Closed A Memorable Performance (Poison)

[Nissabella Rose]

Season of Fall, Day 31, 512 AV The lights were dimmed, and all the seats in the Cobweb were packed with an excited audience full of aerial dance lovers eager to enjoy the new fall dance production, arranged by no less than the renowned aerial dance mistress Kanasa Curare. The anticipation in the theater, the silence waiting to be filled with music and swishing silk, was almost palpable. In the darkness that even light-sensitive Symenestra eyes would have difficulty piercing, Nissabella of the Rose Web smiled to herself as she listened to the deep, expectant hush, filled only with the sound of blood pulsing through her veins. For all that she was a creature of laughter and chatter, of action and movement, she loved these brief moments before every performance. The silence, the trembling stillness that possessed the audience and dancers alike, the sensation of one great indrawn breath within the theater -- it was intoxicating to Nissabella. In the darkness, all things seemed possible. Then, slowly, the opalgloams set around the stage flickered to life, illuminating the large, roughly spherical cage crafted from sturdy golden wood that hung from the ceiling. Meant to suggest Kalinor's own Nest, it was draped in gauzy pillars of saffron and amber silk and peopled with a chorus of junior dancers portraying the surrogates. Still only an Egg herself, Nissabella was among these dancers. Wrapped in bright silk artfully fashioned to resemble foreigners' robes or dresses, they clung to the cage, their bodies contorted and arched in graceful, languishing poses. As the opalgloams' light fell on her, Nissabella had to resist the urge to freeze in sudden panic, willing her limbs to stay relaxed and loose. A thrill of excitement surged through her and sent gooseflesh to crawl along her exposed skin as the audience erupted in spontaneous applause, admiring the perfection of the illusory Nest. Then the music began, a delicate twittering of flutes and pipes announcing the entrance of Avarys Anthurium, who was playing the Symenestra hero of the production. Even as she gritted her teeth for the thousandth time over their respective roles in this performance, Nissabella couldn't help marveling silently at the easy grace with which he floated across the stage. The delicate, lovely ashen-haired dancer, who was portraying the swan Kelvic surrogate he had captured, fluttered and trailed after him in a lavish, feathery costume of moon-white silk. A beaked half-mask gave her an even more avian look, though her pretty features were still evident beneath it. Symbolizing the leash with which he held her captive, a swath of black silk fastened around her throat and led to his hand, which grasped the silk with just the right amount of careless authority. They made a striking picture as he leaped forcefully toward the cage and yanked ruthlessly on the leash, his movements angular and abrupt, while she hung back reluctantly in flowing, undulating sweeps of white silk. A collective sigh of appreciation rose from the audience. Nissabella too caught her breath at the sight and hated herself for it, hated that she found anything to do with surrogacy beautiful. Perhaps if the swan Kelvic surrogate escaped at the end of the story, she would've liked it better. If the story let the swan girl succeed in seducing and tricking her captor, if the Symenestra didn't come to his senses near the end, Nissabella would have relished this production. But this was Kalinor, where they celebrated the Harvest instead of mocking or denigrating it. She hated, too, that she only had the most minor, forgettable, and hateful role in this production as one of the surrogates imprisoned in the Nest. Her only dances came in a large group of other young dancers, where no one would notice her in her sand-colored tunic costume. Still, Nissabella was onstage again and part of a production, even if for now she was supposed to simply hold still and adhere to the cage in a becoming pose. Her career was still progressing, even if at a crawl instead by leaps and bounds. And from here, she had the finest seat in the house to watch Avarys dance, to admire his handsome features and deep violet eyes, and to sigh over the way that his hands and arms flowed through the air with each gesture. Seeing him every day during rehearsals, watching him play at falling in love with the "swan surrogate," had been both a delight and a torment for Nissabella. She had thought she'd gotten over her infatuation with the good-looking, dark-haired weaver and dancer, but it had all come crashing back on her when he began starring in this production. Her heart soared as she watched him execute a flawless spin seemingly in midair, as though he weighed absolutely nothing. Avarys ended the spin facing almost straight in her direction, his lips curved faintly in the slightest smile. Holding onto the cage's wood for dear life, Nissabella trembled and forgot all her hate and regret, thinking only, So, this is what falling in love feels like.

[Poison]

Avarys Anthurium had only reluctantly agreed to star in the fall dance production. He usually loved to be in the spotlight and be admired by everybody. He was confident in his skill as a dancer and convinced that he was destined to be a star. Some would call it arrogance, but he just knew what he was capable of. Normally he would have been overjoyed that Kanasa had finally noticed that he was better than many of her students, but this time, this time he had hesitated.

