First Steps to the Dance (Poison)

[Nissabella Rose]

Season of Spring, Day 72, 512 AV Fidgeting and tapping both feet on the floor, Nissabella sat waiting anxiously in the anteroom outside the studio where auditions were being held for a role in the Cobweb school's newest dance production. An epic and imaginative dramatization of the Symenestra's distant past when they dwelt in the jungles of Falyndar before the Valterrian, the ambitious aerial dance production required an immense cast that included every Weaver, Spider, and Spiderling currently associated with the Cobweb school, as well as nearly all the Eggs. As usual, the Eggs were only expected to perform simple maneuvers in large groups in the background of each scene, in this case as the ordinary citizens living in the Symenestra's treetop city. Little more was expected of them, as the Eggs were not judged to have enough skill to do anything else. However, just the other day, a sudden opportunity to rise through the ranks a little opened up when one of the Spiderlings, in a careless evening of carousing at the Hunter's Gather, made a drunken bet about scaling the tavern's walls. The Spiderling lost both her money and her role in the production when she slipped and broke her arm in a fall. Her injury was the despair of the Cobweb's faculty, but a cause for excitement and celebration among the older Eggs. An injured dancer was no dancer at all, and with no other Spiderlings available to replace her, one of the Eggs would have a chance to take on the hurt Spiderling's role. Hence the reason for Nissabella sitting and fidgeting outside the audition studio along with half a dozen other hopeful Eggs, each aspiring to win a slightly more conspicuous, technically complex position in the production. She fought down the urge to linger beside the closed door of the anteroom and strain her ears in hopes of hearing something from the audition studio on the other side. There were already two other dancers listening at the door, whom she'd have to contend with for space. Instead, Nissabella rose to her feet and began doing her warming-up exercises for the third time. Stretches came first: toe-touches, back and arm stretches, limbering exercises for the hands and feet, and flexes for her core muscles. Standing against the wall, she practiced extending the tiny hooks that were the Symenestra's unique gift, allowing them to climb seemingly smooth surfaces, and made sure each connection she made to the stone was firm and strong before withdrawing the minuscule hooks. Meanwhile, she ran through every step of the audition piece in her mind, rehearsing every gesture and willing her muscles to remember it as well as her mind. It was a two-person aerial dance, as the Spiderling's main performance came during a small group dance depicting two pairs of courting lovers in the treetop city. First, Nissabella would leap upward onto the hanging veil suspended from the ceiling, securing herself halfway along it by grasping the finespun fabric between the soles of her feet, without ever tearing it with her nails. For a while, she would twist herself amid the hanging veil in several positions to show yearning, loneliness, and desire, arranging her silken swath to drape over her head like a dark shadow or cloud. Then, still securely knotted into the hanging veil, she would snatch her swath from her head and flick it like a tendril of thread into empty air. Seemingly by empty chance, her swath would meet the swath thrown outward by her "partner," in this case one of the Cobweb's teachers who volunteered to accompany the auditioning dancers. The two swaths flung out in empty space and meeting one another symbolized the intertwining of two fates, either by chance or by destiny. Cautiously at first, then more enthusiastically, she and her partner would let fly their swaths, until at last they caught the ends of each other's silken scarves and began climbing along it toward each other. At last, Nissabella and her partner would join together in the middle and knit their two hanging veils together to span the void, all while allowing their bodies and swaths of silk to fall into poses of the most romantic grace. So, at least, it was supposed to go. In her head, Nissabella performed every move flawlessly and was showered with the judges' applause when she was done. She wasn't at all sure she could accomplish all that in reality. Her palms sweated at the thought of clinging to the hanging veil with every hook in her legs and feet. Nissabella finished her warm-up exercises and sagged against the wall, telling herself not to think about the audition piece too much. At that moment, the anteroom door opened and a thoroughly exhausted-looking ruby-eyed dancer stumbled out of it, rubbing her arms and wrists. Beyond it, every dancer in the anteroom could see the hanging veils of silk awaiting them, as well as the judges seated at the other end of the studio. The clear, carrying voice of the head aerial dance mistress, Kanasa Curare, rang across the studio. "Nissabella of the Rose Web, next, please." Nissabella's eyes flew open, and she shakily climbed to her feet. Whispering a prayer to Viratas for strength and guidance, she lifted her chin and hurried through the door into the audition studio. Whether she was ready or not, it was time for her audition.

