Page 45 of Stranger's Choice
Chapter 14
Sebin was donetaking his time. He could spend months slowly making contacts in Pynth, learning their history, understanding the dynamics between the humans and magical races. Years, even. He refused to wait that long. He didn’t need to understand everything; he only needed to understand enough. And he understood more than enough.
The Emperor did not care for his people. The oracles only cared for what would be best for the majority of their own kind with no risk to themselves. The courtiers of Kalitalo either enjoyed the same idle dissipation as the Emperor or were too afraid to change things. The common people of the city hoped a new emperor meant changes. The humans of the rest of the empire understood that no one seated on the imperial throne would care about them and forged relationships with the magical races instead.
If Sebin was going to help Auraelie, help all the people of Pynth, then he needed to talk to Heolin. But the earth sprite ambassador wanted nothing to do with him. Moreover, his attempts to get close to the sprite over the past week were drawing attention.
If Sebin tried too hard, the Emperor would wonder why.
He needed to corner the sprite and dispel the Emperor’s suspicions. He needed to start a revolution that would depend on the magical races’ support.
Then one evening, he finally he spotted his chance to accomplish the first two goals and lay the groundwork for the third.
The Emperor had hired an entire troupe of dancers who moved with impossible grace through intricately choreographed scenes that told a story from Pynth’s history. Sebin watched a man slice the air with a sword as he spun and jumped over and under the other dancers and inched closer to Heolin. He had asked Auraelie to stay back by his seat at the banquet table before approaching the audience. Her presence always caused ripples, and Sebin needed to slip through the crowd. Also, people had packed close together, the better to see the performance, and he didn’t want to risk her brushing against anyone.
Unlike the people around him, Heolin did not watch the performance with wonder on his face. Instead, he scowled at the lead dancer.
Sebin stopped at Heolin’s left shoulder and waited for the sprite to notice him. It didn’t take long. Heolin stiffened and switched his glare to Sebin.
Sebin kept his eyes on the dancers. “I missed it. Who is he supposed to be?”
“Emperor Daitano VI.” Heolin said with a sneer.
“And he’s hunting with a sword?” Sebin nodded at the dancers on the right of the stage, all dressed in animal masks. They leapt forward every now and then only to tumble back from the other group of dancers, who separated them from the man playing the Emperor.
“No.” Heolin’s eye twitched. “Those are the shapeshifters. During Emperor Daitano the Fifth’s reign, humans hunted shapeshifters. According to the treaty, the Emperor was responsible for protecting the magical races from humans, but Daitano V did not do his duty in the later years of his life.”
“So the next emperor took care of the problem?”
“Only because the oracles refused to send one of their kind to the city until he did.”
On the stage, the sword dancer had made it through to the shapeshifters, who now danced around him with leaps and somersaults. Two masked dancers linked their fingers together and created stirrups with their hands. The man ran at them, his toes barely touching their hands before he was flung high into the air. He flipped, his sword still whipping through curving patterns as he twisted and fell back toward the ground. Another pair of shapeshifter dancers caught him and flung him back up. Over and over this happened until finally the man tossed his sword into the air at the apex of his own flight. Then he landed in the center of the stage, and all the other dancers fell to the floor, bowing to him. The sword came down, and he caught the hilt with a final flourish.
The crowd burst into applause. Heolin did not clap. Sebin did. In fact, he clapped loud and long, and as the audience looked for their next bit of entertainment, several eyes turned in his direction.
Sebin stopped clapping and looked directly at Heolin. “You don’t look too impressed. I thought the performance was spectacular. I’ve never seen so much fine dancing before, but I guess you are used to such things here. Were the dancers not as skilled as others you’ve seen?”
“The dancers are skilled, but I did not care for the dance.”
“There are better dances.” Sebin clapped a hand on Heolin’s shoulder. “I know! You should come back to my room. Auraelie can do a dance that puts this one to shame.”
Sebin was shocked the entire palace did not fall apart around him after the look the earth sprite gave him. The man had superb control not to let his power leak in the face of such strong emotions. The magical races had appointed him as their ambassador for a reason. Now Sebin would use that.
“Come, I insist. You’ll like this dance much better.”
It was clear the sprite wanted to storm off. Probably after hitting Sebin in the face if he couldn’t bury him in the rubble of the palace. Sebin waited for Heolin to notice how many people were watching them. Then he sprang his trap. “We’ll watch in private, and you can tell me if you’ve ever seen any better dancing.”
The wordprivatedid the trick. The sprite could not insult the foreign prince or rail against Auraelie’s treatment in this crowd, but if he followed Sebin to his room, he could make his opinions clear without so much risk. He could prevent Auraelie from being alone with Sebin.
Heolin grudgingly agreed to join Sebin.
Too late, Sebin noticed Lhashiki in the crowd nearby. She had heard his invitation, no doubt. She nodded at him and slipped away.
Five hells.
He wanted people to assume he would have Auraelie perform something like the Dance of The Seven Veils. Lhashiki would no doubt report to the Emperor that he had ruined any chance he ever had of allying himself with Heolin. That was good.
He had not intended to subject Auraelie to the dance costume again, however.
