The Lady Knight

Chapter XXXI: Waltzes and Wishes

The Lady Knight

I blinked at him rapidly, desperately praying that he was jesting.

"Of course we do not mind, Sire!" Clara chirped, as Captain Everard nodded vigorously, "go ahead, Jules."

He turned to me then, his eyes twinkling. "How about it, Julie?" he shrugged, smiling, "may I have this waltz?"

Panic flared up in my chest. "Nay," I hissed, backing away from him, "you cannot ask such a thing of me. Good God, I am not certain if I even remember how to waltz."

That was a bald lie, but I did not care.

All aristocratic young Ladies at Bordeux, including me, were required to learn how to dance from the tender age of six at the Académie Royale de Musique, which was located some distance away from Bordeux Castle. Dance lessons were held every Thursday of the week without fail.

This was why I still hated Thursdays in general.

Dancing had been a traumatising experience for me. As my dance instructor, Mam'zelle Matilde, always maintained, I lacked the grace, poise and physique for the art. I was forced to dance and practice my steps over and over again in front of all the other Ladies who were in attendance, much to their twisted amusement, until I had perfected them to an acceptable extent.

To pronounce it as mere torture would be an understatement. I had loathed it every time I had been laughed at and ridiculed by the Ladies, their high-pitched snickers ringing in my ears even after the classes had ended. Even worse was the rare days the young Lords, especially the Prince, would attend the Académie on the Queen's insistence.

If there was one thing these Ladies had liked to do back then, it was to quite simply humiliate me in front of the Prince to find favour with him.

Eventually I had thrown a tantrum, and the Queen had removed me from the program, allowing me to continue training as a Knight with the boys instead. However, the six years I had attended the Académie had all but scarred me for life. Try as hard as I might, I simply could not forget any of the dance forms that I had learned - every time I tried, a memory of how the Prince had bullied me at the Académie would surface, leaving it etched on my mind.

Therefore, I still knew how to waltz. However, that did not mean I had to do so now. By God, I did not think I wanted to dance such an intimate dance with anyone.

Nick's grey eyes twinkled with hidden mischief. "Oh, Julie," he said softly, "how easily you forget who I am."

Before I could comprehend what he meant, he cleared his throat, and bowed deeply over my right hand again, brushing his lips across my knuckles.

"May I have this dance, Lady Juliette?" he bowed and spoke louder, such that everyone around us heard the request.

Some of them turned around to stare at the both of us in surprise, almost waiting for me to accept.

My face flamed red, as I realised what he had done. By publicly asking for a dance, he had made it absolutely impossible for me to reject his request without humiliating him in front of so many people.

I usually did not set much store in what the society might think, but I knew well how cruel their tongues could be when they wanted to. And I did not want him to be at their receiving end because of me.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, "what if I refuse to dance with you? People will not forget this for a long time to come. This incident will be kept alive at every Ball even after your wedding next year."

His smile did not falter in the least. "You will not do that to me."

My eyes widened at those words. He trusts me not to take revenge, despite all that had happened between us in this very same place ten years ago.