The Last Dance

[Lessien]

The Last Dance


Darkness ruled the night. The moon refused to grace the sky with her presence, and her attending stars hid behind a thick veil of clouds. Because there were no stars to pin the sky back where it belonged, the darkness stifled. It pressed against the sides of the carriage, threatening to break through and envelope those inside.
To one unfamiliar, it was difficult to tell where the countryside ended and the city began. Crystal, however, was no stranger. She watched from a seat strewn with soft cushions as the humble farmhouses gradually morphed into city houses, mansions, and boarding houses. The carriage stopped outside of a small mansion.
The driver alighted from his perch and opened the door. He gave Crystal his hand and helped her out, then followed her to the door of the mansion.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Miss?” he asked when she stopped at the door. She nodded, the warm glow from a lamp on the porch illuminating her face. She banged on the door several times, turning to the driver as she awaited an answer to her knocking.
“Promise me one thing,” she said, gray eyes flickering in the light.
“Yes?”
“Promise me that no matter what happens, you won’t let anyone come after me.”
The driver nodded, clasping one of her pale hands in both of his. “Be careful.”
Crystal’s smile appeared painted on over her frown. “I will.”
A middle-aged woman answered the door and ushered Crystal inside. At Crystal’s nod, the driver got back onto his perch and, with a crack of the whip, was gone.

Jaiden raced through the streets, ducking and weaving through alleyways, hearing angry shouts behind him. Windows lit up with the pale glow of candles and doors opened to reveal people both angry at being awoken and curious to see what was going on.
“Get back here!” one of the men running after him shouted. Jaiden ignored him and ducked into a narrow alley; after making several swift turns he was safely hidden behind a building.
“Where’d he go?” one panted, standing several buildings away from where Jaiden was.
“At any rate, we’ll never find ‘im here. We’ll look for ‘im in the morning.”
A chorus of agreements sounded behind him. Their footsteps grew fainter and gradually disappeared. Breathing a prayer of thanks, he sank to the ground and tried to catch his breath.

Crystal was ushered into a room filled with a dozen women or more, all seated in chairs arranged in a circle surrounding a table. On the table were several candles. There were also candles placed in different positions throughout the room, casting flickering shadows on the walls. She sat in a chair that was relatively close to the door and listened as the leader stood and began speaking.
“We have gathered here tonight to discuss an issue of great importance that cannot be discussed by light of day.” She had everyone’s—including Crystal’s—attention, so she continued. “Our husbands, sons, and brothers are out fighting this war against our Marsacian oppressors, but so far, to no avail. Why? Because they are too strong. This war is being fought on their soil, while we stay here, defenseless. They have far more soldiers than we do, and some can control the elements.”
“So what do we do, Maria?” one woman asked.
Maria lowered her voice. “We send in spies.”
“Don’t we already have spies in Marsaci?” said the same woman who had spoken earlier.
“Yes, but they’re all men and boys—they’d expect men and boys to be spies. What I’m proposing is that we form our own league of spies—female spies.”
There was a collective gasp as the group took in Maria’s words.
“You do realize that this will place all of Raetia in danger. That if we are defeated, women and children will not be spared from the Marsacian slaughter?”
Maria nodded solemnly. “Yes, but if we use my plan, then we will not be defeated, and Raetia will have freedom once more.”
The group couldn’t protest. Maria was right.
“When will we start?” said Crystal, speaking for the first time that night.
“Within a week,” Maria said, and Crystal nodded.
The meeting continued, and when the pale light of dawn peeked through the curtains, they had decided who would be sent to Marsaci and who would stay in Raetia, how messages would be sent between the countries, and how they would keep this operation secret. Since they were all of the upper class, they decided they would go on with their normal lives while all this was going on. They would arouse less suspicion that way.
When the meeting was over, Crystal was the first one out the door. Being careful not to meet anyone’s gaze, she walked down the street and mingled with the other early-risers.

Jaiden was asleep in a corner of the alley when dawn broke the sky. When the sun’s rays awoke him, he felt like he hadn’t slept at all. Jaiden yawned and stood, surveying the surrounding scene. The city was awakening, but almost everyone was going to a friend’s home or to the market to buy what food they could afford. No one wanted to be on the streets, with a Marsacian invasion possible at any time.
Ugh…Mikyn isn’t going to let me forget what he sent me here for! He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to make himself look presentable. Scowling, he made his way out into the streets.


