Part 2, Chapter 2

No sooner had he gotten off the weather-beaten ship which had been their legs over the river for the past few days, did Aiden Darialas, second prince of Novella, find himself on a rocky path once more upon the back of his own stead and in the company of people he barely knew. The horse, purchased just shortly after they hit the shore, was a recently broken mustang which still retained an obnoxious personality of its own. The animal, much to his disgust, trotted along proudly beside Valdis’s black stallion with its head held high.

Oddly enough, in the case for both Valdis and her older brother, Evander, their horses almost seemed to possess a personality not too unlike their own. Valdis’s mount was a relatively calm and peaceful animal which at times, had a playful streak in it, seen from the number of times it chose to wake its resting master, regardless of whether she was off or on its back. Evander’s horse on the other hand, was rather docile and not quick to anger.

Aiden looked down at his trotting horse once again, trying to hide his obvious disdain for the creature as it rocked him up and down in his saddle. The proud mustang turned its head back once to look at its rider, snorted, and then reverted its attention back onto the road.

Surely this animal could not have been a reflection of his own personality as well…

He glanced at Valdis, who rode beside him as usual, with Evander leading in the front. She had told him, just as they disembarked from the less-than-memorable journey across water, that they would pass by some sort of gypsy encampment before going off the main road entirely and make a beeline straight for Friedhold. Wherever it was, Aiden wished they could reach it in the quickest time possible if only to get off the snob of a horse.

Valdis, sensing his eyes on her, turned and regarded his gaze with an amused one of her own. Her eyes were deep and penetrating, causing him to turn away uncomfortably for more often than not, that set of deep, blue eyes could see right through him.

That sense of being so transparent was not an appealing feeling for the closely kept young prince of Novella.

“We should be reaching very soon,” Valdis laughed, sensing the young prince’s discomfort, “By nightfall at least.”

“Isn’t that still quite far-off? Nightfall, that is.”

“Not on the day of the autumnal equinox,” Evander grunted without even turning back to look at the two.

Evander, Aiden noted, made it quite a habit to eavesdrop on whatever conversation he had with Valdis.

Valdis laughed again. “The autumnal equinox,” she began, turning her attention towards the road, “Is the day in autumn when night is as long as day though its significance would be lost to the upper-class.”

Such as himself, Aiden thought, picking up the connoted meaning behind the deliberate omission of the words.

“To the people of the countryside,” Valdis continued as they rode over a small hill, “It represents a festival of harvest, the ending of a year’s work as well as the coming of winter.”

The scene on the other side of the hill was, in a sense, a myriad of colours and a stark contrast to the scene leading up to it. Tents with flysheets of various designs and colours dotted the encampment like wildflowers on a rolling hill and dancing embers lined the otherwise non-existent boundaries of this little settlement. From where they were, Aiden could see people dressed in vibrant colours bustled about their activities, interweaving with their backdrop to form a large, colourful tapestry of many patterns and tales.

Valdis pulled her horse to a stop before turning to Aiden with a smile.

“Bienvenida,” she said, half-bowing in her saddle, “Welcome, your Highness, to the Land of Dance.”

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The atmosphere within the encampment was literally on the other side of the spectrum in comparison to that of the river town of Elvby. The dullness and strict routine of the river town faded and paled in comparison with the kind of life and lustre the encampment had to offer. Where people once rushed like mindless drones of the god of money, people here hurried around with a kind of unspeakable excitement and joy. Many a times had one or two people, upon seeing the arrival of their guests, stopped to wave or to exchange a friendly greeting and many of these people, seemed to recognise Valdis and her brother.

Wordlessly, as each of these conversations ended, the people of the encampment guided their small group over to a large tent in the midst of the others. The guards outside this tent, presumably that of someone of high stature or position, immediately offered to take their horses as soon as they saw them approaching. Evander nodded to them in acknowledgement and got off his mount, signalling to the others to do the same as well before he entered the tent.

The tent’s interior was lined with large cushions on its side and a huge carpet was sprawled over the grass. Towards the centre was a short legged table at which a middle-aged lady was seated.

“Saludos, Sister Lavanya,” Evander said politely as they entered the tent.

The lady looked up, her face brightening visibly as she saw who her guests were. She rushed over from her table to give Valdis a hug and much to the surprise of the young prince, the latter returned the greeting with as much enthusiasm as well.

“Bienvenida, Milady,” she said, pulling herself out of the embrace, “We were not expecting to see you again so soon.”

“I believe we can skip the formalities, Sister Lavanya,” Valdis smiled, “Though what brings us here now are orders. We are passing through the region towards Friedhold.”

Lavanya nodded. “It’s understandable that the old man would want to send the two of you there,” she sighed, “Especially with all that is going on in this region as of late.”

