Dance 2; draft

[I wanted to post the first draft of the next blog entry just… cos why not! I will edit it and all tomorrow cos it’s like 4:30am here and I should’ve been sleep a long long time ago, but for now, I hope you enjoy this! Ignore the typos, they will be fixed tomorrow when my brain isn’t trying to shut down 🩷]

The hand in hers was fascinatingly delicate.

No matter what she did, Elberine’s mind was always aware—incredibly so—of how that hand sat In hers. The shape, the feel of the silk that clothed it. The warmth. As they walked to the floor, she felt like her entire being was drawn into that hand. The princess’ hand. She stopped walking, and the princess paused too. Elberine turned to face her, and she did too. She lifted her left arm, the princess’ hand in hers, and stepped closer. The princess did not move. Did not even look at her. Her right hand, Elberine slipped to hold the princess’ middle back, and the princess’ gracefully lifted a bit of her train up.

The music began, and Elberine slowly stepped back.

The princess stepped forward.

Elberine could not take her eyes off her, even if she wanted to try. As she stepped what were little steps to her, gliding across the floor, she kept her eyes firmly on the princess. And yet the princess had not once looked at her. Even this, she found enthralling. With her proud, arched brows, lustrous eyelashes, skin that glowed, sun kissed and rich, and perfectly plump lips. She must have been carved personally by the gods. Nobody could convince Elberine otherwise. She turned in a circle, catching the pale lavender fabric of the princess’ dress shimmer as it gently flowed with the movement from the corner of her eye.

“Is there a reason you insist on staring holes into me, vampire general?”

Even her voice felt like being bathed in sunlight. It was calm, incredibly composed, yet Elberine caught something in it. Was it a note of anger? She stepped to the side to avoid another dancing couple that swung in from behind her.

“Apart from the simple fact that you are beautiful?”

That earned a thoroughly disinterested hum from the princess, and Elberine felt the corners of her lips rise. She would not look at her, she would not give her a response with any attention. But Elberine could feel her heartbeat even more intimately than the music that enveloped them in their dance.

“Are you afraid of me, princess?”

Ba-dump!

The princess maintained a flawlessly neutral expression, but hearts never lied. They danced for a little while longer, Elberine watching to see if she would receive an answer. This heart that beat, its reverberations seeping into her hands and echoing in her body. It told her the answer, but for some reason, she wanted to hear her voice once again. Just once more would do.

“What human wouldn’t be? There are simply more pressing matters to focus on. None of which involve you.”

Elberine could not imagine what it was that had come upon her since meeting this princess. Thoughts and feelings that she could not properly explain not quantify. The strange feeling, like a helpless moth caught on a spider’s web, a picece of driftwood pulled into a whirlpool. Even though she was painfully aware that the real power lay within her, it felt like this sun was pulling her into a tide she could not break from. One she did not want to break from. Perhaps that was why, in that moment, Elberine felt that there would be no greater honor, no greater joy larger than being this princess’ biggest concern. Something that eclipsed her mind just as she eclipsed Elberine’s being. Was it possible to be something like that for the sun? She did not know, and yet still, she wanted it.

“Do your concerns pertain to the unfortunate political situation you find yourself in?”

Oh…

The princess looked.

It was a look that had carefully disguised something vicious behind gentle lashes. Elberine made sure to etch that feeling, that glare into her mind. She had found something that the princess cared for.

“And what do you know about the petty politics of humans?” The princess’ voice was still calm, yet almost laughing in nature. Mocking.

“Not very much, I will admit. Not the details. But the generalities, such as that which was stolen from you, I do.”

The princess let out a harsh laugh. One that only Elberine would be able to hear.

“Alright, so you do know. So what now?” It was impressive just how quickly and flawlessly the princess hid the poisonous look that her eyes held. Now, she tilted her head to the side and back. Elberine could see her eyes clearly now. But what truly caught her was the smirk on her face. What did that mean? What did that small yet confident smile mean? All these expressions that Elberine would never be so sensitive to, and yet now she hung on every single muscle that moved on this woman/s face. This sun could smile, could glare, could remain perfectly neutral. And all in the span of a few minutes. What other things could this sun express to her?

“So nothing. I was simply curious.“

The princess stared at her a moment longer, like as if she was contemplating something. What could it be? Elberine wanted to know. She wanted to peer into her mind right this moment.

But then the princess looked away.

Elberine felt something horrible. Something twist up in her gut. The princess had just dismissed her. That was the wrong answer. That was not what the princess wanted to hear.

Like a fool, she opened her mouth, wanting to say something else, something to turn those amber eyes back to her. Anything, anything—

The princess’ neck.

She had tilted her head back just a little, exposing the side of it.

How could Elberine forget. She was hungry.

Had she been so taken by the light of this woman that she forgot the gnawing that slowly but surely chewed at the edges of her consciousness? Had she been so enamored by this princess that she forgot what she was? Elberine clamped her mouth shut, and very suddenly her other senses became painfully acute. A thumping that grew louder and louder, slowly swallowing all other sounds. That sweet smell, the smell of life.

How would the sun taste?

“Your highness.”

The princess eyelashes flickered as she looked at her once more.

Elberine had to keep her hands relaxed. A very conscious action, like as if she was manually unlocking each and every joint in her fingers.

“You should stay away from vampires.”

This time, the princess turned to look at her with her eyebrow raised. Before her eyes narrowed.

And a smile crawled across her face. A sweet smile, almost intoxicating. If her body was not tuned to the highest level of acuity, Elberine would have stumbled from having witnessed that expression. The music was coming to an end, her mind told her. It grew intense, the violins growing fervent. Screeching. Clawing into her skull, clamoring to scratch into her brain.

The princess leaned in then, tilting her head so gently up. Her scent. It was muddying her brain. Assaulting her reasoning tenderly yet wholly. And the princess knew this. From the way her eyes did not waver in observing Elberine, and the way her smile grew ever so gently. Gently twisted. The violin’s screeching had reached a fever pitch, violently slicing into her brain like one thousand needles. And then it stopped.

“You want my blood, don’t you, general?”