The memory of Soraya Orchid who had somehow become the second Moth Queen and what she had done was still too fresh. He wasn’t used to being treated like that, to a woman pursuing him like the men often did the surrogates. Oh, he didn’t mind it if women showed that they were attracted to him – on the contrary! - but Soraya was rude and stupid. She had insisted that he marry her and threatened to tell everybody that he had raped her, that he was in league with the Esterians and that he had freed a couple of surrogates.

He hadn’t been worried about the latter – most people could count – but being accused of rape was a little more problematic – and then all kinds of food that had been laced with sleeping potion and even more evil things had shown up on his table. Since people had been strangely willing to trust Soraya since she had become Moth Queen, he had decided that it would be best to disappear for a while – and he had almost been eaten by the monsters that lived under Kalinor in the process.

The only reason why he wasn’t still down there, surrounded by dead surrogates and being chased by monsters, was that the girl had miraculously gone on a gleaning. He hoped that she stayed on the surface – for the rest of her life. Still, he was far from his usual, confident self – he almost seemed humble as he entered the Cobweb to join the other dancers.

That changed abruptly though as the opalogems around the stage flickered to life, and the musicians began to play. It was impossible for him to be humble and scared when all eyes were on him. So he smiled at them. In his fine silk robe he looked as if he ruled Kalinor and not Nessora and her husband. Unlike Nissabella he wasn’t nervous, he wasn’t about to panick, on the contrary, for the first time since the incident with the terrible Soraya he was able to relax. Moments like these were what he lived for. It also helped that the girl who danced the part of the swan surrogate was lovely. It was easy to pretend to fall in love with her. She was graceful, and she played her part exceptionally well.

Avarys almost seemed to fly through the air. He seemed to weigh almost nothing and executed the most complicated moves effortlessly. His partner’s moves were far less spectacular, but she was lovely to look at as she danced around the cage, a leash around her neck, and looked up at him hopefully. There was so much sadness in her eyes that even those that supported the Harvest with all their heart found themselves close to tears for a moment.

At the same time she somehow managed to be seductive. Avarys’ heart began to beat faster as he approached her. They were so close that they almost touched, and their lips almost met. They danced around each other, and then, in one swift motion he removed the leash.

He threw a silken cloth over her. As he pretended to sneak her out of the Nest, his gaze fell on the other dancers for a moment, on one dancer in particular, and he briefly smiled at her.

Nissabella Rose was, he thought, everything a Moth Queen should be. He still remembered that one time they had danced together fondly.

[Nissabella Rose]

