Dancing on Strings

Sly Smiles and Top Hats

Geneviève looked at her for a moment, then smiled and waved the letter. "I'll hold you to it," she said, holding up her little finger.

Mai held up her little finger in reply with a grin before walking back into her rooms with Joliette – who checked in on Henri to find he'd collapsed face-first back onto his bed and was softly snorting.

While Henri was left to sleep late after staying up late the night before to cover Joliette who had needed the night away to handle 'personal issues' she did not share with either him or Mai, she and Mai dressed for the day and Mai set out for breakfast then the studio.

With only a week before the opening night of The Sleeping Beauty and a few weeks before opening night of The Doll Maker, balancing her time between court and class was getting harder. Her father wasn't giving her any leeway, she had to stick to her aggressive schedules and if something went wrong, she had to fix it.

Part of her somewhat resented that he didn't help in the slightest but she knew he was testing her, relentlessly – it came with going against the norm. He'd done and survived it, so would she.

She had already come to accept that she would not open any of the ballets – which, in a way, took some of the pressures off her shoulders. She couldn't open when the royal family was expected to attend the opening nights for them in full force.

Swan Lake opened that night on the Analiesia Stage and Mai watched as Zedina glided through the ballet, pouring such maturity and sensuality and elegance and vulnerability into her two roles that she had to stop herself from second-guessing her place on that stage.

Zedina – like Marie-Anne and Marie-Cher – was a principal who was used to carrying the weight of a ballet on her shoulders. She had done it for years. She forever continued to practice the basics and built on them. She was older, she had been in and out of love, she had witnessed heart break and known pure romance, she had seen something of the world and survived it and that showed in her dance. She had something younger dancers – like Mai – could not mimic. She had maturity and experience on her side and, for all Mai's born talent; she knew people would see the different between her and the other principals.

Mai watched with her cheek in her palm, her elbow on the railing of her theatre box, as Siegfried and Odette conversed about her curse and how to break it when Genevieve tapped her on the arm.

"They say they're here," she whispered.

Mai looked blankly at her.

"The Midnight Troupe, apparently they're here."

"Here? In the theatre? I'm amazed they were able to get such last minute tickets."

"You see how successful they are."

Mai looked down from her box to the stalls below, not that she would have any idea what to look for or where to look.

She highly doubted Bunny Boy would be sitting in his rabbit-eared top hat throwing puppet strings around the place – it would distract from the dancers and, from one artist to another, that simply wasn't on.

"Do we know when they shall be preforming for us?"

"The first ball," Genevieve said as she made to stand. "I'm going to go find them."

Mai grabbed her arm and wrenched her back to her seat, drawing the attention of Amira and Avalon who they shared the box with.

"You most certainly will not," she hissed.

Geneviève gave her a look of utter indignation and opened her mouth to protest – probably quite loudly.

"They shall have their turn to show off and you shall meet them in person within the week," Mai hissed, stopping her sister, "These dancers have worked tirelessly to bring us a performance that will bring you to tears and leave you in awe of their skill. Don't you dare turn your back on them just so you might go chasing handsome boys who will not appreciate your pestering when here to watch a ballet. You have seen me every night after classes, you know how rehearsals tire me and yet I go back every morning because I want my audience to love the show they sat through. I would take great offence to your attitude and dismissal of all my hard work so do not be so rude."