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😁 this is going to be awesome! @jared-williams  and  @rose-colored-fancy  you did a good job with Jade! She would definitely love having that power and would not hesitate to use it.

 

Yes. Dancing! Jade pulled her crazy blonde curls up into a bun and proceeded to stretch with a Cheshire Cat grin stretched across her face. Since Abirami was serious, she didn’t really mind performing to please him and Ku. Jade admired folks with determination, for she used it every day.

When Ophelia pulled out a pair of demi-pointes, Jade said, “Good idea. Pointe would be stupid on this floor. I’m going to go barefoot.” She removed the ridiculous, delicate slippers she’d been wearing this whole time.

As she continued stretching, Jade struggled to keep her breathing steady. One, two, three — don’t laugh! This was all so amusing. Rosemary was right; this wasn’t Benevola Haven. Jade could hardly contain her joy that she wouldn’t have to earn anyone’s approval through this dance. And it wouldn’t be some stupid dance honoring something she hated, either! Just a dance of delight, not even a competition against that horrid Mara.

”Hi. I’m Enydd. Is there anything I can do to help you guys get ready?” a voice asked above Jade and Ophelia’s heads.

Jade jerked her head up. She kept her first thought to herself: How in the blazes can she afford so much fabric? Only Benevolent women wore dresses like that, except on the Day of Destiny, when every girl of the Final Year tried to scrounge one up.

Ophelia filled in the gap. “Hi, Enydd. I’m Ophelia.”

Jade recovered herself. “And I’m Jade.” She asked the first question to pop into her mind: “Have you seen Rosemary?”

”No,” said Enydd.

”Oh. Well, she’s probably fine,” Jade said. “Probably just wandered off for some quiet, and it’s safer to do that here than back home.” No Mara here to take advantage of the moments Rosemary was only physically present.

Enydd raised an eyebrow, and Jade realized that it sounded like she was trying to convince herself that Rosemary was fine. Which was exactly what she was doing.

”Um, could you find a good open spot for the performance to be held?” asked Jade.

”Sure. How big do you need?”

Jade replied, “Make sure it’s tall enough we can jump, and —“ Wait. What measuring systems did these people use? Everyone could be from any manner of different worlds. “And about fifteen paces wide, or more. It’ll also need room for spectators.”

”Ok,” said Enydd.

”Thanks for your help,” Ophelia said.

”Yes, thank you.” Jade even smiled at the girl.

After she left, Jade leaped up. “So, Ophelia, what do you think this dance should be? I think…I’d like it to be a dance of birds. Imitating them, ya know?”

Birds. So free. They could cheer or taunt those in the Haven with song, and then fly far away. No matter what this castle was like, Jade was free here out of the haven. Free as a bird. Jade leapt to the side with her arms outstretched as though she’d take flight.

”Ow!”

”Ow!”

Jade and the person she’d jumped into disentangled themselves.

“Isaias?” she asked.

“Yes.” He laughed. “I heard your voice and came toward it. I should’ve known to keep back from ballet practice!” Isaias kept laughing.

As she put her face into an emotionless mask, Jade turned to Ophelia. “This is Isaias Baum, and he’s from the same place I am. Isaias,” — she didn’t even turn to look at him — “this is Ophelia, another dancer.”

”Nice to meet you! Where are you from, if not the Haven?” Isaias asked.

Jade left them to converse while she obsessively practiced foot positions. There were no people to protect here, no secrets, she reminded herself. But what on earth would she do without them? She couldn’t afford to alienate Isaias in case they ever got back home because he could destroy her life and the lives of her family with just a few words in the ear of a Benevolent, just as she could do the same for his.

And yet, despite his scatterbrained enthusiasm and strange ways, Jade could not think he was that petty, just as she was not that petty. Or maybe she was just so petty that she wouldn’t give the Benevolents a one up for anything.

But that’s not where you are! Shut up, brain. Dance! So she did.

 

@inkhorn   I’m not sure if I got Enydd right. She seems like the sort who has a lot more going on in her mind than she lets out of her mouth. Change whatever you like!