Triplet Queens' mysterious Guard

Dancing beneath the moon ?

Elle sat in the coach on her way to the fountain, she was still sitting there but her mind was far off. She had been lost in thought for minutes now remembering quite vividly every single detail of her first encounter with Jon and exactly how it went. Those were memories very dear to her and she sat there trying to feel what she felt that day and in those funny, crazy moments. She loved being in her thoughts especially if those thoughts made her smile without planning to. In her mind she was still back in time.

December 1339

Outer ring of the capital city

Common folk carnival/ball

Alicia, Nirvana

As they stood together in the middle of the town square with everyone else clapping along to the music being played few meters from where they stood, Valentine acknowledged in his heart that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met in all his travels so far. He looked into her beautiful eyes then at her naturally blonde hair. He was going to start with an easy dance step that would make her feel at ease before quickly switching into something more difficult, he was sure he was going to win this. What he did not know was that the lady standing before him had been trained by some of the very best dancers round the continent to the point where she had perfected almost every dance that was indigenous to the different kingdoms, both the smaller and larger kingdoms.

She was the famous Queen Isabella known all around the world for being an excellent dancer, Jon didn’t know that and she was glad about that. She wanted to win him and win him right here with everyone watching.

He took a step back from her and raised both hands slightly above his head with his palms wide open and facing her, she immediately knew the dance he was about to initiate and she raised her hands as well. The Shinni dance of the island kingdom of Kilos was very popular on the continent, she was very surprised he chose something so easy but was not going to complain about it, if this was what he considered a start to a serious wager then she was definitely going to have a tall handsome servant at her beck and call tomorrow morning she thought to herself with a smile as she moved towards him just as he moved towards her and they clasped their hands together and began the dance. They performed the dance in perfect sync as though they had been dance partners in a different lifetime. She quickly acknowledged that he had skill and was definitely not declining a dance earlier because he was bad at dancing or scared to dance, at the same time Jon was also quickly accepting in his thoughts that this might actually be a challenge. He stepped back and put his hands crossed behind him and she did the same immediately as she easily recognized the Kucha dance of the Cresha kingdom, it was a dance most people never got to learn because only few true masters of the dance remained.

The current king of Cresha had changed the kingdom’s national dance after taking over through a bloody coup; he believed the dance would only remind the people of how he had come to be king through bloodshed. Just like that one of the most beautiful dances on the continent had been outlawed and because of that only those who had mastered the dance outside of Cresha could teach it to others and they were very few people who had indeed.

The dance involved both dancers keeping their hands behind them and staying on their toes the entire time. They were to maintain this position that meant they had little or no balance at all while skipping past each other quickly and moving in circles round each other while hopping on their toes the entire time. It was a taxing, not just because it involved staying on your toes the entire time but because one had to train for a long time to be able to remain balanced while dancing it. Jon was a tall man but seemed totally comfortable and in his element as he skipped past her and around her several times and she followed his lead with elegance causing the crowd around them to erupt in glee with cheering, shouting and clapping at just how beautiful and easily they were both dancing, most of them even the oldest ones amongst them had only seen the Kucha dance once or twice in their lifetimes but were now getting a perfect show right before them at their simple outdoor ball.

The look on Ferran’s face was comical and those around him were tapping him and laughing hysterically now, they had never seen anyone look this dumbfounded before. For the life of him he would have sworn Jon had no appreciation for anything artistic but here he was watching his best friend of many years dancing like a professional who had learnt to dance for years. His mouth was left wide open as he stared starry-eyed at his friend. The dance was beautiful and enthralling but could not be performed for too long because of the amount of energy it took. Jon knew exactly what he was doing, she would be totally exhausted now and expecting another exotic dance from her but he would do something else.

He got back on his feet and placed his right hand over her left shoulder, she placed her right hand on his left shoulder as well. Then they placed both their left hands against each other. Their open palms now joined under the hands stretched over their shoulders. They began to move in the shape of a cross while still attached at the shoulders and hands, from side to side and then forward to back in a slow but enticing motion that caused the musicians to change the song they were playing to something slower and match their pace. He had planned to switch from the Kucha to something very exhausting but decided to let her rest, for some reason he found himself not wanting her to lose this wager. They were doing the Fanny dance which was common amongst the common folk of Nirvana. They just watched on happily as they saw a dance that was theirs being performed by two true masters of dancing.

As he looked into her eyes he could see her determination and knew she was not aiming for anything less than victory.

“I am someone who always wins.” He read her mouth slowly as the sound of her words got drowned out by the music. He didn’t hear her voice but understood what she said and immediately he wanted to win again, he was going to win and he had made up his mind. His stubborn nature and competitive spirit was known by all who were close to him, it was what made him and Ferran become friends in the first place all those years back. As the slow music ended so did his being gentle as he quickly switched to another taxing dance this time from Venera that was going to make them both sweat. They switched rhythmically from that to another after some minutes and another after some minutes and another; they did this till they had exhausted five different dances from 5 different kingdoms. The crowd kept cheering on the whole time. No single person was bored or tired of the excellence and perfection being shown to them for free. They stood round the competing pair constantly cheering them on. Something had happened now as the people had began placing bets and wagers of their own on the wager between Jon and the beautiful lady who had accepted his challenge. As expected the women had sided with the lady and the men had sided with the man. Jon was not ready to expend any more energy and decided there and then to do a dance that would give him the victory. He came close to her, so close that his chest and her bosom touched and then placed his right hand at the nape of her neck gently, bending his head so he could look directly into her eyes and tilting hers slightly so she could look into his.

They were so close that they could breathe each other in. Using his left hand he raised her right leg by her thigh and held just that leg up against his waist, she was standing on just her left leg now and then he began to move with his own right leg by shuffling his feet in one direction then turning her body and his and moving in a different direction. He continued with this dance for a while and then slowly removed his left hand from its position propping her thigh up against him. He let her right leg go back to the floor. It was a long gown so although his lingering touch on her thigh had left her confused for a while she was in control of her thoughts now and knew she had maintained decency the entire time because the design and length of her gown assured that.

He stood there looking at her and then smiled at her. It was more of a teasing smirk than a smile and it got her thinking something had happened. After a few seconds the crowd erupted into cheers and as she looked round she could see women passing on what looked like silver coins to the men standing next to her. The men rushed to Jon and hoisted him in the air; they kept throwing him up and cheering for a while before letting him stand on his two feet again.

The women worked up to their Queen in disguise and hugged her in what was a very huge group hug. She was only then beginning to realize that she had lost and so had all the women who had placed wagers on her against Jon. When everything had settled and calmed down Jon took her by the hand and walked her to the side of the town square.