“That being?” Evander asked from where he stood.

“Do not be so stiff, Evander,” the lady chided, “I’m sure the both of you know what day it is today so let us put work aside for once. The dance of life should be what occupies your mind tonight.”

She then looked over Valdis’s shoulder, noticing a rather awkward and uncomfortable looking Aiden behind her.

“And who may this young boy be?”

“Certainly your people would have informed you by now, wouldn’t they, Sister?” Evander laughed, “Or is the fabled information gathering skills of the nomads just merely a namesake?”

“Of course not!” the lady laughed teasingly, throwing Evander a rather amused look, “I know who this boy is.”

The lady then turned to give the young prince a hug in the same fashion as she had with Valdis, causing him to flinch a little at the openness of the unfamiliar gesture.

“What can I do for you today, your Highness?”

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Even though the gypsies had offered their hospitality in welcoming their guests, with the festivities surrounding the camp, they found it hard to really entertain them and Evander soon dismissed them, insisting that they were capable of looking after themselves and that they should concentrate on preparing for the night instead. Apparently, there was to be certain festivities that night, in line with the equinox and Aiden Darialas could probably hazard a good guess as to what these festivities were to include.

The young prince of Novella could be found seated on a grassy patch not too far from the fire which was lit in the centre of the entire encampment, marking out their stage for that night. He had first been escorted to one of the sheepskin rugs which circled the flame but had found its smell a little too intoxicating and decided to do without. The rugs had been scented with very strong aromas and incense which the young prince was not used to.

As time ticked on and the new night dawned upon them, Aiden found his eyes involuntarily seeking those sad, crystalline blue ones which always seemed so lost as they stared into flame. It puzzled him, nonetheless, just why the Valdis his father feared – the same one that supposedly could upset the political balance within his country and the one that remained very much an enigma to those around her – would look so solemn and distant as she watched the flickering flames, oblivious to the world around her.

Valdis was seated with Evander on one of those sheepskin rugs, not too far from where he was, apparently unaffected by its smell. To Aiden, she always looked so poised, so polished and regal that he could not help but question her origins. When asked, she had always given him a vague answer with a rather reluctant smile.

Aiden sighed, his attention turning back to the fires once again. Sometimes, he wondered why it was that Valdis had even bothered saving him back in Neville and even offered to escort him to Friedhold, and what puzzled him even more was why his father was after her for as far as he knew, she had not committed any major offences that would warrant a death penalty over her head.

Had there been some sort of mistake?

No… it could not be so… she had to be a criminal who had done something serious enough to provoke the issuing of such a warrant. Why else would his father be after her?

The young prince was shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of a welcoming applause coming from those who had gathered around the flames. The encampment exploded into a series of cheers and laughter as the woman whom was addressed by all as Sister Lavanya stepped into the circle and stood in front of the fires, facing her other guests as well as the rest of the gypsies from the camp.

“Sisters, brothers as well as revered guests,” she said, nodding at Aiden in acknowledgement, “On this sacred night which spans as long as day, let us just cast aside our worries, relax and celebrate in praise of whatever this past year has given us.

For some, the past year was that filled with joys, for others, that of woes and perhaps for an even lesser few, a year of reliving, making and executing the hardest of decisions there are – some made because of selfish whims, others due to memories and entanglements of the past as well as those made because of the constraints of responsibilities.”

Lavanya paused for a while, letting her words sink in.

“I ask of you now, my brothers and sisters, to cast aside all this, just for this one night. For not matter what may have happened in the past, it has already long passed us. What we have is now, today as well as our future. So let us sing the song and dance the dance of our lives!”

Lavanya jingled the tambourine in her hands and almost on cue, a group of about ten or so dancers came scuttling in, the little bells tied around their ankles sounding with each step they took. They wore scarves of embroidered silk that whispered soundlessly as they moved, revealing a pairs of slender legs and handfuls of exquisite jewellery. Lavanya, assuming the role of the lead dancer, stepped forward, taking a deep bow before their audience before clapping a rhythm for the musicians to follow.

The rhythm, consisting of a mix of quick, short beats and longer, slower ones, was quickly picked up by the musicians who quickly improvised a song from it, probably playing one similar to a tune they already knew.

What followed was a sequence of complex yet graceful dance moves that Aiden could not quite recognise. He had seen many cultural dances before in his state visits to the other kingdoms or towns that were around Novella and was no stranger to dance, yet to him, the spectre before him seemed like a wild mix of many variations of dances – so complex that it even seemed like a new variation of its own.

