Young Writers Society

My fear of bears had not improved. It became far, far worse.

"And my English has improved!" I said cheerfully, willfully ignoring the majority of what my brother had said.

Auryon laughed and Kratzer grinned. "Ja, fair enough, brother, fair..." his voice trailed off as he caught sight of James on the dance floor.

"Boris, do tell me I'm not imagining things, because I think I'm watching our dear brother James...dancing. With the red-haired lass."

I came dangerously close to choking on my water, before I set it down uncarefully on the table.

"No, no, I see it too!" I exclaimed, gleefully.

"I knew it, I told him he'd find a girl someday, this is wonderful! Ah, I'm so proud of him. How lucky we are, to be here to see it."

"I didn't even know he could dance," Kratzer said, wide-eyed. "Well, lucky bastard, good for him. He's never mentioned her. I wonder who she is - well, beyond her name, I caught that much."

The dancing came naturally to him. On light feet he stood tall and led Tasha around the ballroom, pacing himself to the rising and falling of the music and flowing with the movement of the crowd. He watched Tasha focus as she took time to feel comfortable and match his rhythm.

He had to admit, this felt different from dancing with Maahes. There was a focus and freedom in his movements that he was lacking earlier, and a revelation he had yet to come to until he started to dance with Tasha.

It had been years since he'd danced as himself. With anyone, really. He'd always been putting on an act; pretending to be someone he wasn't to avoid suspicion or to blend in with a crowd. He'd always acted against his nature to throw people off his trail and remain unpredictable or to maintain the fragile trust he had of his temporary companions.

But with Tasha he felt like himself. Not that he hadn't with Maahes, of course, but that had only been a precursor to this, a dance that, despite his insistent protests, made his heart flutter and his cheeks burn, as the rest of the crowd faded away and it was just him and her. He desperately hoped he wasn't making a mistake, for the sake of the safety or her own heart, and though he was afraid to even let his mind wander down that route, it went, and he had to intentionally breathe to keep his limbs loose and his face from frowning, as he knew he tended to do when in deep thought. The last thing he wanted to communicate was that he wasn't enjoying it. Because he was.

He extended his arm and let Tasha from his grasp, before spinning her back into his arms. The moment she returned to his embrace and he caught her against his chest, he knew he had to do something to keep his mind from torturing itself as it explored the unknown, and every anxiety that made him unsure, and told him this was a bad idea - the dance, everything, all of it.

As they fell back into their normal steps, he met her eyes and mustered a grin.

"Do you dance much back home?" he asked.

She couldn't keep the smile off her face. She couldn't control it any more than she could control the flush rising in her cheeks.

"A little," she said, . "Mostly just for events with the nobles or diplomatic things or a cover. Not usually for...the hell of it. And certainly not with people I actually like. I daresay it's nice for a change. You?"

His heart stopped a moment 'actually like,' but his grin did not falter. "It's been a while, but I've danced here and there on occasion, under different aliases over the years. However, I haven't attended anything like this since I served under the king. When I was a soldier, if I wasn't on duty, I would dance at whatever parties were being held. Though in all fairness, it was largely due to the pushing of my friends at the time that I did so. I suppose I have them to thank for the ease that comes with it now. Though my mother was the first to teach me, actually."

"I was always pushed to go out, too," she said. "I actually was taught for this little stunt where we were robbing a noble when I was a kid. After that, I had to learn after I became a soldier and started climbing ranks. Unfortunately that's a requirement of the job for those who make it high enough - gotta satisfy the nobles, after all," she chuckled. "But practice makes perfect, I suppose, and it's certainly a useful skill for times like...this."

"Yes, why hasn't he told us all about her? I can't imagine why not." I said, almost irritably.

"Should've asked him back when we had him drunk." I added, with a chuckle.

James gave a small nod as he momentarily dropped his gaze, afraid his eyes were too transparent, even with the mask on. "Yes," he said as his grin parted into a smile. "I'm glad for it."

