54. The Red Ballet

[Mmmh…? Where?] I mumbled as I opened my eyes slowly.

Still in a daze, it took me a moment to take in the world around me. Everything was so… Green… and blue. The sun above me was blocked by leaves, making the light dazzle in all sorts of colours, only interrupted by the pale hue of the sky.

As I blinked a few times, I felt a palm softly patting my head. It was Dad, calmly looking around the park. He must not have noticed I had woken up already, so I simply looked at him.

He seemed wistful as he calmly sat there. As if more immersed in his own thoughts than in what he was watching. He looked down and, surprised to find me awake, smiled softly.

-Did you have a good nap?-

I nodded and slowly lifted my head from his lap. We were still at the park, but the sun was now lower in the sky. It was probably early afternoon. Around this time, Mili would usually get me my snack. Right on cue, I felt my stomach rumble.

-Let's go for a snack, what do you say?- Lionheart suggested, a muffled chuckle escaping his lips.

I felt my cheeks go red and nodded. 

He helped me up from the bench, and we headed out of the park into the busy streets. We stopped at a store window. Lionheart handed the woman at the window a few copper coins, and she returned with what looked like a skewered meat cucumber. 

I looked at it curiously for a moment before turning to Dad.

-What is it?-

I asked while pointing at it.

-It’s a sausage. It’s made from minced pork. Yours is cheese-flavoured, try it!-

He explained before taking a bite out of his own.

Sausage... Pork AND cheese… What a strange combination. 

The smell was very appetising, so without any more hesitation, I took a bite and, immediately, the flavour flooded my mouth. It tasted like so many things at once that I couldn’t single out any specific taste. All I could tell was how good it was!

Lionheart once more took my available hand, and we continued walking. He looked like he knew where we were going, but as both my hands were full, I couldn’t ask him about it. Eventually, we reached a large building with a carpeted entrance. Several well-dressed people were idly talking at the front. After discarding the sausage skewer, Lionheart helped me wipe my hands with a handkerchief, and we approached the building. 

No one tried to talk to us, but I could tell some people glanced in our direction curiously. As we reached the top of the stairs, two men opened the doors and let us in. Hundreds of people were happily chatting inside. All of them were well-dressed and elegant. 

Was this some sort of party?

A man behind a desk greeted us, and Lionheart approached him. Lionheart pulled a pair of sleek pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them to the man. They conversed pleasantly for a few moments before the man invited us to proceed to the room beyond his desk..

Still holding hands, we slowly made our way through the crowd. 

A noble-looking man suddenly cut us off and greeted Lionheart with a handshake. Noticing me, he gave a short, polite bow, but before I could respond, he began talking to Lionheart again. While the man busied himself with ingratiating himself with Lionheart, an obviously troubled woman and two children briskly joined him from a distance away.

She politely curtsied to my father before turning toward me expectantly. 

What did she… Oh! I remember being taught about that before! There was an order for greetings!

If you were ranked lower than someone, you had to greet them first, and only after they would greet you back. When you were of the same rank, it didn’t matter, but if you were a child, your rank was considered one step lower than your parents, so the child of a marquess wouldn’t have to bow to anyone below that stature, but he would have to do so for any other marquess. Since Lionheart is a baron, it was safe to assume that I should bow to anyone who was considered above the title of a lord.

I quickly curtsied, to which the woman smiled and curtsied back. 

She asked me something, but, obviously, I didn’t catch any of it, so I simply turned to Lionheart expectantly, who seemed to already be explaining my circumstances.

Seemingly curious, the woman started asking questions to which her husband, who had already been talking to Lionheart, answered in his stead. He seemed to have been in the know of my circumstances somehow and didn’t seem fazed as he turned to me and smiled a few times. 

As the three of them grew engrossed in their conversation, I turned my attention to the two children who had finally reached their parents. The boy looked about my age, while the girl looked younger and hid behind her brother’s back. She couldn’t be older than 3 or 4 years old. 

The boy observed me curiously as if looking at a strange animal. He asked me something, but being unable to understand, I simply tilted my head. 

He asked something else, but this time, he pointed at his head and tilted his head as well.

Although I couldn’t hear it, I felt pretty familiar with this particular line of inquiry at this point. With a simple nod, I confirmed his suspicion that I couldn't hear what he was telling me.

Surprised, he started pulling on his mother’s skirt while calling out to her. She eventually bent over and listened to him. He told her things as she calmly smiled. Once he was done, she answered and gently patted his and his sister’s heads. 