The dance sequences unfolded across the stage with the dramatic, measured cadences of a mother's voice telling a story to a child, but using gestures instead of pauses, shouts, or whispers to illustrate the highs and lows of the tale. Now that she had gotten over her initial nerves, Nissabella was able to concentrate on the movements drilled into her from a hundred rehearsals. As Avarys led the swan surrogate dancer into the cage, Nissabella and the dancers playing the other surrogates drifted to one side of the cage, to allow the swan surrogate's dance of seduction to be seen by all. A low, profound sigh echoed through the theater as the swan surrogate raised her arms and cast off her "feathers" with a flourish, revealing her willowy figure clad in sheer white silk. With inviting gestures and dazzling aerial-work, she captivated both the audience and Avarys. Despite her relative lack of technical skill, this dancer had won the role because of her passion and sensuality; no one could equal her allure when she chose to exert them. Only a few murmurs arose from the audience when Avarys acceded to her enticements, unsnapped her "leash," and snuck her out of the Nest. When Nissabella's gaze met Avarys' and he smiled at her, her cheeks grew hot and her heart sped up for an entirely different reason than before. Just looking into his violet eyes brought back memories of their first dance together, during her audition for the spring production. She trembled, and an acrid droplet of her own venom stung her tongue as she remembered his arms holding her and his warm breath in her ear, whispering, "You are wonderful." Nissabella could have died happily in that instant. Somewhat unfortunately, though, life went on, and she had never even spoken to him after that. He still remembered her, though, enough to smile fondly at her. Nissabella watched with her heart in her throat as Avarys whirled away and stole out of the Nest, following the swan surrogate. The music changed, deepening into a darker, more ominous refrain. Recognizing the cue for the surrogates' group dance of warning, Nissabella straightened and flitted into the center of the golden cage. In unison, the chorus of surrogates threw their arms out in the direction of the departing Avarys and swan dancer and twirled in a slow, spiraling circle. The long swaths of brightly colored silk they all held wafted and dipped above their heads in swirling harmony. Kanasa Curare had instructed them to think of this dance as the other surrogates pleading with Avarys' character to beware. They, the "good and honorable" surrogates, were attempting in vain to warn the hapless male Symenestra and betray the escaping swan surrogate. Nissabella, however, preferred to think of this dance as representing a different sort of pleading. She alone danced as though she were begging for her own freedom, for him to help her escape as well. Into the simple dance of swaying entreatingly after Avarys and reaching her arms out imploringly, Nissabella put all the desperation of a trapped prisoner, the fierce longing for freedom and home, and the anguish of knowing her prayers would go unanswered. While the other dancers moved with elegant, stylized gestures, Nissabella's movements were raw, sweeping, and poignant as she channeled the misery and grief that a true surrogate would feel. The others' dances might be prettier to see, but, she told herself, hers would be more honest. More real. After the surrogates' dance concluded, the music changed once more to shriller, swifter-paced melodies that soared upwards like shrieking alarms. This was the cue for the chorus dancers to retreat offstage, while the lights shone back upon Avarys and the ashen-haired swan surrogate dancer. In the darkness, the dancer had changed back into her winged, feathery costume and mask, and now she cast off the silk cloth covering her and stood revealed in her "bird" form, pristine and glowing. Irrationally, Nissabella found herself mentally urging Avarys to change the script of the production and improvise, even though she knew full well he wouldn't. Not for this premiere, not when the eyes of all Kalinor rested upon him. Don't come to your senses! she prayed to his character. Don't have second thoughts or think of your "duty"! Just let her go! Let her fly away, up into the sky, and go free!

[Poison]

Even though Avarys had little interest in Esterians and freeing surrogates across the city so that the Symenestra women would have to give birth to their own children and die as a consequence, he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he just changed the plot. There was just something about the look on Nissabella’s face. Her dance felt much more real. She acted as a real surrogate would. Oh, he didn’t doubt that there were a few in the Nest who actually supported their captors, but most of them probably longed for their freedom.

Avarys Anthurium had always been something of a … well, not exactly a rebel. He was perfectly fine with the way things were run in Kalinor, but he also loved to provoke, sometimes more than was good for him. Changing the plot of the biggest dance production of the season might not be a good idea. Kanasa Curare had no sense of humor. He loved to dance, and there were very few opportunities outside of her company.

But on the other hand everybody would talk about him if he did it. He loved to attract attention (unless it was Soraya Orchid’s attention). He looked back at Nissabella for a moment, but then the surrogates‘ dance was already over, the other dancers had retreated, and everything was focused on the ashen haired beauty and him again. Her costume was breathtaking. Her lips were half open, and her eyes shimmered as she looked at him.

She was gorgeous, and at least for the duration of this dance she was all his. He enjoyed being in the spotlight with her and dancing across the stage as they pretended to try and escape from Kalinor together. They fled through almost forgotten tunnels together, tunnels that nobody had been in for decades. Another dancer entered the stage, dressed in a fearsome black costume and a mask, pretending to be one of the creatures that lived below the city.

Avarys let go of the swan surrogate and fought the creature, and then he was alone with her once more, facing her. She looked at him pleadingly. He hesitated, and then he embraced her the way Nissabella probably hoped he would embrace her sometimes. They kissed one last time, full of despair. This had not been part of the script. He wasn’t supposed to show his attachment to her, but come to his senses as they neared the surface and drag her back to Kalinor, as if he had never fallen in love with her.

In his opinion Avarys was improving the plot. It was unrealistic that his character would fall in and out of love so quickly and become just like any other Symenestra after he had gone through so much trouble to free his surrogate. He wanted to show his inner struggle some more before it ended the way it was supposed to end – and enjoy the spotlight a while longer.

Who knew, maybe Kanasa would be grateful in the end because he had made her story so much more interesting?