He watched for a while, his eyes growing wider as the dance developed into a faster-paced one. The dancers seemed immersed within the strong beats of the music, their feet twirling and moving to its beat. Bells that were tied to their bare feet tingled whenever movement was made, adding to the mystical atmosphere of the whole dance which was staged in front of the burning flame that warmed all those seated around it.

“So, how is it?” a familiar voice asked from behind him.

Aiden turned to see Valdis peering over him, with Evander standing not too far behind her. If they had seen his obvious wonder while watching the dance, they chose not to bring it up as they sat down beside Aiden who was more than happy to share his grassy patch with someone else.

“Interesting… I guess…”

“You’ll get yourself thrown out of the camp for that kind of comment,” Evander said pointedly, semi-amused, “Or at least, it would take more than a little convincing for them to want to keep you around.”

Dance probably was something that a gypsy’s life revolved around and Aiden was not blind to that fact. It was just that a dance, no matter how beautiful or intricate it would seem, held little meaning to him, sans for the fact that it would have meant that he was attending another formal function either in the castle back in Neville or someplace else. To him, and perhaps his family as well, it was a political tool – something to show guests at gatherings or to fill time whilst discussions were going on – and not something meant to be thoroughly appreciated.

“It’s just something I’ve never been taught how to appreciate,” Aiden replied defensively, shrugging his shoulders.

“Appreciation is felt, not taught.”

Aiden sighed, feeling slightly pressurised by Evader’s constant scrutiny. True to his character, the man had always tried in various ways and means to point out what he was lacking or did not know of the real world outside castle walls.

“It isn’t easy to appreciate something you don’t even understand,” Aiden sighed, trying as much as possible to quell the nagging urge to run away.

“If you cannot even understand dance nor see the stories they tell, your Highness,” Valdis laughed, “Then you are truly missing out on a lot in life.”

“And I’m assuming that someone such as yourself would know something of this art?”

“And I’m assuming your ‘someone such as yourself’ would imply that you’re making the assumption that ‘criminals’ or people who work in resistance movements know nothing of dance?” she countered and though there was hints of sarcasm in her voice, it never once ventured into the land of hostility.

“And can you prove me otherwise?” Aiden asked again, sounding deadpanned and slightly uninterested.

It would take a thousand words of persuasion and convincing, as well as a thousand more of instructions, to show the young prince what dance actually meant in the eyes of the common folk and Aiden was well aware of this fact. Something so ingrained for so many years was not that easy to change, especially with words alone.

“And if I can prove you wrong, you have to take over the cooking for this week,” she declared, making it sound in many ways like a finalised statement.

“And what if you can’t?”

Aiden felt a light tap on his shoulder and he turned to face Evander, feeling slightly aggravated.

“I strongly advise you brush up on your cooking skills soon,” Evander said, pointing to Valdis who had signalled to Lavanya just as their dance ended. After having a few words with the lead dancer, both Valdis and Lavanya disappeared into one of the nearby tents.

“Valdis would be very unhappy if our lunches and dinners turn out to be inedible,” Evander smiled sardonically, “I hope you weren’t expecting a dancer to argue with you over the intricacies of dance in words only, were you?”

“You mean to say that Valdis is a dancer?”

“A ‘part-time’ or ‘guest’ dancer should be more appropriate, since we only stop by here once in a while,” Evander explained coolly, “Dance has been something she’s liked since young so if she can’t convince your Highness that dance is not something restricted to merely the peasants, I doubt anyone will.”

“I wish your Highness good luck though,” he continued, giving Aiden a friendly pat on the back as he stood up, “If you’re going to stay adamant on your stance, I strongly suggest you don’t fall for the hypnotic charms of her dance.”

Aiden Darialas felt a certain sense of dread slowly creep over him as he watched Evander move to sit with another group of the nomadic gypsies. He could not help it if he had never developed that kind of liking for this art. However, this same apparent indifference to it would be the one to cause him quite a bit of frustration.

He barely knew a thing about cooking.

It was a while before Valdis emerged again from inside the tent with Lavanya following closely behind. The sight of her blew Aiden away.

Clad in wispy, dark blue silks that seemed to flow with her every movement, Valdis seemed to blend seamlessly into the night sky. On her wrists and ankles, she wore chains of golden bells which pealed quietly, yet daringly as she moved to take centre stage, standing right before the fire where everyone had gathered.

Valdis seemed to be a whole different person now that she was clad in the dancer’s outfit. Her hair was tied back neatly, only allowing a few stray tendrils to stray down her neck and forehead, adding to the mysticism of the entire display. Against the flaming background which seemed to contrast whatever she had on her, Valdis caught the attention of the entire crowd just by the quiet jingle of the bells she wore.