Crystal quickly went into a tall brick building, walking quickly but not too quickly, acting as if she was simply going to a friend’s house to drop in for a bit of gossip. The curtains to the front rooms were drawn shut, and a man greeted her in a low voice.
“What did you find out?” he asked.
“They’re getting together a group of women to act as spies in Marsaci.”
“Why? Don’t they already have spies there?”
“Yes, but they say that we’ve already apprehended most of them. Also, we’d expect male spies. With female spies, they’d be able to slip past the sentries unnoticed.”
The man nodded. “Very good, Crystal. You’re well on your way to regaining your throne.”
Crystal grinned, then slipped out the door.

 

[Lessien]

Jaiden wandered the streets, taking in as much as he could. The city was mostly empty, which would have been unusual in times of peace. In war, however, it was the definition of normal.
As he walked, he didn’t watch where he was going, and bumped into someone. “Oh, excuse me,” he said, standing. He looked at the ground to see who he’d knocked over, and was more than a little surprised to see a girl. Face burning with embarrassment, he reached out his hand and helped her up.
“No, no, it was my fault,” she said, dusting off her dress and eyeing Jaiden suspiciously.
Jaiden could only nod as he studied her. She had long, raven-black hair, pale skin, and gray eyes. She looked fragile, like a china doll, but with a hidden strength that was stronger than any soldier’s.
“Do I know you?” he asked.
The girl shook her head. “No, I’m sure I don’t know you.”
“But…I’m almost certain I’ve seen you before…”
“You must be thinking of someone else, because I’m sure I haven’t seen you before.” With that, the girl gathered her skirts and hurried off, leaving Jaiden in confusion.

Crystal turned down an alley and entered a small brick building, closing the door behind her. She sank to a chair in the parlor and tried to sort out what had happened.
Her first question was: Who was he? He looked oddly familiar…like she had seen him before in a dream, or another life.
She might have seen him in another life, in her life before she’d come to Raetia. She was royalty then, with servants and gowns and respect. All had looked up to her; even her servants had loved her. She had been Princess Crystal then, until she made The Mistake. Now she was simply Crystal.
She sighed. That boy…she was sure she had seen him before.

Jaiden sank to the ground in an alley, trying to sort out his thoughts. The girl had looked so familiar…like someone he had known before he became what he now was. Her long black hair, the way she walked, her eyes…they all seemed so familiar, like something out of a dream that he had forgotten but would love to remember. Especially her eyes.
He looked down at the ground, trying to remember the ballroom. The walls had been marble hung with paintings, and music had played on the night of that final dance. A young girl walked toward him, the dark cloth of her dress accentuating the paleness of her skin, and her black hair falling about her shoulders. A silver circlet was placed upon her head.
“May I have this dance?” Jaiden said, bowing.
“Of course,” she replied, and they began to dance, talking as they did so.
“My name is Jaiden, by the way.”
“I’m…”
The memory faded as Jaiden’s head snapped up and he whispered a single word.
“Crystal.”

“What’s that, boy?” a gruff voice said. Jaiden looked up into the dirty face of a man he knew well.
“What do you want?”
“I want to know how far you’ve come in the mission.”
Jaiden stood. “I’ll need more time.”
“You said that a week ago.”
“And I’m saying it again. I can’t find out what I need to know in the amount of time you’ve given me. Give me another two weeks.”
The man sighed. “Fine. You have two more weeks. But at then, I’ll expect you to know more about the Marsacian princess’s whereabouts.” He left as silently as he had come.

Two weeks passed. At the end of that time, Crystal and Jaiden were brought together once more, beneath the darkening sky.
“Evening, Crystal,” Jaiden said as he passed by.
Crystal whirled around. “How do you know my name?”
“I’m just surprised you don’t remember me. The dance…it was a year ago…in Marsaci?”
“Jaiden? Is that you?”
He smiled an answer. “May I escort you home? I’ve missed you.”
“And I’ve missed you,” Crystal said, taking his arm.
They reached Crystal’s apartment and parted. Crystal waved goodbye, smiling to herself. She had found him.

Jaiden turned a corner; bringing him face-to-face with the same man he’d been dreading for the last two weeks.
“Hello, Byron,” he said.
“Well? Did you find out anything about her?”
“Of course I did! Would you like me to show you where she lives?”
Byron raised an eyebrow, impressed, then nodded. Jaiden led him to Crystal’s apartment building, where they watched it from afar.
“That’s it,” Jaiden said.
“That’s where the princess lives?” Byron laughed mockingly.
“She’s a princess in name only,” Jaiden interjected. “I’m sure she resents what she has been forced to.”
“She shouldn’t have insulted the Court, then.”
“It wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t have known.”
“Oh, you care about her now, eh, Jaiden?”
“I don’t care about her; I’m just saying that her banishment wasn’t completely her fault.”
“If you don’t care about her, then why are you saying she’s innocent?”
“Just shut up!” Jaiden took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m just an assassin.”
“Exactly. Now. When are you going to do it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know when you’re going to kill her?” Byron laughed a cold, mirthless laugh. “You can’t care about your target, Jaiden.”
“I know. I just haven’t decided when I’ll kill her yet.”
“Decide soon.”
Jaiden said nothing as he brushed a lock of auburn hair out of his eyes.

