Dancing on Strings

The Black Rabbit

Silence followed the exit of the fortune teller, no one sure whether they should applaud or stay quiet. She had simply walked into the shadows and left Mai in the spotlight.

"Well!"

The Rabbit Rabbit's voice was cutting and sharp, dragging people's attention back up to him as he worked to defuse the strange static in the air.

"That was unusual! I must say, I have never seen our prophet predict something that was not for all to hear. Tell us, what did she say?"

Mai looked up at him for a moment.

He was smiling and relaxed... and yet she knew the quiet exchange had unnerved him, or annoyed him. There was a quiet tension in his body that matched the atmosphere.

Not that she knew how she could recognise such subtleties in a man she did not know, could not see the face of and was not stood beside.

"I think it was for my ears only," Mai said simply and that annoyed The Black Rabbit.

"I see," he said curtly. "So it is then. Well then!"

He looked out over the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, how have you enjoyed our little show tonight?"

Something promoted Mai to interrupt and she spoke before she even thought what she might ask.

"What do you do?"

The Black Rabbit paused then looked down at her. "I beg your pardon, My Lady?"

Mai looked up at him from the stage. "What do you do? Do you have a trick or two up your sleeve or are you merely our guide through this spectacle?"

Silence met her for a time.

"A trick or two?" he copied slowly, "I suppose I have a trick or two, though I rarely perform it on stage for people to see."

"Something less than awe-inspiring?"

That earned her a chuckle. "On the contrary, I'll steal your breath away."

"Will you show us?"

The Black Rabbit stared at her. "It is already half two in the morning, My Lady. Everyone in the audience, including yourself, has been awake for hours and it is high time for this ball to begin to wind down. Are you prepared to wait through another display?"

"Will it take so very long?"

He thought about that for a moment, considering his reply. He could have lied of course, said it would take hours to prepare but instead he simply said, "No."

"Well then."

The Black Rabbit looked down at her.

"Well then indeed," he muttered before he pushed to his feet. He reached for one of the ropes of silk that hung from the rafters – spares for the aerial acrobat – and jumped.

He swung down from the towering platform above, dropping at high speed as he flew through the air towards her, one hand holding the brim of his hat in place as his coat flared out behind him.

He hit the ground in front of Mai, making her step back, startled, before he slowly straightened up, looming above her.

She stared up at him.

She was not a tall person, only around 5'2.

But that had to make this man around 6'2.

He was tall and slender, with long legs and trim waist and subtle strength in his movements. He reminded her something of the male dancers she worked with.