[Poison]

There were five women and one young man waiting in the anteroom together with Nissabella. The girls, all silver haired and pretty, looked rather nervous. Two of them were trying to listen at the door. Two were talking to each other and wondering what exactly would happen during the audition. The fifth girl had her arms crossed over her chest and shot the other four venomous glances. She clearly considered herself better than the rest of them. When they had all been called into the antechamber, she had informed them that she was Soraya Orchid, and that she would get the role! The young man, rather feminine in appearance with his dark hair and brilliant violet eyes, sat some metres away from the rest of them and seemed to be brooding over something.

As Kanasa called Nissabella’s name, he briefly looked up and smiled lightly, and then he went back to brooding. The girls giggled and started wondering if he had ended up in the wrong audition because the dance was clearly about a pair of lovers, and he was male. The young man ignored them completely though.

The audition studio was almost empty. Kanasa sat there, of course. Next to her was another dancer, a woman from the Acacia Web, and there was also a man who would be Nissabella’s partner during the audition. He was not yet thirty, with midnight black hair and intense violet eyes. Nissabella would recognize him as Avarys Anthurium, a dancer and co-owner of the Weft and Warp, the weaving school. He was a rather good looking man, elegant and graceful, although he had a certain, questionable reputation.

While Kanasa remained sitting on her chair, Avarys rose as soon as Nissabella had entered and approached her. „You must be Nissabella“, he remarked and extended his hand to lead her to the stage. „Kanasa asked me to help out during the auditions. Shall we begin?“ He smiled a brilliant smile.

The stage was, as Nissabella could see, almost empty. There were no decorations. There were only a few opalogems that provided light and a veil that hung from the ceiling.

[Nissabella Rose]

Nissabella's eyes widened when she found herself face-to-face with her prospective partner, a lithe and handsome Symenestra that she recognized from her frequent visits to the Warp and Weft as Avarys, the weaving school's co-owner. At close range, his intense violet eyes took her breath away. She managed to smile back at him and accept his hand as he led her up toward the stage, though she could distinctly sense her fingers trembling in his feather-light grip. With an effort, she pulled her gaze from Avarys and looked toward the judges. For a moment, the sight of their stern expressions seized her with a sudden, sharp longing to run back to the anteroom and hide behind the door. The memory of the haughty Soraya Orchid's venomous glances and words stiffened Nissabella's back, though. Even if the girl from the Orchid Web came from a better-regarded bloodline, she was going to get that role. All she would have to do… She gulped. All she would have to do was ascend the veil of silken fabric hanging the ceiling and do her best not to fall, forget the routine, or otherwise make an utter fool of herself alongside the elegant and far more skillful Avarys. Nissabella looked into the man's eyes, willing herself not to drown in their purple depths, and held her smile. "It will be an honor to dance beside you," she murmured, fighting hard to sound nonchalant. Letting go of his hand, she walked over to the hanging veil of silk on the left-hand side of the judges, taking care to make even her strides graceful and keeping her toes pointed on every step. She knew the judges would be measuring even her most infinitesimal gestures, no doubt watching alertly for any sign of clumsiness or ineptitude. A tremor of nervousness and anticipation shuddered through Nissabella as she reached the emerald-colored veil and grasped it in both hands, with her silk swath twined around her left arm. For all that she had dreaded failing this audition, she was even more excited to have the chance to perform it for real before the eyes of the Cobweb's foremost dancers and teachers. Turnng her face toward Avarys and the judges, Nissabella announced, "I am ready." In the real performance, this group dance would be underscored by the dreamy, wistful melody of a solo flutist. At the audition, though, the Eggs were not afforded the luxury of a musician to accompany them. Instead, Nissabella relied on the music she heard inside her mind, memorized from many sessions with her teacher humming it while she rehearsed her portion of the dance. As the drifting notes in her head resolved into a single sustained note, Nissabella tensed her body and leaped up onto the hanging veil, catching hold of it between her hands without ever sinking her nails into the fabric. Fine-spun though the silk appeared, it was surprisingly strong and elastic for such soft-looking fabric, capable of supporting a Symenestra's full weight with ease. Along Nissabella's left arm, the silk swath that every aerial dancer carried -- green-hued today, to symbolize jungle leaves -- swirled free in a flutter of vivid color. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Avarys had leapt onto his veil as well and noticed she was slightly lower along her veil than he was; she must not have leapt high enough. Pinning the fabric of the hanging veil between her knees, Nissabella adjusted as quickly as possible, using her upper body to pull herself up to the correct height to dance alongside him. The first figure of the dance called for both aerial dancers to depict their lonely, longing hearts with a forward-leaning hanging pose into the open air. Gripping the silk between her bare feet, Nissabella began the figure by raising her body into a standing pose in front of the hanging veil. Above and slightly behind her head, her uplifted arms hung onto the veil for dear life. Subtly twisting her hips, she let her body spin slowly in mid-air, causing her green silk swath to flutter free and float softly onto the top of her head. Beneath the swath, Nissabella breathed a deep sigh of relief; in rehearsal, she often spoiled that move by missing her head and letting it float onto a shoulder or simply droop lifelessly, but now, when it mattered, the swath fell correctly atop her head like a foreboding shadow. Then she slowly -- but not tentatively, never tentatively -- slid her right foot free of its grasp on the veil, relying only on the microscopic hooks of her left foot to hold onto the thin fabric. Arching her body, she let the fine fabric slide gently between her hands with her right leg extended downward and her heart pounding in her chest. With her left leg straight behind her and her right leg pointed at the ground, her back curved like a bow and her face upraised toward the sky as if in supplication, Nissabella abandoned herself to the tension and emotion of the hanging pose. In her heart, she imagined herself the unhappy lover, gazing through the dense foilage of the jungle for a single sunlit ray of hope. It was a pose that only a Symenestra could perform, with their ability to adhere to seemingly any surface they wished. Nissabella's chest rose and fell with the excitement and exertion of it. By the blood, she never felt so alive as when she was aloft in the air and performing an aerial dance. Elation pulsed in her veins as she held the pose, letting every muscle in her body express the lover's melancholy heart. This was only the first figure of the dance, though, and there were dozens more left to be performed. Remembering the music and the cues within the notes, Nissabella waited a beat and then lifted herself again into a standing pose, her legs joining together again in gripping the silk. Blood pounded in her ears as she prepared for the next gesture, letting go of the veil with her hands and flinging her arms wide in a motion of seeming hopelessness and despair. If she could hold onto the veil with her legs and feet alone, the gesture would be spectacular and daring, suspended at least twenty feet above the ground. If she failed, though, well, Symenestra bones broke so easily; even a jostling crowd could hurt them. A collision with the hard stone floor below… Nissabella held her breath. Squeezing the silk between her feet, she let go of the silk and gracefully spread her slender arms wide.