I looked up at Lionheart, confused about the interaction. Understanding the situation, he signed an explanation for me.

-Their Great-Aunt is also deaf. He’s very fond of her, so he’s happy to meet someone else like her.- H explained.

He’s happy to meet someone like me? 

Why? 

Isn’t it weird to like someone because they’re… Broken?

“I don’t think he means it in a bad way.” Darkie whispered from his pouch.

Hmm… I guess Darkie is right. What was it that Dad was saying earlier… ‘People like things that are different’? I guess you could say I’m different, so people might like me for it… 

Although it felt odd. As though I’m more of an object than a person.

Suddenly, the entire room’s attention shifted toward the back of the front, where a man seemed to be speaking by large doors, flanked on either side by stairs.

Once he was finished, the man who had been speaking to Dad turned back to us and said a few words to Lionheart before extending his hand toward him. Lionheart nodded and shook his hand. The woman and the two children then gave a polite bow, which Lionheart and I responded to in kind, and they went on their way. 

-Who were they?- I asked Dad.

-An old friend. He wanted to meet you.-

I tilted my head.

-Why would he want to do that?- I asked, but he shrugged.

-Curiosity, maybe?-

He took my hand and started walking in the same direction as the crowd.

-What’s going on exactly?- I asked him.

He still hadn’t told me where we were.

He blinked a few times and stopped in his tracks...

-Sorry, I forgot to explain… I thought… Nevermind. Sorry, it slipped my mind… Don't worry, you will see very soon!- He answered awkwardly before giving a sheepish smile.

We kept walking, and the flow of people started splitting. Some went up the staircases on either side, while some continued down a hallway. Lionheart picked me up so I wouldn’t get swept away by the flow of people, and then took the stairs. The upper floor looked like a restaurant, but for some reason, everyone was either getting up or kept walking past the tables and filtering out through large doors. 

The crowd slowly grew thinner until we reached the corner where an attendant was waiting with a smile on his face. Lionheart spoke to him, and the man smiled widely before indicating that follow him through a long hallway. The left wall was filled with dozens of doors, all strangely arranged diagonally. He finally opened a door about midway through and invited us in. 

The sight that was waiting for me was incredible. 

It was a theatre, I knew that right away, but it was like no other I had ever seen. We were in some sort of private room overlooking the entire place, including the other seats. Once Dad put me down, I was able to take a better look and noticed there were other small rooms like ours. Three floors of them, in fact. 

In them were families or single individuals comfortably sitting by themselves or drinking from their glasses.

-You can drink from your seat?!- 

I asked Lionheart incredulously. 

In my experience, when at the theatre, you only sit in your seat and that’s it. He started laughing almost immediately.

-The first thing you notice after seeing the largest theatre in the kingdom is that you can eat in private booths?- He signed as he suppressed his laughter

I puffed my cheek in embarrassment as I looked down at the crowd. It seems Lionheart was developing a habit of making fun of me. I didn’t like it, but somehow I didn’t really want him to stop either. Maybe it’s because it feels like he pays attention to what I say when he does? 

My eyes wandered about to a booth across from us, where I locked eyes with the boy from earlier. A big smile drew itself on his lips, and he waved energetically. Still not too sure what to think after my discussion with Lionheart, I didn’t react right away, but then I felt it might be rude to ignore him, so I quickly waved. I glanced at Lionheart and noticed him smirking.

-How do you like the Mȓs?- He asked me while nudging his chin in the direction of the family across from us.

-They seem nice… Madam Mȓs seems like a kind person, Lord Mȓs as well.- I answered carefully. 

I was honestly not sure what to think, but it looked like Dad and the man were friends. He would probably prefer that I like them.

-What about their kids? Fĺć is a bit younger, but Mrťn is about your age.-

So many names… My head felt like it was spinning already. Fĺć looked a bit like my name, so I guessed he must have meant it as the girl, while Mrťn must be the boy…

-They… Seems nice as well.- I answered as confidently as I could manage.

Seeing the smile Lionheart made, it was the right answer.

-I’m glad. Maybe you can all become friends. They are our neighbours after all.-

I tilted my head.

-Do they live close to our house?-

-Ah. No, sorry. I didn’t explain properly. Count Mȓs territory is right next to ours.-

Wait. ‘Count’ Mȓs? Wasn’t Dad a Baron? Yet the man greeted him first… This is all so confusing… I’ll ask Stash or Mili about it later.

