Siren's Call

Chapter 11 - A Lover's Dance

11 - A Lover's Dance

Danae sat on the plush bed in her tent, utterly alone and thinking. Her even breathing did not match her pounding heart. Outside, the night sky had thrown itself over the Eternal Fields and the tents that lay upon it, casting them into a darkness that was only illuminated by the glittering lights that adorned the circus tents. Beneath the clouds and autumn winds, she heard the rest of her troupe rush to prepare for their first performance in Lithewall. 

She herself was trying to counter her own swirling thoughts and emotions. The rehearsal the night before had ended with praises; it had certainly been a success. But at that very moment, fear could not have become more palpable in her little tent. 

It was not just the fear of finding Vincent sitting among the crowd to watch her, to see her more than to admire the other performances. It was the thudding of her pulsating heart that frightened her more than anything. Never before had she felt her heart beat as if it was sprinting a race to break free from her chest. 

It was as if something was about to go very wrong. 

But even that could not hold back her excitement. It seemed to meet with every inch of her body as she lay back upon her pillows and watched the chandelier glimmer and sway softly with the nonexistent winds. She turned her head, and found herself looking at the mirror that stood across her. The prior night, she was stunning and somehow, sexy. But now, the girl that gazed back looked simply beautiful. 

Nothing about her costume nor hairstyle had been altered. Perhaps it was the angle as which she was looking at herself, or perhaps it was the way her expression had changed, but it hardly mattered. In her reflection, Danae looked like a young lady of eighteen years of age rather than sixteen. 

But the glance she caught of herself was only for a brief second, for in the next she had shut her eyes and drowned herself in her dreams and thoughts.

I want him to love me.

Didn't she? Didn't anyone? Danae was certain that a man of Lucas' calibre would have swarms of beautiful girls swooning after him. Handsome, strong-willed and unbelievably sweet, and even at his worst moments, he'd tried to look his best. She recalled his exhaustion when he had waited for her at midnight. She remembered the dark wings that had erupted from his back, and the tiredness that had followed quickly, and how utterly handsome he had been.

I want my best friend back.

That thought had been uncalled for, and her lashes shot open at the words that had quietly snaked into her mind. Her heart ached terribly as she suddenly remembered their last day. Abruptly, all the pain of everything was too much to bear. 

"Danae?" Michael's voice reached her ears through the partings, but he made no move to enter. His  lean outline remained motionless at the entrance. "It's time."

"Coming," she called, and watched him disappear. She lingered upon her bed for a while longer, and then she stood. Smoothing her dress she joined her friends as they moved to the Big Top. 

The drive that spurred the circus on had grown opulent through the cycle of the moon and the sun, and she sensed the determination that had chained itself to the winds and to every single performer of tonight. They would all do their best for the circus, and for the two friends they had lost to Death.

They gathered in the darkness of the backstage area, waiting for Ferran. When he did, he arrived with the flourish and showmanship of the unyielding ringmaster they all knew. But his trained eyes caught something that none of them did, not even Danae. "Where's Lucas?"