[Nissabella Rose]

As the spotlight shifted to focus on the escape of the production's harvester protagonist and the swan Kelvic surrogate, the chorus dancers finally had the opportunity to retreat "backstage" -- the floor above the stage, full of dressing rooms, warm-up studios, and costume racks -- and relax at last. While thrilling music thudded across the stage, Nissabella concentrated on slowly and soundlessly following her fellow dancers in scaling the simulated Nest's vertical struts. Careful to keep her costume from rustling or the wood from creaking at this crucial moment in the performance, she missed seeing how Avarys looked back toward her and a glint of mischief sparked in his eyes. With a muffled huff of effort, she climbed up to the top of the cage and eased herself through the sliding trapdoor. Within minutes, all the chorus dancers were safely backstage and the trapdoors were securely closed. The smell of backstage filled Nissabella's nostrils, a permeating and penetrating odor of sweat, make-up, pomade, rosin, and glue. Squeals and girlish chatter poured out from excited, exhausted dancers as they collapsed onto piles of cushions and silken fabric, jittery and frazzled from the pressure of performing. Some of the older dancers, more experienced and thus less worn out from dancing onstage, crowded around the trapdoors, which were fitted with thick glass panels for backstage viewing. After wiping her brow and catching her breath, Nissabella cheerfully joined the fray. A veteran of these offstage jostlings for position around the trapdoors, she nudged and prodded at a girl sprawled over the glass panel until she grudgingly moved over. "Move over!" she hissed at the girl with good-natured urgency. "I want to see Avarys!" "Isn't he just the dreamiest?" asked another dancer, whose head practically was resting on Nissabella's shoulder in her curiosity. "He is," Nissabella agreed fervently, her eyes firmly fixed on the blurry image of Avarys through the glass panel. Watching him leading the surrogate, she couldn't help whispering under her breath, "I wish I could dance with him like that. So close, so connected…" "What's going on? What are they doing?" another dancer piped up, having settled for an inferior angle at the back. "He's doing the fight sequence with the cavern monster now," Nissabella reported after a moment. "Oh, he just did the spinning flutter leap perfectly! My heart always drops into my stomach just watching it, but he made it look like nothing at all." A surge of envy twisted her heart as the fight with the underground creature concluded and the swan surrogate dancer threw herself into Avarys' arms as gratefully and passionately as though her life really did depend on him. Then Nissabella felt a bitter stab of relief and disappointment as she remembered the next part of the story, where Avarys' character was supposed to wrench out of the surrogate's grasp and free himself from her seductive wiles. Their embrace would end, but so would the triumph of the clever and cunning surrogate. The story would end victoriously, happily, predictably. Then Avarys leaned in to kiss the surrogate and drew her close, and Nissabella lost both disappointment and relief at once. All around her, dancers gaped in disbelief. This wasn't following the script! "He's…improvising? At the premiere?" the girl that Nissabella had nudged aside gasped aloud. "He…he is!" Nissabella confirmed, leaning forward so far that her nose nearly touched the glass. "He's still acting that he's in love with the surrogate, instead of seeing through her schemes! He's not letting her go yet!" She sighed long and sentimentally. "It's much more romantic, really." "Oooh, Kanasa's going to kill him!" one of the senior dancers exclaimed vehemently. "She's so strict, she hates it when we try to express ourselves a little even in rehearsal. But at a real performance…" "Maybe not, if the audience doesn't boo him," Nissabella objected, wanting somehow for Avarys' new version to prevail. "They don't know that he's not following the script. Listen, you can hear that no one's booing or gasping at all." The dancers all fell silent to listen closely for boos, whistles, or hoots from the audience and to watch for angry or disapproving reactions. "No one seems to mind," remarked one of the male dancers, squeezed in within the avid crowd. "Only Avarys would take such a risk and make it work," Nissabella murmured admiringly. She loved him for it, even more than for his handsome face or graceful dancing. It felt as though he had read her mind somehow and plucked out her urgings for his character not to come to his senses or turn against the surrogate. Through the glass, Nissabella could see clearly that he still hadn't let the puzzled-looking ashen-haired dancer go, but was holding her closely as if he genuinely loved her and wanted to protect her. Avarys was carrying off the improvisation so audaciously and skillfully that it looked utterly believable. The beautiful dancer playing the surrogate had no choice but to follow his lead, swaying and entwining with him in a heartbreakingly tender pose. I wish I were in her place, Nissabella thought yearningly. I wouldn't just follow his lead; I'd show him how much I loved him back, and then I'd take his hand and rush for the entrance! Then we could truly live together happily ever after… Pensively, she cupped her cheek in one hand. If only I could tell him how much I admire him for doing this, she thought. Maybe I'll come to his dressing room after the performance. It's the only place where I could ask to be alone with him. Of course, there's sure to be a huge line of admirers there. But I absolutely need to thank him. I'll wait as long as I have to. For a moment, Nissabella blushed rosily at the thought of being alone with Avarys in his dressing room. She couldn't help daydreaming about throwing herself into his arms, just like the dancer playing the swan surrogate had, and maybe even kissing him. The thought made her feel so flushed and hot all over that she hastily turned her attention back to the performance, before anyone could notice her smiling foolishly into empty air or turning crimson to the roots of her hair. Below, they could just make out the figures of several soloist dancers portraying the Ochya, dressed in costumes that mimicked the peacekeepers' shining black exoskeleton armor. They advanced on the couple in the center, performing brief dances and gestures of warning and menace. The breakout from the Nest had been detected, and now the city's forces were closing in rapidly to capture and punish the rebellious surrogate. Even though she had seen this production rehearsed a hundred times, Nissabella found herself holding her breath. How would Avarys choose to end the production? Would he continue improvising, or was he going to conform to Kanasa's script after all and hand over the surrogate to the Ochya? She half-hoped that Avarys would fight for his beloved, even though she knew he had already taken a risk in changing the script even a little. She wouldn't blame him if he chose to resolve his character's inner struggle now and let the surrogate become imprisoned again. Whatever he chooses, she thought decisively, I want to go to Avarys' dressing room. I want to thank him for at least making it a little more of a love story. For putting just a little more heart into the script and…for making my heart, at least, go out to him. Her jaw firmed and she smiled secretively as she made up her mind. Yes, that's exactly what I'll do. Just as soon as the production ends. If he can be a little daring, then so can I.

