Slam Dance That Like Button

The chaotic clicking of my shoes against the marble hallway floor created a dreadful contrast to Elyon’s rhythmic tapping. I’d never worn heels, after all. How could I help it?

Things were just starting to get better, too. After I’d had something to eat and rested to recover my strength, I started feeling like myself again. Despite everything I’d been through, I was ready to give it another try.

“My parents will come around,” Elyon had assured me. “We just need to show them how amazing you really are.”

And apparently, that meant dancing in heels taller than the daffodils in the royal garden.

Placing a reassuring arm over my shoulder, Elyon slowed his pace. “Take your time.” He guided me in a loop through the hallways until I got the knack of it. By the time we arrived at the ballroom, the two of us were walking in perfect lockstep.

Before we entered though, Elyon paused. “No matter what anyone says, don’t look their way. That’s what they want. We’re both about to be viciously subposted at.”

“Sub… posted?”

“I know technology is uneven in the lower quarter, but to think you’ve never heard of subposting. Do you know what a social network is?”

The term sounded familiar. “Some kind of technology that destabilized society worldwide hundreds of years ago, right?”

Elyon’s grin grew into a smirk. “You’re about to have quite the educational experience.”

As we passed through the giant double doors into the ballroom, an android announced our presence. “His highness, Prince Elyon Lawrence, and… his escort.”

This elicited a chuckle from Elyon. “I’ve been gone so long, I forgot even the robots here are snobs.”

Inside, the ballroom was larger than any other room in the castle. Men and women lined the sides of the room, and at the far end, the king and queen sat upon ornate chairs.

Above them, a giant holographic display projected Elyon’s words for everyone to read.

ElyonTheWise: I’ve been gone so long, I forgot even the robots here are snobs.

Below the words were two symbols: a heart and a curved arrow, both with the number 0 next to them.

How… baffling.

It didn’t take long for the words to disappear. As a woman to our left spoke, her words appeared on the projection.

LadyLyraLetters: My, the prince has become so handsome. If looks alone made a ruler, he could become the most successful king in history.

So that the others could not hear, Elyon whispered quietly. “She’s implying that I have no real qualifications to rule. Subposting is when you say something to criticize someone indirectly, knowing that they’ll see it. It’s the nobility’s favorite pastime, and they take pride in being as subtle as possible.”

Before the woman’s words disappeared, the heart symbol pulsed, and the number next to it changed from 0 to 11. Next came a man’s words.

ViscountWinifredTheThird: It takes bravery to flaunt yourself somewhere you don’t belong.

“He’s not praising you for your bravery,” Elyon whispered. “He’s—”

“Telling me I don’t belong here. I know. Do I really have to play this petty game to earn their respect?”

“Only if you want to.” Elyon raised his voice so his words would appear on the holographic display. “Remember what happens when you wrestle with a pig.”

This caused quite a stir among the nobles, who began quietly whispering among themselves. Elyon’s words remained on the display for much longer, but as we neared his parents, they were replaced once again.

ViscountWinifredTheThird: It’s a shame today’s youth have no manners. I truly worry for the future of this country.

But as soon as they appeared, the words vanished, and a much more direct criticism appeared.

MicaelaVonTaxiarchos: @ViscountWinifredTheThird You’re one to talk about manners, you…

The rest was so filthy that I won’t repeat it.

As the crowd erupted into shocked jabbering, the king rose to his feet. “Elyon, look at what you caused by bringing that commoner here.”

With a sarcastic bow, Elyon addressed not just his father, but everyone in the room. “Viscount Winifred’s behavior has been unacceptable since I was a lad. It’s about time he got a reprimand, I say.”

Turning red in the face, the king stomped his foot. “If we punished the nobles for their subposts, they would be afraid to tell us their true feelings, even indirectly. But you, my boy, are a royal. There’s no need for you to subpost me like that.”

“What about the commoners’ true feelings? They can’t subpost at all. Do their voices not matter?”

“Don’t try to avoid the real issue, Elyon. I expressly forbid you from bringing her to the ball.”

“But father, she’s such a wonderful dancer that I simply had to show everyone.”

A wonderful dancer? Me? No, no, no. I’d never been to a ballroom in my life. If this was Elyon’s plan to win his parents’ approval, it was about to fail spectacularly.

Perhaps the king noticed the panic in my face, for his anger was replaced with a cruel smile. “Very well then. Show us.” Sweeping his cape aside with his arm, he sat back down.

Taking me by the hand, Elyon led me to the center of the dance floor. “Relax. Just pretend we’re back at the Digital Dreams Realm.”

“But that’s a low-class nightclub. That kind of dancing isn’t appropriate for a royal ballroom.” Did he want the nobles to scorn us even more?

“Actually, it’s perfect, because they’ve never seen it. More than anything, the idle rich desire new ways to shake up their boredom and waste away their lives.”

His smile was so confident that I couldn’t help but believe him. After all, it was that smile that made me fall for him in the first place.

Even so, there was one thing that still bothered me. “What about the music?”

