A Dangerous Dance [BOOK ONE]

Chapter Twenty-One

"I-IT FEELS SLIMY ON MY SKIN!" Natalie cried, green eyes wide and red-rimmed from tears.

Blythe sighed deeply, "Nat, it's the only option you have." She pointed out gently, since the six-year-old was refusing to put on the deep, bruise-colored gown. It was made out of a strange material, caught somewhere between silk and suede, and Blythe knew exactly what her sister was speaking of because her own violet dress felt slimy against her skin.

However, their ballgowns from the night before had been taken away from them, leaving them with the only option of wearing the clothing provided by, Blythe assumed, the women-like creatures of the Shadow Queen's court.

They had been locked away inside a large, long room containing sixteen narrow beds and no windows. The fixtures on the walls burned with unnatural, blue flames, creating a ghostly atmosphere that only added to the extreme gloom of the princesses. None of them except for the younger girls had slept. How long they had been trapped, Blythe couldn't tell. She knew it was well past morning in the above world, and was sure that they had been discovered missing by now. And it had been long enough for them to serve them a bland meal of unidentifiable food that tasted like dust.

Around Blythe, her sisters moved about and readied themselves with tangible fear and terror for their traditional night of dancing. All of them were frightened. She glanced over to the very first bed in the room, where Althea sat staring blankly at a spot in front of her. Not only was Blythe frightened to the point where she felt numb, but she was worried that her twin sister's mind had snapped.

Althea hadn't spoken one word throughout the whole ordeal. She had passively watched as they were locked inside the room. Her expression was blank. Empty. And that was what scared Blythe the most.

Natalie, her eyes filling with silent tears, lifted her arms in silent consent to allow Blythe to slide the dress over her head. She was weeping by the time her older sister was buttoning up the tiny buttons on the back of the dress.

Blythe's heart was aching and weeping as she brushed through Natalie's hair, longing to comfort her but unable to find any words. Her fingers were loving and gentle as she plaited her silk fine hair back away from her face. Blythe had never been good with words, her caring personality translated better through actions rather than words.

Once she was done with Natalie's hair, the younger girl turned and wrapped her arms around her older sister's middle in an uncharacteristic hug. Natalie wasn't one to give hugs very often.

Blythe sighed and gave Natalie a pat.

All the girls except for Althea were dressed and ready for when the servants unlocked the doors. Blythe looked back over at her twin, then sighed and made her way over to the bed. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking at Althea with a certain steely glint in her eyes, as uncharateristic for her as it was for Natalie to give hugs.

"Althea." Blythe said, that same steel in her voice as she addressed her twin by her full name, not something she did often.

The elder didn't even acckowledge her twin, just kept her blank eyes fixed on the wall fixture across from her bed. Anger bubbled up inside of Blythe, her temper short from the tense situation. She had never seen Althea like this before, so empty and defeated. She had always been the strtonger twin, so determined and strong-willed. To have the roles swtiched so suddenly, it was hard for Blythe to keep up. And she was scared out of her mind.

"Althea." She repeated, voice firmer with less room for gentleness. A little hand found its way into Blythe's.

"Is she all right?" Whispered the frightened voice of Lenora, her eyes wide and full of the same fear in her voice.

Blythe squeezed Lenora's hand, then spoke again, "Althea!" All of the girls looked at their oldest sister.

Althea snapped her head towards the speaker of her name, eyes dull and blank as she looked at her twin, "What?"

Blythe clenched her free hand and answered, "Al, you need to snap out of whatever this is. The girls need us. Need you."

"It's pointless."

Ringing silence seemed to fill the room. Blythe took the tiniest of steps backwards, all of her emotions written in her face. Iris covered her mouth in disbelief as Holly clenched her fists in livid anger. Not quite old enough to understand much of what was going on, Ophelia watched every sister with wide eyes.

Althea let out a dry, humorless laugh, "It's pointless, don't you see? We are trapped. We're stuck here forever. There is no escape, no rescue. Nothing we can do. We'll dance until we die. Just like Mother."

All Blythe could do was stare. Althea had truly snapped. What had happened to the confident, head-strong sister she knew so well? Her spirit was broken utterly. And Blythe was terrified that the old Althea would never come back. They needed her strength now more than ever. Blythe already knew that she couldn't handle this on her own, she never could. They were a pair, a set of two. She could never actually imagine a time when the two of them weren't working together. Even when Althea enlisted and Blythe had been angry with her, still they had exchanged too many letters to count.

And to see her twin, her other half, in such state? It frightened Blythe far more than the Shadow Queen ever could.

"Take it back."

They all looked to Holly, her face turning red in her anger.

"Take it back right now." She demanded of her oldest sister, "You call yourself a captain of the Army? We are your troops! Your men, your soldiers! Don't you see that we depend on you? How could you give up on us now when we need you the most? Start acting like the captain I know you are, Althea, or I won't call you my sister."

Holly's breathing was ragged. None of the girls spoke. Blythe held so tightly to Lenora's hand that the younger girl yanked her hand away from her.

Althea blinked, looking like she'd been slapped, and Blythe held her breath to see how she'd react.

To everyone's surprise, her eyes filled with tears. They welled up and spilled down over her cheeks and her face contorted. Blythe was the first to move, followed by Cassidy and Holly. Then the rest of the girls crowded around her until they were a pile of weepy princesses. Phoebe was clutching Blythe's skirt, Magdalena had a tight hold on her waist, and Althea was sobbing into her chest. The rest of the girls had some sort of contact with both Blythe and Althea.

But Blythe wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Despite the situation, they were a family, they stuck together. They were stronger together.

"H-Holly's right." Althea finally spoke after a long moment of crying, lifting her red eyes to look at each sister, "I am a Captain. You are my troops. I shouldn't give up hope. We are going to get out of this mess. As long as we stay together and figure this out. Thank you, Holly, for reminding me." She gave the girl in question, clinging closely to Cassidy and Iris, a smile and caressed her cheek.

She took a deep breath and Blythe saw the physical change in her. She straightened her back, lifted her chin, and that steely glint sparked in her eyes. That was the Althea she knew, the Althea she depended on.

"You have something, don't you?" Blythe murmured, watching her twin.

"I do. I'm not sure if it'll work, but it's worth a shot. And it takes all of us."

Blythe and Cassidy made eye contact then looked around at the rest of the girls. All of them came to a silent agreement.

"We're listening."

And they began to plan.