A waiter eventually came by our booth with drinks and snacks. We started slowly, nibbling on the food, while the people in the room settled into their seats.

-What is the play we're…-  Just as I was about to ask Lionheart about the show, the red curtains lifted, and the light in the room dimmed as the chandeliers were raised.

A woman appeared, standing still, in the centre of the stage. She was dressed in a long red dress with long, white hair standing in contrast with her ash coloured skin. Around her, long wooden poles stood tall, like a cage.

I felt a strange pressure building in my chest as I watched the woman. Her expression was melancholic, but her lips were locked in a determined expression. The dancing lights of chandeliers made the shadows of the bar flicker around, but the woman always remained illuminated, as though she were the source of the light.

Slowly, one of her left arms slowly started moving downward. Once it reached her hips, it stopped, and her second hand started slowly following suit before they both bounced back up in unison and then slowly back down. Like the wings of a bird. Then one of her legs emerged from underneath the dress, completely dark as well. She took a step forward, and then another while continuing the rhythm of her hands. She then twisted herself and jumped, spreading her legs apart; her dress was sent flying into the air in the same movement, revealing layers of yellow, orange and red fabric, making her look like the flame of a candle.

[Beautiful…] I couldn’t help but whisper.

Probably having heard me, Lionheart turned to me and smiled, but didn’t say anything. The woman in red continued dancing from within her cage, and eventually, a second actor entered the stage. It was a tall man. His body was entirely covered by a large white cloak, which trailed behind him. He walked toward the cage slowly, watching the woman dance wildly within. 

Was he mesmerised, confused or angry? 

I couldn’t tell since his face was completely hidden underneath the cloak, but once his hand finally touched one of the cage's bars, the woman stopped jumping and slowly shrank herself into a ball in the opposite corner. The man slowly walked around the cage from one bar to the other, and every time, the woman would roll the same distance away in the opposite direction. Like a two-piece pendulum.

-This feels familiar, but… I’ve never seen this play or heard of anything like it.- I finally mentioned to Lionheart.

The woman stood up once more and started dancing again, but refused to face the man. It looked as though she was fleeing, but there was desperation in the man’s pace, as though, despite the fact that she was the prisoner, she had control over him by refusing him the right to see her face.

-Not surprising. This play was banned for several years, and the story behind it is… Well, very controversial.-

He looked at me and, seeing my interested expression, continued.

-This play is called ‘The First Dance of the Red Lady’. It depicts one of the darker tales of the ‘War in Heaven’...-

The War in Heaven. 

I remembered that from church. That was the war between the gods that had resulted in the collapse of the immaterium.

Lionheart continued.

-During the final days of the war, before the gods passed their judgment, the goddess of life, Fey, was imprisoned in the Depths, the plane of the god of death, Solomon. There are no records of what truly happened during her imprisonment. Not even whether Solomon had been the one to imprison her in the first place. The only thing that is known is that the Red Lady was scarred. Her entire body was licked by the burning flames of the depths of the immaterium and turned her skin to ash…-

My throat felt dry as I listened to the story. It was strange to say, but I felt a sort of closeness to Fey suddenly.

I looked down at the play once more. The two dancers were growing ever closer, but Fey was still fleeing as Solomon desperately pursued her.

-But… If Solomon hurt Fey, why does he look so… Sad?-

Lionheart looked at my hand and nodded seriously before looking at the play himself.

-That’s exactly why the play is so controversial. As I said, there is no record, no stories, not even passing comments from the gods on the subject. We simply do not know what happened in the Depths… And this play makes it appear as though Solomon is just as much a victim as Fey. As though he is suffering the same as she is. Many Feykins were outraged at this interpretation, and so the kingdom banned it… Until this year, that is.- He concluded as he clasped his hands together.

I looked at the dancers, both desperately running and dancing.

-It makes me feel sad…- I simply stated, to which Lionheart nodded, but didn’t add anything.

The dance reached its climax as 'Fey' danced around the bars and escaped off-stage as Solomon sat on the ground watching her in awe. The stage lights suddenly went out, and white curtains blocked the stage.

People stood up from their seats and started clapping enthusiastically. Dad and I, amongst them.

The play spoke to me in ways I couldn't quite understand. 

Perhaps, I, too, had escaped? Perhaps things can work out? 

But then… What of Solomon? 

Did I have a Solomon?