straps of her dress, and a feeling of frustration flooded her body as he pulled away.

She didn't know what to say as they walked back to the keep, but Liam soon began to tell a story about a fight between servants, and when she realized, she was already laughing. When they returned to the Mavi Hall, accompanied by Blake and Serena, Liam said goodbye kissing her hand like the perfect gentleman he was, and Bryanna was pleased to think that they shared a secret, that she had been kissed.

Now, in the light of day, she thought she wanted to tell someone, ask questions, ask how she should have acted, but neither Christine nor Serena would welcome the news that Liam had finally kissed her. They would scold her and treat her like a child. She wanted to tell Mani, but she was scared. Sometimes she suspected that Serena could see anything that happened to Mani, even the silliest ones.

She remembered Liam's only words about the kiss: "I need to stop or I'm going to lose control." She felt proud, thinking she was capable of making a man like Liam Ace Roparzh lose control. She got out of bed, looking at herself in the mirror with pleasure. The others might disagree, but she was no longer a child.

~*~

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Ps: I am a Brazilian author and a dear friend is helping me translate this book. Please feel free to point out any mistakes. Hope you like it!