Dance of Shadows part I
A Gods of Jade and Shadow Fanfic
When they finally reached a city that first night, Loray pulled up to the most luxurious hotel in the vicinity (he didn’t trust her to drive in the city) and tossed the car keys to a valet. When he opened the trunk, Casiopea snatched up her bag before he could take it. He rolled his eyes to the sky and shook his head, but he didn’t protest.
He ordered conjoining rooms in what she assumed was French. She had known she would understand it, but it was still a strange sensation.
Her room was lovely: walls covered in a pale, sky blue paper with gold swirls and trimmed in white paint. The spacious room had large windows to let in the sun and plush chairs arranged next to them. The bathroom held a claw-foot bathtub that Casiopea looked forward to enjoying, but for now her attention was caught by the large bed draped in a blue and gold comforter.
She dropped her suitcase and ran, flopping on top of it and snuggling into the soft blanket.
Loray came out of his own room and chuckled. “I imagine you’ll sleep well tonight.”
“I imagine so,” came the mumbled reply through the pillow. She still had to recover from almost dying of the bone shard, then actually dying, and then all the trauma and grief from the past couple weeks–yes, she would sleep well.
Loray had already tossed aside his suitcase and changed into an ivory suit with his usual jade pin. “Well, if you would like to stay here and sleep, that is certainly fine, but I am going to go out dancing.”
“Go dancing,” the raven on his shoulder ordered.
Casiopea rolled over to peek at them. “Dancing?”
“Yes. Would you like to come along?”
She paused, weariness fighting the pull of the unknown. “The Charleston?”
“The very same.”
She crawled off the bed and opened her own suitcase, searching for something nice to wear. She didn’t know where they were going, but none of her dresses seemed nice enough.
She eventually settled on a straight, ivory dress with gold beads sewn around the hem and changed quickly. She ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it and found her shoes.
“Are you ready to go?” Loray asked when she stepped out into the hall. She nodded and he offered his arm. She took it and they went downstairs to wait for a taxi.
“Now time to find a decently disreputable establishment,” he muttered as they waited.
“Disreputable?” Casiopea asked anxiously.
“Oh, don’t worry. We won’t be in any danger, but if you want proper dancing, you won’t find it in any decent establishment.”
“Oh.” She could only imagine what her grandfather would say–and her mother! Of course, they would be scandalized anyway at her hair and the skirt that only reached mid-calf, but so far no one else had batted an eye.
“Do you not wish to go?” Loray asked.
She shook her head and squeezed his arm tighter. “No, let’s go.” He patted her hand lightly and a taxi appeared a short while later.
The taxi driver either didn’t notice the bird on Loray’s shoulder, or he had seen stranger things. Whatever the case, he didn’t bat an eye at their appearance, or at their request. As he and Loray conducted a guarded discussion on their destination, Casiopea stared out at the city.
Bright colors shone everywhere: the sky, the buildings, the clothes. The streets were crowded with people and the bustle of the city filled her broken heart with peace. This was what she had always wanted. This was where she belonged.
They soon arrived at a small brick building squished between two buisnesses. Loray offered his arm again, and Casiopea expected they would go through the front door, but instead he led her down an alley and some stairs, then knocked on a door and whispered a password he had obtained from who knew where. The guard cast a strange look at the confident gentleman and the shy girl on his arm, but all sorts came to the speakeasy, and the man did know the password.
The door opened and music filled the night. A quick, jazzy song that tugged on your heart and feet and wouldn’t let go until long after the last notes had drifted away. Casiopea breathed it in like air, closing her eyes and letting it pour into her.
Loray gestured to the door. “Shall we?” She nodded.
The inside was a whirl of movement–spinning skirts, flashing sequins, tipping hats, pouring drinks, and flirtatious winks. It was too much, and yet just right. The movement circling her, but not quite touching.
Her feet stuck to the floor and, as Loray tried to lead her onto the dance floor, her hand slid out of his arm. He turned around with his eyebrows raised questioningly.
Her eyes dropped. “I don’t know how.” Her voice was so quiet she was sure he couldn’t have heard, but he smiled, tucked her hand back into his arm and led her on.
“Then you shall just have to learn,” he murmured, close to her ear.
When they reached the other dancers, he demonstrated the step. It was fairly simple, much more so than anything any of the others were doing, but the song was fast. When a new song began, this one just as fast as the last, he took her hands and they danced.