[Poison]

„What are you doing?“ the ‚surrogate‘ whispered as Avarys held onto her as if his life depended on her, as if he never wanted to let go of her again. She had to admit that she enjoyed being so close to him, more than she should, considering the plot of their dance. He was an attractive man and an excellent actor, but that was beyond the point now. She had to intervene before he ruined everything! „This is not in the script! You are supposed to drag me back to Kalinor and throw me into the Nest! Kanasa will have a fit!“

„Just dance with me“, he whispered back, and his eyes twinkled with mischief. His mouth was so close to her ear that it looked as if he were covering her with kisses rather than talking to her. „Kanasa will be happy once she has gotten over the first shock. You have to admit, the plot is lacking. No, it’s not just lacking, it sucks. No man would change his mind about the woman he loves so quickly, and no surrogate would willingly return to the Nest after coming so close to the surface.“

„You are ruining your career with this“, she complained. „You are ruining my career.“

„Your career will only be ruined if you continue to talk. Do what I say, and our spectators will just think it’s part of the plot and not demand their money back. I’ll deal with Kanasa.“

She glared at him, but then she complied, wrapped her arms around him and danced with him, a slow, romantic dance. He was right, stopping now, complaining and running out of the Cobweb wasn’t an option. Kanasa would accept that it hadn’t been her idea, that she had simply played along because she hadn’t had a choice.

What followed was nothing short of heart breaking. Avarys Anthurium danced as if his life depended on it, as if he were dancing against the whole world, convincing them of his point of view. After what seemed like an eternity the two lovers broke down and were completely motionless for a moment.

They had realized that there was no hope for them, that they wouldn’t be safe anywhere, that if they fled together, everybody would be looking for them. If she ran away alone, she wouldn’t survive long in the wilderness. If he stayed behind, he would spend the remainder of his days in the Sac. His family would suffer just because he was their son.

There was no hope for them. There had never really been any hope. The best they could do was to return to Kalinor, love each other for as long as Viratas allowed them to and hope it would take a while before she fell pregnant and inevitably died.

As he led her back to the Nest, his every movement was filled with sadness. His dance was slow, his head was bent, he was hesitating, trying to delay the inevitable a while longer.

For a moment it even looked as if he were crying.

