From behind him appeared Nira, and as she reached us, she linked her arm through his. “Father, I hate to interrupt,” and she looked deliberately at me, “but the night is nearly over and Kiena has yet to fulfill a promise.”
“Very well, then,” he said, bowing deeply, and his adoption of the Valenian custom solely for me made my heart swell with gratitude. “Thank you for the dance.”
I bowed in return, and after Nira dragged him away, I strode up to Ava. She was still busy talking, but my arrival to the company caused a pause in conversation.
I gave an apologetic nod to her companions as I offered her my hand. “Care to dance?”
Ava beamed, saying rushed goodbyes to her acquaintances and then following me. There were a few different dances that she and Nira had taught me last night. Though the rhythm of the music was upbeat, for my dance with Ava, I chose the steps that would put us closest. It was the dance for couples, and while we weren’t necessarily a couple, I knew all that truly lacked was the calling us one. Plus, I knew Ava would like it. If I couldn’t give her anything else, I’d give her this. Nira would be right pleased as well…
“I was starting to think you’d never ask me,” Ava teased, lining her hands and body up close to mine to begin the routine.
“You could’ve asked me, Little Will-o’,” I told her.
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to force you.”
“I took an arrow for you,” I chuckled. “A dance is nothing.” It seemed mindless when she put her hand on the shoulder in which I’d been hit with the arrow, but her face wasn’t quite so mirthful. In fact, she looked suddenly pensive. “Have I upset you by waiting too long?”
“No,” she said, and to make sure I believed it, she pushed up to kiss me on the cheek. “Not at all.”
“What’s bothering you, Ava?” I asked. It wasn’t like her to be so downcast so often.
She looked me in the eyes, and as if that made it worse, she dropped her head forward against my shoulder so I couldn’t see her face. “You know what’s bothering me.”
And when she said that, I did know. It was the looming of my departure, weighing on her more every hour. It was still two days until I’d decided to leave, but it seemed the closer it got, the worse Ava began to feel. Already knowing how much it was hurting her was near unbearable.
“Tell you what,” I said with forced excitement. “You could write to me, tell me all about how much you miss being chased by soldiers.”
She huffed a somber laugh into my shoulder. “Kiena, you can’t read.”
“So draw for me then,” I suggested. “You’re a spectacular artist. When the war is over, you can visit.” Ava said nothing, just stayed there with her head on my shoulder and hardly even putting any effort into the steps. “Ava,” I sighed, “I don’t want to spend these last days with you in misery.”
It took a few moments, but eventually she took in a deep breath and straightened. “You’re right,” she said. “But Kiena, I don’t think I can—”
“That man kicked Albus!” I interrupted.
As she was speaking, my gaze had wandered briefly behind her, to where Albus had been following Akamar for lack of something better to do. But that moment was all I needed to see a man who was walking by, and like Albus was some inconvenience in the way, the man kicked him. It wasn’t a forceful or even a violent kick. It was more of an impatient brushing aside, but he’d put the sole of his boot flat against Albus’s flank, and pushed hard enough that Albus stumbled. And I didn’t know or even care how highborn the man was. I wouldn’t have it.
“What?” Ava asked, turning to see where I was glaring. “Who?” Her demeanor had shifted, and she seemed as upset as I was.
“That man with the disgusting rat hairpiece on his bloody bald head,” I growled. I puffed up, and took an irate step in his direction, intent on giving him a piece of my mind.
Ava grabbed my arm to stop me. “Whatever you’re going to do, rethink it.”
“Why?” I demanded, nearly ready to pull my arm out of her grasp.
“Because.” She took my face in her hands to force me to look at her. “Nobles here settle their squabbles with duels.” I groaned, because I didn’t have the slightest bit of skill with a sword, and I didn’t know how to confront the man without ensuring I wasn’t challenged to one. Besides, challenging a guest to a duel was no way to show the king gratitude for his hospitality. Ava studied me for a moment, and then glanced at the man. By the time she looked at me again, her lips had curled with a grin. “I have an idea.”
She whispered it in my ear, and I snorted with laughter and nodded my eager approval. The first thing I did was fetch Albus, and posted him at the wall on the opposite side of the hall as the stairway up to our room. Then I followed Ava, who’d gotten herself a full cup of wine. She strode right up to the man, bumping into him and spilling the wine all over his elaborate tunic, but she’d done it so forcefully that wine flew up into the air too. Most of it landed on the floor and his shirt, but some of it splattered all over that disgusting hairpiece of his.
“Good Sir!” Ava exclaimed in feigned shock, grabbing a handkerchief from the nearest person and beginning to dab clumsily at the man. “I am so sorry, Sir!” He looked furious, especially as Ava began to swipe roughly up his face, and when she reached his hairpiece, she purposefully pushed it backward off his head. “Please, excuse me!” Ava continued.
I rushed behind the man before he could turn around, and grabbed his hairpiece off the floor. I had to run, but at this point I didn’t care. I bolted across the room and put the hairpiece in Albus’s mouth, motioning to myself, “Eyes.” Then I darted back across just in time to see the man finally brush Ava off of him and turn around to search the floor for his wig.
“Where is it?” he grumbled, pushing Ava’s hands away as she, struggling not to laugh, continued assaulting him with the handkerchief.
“Is that what you’re looking for, Sir?” I asked, pointing across the room at Albus, the nasty fur hairpiece hanging from his mouth.
The man gasped, and as he stormed off toward Albus, he growled, “Damned mutt.”
Ava and I both snickered, moving to the start of the stairs as the man stomped across the grand hall toward Albus. The moment he got close, I gave Albus the hand command to come. Albus dodged the man’s grasp with the wig still in his teeth, and ran across the hall toward us. The man turned just in time to see Albus reach us, and Ava and I rubbed either side of Albus’s head in praise, knowing that the man could see every bit of it. We glanced up right as he, red with fury, began to sprint across the hall.
We both snorted with laughter and took off up the stairs, with Albus following right behind us. As we rounded the hall at the top, we could hear the man’s heavy footsteps sounding up the stairwell, and he wasn’t far behind. We dashed down the corridor our room was in, throwing the door open and hurrying in. Once we reached the inside, Ava turned to put her back against the door while I put both my palms on it, and together we slammed it closed. Ava turned just enough to press an ear to it, and I leaned over her to do the same.
The man’s thudding stride stopped at the top of the stairs. “Where are you!” he hollered.
We both threw a hand over our mouths to keep from bursting into loud laughter. Footsteps echoed down the opposite direction and away from our room, and when it was safe, we both laughed heartily and loudly. Especially when we noticed by the dim light of the fireplace that Albus had taken the hairpiece and lain down in a corner of the room, and was already tearing it to shreds.
“Gods have mercy,” I said, struggling for breath and nearly collapsing forward through my laughter. Ava turned to lean back against the door once more. “You’re bloody brilliant.”