[Poison]

Two pairs of eyes – no, three pairs of eyes – watched Nissabella. Avarys looked at her closely as he led her to the stage. He watched every movement of hers with the utmost attention. There was something intimate about his gaze. His lips were slightly parted as if he were about to kiss her, as if they were really a pair of lovers and not just about to portray one during the dance. As she grasped the veil, he stepped back a bit and raised his head a fraction. A smile graced his lips. He waited until she had started her dance before he lept onto his own veil.

His position was perfect from the start. His movements were fluid, graceful, elegant, as if he had been doing this all his life. Everything he did looked natural as if this was his normal way of moving, as if his work at the Weft and Warp was just an act. He made everything seem effortless. Avarys Anthurium was a good weaver – and he could be a decent teacher if he wanted to - but he was an excellent dancer and actor. His talents were clearly wasted at the school.

At first he moved a bit faster than her, but then he adjusted to her own speed, mirroring her own dance. His head was raised a fraction as if he too were looking for a ray of hope, for a single glimpse of the one he loved, the one that would make everything worthwhile, but that he never seemed to be quite able to reach. He looked completely desperate.

As Nissabella held onto the veil with her legs alone, Kanasa’s colleague let out a gasp, worried that the young woman would fall and break all her bones. Kanasa herself didn’t say anything, but simply watched, and Avarys – Avarys smiled as if he had known all along that she would succeed. In Kalinor rumours circulated that the man had a lot of affairs, that he was much closer to his cousin than cousins should be, but at the moment he was nothing but kind and encouraging.

He began to climb, faster, faster, towards the sky. The veils seemed to dance around him as if they were living things. He slowly came closer to her. For a moment they were almost touching. For a moment their veils seemed to be entwined, and then he was suddenly gone again. He had disappeared behind the veil.