[Nissabella Rose]

A mist of tears filled Nissabella's vision and glittered at the corners of her eyes as she watched Avarys and the 'surrogate' dancing together. Their every movement as they entwined around each other was a delight of elegance and expressiveness, richly evocative of love and lamentation. Intellectually, she knew full well that the two dancers were improvising on the spot, making each gesture and movement up as they went along, but somehow that drew her deeper into the spell they were weaving. One tear trickled down her cheek at the sight of the lovers' dance, raw and vivid in its graceful beauty and wonderfully convincing in its artful renderings of romantic endearments, tender caresses, and passionate embraces. Not even jealousy or envy stirred her heart; she was too filled with awe at the marvelous performance unfolding before her. Had she known of Avarys' whispered argument with his co-star onstage, Nissabella would have agreed completely with his point of view. This revision to the original plot glorifying and justifying the Harvest vastly improved the production, making it a love story and a powerful tragedy instead of a moralizing, self-aggrandizing triumph. This made the audience feel the anguish of the surrogate's inevitable fate and the hopelessness of love in the face of death. As it was, she merely sat gazing through the transparent pane in the trapdoor, heedless of the tears that prickled her eyes. Oh, it was beautiful. Her heart felt like it was breaking as she watched Avarys and the other dancer fall still at the conclusion of the lovers' dance, trapped by the Ochya and their own dire predicament. "What's he doing?" "Is he following the script at all?" "Why does he still look like he loves her?" The low, bewildered queries of the other dancers susurrated around Nissabella. "Why isn't Avarys coming to his senses?" "Because it's better this way," Nissabella whispered, half to herself. "This way, the audience won't leave feeling self-satisfied and smug about the way things are. This'll wrench the audience's hearts and make them wonder if perhaps things could be better. If a world where these two innocent people didn't have to suffer and be punished for falling in love might be a better place than the world we live in now." A few girls around her heard her comments and squirmed uncomfortably, not deigning to respond to her romantic, impractical notions. Behind the clustered, rapt dancers, the perpetually nervous stage manager began ushering them to their feet and urging them to prepare for their final appearance onstage. Reluctantly, Nissabella tore herself from the small window in the trapdoor and from the sight of the stylized, gravity-defying interpretation of the Ochya cornering the surrogate and her captor and capturing not just the woman, but both of them, with silken nets and ropes. They adapted gracefully enough to Avarys' improvisation, but anyone who knew the production as intimately as its dancers did could perceive the slightest hesitation in their dancing. Ordinarily, Avarys' character was supposed to be helping them imprison the swan surrogate at this climactic juncture in the story. Now that he was opposing and hindering them instead, everyone had to adjust to accommodate the altered narrative. Clearly, not everyone was as happy or moved as Nissabella was about it either; several of the "Ochya" were shooting Avarys dark looks when their backs were turned to the audience, and the stage manager actually wringed his black-clawed hands every time he glanced down toward the stage. "All right, it's time!" he whispered urgently, as the trapdoors opened beneath the girls' feet to welcome them back into the Nest. In a flurry of silken costumes, the chorus dancers descended back into the Nest, again taking utmost care to climb down the wooden struts safely and silently. The audience's eyes were supposed to be fixed squarely on the capture of the escaped surrogate – and now Avarys' disobedient hunter character – after all, and none of the dancers wanted to distract their enraptured spectators with clumsy scrabbling noises or, even worse, a dramatic slip and fall. Clenching her teeth so hard that she could swear she was blunting her fangs, Nissabella forced herself to concentrate on getting into the Nest and striking a pose of astonished welcome, even though every fiber of her being longed to turn around and watch Avarys. Just as she managed to tuck the last uncooperative fold of her "desert robe" into place, the opalgloams around the Nest came to life, illuminating the captive surrogates as they caught sight of their runaway sister and welcomed her back. At the entrance to the Nest, the swan surrogate performed a slow, lovely dance of sorrowful farewell to Avarys' character, which thankfully still made sense – indeed, it made even more sense – in this version as it did in Kanasa's original script. Then, Nissabella and her fellow chorus dancers rushed forward to embrace the recaptured surrogate, surrounding her and holding out their arms to her. For its simple appearance, this brief dance required a great deal of coordination to ensure that no one bumped into someone else or blocked them from view. Kanasa had been very firm that all the surrogates had to be seen joyfully welcoming the surrogate back. Once the visibly grieving, despairing surrogate had rejoined her sisters in the Nest, all eyes turned back to Avarys, who had one final dance to perform. Normally, Avarys would be expected to perform a dance of gratitude here, for coming back to his senses and returning to Kalinor with the surrogate healthy and able to bear a Symenestra child. He would give thanks to Viratas for guiding him wisely to do what was best for Kalinor and his people. With how much Avarys had changed the production, however, Nissabella – and everyone else in the Cobweb – was holding their breaths to see what he would do next. She was fairly certain, though, that she alone knew that whatever else he did to finish off the production, it would be the perfect ending to this radically different and – in her mind – vastly improved dance production.