She slipped up often, but Loray was a patient teacher, letting her watch his feet until she could join in again. When she had gone a good thirty seconds without tripping up, he lifted his arm and spun her around. She lost count of the steps when he did, but it was worth it, and the next time he spun her, she laughed aloud. He flashed a grin at that and then spun her again and again, barely letting her catch her breath, until the song came to an end and, he spun her one last time with a flourish, letting go of her hands. She laughed again.
“As good as you hoped?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Another song began, and he held out his hand again. She hesitated. “A second dance?”
“No one cares much for propriety here,” he assured her.
She knew what her family would think, but who would tell them? The girl who worried what they thought was dead. She felt like a new person now, with the ends of her hair brushing her cheekbones, the hem of her dress reaching far above her ankles, and the beads on her dress glinting in the dim light.
She was a new person, free to travel, dance, and live.
She took his hand.
A sweet smell drifted over from the fruit stand, and Casiopea’s footsteps slowed. She hadn’t eaten much for breakfast, being too excited to explore New Orleans, but now she felt her mouth water at the collection of loquats decorating the stand.
She stepped closer for a better look, and the boy selling the fruit smiled at her. She smiled back.
“Do you want some?” he asked.
The smell was tantalizing, but she had no money on her and she could hardly use a pearl as payment. She shook her head.
The boy cocked his head. “And yet you keep staring. Here.” He picked up a piece of fruit and tossed it. “Catch.”
She did, then frowned down at it. “I don’t have money.” She tried to hand it back, but the boy shook his head.
“Keep it. I don’t usually get such pretty customers.” He flashed a cocky grin, and she looked down, feeling her face flush.
She gave a mumbled thanks, then scurried off, clutching the piece of fruit.
“I’d say your flirting skills need a bit of work.”
She hadn’t heard Loray come up behind her, and she spun around now, indignant. “I wasn’t flirting!”
“Oh, that much was clear,” he assured her, continuing on through the market. She followed. “Though I suppose you can’t be much to blame when you haven’t had the opportunity to practice.”
“I’ve flirted before!”
He shook his head. “Making eyes at the butcher’s son back home doesn’t count, my dear.”
“I never–that’s not–I have flirted before, and not with anyone in Uukumil!” He raised an amused eyebrow. “I have! I flirted with the Mamlab!”
His amusement fell away and he stopped walking. Casiopea turned around and folded her arms. “What?”
“You flirted with the Mamlab?” Loray repeated. “Were you ill?”
“No.”
“Then what would possess you to do such a thing?”
Her eyebrows drew together and she shot him a glare. “You were the one who told us he had Hun-Kamé’s ear, or have you forgotten? We had to trap him somehow.”
Loray crossed his own arms. “And I suppose you were a willing accomplice in this?”
She hesitated. “Well, no. I did argue a bit.”
“A bit?”
She shrugged and his frown deepened. She could feel the disapproval radiating from him. “He was still a god then,” she pointed out, feeling the need to defend Hun-Kamé’s actions.
“He was always a god,” Loray said dully.
She looked down and slid her thumb along the skin of her fruit. “He was almost a man. There at the end.”
Loray studied her silently and his expression softened. He threw an arm over her shoulders and led her down the street. “Well, the Mamlab would consider anything flirting, so I’m afraid I don’t trust your argument.”
She protested loudly at that, and the other shoppers on the street rolled their eyes at the couple so lost in each other they saw nothing else.
When they reached the newest city, Casiopea had eyes for nothing but the sapphire expanse before them, glistening in the sun.
As they passed through the city, arrived at a hotel, then went to find some supper, she couldn’t take her eyes off the sparkling sea.
She had completed almost her entire list, but she still hadn’t gone swimming in the sea. She had been in it once before, but that certainly didn’t count, and she told herself she wouldn’t think of it. Instead it was time to make new memories–ones she hoped would include swimming.
“And later we can go down to the sea . . .”
She turned back to Loray. “Oh, can we?”
He raised an eyebrow. “It seems that got your attention at least. I don’t think you’ve heard a word I’ve said all evening.” She flushed and glanced down at her hands guiltily. “So you want to go down and see it?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I want to swim in it.”
“I’m afraid it’s a bit too cold for that.”
“It’s not cold! And it’s the last one, so I want to go even if it is.”
He tilted his head. “The last what?”
She stirred her drink. “Nothing. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“I think you did. The last what?”
She bit her lip. “You can’t laugh.”
“I won’t,” he promised.
She continued chewing her lip, unsure if she believed him. “It’s . . . well, I have a list. When I was at home, I would read magazines and newspapers and–and I wanted to do the things I read about. I made a list of things I would do when I moved to Mérida.”
