Lady Danbury had told Karlach to stand quietly by the edge of the dance floor, waiting to see if a man would want to dance with her. But, of course, Karlach thought, that wasn’t likely to happen. Oh, she tried, but she’s never been much good at standing still. So, the moment that the music started to play, despite not having a partner for the dance, she started to sway with the beat. Then, after what felt like hours, even though it was probably closer to minutes as the song had only changed once, she started moving a bit more. While she had been close enough to society to know that it was improper for a woman to dance by herself, she couldn’t help but make the tinest of steps to the beat.
At least she didn’t feel so alone on the side of the dance floor, though. While there were plenty of women dancing with a variety of suitors, there were also plenty who stood on the sidelines like herself. Occasionally, as the music died down, some of the women on the sidelines would trade places with the ones out on the dance floor, but there were a few like herself who were constant fixtures. Some looked out at the dance floor, obviously eager to be chosen, but there were some, like the woman in a yellow dress that in no way matched her complexion that looked almost as though they were hoping that no one would ask.
The sound of the music started to fade, and the exchange of women from the dance floor started. Karlach looked around her with a small sigh. While she wasn’t particularly interested in finding a man to marry, even though she’d be happy to have a chance to have sex again without potentially burning someone, at the moment she was just interested in moving. There was only so much of standing on the edge of the dance floor that she could take. Maybe she should just go and dance by herself, she thought - it might ruin her chances with any suitors, but she wasn’t planning on staying in this world for any longer than she had to, so did it really matter?
“Dancing is more thrilling than you made it out to be,” Lae’zel said, sweeping up next to her in a light pink dress that brought out the rouge on her cheeks. Karlach had seen her on and off the dance floor all night, and she could see why - she didn’t know a lot about githyanki beauty standards, but even she knew that her human form was very pretty. “Trying to decipher your opponent’s moves before they make them, and trying to find a move to match theirs or, perhaps, outsmart them. It’s like a battle with less bloodshed, which is less enjoyable, but not a terrible hobby. And dancing by yourself, then, must be more like training.”
“Something like it,” Karlach agreed with a sallow nod. “Have you found any men that are of any interest outside of the dance?”
Lae’zel raised an eyebrow at her, and Karlach couldn’t help but notice that, even though a lot of her features had changed, her eyes were still bright green. It made her wonder if hers were still liquid amber with that hint of fire that they seemed to get whenever she was in a fight. She’d have to examine them later, but perhaps that was the reason why the men seemed to stay away from her. “For a group of istiks, they are acceptable, I suppose.” she said after a moment of thought. “Although I think a fair few of them would be completely useless in battle. Many claim that they have been to war, but there’s not a scar amongst them. Did you even truly battle if you don’t receive even the slightest of flesh wounds?”
“Maybe their scars are all under their clothes,” Karlach said with a shrug. “If I wore this many layers with my tiefling body, you would hardly have been able to notice a thing.”
“No,” Lae’zel said confidently. “I can always tell. There is a feel of the battlefield around anyone who has truly been to battle, and while that hangs around you, I’ve yet to see it around anyone else at this party.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Karlach opened her mouth to further argue the point, because while she agreed that the battlefield could leave scars that one might not see at first, she also thought that it would be hard to notice them through a dance, but she was interrupted by a man stepping forward. She flicked her eyes to him, letting her annoyance show through them, but it faded quickly when she had to look up at him. It wasn’t by much, but she couldn’t remember the last time that someone had stood taller than her. Granted, she was shorter in this human body, but not by all that much - she still managed to dwarf most of the women and even some of the men.
“Sorry to interrupt, ladies,” he said, flashing a crooked smile at them both. He was handsome, and he clearly knew it, Karlach thought, given how much he had styled his chestnut hair. “I was just wondering if both of you had spots left on your dance cards?”
“You’re a Bridgerton,” Lae’zel said, matter of factly. Now that she mentioned it, the man did bear a resemblance to Anthony Bridgerton, but it wasn’t so striking that Karlach would have immediately known they were brothers. Yes, their hair and facial features were reasonably similar, but there was something about his eyes that showed a softness that she’d not seen in his older brother.
He nodded his head slightly in confirmation. “Guilty as charged.”
“And which one are you?” Lae’zel insisted. “Eloise?”
The man stared shocked for just a moment before he let out a guffaw that was loud enough that a few of the nearby couples looked in their direction. “I pray that you don’t repeat that to Eloise herself, or you may find yourself trapped in a lecture for hours. She seems to have taken after her uncle more than any of us,” he said, tilting his head lightly in Gale’s direction. “I, however, am merely Benedict.”
“There is no merely about it,” Karlach said, and Benedict smiled at her again. She looked at him, and felt like she could actually feel the blood pumping through her. Gods, she hadn’t seen someone smile, much less smile at her, in so long.
“I’m three inches taller than my brothers, and I definitely don’t let them forget it,” he said with a wink. “Now, your dance cards?”
The music surrounding them was again starting to swell. Karlach looked over at Lae’zel, but she held her hand up to Benedict. “I couldn’t possibly,” she insisted. “I’ve danced too much tonight, and I’m positively dying of thirst. I think I shall go meet up with your chatty uncle at the food table.”
Benedict nodded. “And you, Miss Danbury?”
“I would absolutely love to.” Benedict extended his hand to her and she happily took it, ecstatic to be finally dancing with someone.
But it was harder than it seemed, she realized as she stepped onto the dance floor. They were all doing a certain type of dance, and instead of having learned the steps from the side of the dance floor, she’d wasted her time wishing she was moving. And while she thought she was arguably as good of a fighter as Lae’zel, she had to admit that she wasn’t as great about picking up on the movements of her enemies - her brute strength had always been enough to see her through.
Benedict lifted one of her hands over her head and put pressure on her waist with his other hand, helping her to spin. When she was finished, he snatched her other hand and pulled her in closer. Karlach followed, unsure of what else to do. She would have been worried that he would be irate with her had he not been keeping his crooked smile on his face. “Miss Danbury,” he said, not quite a whisper, but quiet enough that the other nearby groups wouldn’t be able to hear. “Please don’t take this as an insult, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you were unused to dancing.”
“You’re not wrong,” she whispered back. “I’ve done plenty of dancing on my own, but I have to admit that I don’t know this one.”
He tilted his head at her answer. “You know other dances, but not a basic waltz?”
She shrugged. “It’s hard to learn something you’ve never been taught.”
He digested that for a moment and then nodded, his face resolute. “Well, then, I guess we’ll just have to teach you. Come along.” He abruptly stopped dancing but kept his hand in his as he walked off the dance floor. Karlach raised her eyebrows in surprise, but she didn’t make a scene. Instead, she just followed him off the dance floor and out of the room.