Masterful Trickery

XIV. A Call for Change

Three years ago...

Ralph realized that his heart could beat even faster as he stared into the eyes of the lady in blue.

What was her name?

Where had she been all this time?

Was she spoken for?

What did he have to do to get just one dance?

As he waited in anticipation, he looked at her watching him with utter wonder.

Surely, by the look she was giving him, she would not say no?

But his great fear was realized when her delicate mouth finally opened and one simple word came out. "No." And before Ralph could consider begging on one knee, she added, "But I would like a drink, my lord."

He blinked, suddenly alert. A drink! Of course!

"Y-yes, of course!" he uttered, already scanning the entire ballroom for the refreshment table, quite in awe that he had lost his sense of direction. Where was the bloody refreshment table again? Ah, there it was!

As he turned around to bid her request, he stopped and narrowed his eyes at her. "You are not going to disappear again, are you?"

She smiled. It was the most beautiful one he had ever beheld. "I shall try."

That must be enough, Ralph thought. He turned to get her drink, intending to do so in haste so he could return to her side and wait until she had enough and mayhap grant him his wish for a dance.

But along the way, Ralph paused and looked over his shoulder.

Lady in Blue disappeared yet again!

*****

The very first memory of wonder that Alex could remember was when her father placed her over his shoulders. She remembered holding on to his bushy hair, her eyes wide at the discovery she found by being so high. She saw further than she had ever seen while on the ground. She saw through the vast crop plantation and the woods beyond and around them.

But being too high in the air did not give her any fear for her father's hands were clutching her, securing her over his shoulders as he laughed at her reaction.

Alex felt that same sense of wonder now as Ralph's lips pressed against her. She felt the same rush of excitement as she discovered that there was something more than her imagination as his lips moved, gentle yet with enough pressure to make her comply.

But lacking was the sense of security for she felt herself falling although she was quite aware that her feet were firmly planted on the ground beneath her and Ralph's arm was around her, pressing her against his length while his other was buried underneath her bushy mane, cradling her head.

She found her hands clinging on his shoulders, the feeling of being swept off her feet getting stronger.

Her eyes closed unlike that first memory of being on top of her father's shoulders for this time her eyes closed not to see the wonder, but to feel it.

When her lips moved, a rush of current traveled to the tips of her fingers and she clutched Ralph's shirt even more, her feet sending her higher until she was on her toes, pressing her body willingly against the man that was invoking too many things inside her at once.

But then she came to her senses like when her father lifted her from his shoulders and back on the ground. She opened her eyes and found that she wanted more, but that she could not and she ought to return to ground.