FireSweet

                Before I could second guess what I was doing, I closed the distance between us and kissed him.  I willed him to taste my energy, my belief in everything he was doing.  His arm snaked around my waist and pulled me closer to him, deepening the kiss.  My response was not one magic induced, and for that it was sweeter and more intense than his stolen kisses of before. 

                He broke us apart first, staring from me to the band around his wrist.  “I….you… but I didn’t say….” He spluttered.

                “No,” I said.  “But I did.” 

                I smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek before climbing to my feet and reaching for the knob on the door.  Unfortunately Mají was still blocking the exit and I had to wait for him to clamber to his feet after me.

                “Tell me why you did that,” he said.

                “Because I wanted to,” I said calmly.

                “There has to be more to it than that,” he insisted.  “I can make you tell me.”

                “Only if you never want that to happen again,” I warned. 

                Mají dropped the subject, permitting me to leave the room and rejoin the conclave, clambering into the same cage I had occupied last time.  A line had already formed in my absence.  Looking through the crowd, I was now able to spot the small businesslike figure of Flor as she bobbed around, double checking the quantities each man held before permitting them in line.  I smiled at her, waiting for the song to end before the first man from Vinyé's crew entered my cage. 

                I watched him drop what looked like a brick of chocolate through the slot beneath the cage and kick his boots off before clambering up beside me and beginning his dance.  Within twenty seconds I lost myself to the beat, moving effortlessly with my sweating partners before tossing them back to the crowd.  Most were strangers, but soon enough I came face to face with Xament’s grinning features. 

                “Bet’cha never danced with someone as good looking as me!” he said.

                I rolled my eyes, “yes you are very good at looking, quite accomplished at it, but can you dance half as well as you talk?”

                “I can do anything you can do Saldré,” he said. 

                I grinned at him and gestured widely to those around us.  “You hear that lads?  This dog of a pirate from Mají believes he can keep up with Saldré?  What say you to that?”

                Raucous laughter and booing sounded from around us. 

                “I dare you to try me…pirate.”

                I took two steps around him, watching him as he watched my feet and attempted to mirror my simple steps.  I spun on the spot and continued my dance, laughing when he tried the same thing and succeeded in falling against the bars of the tight space.  I moved my feet faster, spinning and bouncing my weight around as I lost myself once more in the subtleties woven into the song.  Halfway through the song Xament gave up, sweat pouring from his body as he clung to the sides of the cage and watched my crazed motions.

                I stopped neatly at the last beat and heard those around us erupt into cheers.  Xament kept his head high, his smile never wavering as he left the cage.  I bowed to those around me.