The Diamond In The Rough✓

CHAPTER 61:

The song used in this part of the story is Adiemus by Enya and you should listen to it if you want to vibe with this chapter (or at least the second phase of the ceremony)...
Lyra's dress in the media
Lyra's POV:

The sun was slowly setting and it time for the next phase of the ceremony before the ball.

We were all gathered in an empty courtyard and sat while preparations were being made.

The courtyard was in a shape of a rectangle and other members sat on either sides, leaving the middle empty.

There were five steps with eight thrones.

A huge throne was at the back and in front of it were seven other smaller, yet large thrones.

The big throne was on the last step while the other seven were on the same level.

I was told to sit at the back on while the royal family sat in front of me, the king being in the middle and directly ahead of me.

Imogen informed me that this part of the ceremony is only a dance for the royal family, the Khamatu and some other officials.

People I hadn't seen showed up and were all dressed traditionally.

They brought gifts and said they were happy to place these offerings for me before going to sit elsewhere.

Jackie, Cyrus, Tamar and Sam were seated on the right.

It was dead silent aside for people chatting amongst themselves but I didn't know what to expect.

Then, from the skies, groups of people with wings (not essentially the Birds of Prey) landed in the middle of the courtyard.

"it's starting; at last!" Rayhan sighed.

I was expecting the dance to be done by normal humans but seeing as they have wings; I guess not.

The entire place fell into silence, while watching in anticipation.

A lady, roughly in her late 40's and other people came along.

They were the drummers and singers.

We waited in anticipation before she began humming and sang alone for a while.

Then the drums started in a low tone at first and the winged people stayed on the ground dancing and moving their hips to the beat.

They were really flexible and bending their bodies in odd positions and manners.

Then when the drummers began drumming harder and the beat became louder, the backup choir began chanting and the dancer took off into the air.

They did a few loops all around each other and every now and then almost touch the ground before pulling up at the last minute only landing when someone began playing the flute.

The choir was silent as we all listened to the beautiful melody the flute played with the drums almost inaudible playing at the background.

Their movements became slow again but they kept on moving trying to match to that of the flute.

Then the flute stopped and the drums took over again, signaling they go up in the sky.

The backup choir began chanting again.

They would go higher making their stunts a bit more difficult and harder to pull off.

It was silent for the last time and the woman chanted while the dancers came down.

As she sung, the dancers brought forth staffs and lit each side blazing.

What were they up to?

The whole crowd was entranced by their entire performance.

Since the lady was still singing, their movements were slow though they twirled the torch in their hands.

Then the drums began again, beating louder than ever before and the choir singing not to be shadowed by the drums.

This time, as they took off, they took off with their torches and using magic so it wouldn't go out.

Some of them held hands and spun really fast before letting go to hold the next partner and not miss a beat.

The louder it got, the more aggressive the dance felt.

Then as the music began to die, they used magic to move the flames around to form different shapes while slowly lowering to the ground.

As soon as the music stopped, everyone clapped at the beautiful performance.

"that was amazing" I smiled while standing to applaud.

"I honestly wish I could do that" Imogen's head turned to meet my gaze.

"me too. I wish I could fly" then Rayhan, the queen and even the King turned to look at me with confused looks on their faces.

"w-what?" they all exchanged looks with each other before waving off what I said with smiles on their faces.

"nothing; I'll explain later"

.........................................................

After that we moved straight ahead to the castle where the ball took place.

I was asked to freshen up and change into a beautiful gown that had already been laid out on my bed by the time I got back.

It was roughly an hour after sunset when the party started.

There were people who I remembered seeing at the traditional dance and they were here as well.

Everyone had changed and was now looking classy and fancier than they were minutes ago.

And it was so refreshing knowing the day was about to end.

Though Cyrus hasn't been dressed traditionally from the start, he changed into some new clothes as well.

He was the first person I saw when I walked through the huge double doors and everyone was staring at me.

His stare however was different and stood out to me the most.

Everyone clapped lightly as I found myself approaching him.

"you look amazing" he bowed, taking my hand and kissing the back of it.

My face immediately became hot and it was difficult to hide behind my hair because most of it was up.

"you look nice too" I forced myself to say mostly because I didn't know how to respond.

"someone looks nice" Tamar and Imogen approached us, while holding hands.

They were both dressed to match; from the material to the jewels they wore and they honestly looked cute together.

"thank you" I smiled as the king and queen approached us.

"it's nice to see you Tamar; I hope my future son-in-law is doing great?" I froze at that point.

Son-in-law?!

My face held no other expression other than shock and surprise.

It was obvious that these two liked each other but I never knew that they were getting married!

"urmm....h-how did this happen?"

"well we've been engaged to each other since we were young and it turns out, it was a perfect match" Tamar's eyes held nothing but the purest love for her.

It seemed there was someone for everyone.

Everyone except me...

COMMENT, FOLLOW AND VOTE
XOXO...