 

[Lessien]

Crystal smiled as she remembered Jaiden: the way his auburn hair fell in front of his hazel eyes, the way his voice had sounded the night after the ball, when he had spoken to her from beneath her balcony. That was the last time she’d seen him before she had accidentally gotten herself banished to Raetia.
She sighed. All she had done was try to convince her father to make her his heir in place of her older brother. Apparently, that was considered wrong, as she was supposed to be content with her place in the family. Now she was a lowly spy, stripped of the renowned title of Princess.
But now…
She had found Jaiden! Perhaps he could help her regain her throne!
Perhaps he loved her as much as she loved him.

Jaiden could feel Byron’s gaze burning into him as neither of the two spoke. Silence hung over them like a cold fog.
“You know what Mikyn does to traitors,” Byron said at last.
“I’ll kill her in two days.” That seemed to satisfy him, for when Jaiden looked over his shoulder Byron was gone.

Although Jaiden tried to avoid Crystal for the next two days, he was unable to do so. He saw her on the streets, through the window of her apartment—everywhere he was she seemed to be there as well.
He stood outside her house at the end of the two days, with Byron watching him from the shadows. He knocked on her door and was invited inside by a smiling Crystal. Jaiden smiled back as they sat in her parlor and made polite small talk, waiting for Byron to leave. When Byron left, Jaiden could reveal all to Crystal. She could fake her own death, and they could run away together.
But as Jaiden waited, it became clear that Byron wouldn’t leave until the task was completed. Whenever he looked out the window, he could see Byron waiting a short distance away. There was only one choice left.
He desperately tried to convince himself that this would be the best thing for Marsaci, but as they talked, he couldn’t help thinking about the times they had shared…laughing…
Try as he might, he couldn’t forget their last dance.

The sunset turned to dusk, and dusk turned to midnight.
“What’s wrong, Jaiden?” Crystal asked when she caught him gazing out the window intently.
“Oh, nothing,” was his reply. There was a knock at the door, and Crystal opened it, gasping at who stood there.
“Byron!” she exclaimed.
“Ah, so the boy didn’t kill you, after all. I always knew he was weak.”
“Wha-Jaiden? Kill-me?” She whirled around to face a very remorseful Jaiden. “Jaiden? You were working—for Byron—for Mikyn?”
“Crystal, this isn’t what you think—“
“At the dance—the palace—even here—it’s all been a part of your plan to kill me!”
“No! Not until recently!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” said Byron, “that your brother will receive the throne. All we need is you out of the way, then King Mikyn can come in and crush these Raetian scum. Jaiden was supposed to take care of that, but you know what they say.” Byron drew a knife and took several menacing steps toward Crystal. “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

Jaiden leapt between Crystal and Byron, knife drawn. “You won’t harm a hair on her head.”
Byron laughed again. “Look who’s trying to be the hero now! You want Mikyn on the throne as much as I do! You don’t want peace with Raetia! You don’t want the little princess left alive!”
“If I didn’t want peace with Raetia, then why did I run from you? We both know that Crystal will be a better ruler than her brother—maybe even a better ruler than her father was!”

While the two men argued, Crystal slowly backed away from Byron, bumping into the kitchen table. Crystal snatched up the butcher knife that was lying there. While Byron was making his little speech, she sneaked up behind him, knife poised and ready to strike.

Jaiden stared, open-mouthed, at something behind Byron. Byron turned around to face a terrified Crystal, her knife poised to strike the killing blow.
“Oh. So this is how you would have it end? With you killing me, instead of the other way around.”
Crystal slowly lowered the knife. As much as she hated this man—and the man who sent him—she could not kill him.
Byron laughed. “You made the wrong choice, wench.” He raised his knife, and Crystal closed her eyes, opening them only when she heard a thud, a groan, and the clatter of metal against a wooden floor.
Byron lay at her feet, a knife in his back, blood pouring from the wound, his knife fallen from nerveless hands. Crystal raised her head to see Jaiden meet her gaze briefly, his hazel eyes sorrowful.
“You have a country to save,” he said, then hastily turned and walked out the door. Crystal ran after him and made it out the door just in time to see him run off down the street. She stood on the corner, crying his name, but Jaiden was gone, swallowed up by the darkness.