“Micaela’s got us covered.”

Sure enough, rather than the soft, refined tones of classical music, a hard, gritty beat began to play. It wasn’t quite as fast as I liked, and the electric violin gave it some class, but it was definitely the kind of throbbing, distorted music played in the lower quarter.

Conscious that I was still in heels, I began swinging my arms and twisting my hips. Elyon followed my lead, aggressively leaning in until our noses were almost touching. We lost ourselves to the beat, and our surroundings faded away. I stepped forward, he stepped back, our movements fast and jerky. Never once did he allow our bodies to touch, though I tried many times to brush up against him. I suppose that would have been too uncouth for high society dancing.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and we were returned to reality. The looks on the nobles’ faces betrayed their astonishment—and their intrigue. A cacophony of stomping broke out as man and woman alike stampeded towards me.

One woman shouted over the noise to get my attention. “What a fascinating dance, Ms. Blütenzweig.”

She was quickly elbowed aside by a heavyset man. “You simply must teach me.”

Raising his hands, Elyon silenced the crowd. “One at a time. Mr. Silverleaf, you first.”

A well-groomed man emerged from the crowd. Tall, with slicked-back black hair and a clearly expensive suit. He had the kind of looks I might normally fall for, but next to Elyon, he looked dull in comparison.

With an exaggerated bow, he kissed my hand. “Ms. Blütenzweig, I fear I may have been hasty in dismissing you. Would you do me the honor?”

Leaning close, Elyon whispered in my ear. “Mr. Silverleaf is the foreign minister, and he holds considerable sway over my father’s opinions.”

Curtsying in return, I put on my most convincing smile. “The honor would be all mine, Mr. Silverleaf.”

👑

One thing was for sure: I hadn’t chosen wrong. If anyone could shake up noble society, it was Gia. Once they got over their preconceptions of commoners, they were defenseless against her natural charm.

She was also an incredibly hard worker. Back-to-back, she must have danced a dozen times before excusing herself for a rest. Near the end, the dance floor had turned into a mosh pit, with barons and duchesses alike gyrating around her.

The sight was so charming that it almost made me fall in love with her all over again.

Er, I mean, for the first time.

Naturally, I was waiting for her with a tall glass of water when she finished. I may be careless sometimes, but I never make the same mistake twice.

“Wonderfully done. And look, some of your new, important friends are headed this way for a chat.” I gestured towards Mr. Silverleaf and another man. “May I introduce our defense minister, Mr. Felsengard?”

“Charmed.” As ever, Felsengard was a man of gruff voice and few words. “Outstanding endurance, young lady. If all commoners were as stout as you, we’d have no trouble on the battlefield.”

“Speaking of commoners…” Gia looked to me for confirmation, and I gave her the slightest of nods. “I hear the king is about to hand down a ruling that would see genetically-modified children sent to the battlefield.”

Felsengard nodded. “Child soldiers. I hate the idea too, but we’re running out of options.”

“If things are so grim,” Gia continued, “would it not be better to make peace?”

“Not possible.” Felsengard shook his head. “Our enemies are driven by ideology. They won’t stop until we force them to.”

“Certainly, the Sturmklippe Republic sees it as their mission to destroy the aristocracy, but—”

Silverleaf interrupted, earning a reproachful glare from me. “In the castle, it’s proper to refer to them as peasant uprisings, not republics. We don’t recognize their governments as legitimate.”

“But the Blumenfeld Republic might be convinced to make peace if we started treating commoners better.” Gia held her ground against Silverleaf’s unhelpful posturing. Good girl. “Especially if they were to see a commoner married to the country’s next king.”

Their thought processes were slow as ever. It was almost funny observing the rusty cogs of their minds turning as they looked from her to me and back to her.

“That… might work,” Silverleaf finally admitted. “But we’d have to secure the marriage quickly. Excuse me. I think I need a word with the king.”

Felsengard wasn’t as easily convinced. “The von Taxiarchos family won’t approve of any idea that didn’t come from their algorithm.”

“Sod the von Taxiarchos family. The algorithm is not a death pact.” Silverleaf’s outburst was loud enough to get picked up by the social media feed, where it earned exactly two favorites. Micaela and Fiona, no doubt. Only they would feel safe enough to openly agree. “Oh dear. Now you really must excuse me.”

As he ran off, Felsengard reached for Gia’s hand. “I would love to hear more. How about a dance?”

Just as when Silverleaf had kissed Gia’s hand, I felt the instinct to slap Felsengard away. How dare he act so wantonly towards her when she was with me?

Surely, it was just my chivalrous upbringing. I’d feel the same about any woman I escorted. It was my job as an escort to protect her, after all.

Gia was charming, and I was fond of her as a person, but I didn’t have any romantic feelings towards her.

Definitely not.

Dammit, who was I trying to fool? I’d fallen for her at first sight, but I needed her help to correct this kingdom. No good could come from getting attached to your pawns, let alone falling in love with them.

And so, as she led Felsengard back to the dance floor, I resolved to lock my feelings away for good.