Nissabella would have to pretend to look for her lover now, to find him in the endless jungles of Falyndar.

[Nissabella Rose]

Nissabella had to fight the urge to hoot and cheer when she successfully performed the deceptively effortless maneuver of spreading her arms wide and holding onto the hanging veil with her legs alone. Inwardly, she was afire with joy, but she had to maintain her persona; she had to appear melancholy and downhearted, even if her heart was overflowing with excitement that she had executed the hands-free maneuver and was still alive. After all, she was not representing herself in this dance. In this dance, she was not Nissabella of the Rose Web; she was a nameless Symenestra maiden pining for love before the catastrophe of the Valterrian. So, even though she could see out of the corner of her eye that Avarys was smiling encouragingly at her, Nissabella clamped down on her elation and called upon her discipline to keep her expression suitably downcast. Side by side, she and Avarys climbed their hanging veils, drifting closer and closer until their separate veils almost touched. She waited a beat and then stretched a pale arm out toward him in a sweeping, stylized gesture of longing and desire, while he arched his back in an exquisite pose fraught with desperation. The consummate grace and competence of her handsome partner was an inspiration to Nissabella. With very little effort, she found herself falling into her role and feeling tinges of the emotions she was trying to express. It didn't hurt that Avarys was so attractive and talented. She began imagining that Avarys was really her lover, just out of reach. Her movements took on greater dignity and a deeper sense of feeling and expressiveness as her fancy took flight. When he disappeared from view, Nissabella felt her own heart give a tiny jolt. She threw herself against her own diaphanous hanging veil with a far more intense show of distress than she'd ever displayed in rehearsal. Then, following the routine, she let go of the long veil with her right hand and tilted her body outward, caressing the empty air with her fingers as though yearning to stroke her beloved's face. As Nissabella thought of touching Avarys' face, her whole body grew heavy with the emotion and her hand flowed through the air more smoothly and confidently than ever before. Even if she'd wanted to, Nissabella couldn't stop the tide of passion that flowed ever faster through her veins as she continued with the dance. More than a little genuine restlessness and frenzy found its way into her movements as the young Egg kicked rhythmically with her legs to symbolize her chase through the treetops after her beloved. Her hands clung to the veil, but her legs cycled and thrust almost as if she were truly running forward, intent on pursuing Avarys. With each kick, Nissabella also flung out the end of her green silken swath -- the one that all dancers carried in every dance they performed -- toward Avarys, to represent the thread of hope that each lover hoped would catch onto something real and true. To Nissabella, each fling felt like she were calling out after Avarys, crying out to him and begging him to stay. She concluded the running motions with a half-cartwheel across the hanging veil, flipping upside-down and rolling forward, and ended in a wide side split against the veil's surface. Intended to convey soaring movement, the pose brought her left leg straight forward in front of her and her right leg extended behind her, with the knee as straight as possible. The pose looked utterly weightless, as though she were truly flying through the air with the veil as her backdrop. In reality, though, Nissabella's outstretched legs and uplifted right arm were hooked as tightly as she could manage into the hanging veil. Her muscles burned and trembled with the effort to keep her aloft, and her stomach was clenched with tension. Slowly and deliberately, trying her hardest not to look as though she were straining at all, she leaned forward and lifted her right arm into the air, unfurling her silken swath like a banner and throwing its free end as far as she could toward Avarys. In Nissabella's mind, this last, most momentous throw of the fluttering, flowing swath became a blazing declaration of her love to him. Her heart pounded in her chest as though she had really said to him, without knowing how he would respond, "I love you!" Across the void that separated them, Avarys had also been snapping the end of his scarf-like swath to her. Before now, each fling had been only a gesture. Now, though, they had to catch onto the ends of each other's outflung swaths and become joined together in a truly coupled dance of romantic love. If they had timed their throws correctly, Avarys and Nissabella should be able to catch each other's swaths and move along the connected fabric toward each other. If not, though… Well, the failure would cut deep, nearly as deep as if Nissabella had truly told Avarys that she loved him and he never said it back.

[Poison]

Avarys seemed to have disappeared completely between the veils. There was not a sign from him. There was not a hint of movement. The veils were completely still as if the Symenestra had disappeared into thin air. And then he was suddenly there again, as quickly as he had disappeared, at the very end of the veil, looking up at her. His gaze was filled with longing, as if he were not merely acting, but really felt that strongly for her. He extended his hands as if he were desperate to touch her, to hold her in his arms. He wanted to find her and never let her go again.

He flung his silken swath towards her as well. For a moment they touched, and then their silken swaths drifted apart again. She could see disappointment on Avarys‘ face. His gaze was filled with sorrow. The weaver made no carthwheels, but simply moved in a slow, but powerful dance. He didn’t seem to be in any pain, but moved just as effortlessly as before. In fact he almost seemed to be floating. His hands and feet barely touched the veil.

He too threw the free end of his swath towards Nissabella. A moment later he had caught hers and slowly moved towards her. And then he was directly in front of her. He extended his hand, touched her cheek for a moment and looked deep into her eyes. He opened his mouth, as if to whisper something to her, as if he wanted to declare his love for her, but whatever he was whispering, she coudn’t understand it. He moved around her in a slow circle now, gesturing for to do the same.

Nissabella could hear how one of the two women that were watching them clapped her hands. If she turned her head she would see that Kanasa’s colleague had rose from her chair. Kanasa herself was still sitting. She just smiled a little. „That was very good, Nissabella“, she told her. „And now we want to see the final sequence from you.“

„The lover’s dance“, Avarys whispered to her. „I think Kanasa likes your performance so far by the way …“

[Nissabella Rose]

The way Avarys gazed deep into her eyes and touched her face was enough to quicken Nissabella's pulse and make the blood rise in her cheeks. A hot scarlet flush darkened her wan complexion, and her hands trembled in their precariously delicate grasp on the hanging veil. She had not bargained for this, for this aerial portrayal of romance to feel so confusingly and thrillingly real. Afterward, thinking back on that moment during the audition, Nissabella would later wonder whether she would have lost her grip on the veil entirely if Kanasa Curare had not spoken up and broken her trance. Kanasa's brief words and Avary's whisper filled Nissabella with a warm glow of pride, though the soft brush of the weaver's breath against her ear made her helplessly dizzy for an instant. She turned her face toward the hanging veil to hide the deepening blush on her cheeks. Despising the unsteadiness in her voice, she whispered back to Avarys, "I-I hope you're right. And, well, if I don't get the chance to say this later..." Nissabella plunged on quickly. "I just wanted to thank you for dancing this dance with me. You've been, well, you've been..." She hesitated and then said, simply, "Perfect." Hastily, she swung herself up onto Avarys' hanging veil without giving him a chance to respond. The quiver in her voice and the depth of feeling in that single final word she'd uttered both aggravated and alarmed Nissabella to no end. Just because he danced so beautifully and smiled so entrancingly didn't mean she should be letting her feelings run away like this, she told herself sternly. But oh, the way he swooped forward gracefully to take hold of her veil, the line of his arm perfect and the flow of his movements so effortless and weightless! How could she help but fall a little in love with him? Still, the dance had to go on; she dared not let the judges grow impatient. Drawing Avarys' veil closer to her own, Nissabella did her best to create the illusion of enfolding the violet-eyed weaver within the veil's diaphanous embrace. Checking quickly to assure herself that his grip on both their conjoined silk swaths and the hanging veil behind her was as firm as her own, she steeled herself for their next gravity-defying sequence. She detached one leg from her own hanging veil, consciously withdrawing the microscopic hooks in her bare foot from the surface of the fine fabric. Tucking her arms close to her body and using her grip on Avarys' veil and the silken swaths as leverage, Nissabella closed her eyes, propelled herself upward, and performed a slow, languid somersault over Avarys' head. At the apex of the somersault, she felt her legs catch hold of Avarys' veil, the hooks sinking into the fabric and holding her suspended. Only then did she relax and let herself hang upside-down against the fluttering veil, the top of her head no more than an inch from Avarys', her dark hair hanging down to curtain his face. For a moment, Nissabella hung there above Avarys, motionless and inverted. Dimly, she sensed he too was performing his own tricks, twirling in the midst of all that fabric and letting the silks swirl outward from his suspended body like so many leaves scattered from a swaying tree. With the blood rushing to her head, though, it was all she could do to remain still and calm above him. When he had grown still underneath her, Nissabella was glad to let her body complete the rest of the somersault. She came to a "landing" parallel to Avarys, with her back against his. Raising the swath that had belonged to her above their heads, Avarys snaked his upper body around hers like a vine wrapping around the branch of a tree. She felt herself blushing even hotter, but gamely curled her own legs around his and coiled her own upper body around so that they were facing each other again. Underneath his wrappings and leggings, she could feel his muscles tensing to support her and keep her aloft, causing her to marvel wordlessly at his lithe strength. A subtle twist of their hips made their entwined bodies spin in a slow, gentle circle in mid-air, emphasizing the joining of the two lovers into one. As they spun, Nissabella frantically made a dozen tiny adjustments to ensure that their separate veils would wrap around each other flawlessly to conclude the dance. To her panic, she felt them tangle momentarily, causing their spinning to come to a brief halt. Nervously, she tugged at her own veil until it came loose and the two veils began intertwining smoothly again. With her face all but touching Avarys', she saw him smile, but couldn't tell if it was in approval of her quick thinking or simply part of his role. At last, the two of them came to a complete stop, seemingly blissfully enshrouded in gossamer veils of floating silk. The lonely void between the two lovers had been spanned, and their hearts and bodies had joined together. The dance, Nissabella realized with mingled relief and disappointment, was over. From her very first practice, this dance had taxed her to her limits, testing her courage, acrobatic skill, and acting with nearly every movement. Now, she had performed it for real for the first time. She had done her best, and while she had doubtless made many mistakes here and there, at least she hadn't fallen and plunged to her death on the ground below. Her chest rose and fell with exertion, and for the first time since the beginning of the dance, Nissabella felt the stickiness of sweat on her brow and wrists. The exhilarating thrill of floating above the ground was replaced with heaviness and hints of soreness in her limbs. Breathing deeply, she began disentangling herself reluctantly from Avarys and the veils around them. Her gaze lingered wistfully on his face for a moment and then slid down to the judges' table. She could only pray that her best had been good enough for them.

[Poison]

„Of course I’ve been perfect“, Avarys replied and smiled. Humility had never been the weaver’s forte. He knew what kind of effect he had on women, he knew that he was good, and he had no problem saying that either. They were closer than ever before, so close that Nissabella could touch him and feel his breath against her skin. It was coming a little faster now, the only sign that the dance exhausted him a little after all – or maybe it was just the effect that the presence of his imaginary lover had. His violet eyes almost seemed to shimmer.

While she performed a somersault over his head, the weaver held completely still. His head was raised a fraction as if he were about to kiss her, but the kiss never happened. They were not real lovers after all, but only acting. And then he moved around her again, touched her, held her so that she wouldn’t fall. For a moment they seemed to have become one, half hidden by veils of gossamer silk. She could feel his heartbeat now, could almost hear it. „You are wonderful“, he whispered into her ear. „None of the women out there can compare to you.“

He let go of her – he almost seemed reluctant to do so – and then he jumped down, landing elegantly. He bowed to the two judges - his bow was a little exaggerated – and then he turned to Nissabella once more and smiled.

Kanasa cleared her throat to get their attention. „That was very good, Nissabella“, she told her. The woman next to her whispered something, and Kanasa nodded. „But of course we’ll have to watch the others before we make a decision. Avarys, would you escort Nissabella to the waiting room? Do you think you can assist us once more?“

„Once more is fine, but after that I’ll need to take a little break“, he informed her. „I’m afraid that even I can’t dance all day long.“ Kanasa nodded, and Avarys gestured for Nissabella to come with him.

„It shouldn’t take too long“, he said to her. „If I had any say in this, I wouldn’t even let the other people audition anymore, but of course I’m just a lowly weaver.“ He said the last bit with a smile. Avarys was of course aware that he wasn’t just a lowly weaver. He was one of the owners of Kalinor’s weaving school.

[Nissabella Rose]

Nissabella's breath caught in her throat, and a red flush crept up the slender, sallow column of her neck when Avarys whispered his stunning words of praise into her ear. She could feel the warmth of his skin through the silk of his body wrappings, and it made her wonder if he could feel the rapid fluttering of her heart. His arms were firm and strong around her, holding her up in mid-air, and for a mad moment, Nissabella wanted to kiss him. The mere thought triggered a drop of poison to trickle involuntarily from her fangs. Forgetting for an instant that it was merely a performance and heedless of his reputation, the audition, or even her precarious position amid the drifting hangings of silk, she leaned forward slightly and closed her eyes. But then he was gone, letting go of her and descending the veils of silk before her lips touched his. The quiet impact of his feet on the floor brought Nissabella back to her senses, albeit still somewhat dizzily. This was no time for schoolgirl infatuations, not when she was aspiring toward a Spiderling's role in what could be the greatest aerial dance production that Kalinor had ever seen. Swallowing the bitter taste of her own poison, Nissabella slid down along the silks after him and jumped once she was a safe distance above the ground. Her landing wasn't as light or elegant as Avarys', nor her bow to the judges nearly as florid, but she put as much respect and courtesy into her obeisance as she could. Before, the renowned Kanasa's scant words would have sounded like mere politeness, but after hearing Avarys' whispered accolades, Nissabella dared to hope. She had done her best up there among the silks today, and perhaps it wouldn't be too much to imagine that she had done very well indeed. "Thank you, Mistress Kanasa," she managed, inclining her head in that august lady's direction after she and Avarys had concluded their brief exchange. "It was an honor to dance before you today...before all of you," she amended, not wanting to offend the other judge and Avarys by omission. An impish smile brightened her face, and she impulsively added, "I hope to have another chance to dance with you like this very soon." With that, she docilely followed Avarys to the door. After the tension and exertion of the aerial dance, her legs were so shaky and rubbery that she visibly wobbled with every step. Despite her shortness of breath, though, Nissabella couldn't help laughing at Avarys' last extravagant statement as he paused by the door for a few last words. "You're not exactly a lowly weaver, though," she replied teasingly. "You're one of the teachers at the Weft and Warp, for Viratas' sake! And one of the best dancers I've ever seen. You made that routine look effortless." Sagging against the wall, Nissabella flashed him an insouciant grin. "I do agree with you on one thing, though. If it were up to me, I wouldn't let anyone else audition either. Then I could get the role and you could get some rest! It's too bad that these matters aren't up to us, isn't it?" She gazed up into his violet eyes and felt heat rushing to her cheeks. All the clever remarks she had been planning to make evaporated from her mind as the glow in his eyes and the charm of his smile worked their spell on her again. Wordlessly, Nissabella put one hand on the door and opened it, but paused on the threshold for a moment. "I, uh, I guess I had better let you, um, go back to the studio," she stammered. "But, well, thank you. For the dance. I-I'll never forget what you said to me, up there." She wanted so badly to linger here and let herself drown in the depths of his violet eyes. She wanted just as much to run away, slam the door closed behind her, and then begin jumping up and down and squealing excitedly and exultantly about completing the audition and having the chance to dance with the incomparable Avarys Anthurium. A glance over his shoulder at the judges' table reminded her that she couldn't simply stand here and monopolize his time. Slowly and reluctantly, her thoughts in turmoil about the audition and the handsome weaver who had enchanted her, Nissabella turned and left the audition studio behind, hoping that she hadn't just made an enormous fool of herself in front of the judges or in front of Avarys.

[Poison]

„I have agreed to dance in the production after this one“, Avarys quietly informed her as she told him that she hoped to have another chance to dance with him soon. „Maybe you’ll be able to join me then.“ He held the door open for her, ever the gentleman and inclined his head as if she were some kind of noble lady.

As she told him that he was one of the best dancers she had ever seen, he smiled. He was quite aware that he was one of the best. „Come here, I’ll help you.“ Seeing that she had problems with her legs after the exhausting dance, he put an arm around her shoulder and gently guided her to a bench so that she could sit down.

„You should try to rest a bit before Kanasa asks for you again.“ With that he turned to the other dancers that looked at him expectantly. „Soraya Orchid!“ he called out. The arrogant girl from before rose from her seat and walked over to him, her head held high. As she passed Nissabella by, she glared at her.

She was also much more obvious about her interest in the weaver and leered at him. As he noticed that, Avarys frowned and stepped away from her. He wouldn’t enjoy the dance with her particularly. Her manners left a little to be desired.

One after the other the dancers entered the studio, even the young man who still looked a little out of place among all the women and then sat down next to Nissabella, waiting.

Of course Soraya looked at Nissabella trimuphantly when she returned. She was convinced that Kanasa would choose her, nevermind the fact that Avarys – her Avarys – had been a little weird when they had danced.

Finally the door was opened again, and Kanasa stepped outside. She looked around a bit before her gaze settled on Nissabella.

„Nissabella Rose, would you please join us one last time? We have something to discuss with you.“