"So am I," she said, feeling her heart pounding in her ears. What was this...? This feeling of excitement, of warmth, of some kind of happiness she hadn't felt in a long time. Or, perhaps, something she hadn't ever quite felt before. Not...like this.

And then there was the thought lurking dangerously in the back of her mind - what if he didn't feel the same? What if agreeing to this had all been, simply, a terrible idea? She knew that both of them lived on the edge and in different worlds. They were both bound to where they came from and though she'd give her life for his, there was that part of her that was merely afraid. Afraid of all the what-ifs and unknowns. Of the irrationality and the lack of control she had.

Yet, somehow, she wouldn't give it up for anything.

"Oh, interesting!" Damascus smiled widely at the wolf. "Why only those two forms?" He paused a moment when he remembered that Taber had also asked him questions.

"I can do any form, really. Animals, creatures, beings... anything. They hurt the first time, but it gets easier. And yes, the human form is most definitely my favorite."

He glanced past Taber for a moment, and then his eyes lit up. Oh! Wonderful! His smile grew in delight, glad that James seemed to be enjoying himself on the dance floor.

He caught a glimpse of Boris and Kratzer watching, and his heart tensed, and the butterflies in his stomach fluttered faster. He could only imagine what they were thinking, and what conclusions they were jumping to, when he had yet to reach any himself. There were so many things that could go wrong - if he let his heart follow the course it desired to.

He still didn't know how the masquerade was going to end. He still didn't know if there was going to be another murder to solve, or if the puzzles would only escalate in their horror. But at the end of it all, if it ended like every other crazy reality-defying circumstance he'd found himself in, they'd both be thrown back into their own worlds, with their own responsibilities, their own problems, and everything their lives demanded of them. They couldn't stay here, in places between their worlds forever. There were so many reasons that entertaining the idea of ... of liking her unreasonable, and impossible, and hopeless. There were no guarantees that something like... like them could work, and that was assuming that she would even want to give it a chance.

His smile fell to a weak grin as he looked back up to meet her eyes. His kind of life didn't leave room for... for love, or anything like that. He couldn't afford the risk. To them. And that was when there wasn't the added complication of the fact that Tasha and he were never logically supposed to have met or existed in the same world.

But she was glowing with a happiness that was a rarity upon her features, and his heart was melting despite himself. He smiled again but averted his eyes to the side. The music wasn't helping. He had reason to believe they were playing with them in mind, though it was foolish and self-centered to think so.

"I'm glad we did this instead of drinking," he said softly.

Evron's gaze travelled across the crowd, Boris & co. catching his eye. They, too, were watching the dancers and appeared to be discussing it. He wondered - did they know the golden-masked fellow who Tasha seemed to have taken a liking to?

He pushed his way through the crowd and Thana looked up sharply as he began to wander off, scampering after him. The blonde-haired northerner wove through the many individuals with the gryphon-masked ranger calling after him. He ignored her voice, however, and came up to the small trio.

"Hello!" he greeted with a grin under his mask. "Are you friends of the bearded man?"

"Evron!" Thana barked, exasperated as she managed to catch up, turning to Boris, Auryon, and Kratzer. "So sorry for my friend, h-"

"-he was just curious, because we know the red-haired chick there, an-"

"-d we'd hate to interrupt you, b-"

"-ut we were curious because we've never seen her do that with anyone before and we never even heard about Mark or whatever his name was," Evron completed, grinning. Thana sighed, giving up.



"So am I," she said, her voice equally soft but undoubtedly sincere. This could never work. She knew it, and yet...

D*** it. She was falling hard.

Friends of the mystery woman came to speak with us. Oh yes, this was perfect.

"Yes! We're his honourary brothers, Boris Dietrich, Kratzer...his lovely colleague, Auryon." I gave a brief nod in her direction.

"Our bearded brother is James, and we- I can say 'we', yes?" I asked Engel, but did not await a response.
"We've awaited this day for some time now. It is an honour to meet you, and your lady." I said, genuinely overjoyed, shaking hands with each of them in turn.

"If I could have her name? And ah, yours?- sorry, I'm a little carried away."