Loray threw back and laughed. Casiopea balled her hands in her skirts. “You said you wouldn’t laugh,” she muttered.
“Yes, I apologize, my dear, but I wasn’t laughing at your list. Everyone has a list like that, whether they’re aware of it or not. I’ve been trapped in the same city for the past couple hundred years. Do you think I don’t have a list myself?” No, this had not occurred to her.
He laid his hand on the table and tapped his fingers. “So you want to go swimming. What else is on this list of yours?” When she hesitated, he continued. “You wanted to move to Mérida, is that right?”
“Yes. Well, it didn’t have to be Mérida, but that made the most sense. I just . . . wanted to get out.”
“Well you have certainly done that. So leave, go swimming, what else?”
“I wanted to dance, but not just any kind.” Her words came out quickly, as though they might burn if they stayed inside her throat too long. “I wanted to dance something fast. I read about the Charleston in the newspaper.” Loray nodded and gestured for her to continue.
“I wanted to drive a car.” He chuckled at that, but didn’t interrupt. “And . . . I wanted to wear pretty dresses.” She ducked her head, afraid he might lecture her on being vain like her mother and the priest had.
“Well your ensemble for tonight is lovely, so I’d say you have succeeded in that.” She glanced up and he smiled at her. She couldn’t help but smile back.
“Is that everything on your list?” he asked.
She nodded. “I suppose I’ll have to add more now, though.”
“Yes, you will.” He heaved a sigh. “And I suppose we shall have to go swimming even though it is far too cold.”
“It’s not that cold!”
He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Neither of them had proper swimming attire, so they had to find a shop first. Casiopea was shocked by the length of the swimsuit, but the shopkeeper assured her all the women wore them like that.
When they finally made it to the beach, Casiopea closed her eyes, tilted her head back in the sun, and drew in a deep, salty breath.
“Aren’t you going to get in?” Loray asked.
Casiopea shot him a look. “Just give me a minute.”
He gestured to the expanse before them. “By all means, take all the time you need. In fact, if we don’t get in at all, that would be much preferred.”
“You don’t have to get in if you dislike the idea that much.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m a bit afraid you might drown.” She flushed and looked away.
“I’m getting in now,” she called over her shoulder. The water was colder than she expected. She waded in further and further. Much further than she had been when–well, very far. When the water reached her waist, she stopped.
“I thought you were going swimming,” Loray said. She glared.
“I’m taking my time. The water is cold.”
“I told you.”
She wrinkled her nose and splashed him. A few drops landed on the raven, who flew away before things could escalate. Loray sputtered and blinked the water out of his eyes before sending a large wave her way. She yelped as the wave crashed in her face.
The water fight lasted until tinges of pink and purple began to streak the sky, then they both reluctantly crept onshore to find their things. The temperature dropped swiftly and the wind was biting. They both shivered on the way to the hotel. The raven joined them, but refused to land on Loray’s shoulder, choosing to follow them instead.
When Casiopea’s teeth began chattering, Loray dropped his jacket over her shoulders. “I told you it was too cold.”
She frowned. “You swam anyway, and it was fun.”
“Yes it was, but let’s wait until warmer weather to do it again.”
She nodded, teeth chattering too much to answer. They each fell into their beds the moment they got dry clothes on and slept soundly until morning.
Casiopea was up with the sun, eager to explore this new city, and she knocked on Loray’s door once she was dressed. He opened the door and smiled, but the expression somehow felt forced.
“Good morning. Are you alright?” she asked.
“Of course, why?”
She shook her head. “Never mind. Are you ready to go?”
They searched out nice restaurants and the best place for viewing the ocean, but Loray picked at his food and had to stop to rest frequently. After lunch, Casiopea suggested they return to the hotel.
“Are you alright?” he asked when they arrived. “Why did you need to come back so early?”
“I didn’t. You did. You clearly aren’t feeling well.”
He waved away her concern. “I’m fine.”
She pointed to his bed. “Sit.” He started to argue, but she glared and he obeyed.
“I really am fine,” he protested as she laid her hand on his forehead.
“You are burning up. You should rest.”
“I don’t need to rest. I’m perfectly–”
He broke off as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. Before he could do more than stare open-mouthed, she pushed him back on the bed, threw a blanket over him, and scurried out of the room.
“You are a devious woman, Lady Tun!” he called after her.
“I know. Get some rest.” She turned out the lamp and shut the door, leaving him alone with his thoughts in the dark.