Light of the Heavens

XI. Revelation

For all the beauty Masaharta's home already held, it became even more vibrant when bustling with people. His guests dressed in every color and dozens of different styles, many from Ethilir but others from the far flung reaches of the world. There had to be at least fifty nobles in attendance, enough to spread through the house. They congregated out in the gardens and in the dining room, which had been opened up to enjoy the sea breezes blowing in across the warm ocean. Even more servants and bodyguards buzzed about the expansive manor, seeing to every need and working together almost seamlessly to keep the festivities going safely.

Masaharta seemed in fine spirits despite the conversation Seben and Vassa had witnessed, every bit the carefree gentleman enjoying his evening in the company of friends and probably enemies alike. He was a stranger to no one and presided over the event with an almost regal air. Sweet strains of music played audibly throughout the house, caught by the perfect acoustics to carry now that dampening fabric had been tucked away.

Seben had not dared to go towards the center of the crowd in the garden. She stood at the edges, watching with fascination with her back against one wall. Behenu's fine work as a clothier had done much to help Seben blend. She wore an emerald green dress that left her shoulders and sides bare almost down to her hips, modesty preserved by wraps of a lighter green fabric beneath over her breasts. It was a daring cut, for someone who was utterly confident in their body, and Seben wore it well. She wasn't confident in her position socially, but she seemed to have no doubt about her appearance. Her short hair had been neatly trimmed and even cosmetics were applied despite her attempts to squirm away.

Vassa was impressed despite herself. Seben cleaned up marvelously and even more importantly, she wasn't panicking at being put in such an alien situation. It was an admirable show of composure.

"This is...surreal," Seben admitted, looking around at the groups of people laughing and chatting with drinks in their hands.

The masked woman smiled behind fabric. "I imagine it is certainly a change of pace." She had not changed her mode of dress terribly to suit the occasion. Behenu's work was fine: a silk shirt in dove gray and dark leather pants patterned at the seams and hems by a fine line of leaves. She wore a sash that matched Seben's dress, wound and knotted in the particular style of a bodyguard. The hood remained, though clean and new, and the wrap of fabric across her face was grey instead of black.

"It doesn't feel real, but if it was a dream, I would know how to dance," Seben said.

"Surely you know how to move to music," Vassa said. "That is something seen in the common people in Ethilir as well as its nobles, from what I know."

"I do, but there's a difference," the young woman explained. "The dances I know are communal. Everyone is a part of them. Eth nobility are more like Leyans in how they dance."

Vassa considered that a moment before offering idly, "I could easily teach you, then. I spent a while in the High Kingdom, enough to learn a few dances and both parts to each." The idea didn't sound unpleasant at all, though she knew she would have some difficulty allowing someone so close to her again. Her lessons on dancing had been dual-purpose: learning to dance and to tolerate proximity.

Seben looked over at her companion. "That's kind of you," she said. "I'd like to learn, though you'll probably have to be a little patient with me. I've always been more in my mind than in my body."

"It comes with practice," Vassa said.

"How do they dance where you're from?"

Vassa sighed wistfully. "Gracefully," she said. "I used to adore it."

Seben frowned slightly. "But no longer?"

"It has lost its luster of late," Vassa said with a shrug. "Perhaps the challenge of being a teacher instead of a student will reignite the old flame. We will see."