A Dance

PART EIGHT

a metallic clang woke Sonia. She had not realised she had fallen asleep. The first clang was soon followed by more, and the sound of immense cogs turning. At the end of the great hall, the braziers were being re-lit with purple and blue flames. The light from them revealed two vast, stone plates moving to meet the bridge in the middle. Sonia was not surprised, the floor had often been moved in this way when she was still living here. This time must be for a dance or something of that sort. Sure enough, when the ground was again still, from all sides there rushed girls in blue dancing dresses and makeup, who all froze in varying positions.

 The edges of the hall slowly and silently filled with people, a high pitched note rang through the hall and the dance began. It was very lively and energetic at first, then became smoother and more fluid. At one point several dancers sprang high in the air. As one of them came down, her foot hit someone's hand and she lost control and crashed onto the floor.

 The music ceased playing as a stunned silence settled over everything. Nobody moved. The girl didn't get up. The sudden hush was cut short as someone shouted, Sonia didn't hear what they said, but immediately after, two rough-looking men raced out from the crowd and dragged the unconscious girl away. This was unfortunate and unexpected, but the dance must go on. It continued without mishap till the end, when a man, who Sonia recognised as Ivan, dashed onto the floor, scattering the dancers as he went. When at a safe distance, the dancers turned and knelt before him. Ivan darted over to the side nearest Sonia and seized the arm of an auburn haired dancer. He led the uncertain looking girl to the middle of the floor where he released her arm and shouted, “Shine! You have won...”

“Shine!” thought Sonia. “It's Shine, what a surprise.”

“...the privilege of appearing at the ball this evening!” Applause. “And of being allowed access to the royal living area!” More applause. “And an identification plate for your wrist!” Gasps and murmurs from the crowd, but also applause. An identification plate meant you were always being watched, that there were certain places where you could not go because of invisible fencing, and perhaps worst of all, you could never take it off. This kind of thing only happened to very dangerous people or prisoners, never to anyone else. Sonia decided Ivan must not like Shine, which was good, life was bad enough without having those two in league with each other.

“A nice sort of prize.” Someone muttered contemptuously behind Sonia. Shine didn't protest, she knew as well as anyone what this meant, but she also knew, like everyone else did, that whatever lord Ivan commanded must be carried out without a fuss of any kind. Sonia felt no sympathy whatsoever for Shine, who had never been particularly nice to her, although Sonia hadn't ever tried to be agreeable either. She had never liked Shine and she wasn't going to start now.

A door opening at the other end of the hall distracted everyone's attention. A man entered and pushing through the crowd, made his way to the center of the hall. It was Mirabell. He bowed low before Ivan and spoke quietly and rapidly. He finished, bowed again and disappeared into the crowd.

Ivan threw his arms in the air and exclaimed: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have more prisoners!” There was a roar of excitement and everyone rushed for the door except Mirabell. He walked over to Sonia's column and surveyed her with interest.

“So you said no?” he asked, folding his arms.

“Yes.” replied Sonia, sullenly.

“Good for you.” he said, smiling broadly. His attitude puzzled Sonia.

“What do you mean? I thought you wanted me to join.”

Mirabell unfolded his arms and sat down on a chair. “Well yes and no. I wanted you to join because if you didn't then they'd probably kill you or something worse. But if you didn't join, then I think it's a better choice. And if... if you got a chance to escape then you would be able to live a better life.”

“I'll never be able to get out of here.”

“Well you never know.” Mirabell didn't look at her.

“No, I know perfectly well. I've lived here for five years and never even been allowed into the actual city. How am I supposed to escape?”

“You never know.”

Sonia did not deign to reply.

Mirabell sighed. “Sonia, I'm only here because of something my father said. He and Chrystal never got on well. Apparently he was opposed to settling in Ivan City and said none of his descendants would work for her, so she shot him and made my entire family come here and help. I don't want to be here doing this, but I can't leave very easily. Someday things might change.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I think you need to know.” he got up, came over and unchained Sonia from the column. “I'm to take you to level six. You remember, the 'nice dungeon'. Follow me.”