[Poison]

„What’s gotten into him?“ a girl next to Nissabella wondered. „He’s killing his career. Kanasa will never …“ „Oh, yes“, another girl interrupted her. „Isn’t he dreamy? I want him to look at me like that just once.“ She sighed deeply. „I wonder if he’s an Esterian. Only an Esterian could possibly play such a scene so well“, a third girl wondered. „He. Is. Not. An. Esterian“, the second girl informed her through clenched teeth and glared at her as if ‚Esterian’ was the worst insult ever. „Avarys Anthurium would never kill a Symenestra woman. He’s simply the best actor in all of Kalinor – no, in the wole world! The dance is so much better with the changes he’s made.“, she agreed with Nissabella, and then she went back to sighing and staring at Avarys as if she were in love. A lot of girls in Kalinor probably secretly dreamed of him.

On the stage Avarys and the surrogate danced the final scene as Avarys handed his love over, and she was returned to the Nest. Avarys didn’t thank the Ochya or Viratas or anybody else for helping him come to his senses, but watched the Nest with a look of sadness for a few moments and then turned away. He danced a slow, tearful dance, and then he broke down, unable to bear what had just happened any longer.

There were a lot of whispers among the audience – the plot had been unorthodox to say the least – but a few moments later those whispers were followed by thunderous applause. Most people in Kalinor didn’t approve of such an Esterian attitude, but this wasn’t exactly real, it was just a dance, a play, and thus it was a little more acceptable – as long as Kanasa and Avarys didn’t make a habit of it. The dancers had danced exceptionally well. Even if the plot had been questionable, the audience had been entertained.

Avarys, his surrogate and the rest of the dancers stood at the very front of the stage and bowed. Avarys was pleased that it had worked out. Maybe he would try to improve Kanasa’s plots more often. Maybe he’d even write his own plays, about Esteria herself, or the Dra or maybe he’d have two gay Symenestra as the main characters of his next play, to see how far he could go, something unconventional that would attract attention.

He turned to Nissabella and her colleagues, a huge smile on his face. It seemed as if he were looking at Nissabella a bit longer than at the others, and then he turned to face Kanasa who was sitting in the audience. She was not too pleased. Her mouth was nothing but a thin line, but Avarys didn’t seem to care. He just shrugged his shoulders, nodded at the people around Kanasa who had applauded to show her that everybodoy else was very pleased and grinned.

[Nissabella Rose]

