blessingofvitality

[blessingofvitality]

My First Ball

This past weekend I attended my first ball, and it was marvelous! The Gilded Wheel hosted, their 4th Annual Lover's Ball for Valentine's Day. Grandpa Davorr explained it as: you don’t go there *with* a lover; you go there to *find* a lover. Except when I wished him good luck in finding what he seeks, he said he seeks nothing. That man confuses me so! 

I had little hope of being permitted to go, but Elion granted me the courage to ask anyhow. Kira went last year and made it sound such fun! And I must admit there was someone I hoped to see, and for him to see me looking grown-up, though I did realise that was a foolish hope. I began work on a gown even before receiving permission, to be sure to complete it in time. In between I received two more orders for Valentines dresses, so fulfilled those before completing my own gown. 

Of course I never would have been allowed to go alone. Mr. Bradley Straum accompanied me. He was there to protect me if needed, but not overly restrictive. I rate him as an excellent chaperone. He gallantly gave up the chance to go with a date so that I would be able to go. He had the opportunity to dance with a few ladies, and I am glad he seemed to have a good time as well. 

The venue was an abandoned and crumbling open air temple on a remote stretch of the Balenosian coast, down a few flights of stone steps, longer than the steps to the Chapel district. It felt in some way sacrilegious to use the place for a night of frivolity. The temple had a feel of something very old lurking, observing. But not bothering us in any way. 

The theme was “Between Tide and Time”. Some wore such little clothing, they must have been cold! I made my gown with thought and care to the theme, but also to the weather this time of year. Perhaps no-one saw the reference; it was rather obscure, but made sense to me: deep blue velvet to represent Tide, and a verdigris-coloured brocade (& matching headpiece) for Time. 

Everyone looked magnificent, and the old stone and the sea as backdrop evoked a magical romance. Somehow even that near to the crashing waves, the acoustics in and around the circle were excellent. Perhaps that’s why whoever built the temple chose that location?

The opening speech nearly brought me to tears: about how someday we too will fade from memory, and so we must take chances while we have them. “If not now, when?” She urged us to dance and kiss, and I must laugh, as no-one was there who I should want to kiss. Tis better to laugh than to cry about such! 

However--! I did have my first dance! And it went precisely in a way I never imagined my first dance would be! I was sitting upon a rock watching the performance, near (I thought) to other people seated too. A masked man dressed like a fencer stood directly blocking my view. He asked was I there all alone. I told him no, my chaperone was on the dance floor. Only then did I realise how far we were from anyone else, and felt nervous. 

The masked man offered me his hand and said he would take me back to my chaperone. Was he asking me to dance?? Not wanting to be rude, I allowed him to lead me to the dance floor; but was prepared to scream if he tried leading me away. 

He had dark skin, light eyes, and a thick moustache. He set his left hand on my belt (surely that isn’t correct?) and took my right hand in his left, and led me backwards, weaving between dancing couples, faster and far less elegantly than them or the music. I couldn’t discern any method to what he was doing, in order to properly follow. He asked me repeatedly to point out my chaperone, but with all the turns between people mostly taller than me, I’d lost sight of Mr. Straum. My dance partner became more insistent; almost threatening. I was trying to ask him to slow and let me look, when he gripped my hand more tightly, dislocating my finger. I told him he was hurting me and pleaded with him to release me. He did, whereupon I stopped to put my finger back into place.

I had cast Blessing of Vitality on myself earlier, which I always keep up whilst awake, to prevent dislocations that would happen much more frequently without it. Thankfully it was only a finger, not a hip or a knee! And it wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t held onto my hand so tightly. 

I apologised to the masked man for not telling him earlier that I’m breakable. I tried to offer my hand again but he wouldn’t take it. He said maybe I shouldn’t dance, and left me standing there alone amidst whirling couples. 

I (somewhat) regret not knowing the name of my first dance partner. But also somewhat not; it’s unlikely now that I’ll ever know, and there’s something appealing about leaving it a mystery. 

After sunset a few attendees were afflicted with amnesia, likely due to some mischievous magic. Strong emotions swirled around from all directions and I felt need to flee from the crowd. I found a seat by the shore, and let uncomfortable feelings drift away with the tide. After some time I felt well enough to return to the ball. 

A lord of the North asked me to dance, but also with another lady at the same time. After my first dance went so poorly I was wary, but curious about this three person dance, so I cautioned them to be gentle and why, before agreeing. He called it the “farkas tánc” and said it means “wolf dance”. He began teaching us diagonal steps and back-steps, and then had us change places. I got my steps a bit confused and had to stop a moment to catch up. The lady from the Gilded Wheel caught on quickly. 

The wolf dance is meant for a large group, so they were bringing more people in when I begged off to rest my legs. They said I’d been doing well, but perhaps only said it to be kind. 

It was quite late when Mr. Straum woke me to return to the carriage. He had caught up with an old friend who he hadn't known would be there. The steps up seemed even longer than on the way down after a long night of dancing. It's taken me two days to recover, but the ball was worth it! I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity!