𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏

chapter 18 - melody

"How long are you going to let him stare at you like that?" Genya whispered into Elara's ear, while picking at the fruits on the table.

"Are you kidding me, look at me, I'm surprised he hasn't made a move yet"

"Oh you should dance with that Kerch merchant, he has been eyeing you all night and he is quite handsome"

All it took was one look across the ballroom to have the merchant taking Elara's arm for a dance. Her parents might not have enforced the traditional pureblood upbringing but 'ballroom dancing is a girls dance to marriage', or some other bullshit her ancient dance instructor used to say.

Her dance instructor might look as if she out aged the dinosaurs, but she didn't dance like it.

However Elara was grateful for knowing how to dance. And right now she was stealing the floor's attention with her gown, sure it was designed by a magic tailor and looked to give the Queen a heart attack at first glance but Elara looked like the dark witch she was.

A dress of pure starlight, constellations that changed with the music and silk so black that light seemed to vanish under the fabric.

Shoulders on display and a shockingly long leg splint, it seemed that this high society had never seen such scandalous clothes, and Elara was thriving on that fact.

She was tempted to show up in a bikini, just to shock the crowd a little more, but decided against it.

Elara always thrived on attention, knowing that all eyes were on her, watching every little move brought her heart joy. However, not as much joy as reading Aleksander's mind. The man was exploding with jealousy.

After her first dance, Elara was sure that he would crack and ask her to dance, yet the man was as stubborn as her.

A part of her admired it, and it made him ten times more appealing to her, she wouldn't mind if he just took her right against the wall- the pull of the bond was getting more instant with every interaction. Yet his stubborn ways also made her want to pick up the closest thing near her and throw it at his head.

Then again he does put his milk in before he pours his tea so perhaps she wouldn't let her soulmate have any more brain damage. Or at least brain damage she was responsible for, Elara was sure that Genya would do it for free, or maybe even pay Elara to do it.

Elara would explore those possibilities another time, tonight was all focused on 'annoying and flirting with darkle sparkle until he either breaks down or we fuck in that dark room of his, cause I just know he is into some stuff'.

And the fact that it was a ball, a ball with all of the most important people in this world, all in one room. Well that just helped her plan, if Elara had learnt anything in her manipulating days, it was that Aleksander loved power. He loved what it gave him, he loved taking it away from people who crossed him and he loved the status it gave him.

With that knowledge available, Elara knew that flirting with a guard was enough to make his anger grow and heart beat speed up, but they were the general reactions anyone had to someone flirting with your mate, bonded or not.

No Elara was dramatic, she loved the dramatics that the world had to offer, and she loved that her soulmate was just as dramatic as her, he was so dramatic that he created an inerasable black stain on every map, just because he was calling the Darkling and it went with his shadows and his whole aesthetic. There was probably more to it, but Elara would tease him about it later.

No now she needed to make him jealous, she needed him plotting the murder of the man or woman she was dancing with, she wanted him to be aching to have his hands where the other persons hands were on her body.

Elara was the most powerful person in the room, yet she would let the royals and rulers from Fjderan, Shu Han and even Ravka think they were in power. Elara loved to make a man cry but tonight she had only one man she wanted to end up in tears, and not of the sad kind.

So dancing with every foolish and too cocky young royal, ruler, important officer, every dance seemed to make Aleksander's mind darker with jealousy. At first he ignored it, continuing to make polite conversation, yet it seemed that dancing with the young, extremely handsome, very much single and the number one bachelor made him fold.

But unlike last time he did not create a massive wall of shadows that resulted in the death of thousands.

Instead he excused himself from conversation, his tight grip on his champagne glass was aggressively placed onto a nearby severs tray. As the music stopped, and began the switch to a new melody his approaching hand and polite, yet clearly faked conversation with the prince was disorientated in Elara's mind.

All she could focus on was his warm hand gripping her waist and his other large hand wrapping around her hand. The music increases its tempo as did the tension between the two soulmates.

Spinning and slipping into the rehearsed steps, mastered of time, unable to look anywhere but each others eyes. The music increased in volume, Elara brought her heels of the ground, raising herself to reach Aleksander's ears, not minding the breach of the unrespectful distance between the two that could send the Queen and Elara's ex dance teacher to a grave.

"You know green isn't a good colour on you" Elara, curses the highest difference, next time she was going to be an inch taller, perks of being a metamorphmagus.

"I know, why do you think I stick to black"

"Well black is known to be a slimming colour, perhaps you should change out the fish for some fruits?"

Aleksander merely pushed Elara into his firm chest, allowing her to feel his warm, firm chest, which underneath contained an impeccable set of abs, the second best discovering of the night in the banya.

The room barely contained their stares at the couple in black, the Darkling and the dark witch, what a pairing. Both of which had seemingly forgotten the respectable amount of distance between dancing partners that was expected.

No one could pinpoint the emotions in their eyes, lust and craving, perhaps love yet hate and annoyance was clear in both eyes. The Darkling would spin the dark witch, her dress spinning and the splints at her legs separating to a dangerously high level yet never revealing anything. The constellations on her dress seemed to move in rhythm to the music and reflect the ridiculous displays of wealth in the chandlers.

The Darkling would spin her away, the hating clear in his eyes, as if he wanted nothing more than to let go. Yet he would pull Elara back in as if his life depended on it, as if she was his life source.

The attention in the room seemed focused on the dark couple, no one noticed until it was too late. The sound of bullets breaking glass, whether it be the ridiculous stained glass windows or the glasses of champagne, Elara did not know.

However she knew that voice, the Fjderan accent was clear "Where is your dark witch? For she owes me a marriage and one I intend to see through"