The winery owner readily agreed and together Jonathan Black and Kavala walked out onto the dance floor. Kavala concentrated on her dancing, having not been very good at it. She could move, but her movements were learned from training in unarmed combat and acrobatics, not from being lead about the dance floor. She was careful with her steps and made sure the Blacks were always leading. They were strong leaders, and she enjoyed the music as they whirled around. Naturally, the conversation turned to the crops, to bees, and to which of their wines were the best vintages for the year. As Kavala soon learned, all harvests were not the same.
She sighed a little as the music ended and carefully thanked her dance partner. Alone again, she wandered off to to the edge of the dance floor simply glad for the chance to watch her friends and family have fun. A waiter brought her a glass of wine and she waved it off, preferring instead to find a quiet place to relax and simply enjoy the musicians. Kavala loved music but was not exactly gifted in it herself. She had a flute she'd purchased and was learning to play, but the lessons were not easy and she hadn't progressed as much as she liked. Ia'del and Ralacs pregnancy had seen to that. But after tonight, she felt inspired to take it up again as she sat by the sidelines and watched the whirling couples dance by.
~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anir smiled slowly. He was not one to pander to women, having spent his whole life training warriors and training himself. But there was something nice about the woman that offered her hand and asked him to dance. He hoped she would. Her bracelet was an added surprise, telling him she wasn't under contract yet because of its coloring. He took her hand, then fingered the bracelet carefully with his free one as he lead her out onto the dance floor.
"You are a Nakivak without a contract?" He said softly, skipping the introductions. Anir was older, but he didn't have the social niceties of other Akalaks' his age. There had been no time for romance in his life and he often came off as fierce and foreboding more than he came off as charming. He was unconscious of his handsomeness. The truth be told, most of the time he walked around with dark lenses over his eye in a wrap around style that sheltered his entire face and kept people from seeing where he was looking or what he was doing. Anir was almost blind in the direct sunlight, though in low light night situations like this he could see just fine. The healers could do nothing for his eyes and had told him it would grow worse as he got older. That was one of the reasons he'd had to give up his leadership of the Sasarans. It was his dark secret, a weakness he didn't want exposed. And now, just past his hundredth year, he wanted a child - a son - to raise up to take his place.
He just hoped he hadn't waited too long. Mentoring Kavala and seeing her children every other day had brought that out in him. He'd brutally pushed the young Konti well past the point where he thought she could endure to get rid of the mess the double pregnancy had made of her body. He'd even trained her blind so that if something ever happened to her like happened to him, she wouldn't' be so ill prepared for it like he was. To this day he still trained her. And he still did so with her blindfolded. It was making her a better warrior. Which, of course in turn would make her a better mother.
"Why has no one taken up your contract yet?" The man demanded, as he expertly waltzed the woman around the dance floor. She was beautiful, in an exotic stunning sort of way. He liked that she wasn't Konti small and delicate, but that she had some strength and meat to her bones. He would have liked to train her as well and wondered suddenly if she had any combat training.
"Do you have any combat training?" He asked abruptly, glancing around to see if anyone was looking and then suddenly running his hands up her arms and squeezing at her forearms above her elbows to see if there was muscle there. Above all he wanted a strong woman for the mother of his children, one that could take an active role in raising them. He also wanted one with extremely good eyesight. It would be better for them if whomever bred them had strong enough traits not to pass on his own failings.
Anir smiled again, belatedly, and met Orabelle's eyes.
"I'm interested. That's why I'm asking. But I don't want a delicate little flower to mother my children. I want a strong opinionated woman with an education and some combat training. I want someone well traveled but smart enough to know she wants to settle down and stay to see them grown as mush as she can. Are you anything like that?" He asked, shooting straightforward with her, letting her know what he was thinking first and foremost, which was in fact more important to him than any social etiquette.
