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Lady Mhysra Kilpapan was blessed from birth with a distinguished family, a glorious home and a giant eagle miryhl of her own. Fully aware of her luck, she wants for nothing in life - except a chance to become a Rift Rider. The elite force...
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AS LYRAI MOVED around the ballroom, meeting acquaintances and dutifully writing his name on the dance cards he should, he crept closer to the top table and his mother. Occasionally he glanced at the Riders enjoying themselves, or at the flock of young men surrounding the Kilpapan daughters. Lady Milluqua handled them deftly, while her sister stood awkwardly to one side. He felt sorry for her.
On the training field Mhysra was an intelligent pupil, quiet, but willing to put herself forward when required. With her miryhl she was an undisputed expert. Here she was clearly uncomfortable. Too tall, too thin and too awkward for this gilded sphere. Having once struggled to move between such different worlds himself, he'd gladly put his name down for two dances. Even though she didn't like him, he thought she'd find him easier to dance with than a stranger.
As he watched, Stirla insinuated himself into the group by talking to Mhysra. "Wily old fox," Lyrai chuckled, seeing the smile of gratitude Lady Milluqua sent his friend for paying attention to her sister. Stirla was full of tricks and Lyrai didn't doubt he would use them all before this night was through. It was just curious that a wellborn lady was his objective. Stirla rarely played his games where the odds were so heavily stacked against him.
Still, what Stirla got up to was his own business, so Lyrai approached his mother. He kept an eye out for his father, but knew the old man preferred making late entrances.
"Lyrai." His mother angled her cheek for a kiss. "How dashing you look. There isn't a woman present who doesn't long to dance with you."
He smiled at her radiant appearance. "There is only one lady I wish to dance with."
She arched an eyebrow and chuckled. "I am long past the age for dancing, dearest."
Looking at her golden dress, glittering with diamonds in a style that wouldn't look amiss on a newlywed wife, Lyrai shook his head and tugged her to her feet. "Nonsense. You're the prettiest girl here. No one would imagine you the mother of five nearly grown children. Come, dance with me, and we shall wow the city with our splendour."
"You ask so sweetly, how could I refuse?" Resting her hand on his arm, she allowed him to sweep her onto the floor. As he swung her around she laughed like a child and he smiled to see her so happy. It reminded him of long ago days when she would visit the schoolroom to dance with him, much to the dismay of her servants and his tutors. In time his father had put a stop to it, but Lyrai still treasured the memories.
"I've missed dancing with you, my Lyrai," she murmured as they stepped together, turned and joined hands with two other couples to make a circle.
When they came together again, he saw tears in her eyes and squeezed her hands. "I will always dance with you, mama."
She smiled and when the dance was over asked to be taken back to her table, where she remained for the rest of the evening, isolated in her golden splendour. She danced with no one else and after Lyrai's father finally arrived the gentlemen stopped asking.