A soft and gentle drumbeat began to play, slow steady beats which Valdis clapped along to at first, her eyes closed and awaiting the main melody to start. The dancing flames and an outfit that clung ever-so loosely onto her were combined with the soft sounds of the drums and the jingle bells she wore as well as a calm expression on her face. Even the sceptical Aiden Darialas could not help but marvel at the ethereal wonder before him.

The music began with the soft, mellow sounds of a wind instrument, paving a way for Valdis’s dance to begin. Valdis executed a series of somewhat hesitant movements before slowing again, seeming to have found her pace. Then, she stopped even as the drumbeats continued its steady pace. She stopped and looked straight at Aiden who was now seated in the front row of the crowd.

This was the statement she would make to challenge what Aiden so adamantly believed.

Without warning, the tempo of the music seemed to erupt into a fast paced rondo with bells, instruments and drums alike spinning what seemed like a tapestry of magical and mythical sounds. It did not take long before Valdis was absorbed into the music, her movements not following routine or conventional choreography but instead, the pace and rate the music was going at.

To Aiden, her movements were complex, intriguing, mystical and more importantly, were nothing like the dances he had seen before. He found himself being drawn into the music as well, his eyes involuntarily following every of Valdis’s movements as her feet continued to spin around in the music, her music, her dance.

Her feet continued to spin the fabric of her own story.

There was no teaching required. Aiden could read it like an open book – the movements, the facial expressions, the significance of every small action she took as well as the well timed intervals where her bells echoed hauntingly throughout the encampment. They told so much about her and were as if they were shouting out to the spectators – her pain, past, present, loves, hates as well as loss.

Aiden watched Valdis’s movements again as the music rose into a louder, more daring variation of the song’s motif. Her movements seemed to take up speed unlike the slower pace she was moving at before yet still maintained, if not intensified the level of grace she held and splendour in which she seemed to have everyone enveloped.

He was not stupid of course. The others seated around him may not have noticed it but Aiden knew. Aiden knew that what they were seeing before them was a direct answer to Aiden’s challenge, not only those the one that he had issued that night, but also whatever he had said before then. He bit down on his lip, cursing himself as well as wondering why he had been so insensitive to her with his constant probing into her past. Ignoring the fact that she had been labelled a criminal by his father, she was very much a young and naïve girl who only cared for standing up in what she believed in.

‘Fragile’, was the first word that came to mind.

Valdis swirled around the fire again, causing her long skirt to spiral around her small frame before coming to rest as Valdis knelt down to the ground, just as the music died, fading away into the silence of the night. Hanging as it always did from the chain around her neck, the Amistad glimmered as it reflected light from the blazing fire behind Valdis, its purple glow soft yet distinct.

The Amistad… It had been a touchy subject for Aiden. It was a representation for a childhood belief in friendship and loyalty that Aiden chose not to believe in. He could not believe in it, after all that had happened before…

Aiden pulled himself out of his thoughts with a violent shake of his head, looking up only to see a pair of crystalline blue eyes watching him from a distance. They seemed devoid of the sadness and unbearable pain which he had seen in them before. Instead, they looked amused, kind and inquisitive.

For a moment, Aiden wondered if he were looking at the person he thought it to be. He blinked again, rubbing his olive green eyes before looking up again. There was no mistaking it. The person that stood before him was the notorious Valdis whom his father wanted captured so badly – only that she was smiling, not a smile that was heavy with sarcasm or plain sardonic humour but a smile that seemed genuine, a smile that seemed real.

Lavanya moved quickly to Valdis even as her spectators erupted into a multitude of cheers, many getting onto their feet as they applauded her dance. She helped the younger girl onto her feet, and then turned to crowd.

“As following our customs, the one who is acknowledged as the best dancer of the night can get a second dance with whoever he or she wants,” Lavanya shouted, her delighted voice singing high above the cheers of the crowd, “Do you acknowledge the lady so?”

The crowd roared in agreement.

“Well then, milady,” Lavanya said, turning to Valdis, “Who do you wish to accompany you in this next dance?”

Valdis smiled slightly, though her gaze never once left Aiden.

“Bailo con el fuego,” she declared in a language unknown to him though for one reason or another, Aiden felt that familiar sense of dread returning to him once more as her next words resounded ever so clearly in his mind.

“I dance with Fire.”

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A/N: Yes, this story is on semi-hiatus mode and though I promised you the last chapter that there would be ‘cliffnotes’ in this one, I think I’ll put it off for a while. This story is going to be updated very irregularly (I only finished this chapter because I felt like writing something more descriptive today) but you can forgive me right (especially since the readership is about… one?)?

Yep. Not too much conversation in this one because like I said, I was writing it as a descriptive exercise (hence the weird expressions too XD). Anyway, if you took the time to read it, thanks a lot! :)

R&R?