After Avarys struck his last grief-stricken pose and the musicians performed the last notes of the finale with a flourish, Nissabella could hear the soft whispers throughout the theater as the audience tried to puzzle out what they had just seen and decide whether they had enjoyed or loathed it. Her heart sank as the moment of indecision seemed to stretch on forever. Then, with an explosion of sound that echoed throughout the cavernous chamber, the audience broke into a thunderous ovation that made her teeth shiver and her spirits soar. As waves of applause buffeted her, Nissabella felt like clapping herself with delight. They had liked it! They were applauding and praising it, changes and all. Of course, she more than half suspected that their enthusiastic response came more from Avarys' and the surrogate's beautiful and romantic dancing. As though to confirm her suspicion, the two of them slid down along hanging swathes of silk to the floor of the stage, and the ovation swelled as they took their bows. Still, the applause gave Nissabella hope. For all that the girls earlier had been talking about Esterians without--at least in her opinion--having the faintest clue about what being an Esterian meant, she had to admit that Avarys' embrace, both literal and metaphorical, of the swan surrogate had been a greater display of sympathy toward the surrogates than anything she had seen yet onstage. Perhaps the people of Kalinor were more open to such displays than she thought, as long as they were artistic. At that moment, she decided to work even harder on putting together her dance routine portraying the life of a surrogate. Nissabella knew she wasn't half as charismatic as Avarys, but if her dance could have even a quarter of the impact his had… That's all I could ask for, she thought fiercely. That's all I want, for now! The rest of the dancers, from the Ochya captors to the other surrogates, including Nissabella, took their bows to further applause. As the audience gradually filed out of the auditorium, chattering excitedly about the production they had just watched, the dancers too retreated up the trapdoors backstage. The Egg- and Spiderling-level dancers all shared one large changing room where they put on and took off their costumes and make-up, while the Weavers and the stars had private dressing rooms. After every performance, these dressing rooms were usually mobbed by admirers offering gifts and compliments in hopes of notice from their favorite dancers. As she followed her fellow chorus dancers to the changing room, Nissabella hesitated as she approached the corner of the corridor. To her left stood the door to the communal changing room; to her right were the doors of each star's dressing room, each hung with a sign bearing their name. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the door hung slightly ajar and a beam of soft lamplight spilld from the opening into the corridor. There was no one outside his door, but she knew full well that wouldn't last. After such a brilliant and controversial performance, Avarys was certain to be swarmed with adoring devotees. His room would be chaos, and anything she wanted to tell him would be lost in a clamor of voices desperately trying to be heard above the shrill, squawking din. She hesitated a moment, knowing that she was sweaty, tired, still dressed in her "desert robe" dancing costume, and not at all looking her best. Then Nissabella turned and headed toward Avarys' dressing room door. She didn't even allow herself a moment to knock on the door, knowing that even the slightest hesitation would rob her of her nerve and undoubtedly stifle this impulse before it ever had a chance to flourish. She might never get another opportunity like this, fresh after Avarys' extraordinary and unconventional triumph, and her girlish, fanciful heart was certain that she would regret missing such an opportunity for the rest of her life. Swinging the door to his dressing room wide, Nissabella all but charged breathlessly into his room, her cheeks flushed and eyes almost feverishly bright. "Avarys!" she burst out. "I…um, well, hello. I…uh…" She took a deep breath and began to speak very quickly, not even lifting her eyes to look around at the room or at Avarys himself. Whether he was in the middle of something or only half-clothed, or even in the room at all, she didn't take the time to check, though unconsciously she knew that she'd suffer the humiliation of her life if the latter was true and he wasn't even there. "I-I just wanted to say that your dance out there, when you acted out being in love with the surrogate even when the script said you should come to your senses and take her back to the Nest… Well, it was amazing! Gorgeous. Brilliant," she said all at once. "It elevated the story to a whole new height, to a tragedy that'll haunt people's souls. "And I-I know you already know you were magnificent," she went on, flushing even deeper. "But I-I also know not everyone is going to say that about your dance. A lot of people probably didn't like it. But I just wanted to tell you that I liked it. I really did. I wish more dancers had your courage and genius, to invent something completely new in the moment and turn it into something unforgettable. I wept when I watched how you and she were torn apart in the end, knowing that no matter which choice you made, she would die. "I wept, but I liked it. I…" She trailed off, panting now as she hadn't done after the performance. "I loved it." One pale hand went to her throat, muffling her next words into a low whisper. "And…and I love you."

[Poison]

The girls around Nissabella were chatting as they walked back to the changing room. „I think I’m going to visit him in his room once I’ve gotten out of this thing“, a tall girl with brilliant white hair decided and tugged at her costume which had been rather uncomfortable. „I’m going to succeed where Soraya failed“, another girl announced and giggled. „What?“ a third girl exclaimed in mock shock. „Do you want to abduct him or accuse him of rape so that he has no choice but to marry you?“ „Everybody knows that he only sleeps with members of his own Web“, a fourth girl informed them and shuddered. She clearly wasn’t as much in love with the weaver as the rest. „So you’d have to pretend to be his long lost sister.“

The girls were so busy talking about what they wanted to do to Avarys (and what Kanasa was most likely going to do to him) that they didn’t notice that Nissabella wasn’t coming with them.

~~~~

Avarys Anthurium was sitting in front of the mirror in his private dressing room. He had already removed part of his costume. His chest was bare, and his hair was a little messy. He was just studying his reflection intently as Nissabella entered. As he heard her, he turned around. As she began to stammer, he arched an eyebrow and smirked.

„Nissabella Rose“, he said. „I was hoping to see you. I’ve been paying attention to you since that first audition. I agree, it was amazing, and I was magnificent. And I honestly don’t care whether people liked it or not. They will talk about it for years, and that’s all that matters. I’m a genius, am I not?“

As she admitted her love for him, the weaver seemed honestly surprised. „That’s a little unexpected“, he admitted. He smiled, he seemed to be amused, but at the same time he was strangely fascinated by her confession, as if he didn’t hear such things all the time.

„I didn’t take you for the kind of girl that would throw herself at me and profess her undying love for me. But that’s not exactly what you are doing, is it? You aren’t at all like Soraya and the others. You are serious, aren’t you?“

„You have really fallen in love with me, Avarys Anthurium. Oh my. What shall I do with you now?“

„Do you think falling in love with me is wise? Do you know even a thing about me? Are you aware of the rumours?“

„What do you expect to happen now?“

„By the way, would you please close the door? We don’t want anybody to listen to our conversation, do we?“