The guests were amazed, everyone expected traditionalism, rank, and nobility from tonight's evening. No, it was noble, but ... The mountaineering dance was a battle rather than a union, but the king immediately realized it in his son's eyes, Charles liked it more.
Of course, the young Xavier understood that without a kilt everything would not look so spectacular, but at least one of them was dressed by all the rules. The music began to play, and the two princes began to move while they were bouncing side by side, bouncing up and down simultaneously, but after a short loss they were face to face, sharing their swords crossed on the floor.
From the next fast part in the melody, both entered this square, cleverly jumping over the blades, some miracle not encountering in such a narrow space. Charles and Jamie managed to get face-to-face, shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back in seconds, all as they moved around in circles. One wrong move, one collision - and on the floor will be both, and it is good if the floor, and not directly on the swords. Both smiled at each other as if it were fun, and when the princes grabbed their right hands into the castle at the very crossroads of the swords, there was a noisy sigh across the hall, because they accelerated as if they were flying over the blades, and the mountaineer looked really frightening, for he was tall and strong, and moved so easily as if he wasn't weighing anything; Charles, on the other hand, was fluttering, and it seemed as if he wasn't touching the floor.
They froze, jumping out of the cross at the same time, stopping with the music. Xavier breathed heavily, licking his lips, and the prince of the mountainous lands admired the way the young man's shoulders went up and down, and how the blush on his cheeks flashed. Frasier leaned over, raising his swords, stretching out his weapon to Charles.
- Can I consider myself a winner? - Prince Jamie smiled pretty good.
- It's too early to draw any conclusions, Your Highness, - Xavier told him, which only made the mountaineer want to steal the prince immediately and take him away.
Because of this smiling mountaineer's smile, Charles now would never admit how much he loved the dance. What's more, I wanted to say to Frasier's face that it was a terrible thing to do, that it would be better if he was offered to dance a volt - and that it wouldn't be as bad as what had just happened. But with a titanic effort of will, the prince held back, nodding politely and retreating.
He did not even have time to turn around, literally nosing to to toe with the king of the Southern lands. Charles, thank the gods, took some breath while they talked, because King James was obviously not prepared to wait. He was already breathing heavily, inflating his nostrils a little bit, this boy, this mountaineer was clearly the main competitor - and he had to immediately interrupt the impression.
- I invite the prince to the sidewalk, - the southern king said quickly, holding the prince by the hand.
Charles shuddered even from such a sharpness, appearance Houlette ideal for this aggressive dance, more like a ritual of intimidation of the enemy. The prince obediently followed the man, allowing himself to be held by the hand, despite the fact that the king squeezed his thin fingers almost to the point of pain.
There were too many drums in this music, and the dancers started with jumps that were not as easy and quiet as in a pool, on the contrary, it was a force in pure form, Charles was moving synchronously with Houlette, patiently waiting for the southern king to let him go to perform the solo part.
King James got perfectly into the rhythm of music, stomping and slapping his hands and knees, bypassing the prince around and keeping his eyes on him. All this dance was a pure concentration of aggression and militancy, and the young Xavier felt trapped in a trap, not without difficulty performing his part.
It was the shortest dance of the evening, and at the end Houlett again painfully clenched the prince's hand, looking him in the eye with an overt desire, so that Charles fled into the crowd as soon as the music ended, without even listening to gratitude for the dance.
* * *
Hank found it on the open balcony, carrying water in a glass and sitting next to a friend right on the floor. The prince waved his pale fingers at the carved fence post and pressed against the other forehead. He silently took the water out of McCoy's hands and dried the glass with a salvo.
- I think he'll be noticed, - Hank said carefully, looking at his friend with anxiety. - It was too much.
- It was disgusting, - Charles shrugged his shoulders, squinting.
- Are you sure you're ready to continue the evening?
To Be Continued...