Red Mist

12. The First Dance, Prelude: The Jack of Swords

She smoothed the front of her dress, looking downwards.

Freya looked back to the Jack of Swords, turning over the options in her mind.

"You could speak to him about the production of swords!" Freya said.

Abigail's eyes lit up.

"Yes! There can be no other eligible fox lady who knows as much as you do about swords," Holly said.

Holly took a sip from her drink turning to peer at the stairs.

"At least I only see one other fox debutante in this room," Holly said, "I was keeping track. Of the nearly two hundred debutantes, only three including yourself were foxes."

Freya put a paw on Holly's shoulder.

"You've got the training, Abigail. And you're the best-dressed fox at the ball," Freya said, "Unless he is into mice or rabbits."

Holly and Freya looked at each other.

"Nah," They said.

The entire conversation, Abigail had been tracking Lord Richard's movements around the crowd and it appeared that he was only one short conversation away from talking to them. Freya noticed that Abigail's breathing had sped up.

Lady Raina showed up at just that moment. The three greeted her.

"Ladies," she said, "It is showtime. In a short time, I will introduce Lord Richards to Lady Smith here, and the two of you are to help her. I should hope that you will use all of the things you've learned to engage his attention."

She turned away from the group.

"Oh Lord Richards," she said in a voice that made Freya cringe inwardly. It was like a mother introducing her to one of her friends.

The handsome fox strutted over to the group as if he was afraid of Lady Raina. She extended her paw to him.

"Ah, Lady Raina it is so good to see you in the company of so many fine ladies. Your *ahem* affairs go well I presume?" He kissed her paw, then turned to the greater group.

"Lord Richards, may I introduce to you Miss Holly Bun, her family owns the estates near Yellowrock west and their crop of red apples is shaping up to be fantastic this year."

"You're too kind, Lady Raina," Holly said, executing a perfect curtsey as a greeting. He grabbed her extended paw gently.

"This is Miss Freya Uki, daughter of my good friend, and I believe that she is one of the only people around the rock to be raising chickens recreationally," Lady Raina said, "Though to be fair I've never met another."

Freya bowed, accepting his greeting as well.

"It's quite nice to meet a young fox lord," Freya said, "You don't see many of those running around, especially not any bachelor foxes."

"Thank you," he said.

"And finally may I introduce Lady Abigail Smith, heir to the Smith family and the most outspoken lover of swords I have ever had the occasion to meet," she said.

Abigail's greeting was not perfect in the slightest but Lord Richards did not appear to notice. Freya noticed that she seemed stuck, mute, and didn't say anything as he greeted her. Freya could see that Abigail looked nervous and was attempting to put on a fake smile to keep up appearances. She also noted that it appeared that Lord Richards had not caught on.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, his whiskers ruffling as he tried to suppress a smile.

Oh, this WILL be fun, Freya thought, as the circle closed in on Lord Richards, making small talk.

"How are you finding this evening's entertainment?" Holly said.

"I believe that the Queen may have spent a great deal of the royal purse just to keep up appearances tonight, but as it did not come out of my pocket, may as well have a little fun, eh?" he said.

A brief silence overtook them as the performers stopped one song, breaking to begin another waltz. Lord Richards tilted his ears up, Freya could see the gears spinning in his head.

He's either planning something or trying to process how much the Queen spent on this, she thought, maybe thinking that each bird soldier needs two rapiers.

"Lord Richards, we've been told that you have been working on a new lighter sword for the Aviary? Is that true?" Freya said, trying to draw Abigail in with a shared topic they both could converse upon.

"Why yes! The new rapier design is much more lightweight and one can use finesse, as the birds are wont to do. We've created a custom guard design for the different Soldiers in the coalition. The guards are quite marvelous and intricate.," he said, "We've been doing some tests with them and," he lowered his voice to a near whisper, "I believe that the queen may be outfitting all of the infantry with my rapiers."

Abigail gasped. He would corner the market with those, Freya mused.

"Oh?" Abigail said, "How do you create these more lightweight swords?"

"Lady Abigail, before I give away closely guarded trade secrets, perhaps I may have a dance?" he said, extending a paw.

Freya watched as Abigail's face flushed, hearing the first notes of a song. The very same notes that Tulip had played to indicate a waltz was about to begin. She left the small circle, sending one more look of surprise to Freya.

Freya didn't know if Abigail was lucky or unlucky, but she had gotten a chance. There was a chance that Abigail was lucky and wouldn't blow it, but Freya was not going to sit back and wait for the results.