Dancing was a delicious sort of freedom. It was hard to compare it to running with the wolves or flying in the breathless heights on the wings of the falcon, but the graceful spinning and balancing on her own feet came with a certain amount of pride. Perhaps it had something to do with a physical representation of emotion and beauty she carried within. These were things that Rilana felt, though she would not have been able to describe them in words, having not paid attention to her dancing instructor when she was young.

But everything came to a terrifying halt when a warm paw lunged out of the darkness and seized her hip, another gripping her hand as the lion-faced charr intruded onto her private celebration. She twirled beautifully into his embrace, though the shock of his sudden appearance precluded her ability to appreciate the move. The skyfire was bright in his yellow eyes and Rilana gasped, her belly tight with fear as she was suddenly plunged forcibly into the nightmare that had plagued her nights since the day Svarak had given her the silver sash.

Her free palm had come to rest as a clenched fist against Svarak's chest and she pushed against him, her features ashen. Her back itched as Kona raged indignantly on her behalf, and inside her mind the gryphon shrieked and snarled, urging her to scratch and bite at the Lord Knight, or release him so that he could do it himself. It was a miracle that the charr didn't find his arms wrapped around the foreleg of a panicked mastadon

But the Moon Fey froze at his words, looking up at him as sapphire eyes searched his face, her lips parted as she tried to quell her fluttering heartbeat. The wetness of her tears had turned to rime on her lashes and she blinked with surprise.

[i][color=00aeef]What?[/color][/i]

[i][color=fff200]What?![/color][/i]

[color=00aeef]"I'm not [i]really[/i] alone,"[/color] she contradicted him, leaning back but not truly pulling away. [color=00aeef]"At least you're using my name now instead of just calling me 'Envoy'."[/color] It was an improvement.

The charr moved into her, the deft shift of his sheer size guiding her back into the pattern of the dance she had started. The Moon Fey's steps were stiff and resisting, lacking the effortless grace of before. Following his lead implied that she trusted him, and she didn't. She didn't like his assumption, his smug self-satisfaction, and after the initial shock faded she felt a little angry that he had presumed to intrude on her...whatever it was she was doing.

[i][color=fff200]Cavorting carelessly on the ice?[/color][/i]

[color=00aeef][i]I'm allowed to be a little frivolous on my birthday, even if I did get caught.[/i][/color]

But why is it only wrong if there is someone there to see? Kona wondered, calmed now that it seemed Svarak wasn't going to throttle the life of out his Mistress.

It was perhaps this thought that eased the Moon Fey's resistence and she relaxed in the Knight's embrace, her lissome figure matching Svarak's motion as they moved across the ice. There were so many questions. She was curious about the charr and after all this time knew him not at all. Who was he, behind the severe black armour and the authority of his station? And why was he here now, dancing with her? What did it mean? And why did she care? It was nice, wasn't it? 

[color=fff200][i]It's what you wanted.[/i][/color]

In the abscence of conversation, Rilana became acquainted with the liquid-steel power in Svarak's muscled figure as he twirled or dipped her with ease. She began to trust his touch where his hand rested on the small of her back or her waist. She felt his soft fur between her fingers and watched aurora play impossible colours along the course hair of his mane. He was somehow different without the armour, as though the carapace of black steel barricaded more than just his formidable physique.

She even risked a smile, colour returning to her cheeks in the exhiliration of dancing with a partner, and when they finally stopped Rilana was laughing breathlessly.

[color=00aeef]"That was wonderful, Svarak, thank you,"[/color] thinking the timeless moment over, expecting him to become the aloof and snide creature again, she was surprised by not only his question, but his comparing her to a flower. [color=00aeef]"Oh. I'm..."[/color]

She had to stop and think. [color=00aeef]"Thirty-six. Though I suppose that makes me little more than a child to someone who's lived as long as you have." [/color]Lithe and long-legged as a deer, she was pressed against him, brimming with curiosity.