Trancy woke. No sunlight tinged the lids of her eyes with the redness of dawn or even the paleness that indicates twilight. Cracking her eyes against the sleep that had accumulated she tried to gain a glimpse of her surroundings. When the stubborn lids parted there was no more information about the time of day or where she was.

If I were in my bed, She thought, Either the moonlight, sunlight or starlight would be coming through my window. If I were in my bed, I wouldnt be holding myself motionless, as if I were waiting for something terrible to happen; Afraid to move a muscle. Afraid of what?

Trancys mind went searching as she lay in the ironically comfortable bed, her body motionless but for the barely perceptible rise and fall of her breathing, the silent closing of the eyelids in concentration. As she wound through the patterns, smoothing out the jumble of emotions, the flashes of sight, the intuitions of the evening prior, a tear squeezed out the corner of her eye and traced swiftly down her face to lodge uncomfortably in her ear, its track burning with the heat of blood rushing to her face while leaving the area around her heart feeling cold and empty.

Trancy had left the dance hurriedly after the confrontation with Temon. The gall of him! Telling me that I am jealous! Me! she spat under her breath after she was escorted out of the hall with the rest of the younger members of the community.

Outside of the hall, activities had been set up, but on a smaller scale. The Spring Festival was a celebration, after all, and while the youngest children were ushered to bed, those older than eight spans generally stayed to mingle and fraternize, dance and discuss whatever those things that were that were on the minds of people of their age. Games of skill, friendly, or not so friendly, as the case may be, pitted singles and pairs against one another, as much to show off aptitudes as to burn the abundant energy of youth down to at least a banked flame.

Trancy had been mulling over her situation, trying to organize her thoughts and what had occurred over the course of the day, when Gavinar had approached, the epitome of understanding and kindness. All twisted up in frustration at Temons lack of empathy for her circumstances and his inconsiderate infatuation with Marivon, she was more than willing to talk with Gavinar. Besides, he might let something slip now that he was away from Ajanite. It surprised her, then, when he opened with what could only be called bait.

You know, I can show you the secrets of the dance.

If Trancy had been a dog, her ears would have perked up and her tail swept the table clean as Gavinar continued, I know how to harness energies that you dont even know exist. I can show you how to use the powers that you possess.

You, Trancy laughed, Are a wolf, sir.

Gavinar laughed back, showing strong teeth with good humor resting lightly on his face as he attempted to set her at ease. You may be accurate in your assessment of my character. However, I would like to demonstrate that what I say is indeed true. All you need to do is dance with me, Miss?

Ardon. You may call me Trancy. Just dance? I was dancing with you in the Great Hall and noticed no secrets falling out of you. In fact, besides the fact of your name, that you prefer veal over venison, and that you dont like the color green, I really cant say that you told me anything at all. But, she said coquettishly, thinking of how Temon had earlier accused her of jealousy when obviously he was the one who was jealously watching her, If you only want to dance, that seems a pleasantly harmless enough way to while the evening away.

More tears plunged themselves into her ear, silently trickling, spilling over and wetting her pillow, as she fought to keep the memories from translating into perceivable motion, fought to keep the huge lump in her throat from choking her, from sending her into the great sobs that she was feeling.

She had started to rise, but found Gavinars hand on her arm, gently yet firmly holding her in the seated position.

We should find somewhere private where we cannot be observed. In your village these things I am going to show you, the knowledge of the powers inherent in and arising from the dance, are forbidden, taboo, to be taught or shown to those under the age of majority. Do you know of such a place?

Trancy had looked at him with incredulity. Do you really think that I am so foolish as to just wander off with a handsome stranger some place were we can be neither seen nor heard? Do you really think that I have such loose morals and poorly defined character as that? People can see us. People, if they really wanted to listen, could. What do you think they would say if I just got up and ran off to some secluded spot with you? I have had a taste of wagging tongues from an experience with Temon. I have no wish to have my name sullied more by slanderous accusations. Besides , her scorn at what she thought was an inappropriate suggestion came through on that one word, I dont really know what your intentions are. Do you think I was born yesterday?

Now. I have to go and freshen up. There is a place just around the corner over there, she indicated a partially darkened area of the lesser hall that they were in, that, while not out of earshot or sight if any one should happen to walk by, it is partially concealed by the wall and plants. I would like a glass of mead, if you please. She walked away leaving Gavinar looking as he had when he had arrived. His smile just seemed a little more genuine.

When Trancy made her way back to the festival, Gavinar was waiting, glasses of mead in hand. Taking the glass of proffered mead, she allowed herself to relax just a little. So this power you speak of, how does it manifest itself through the dance?

Do you remember that dance that Temon was trying to show you earlier?

Trancy visibly started. How does he know? she thought to herself, How could he possibly know? He wasnt even here. She covered her surprise by immediately assuming the starting position for the lightning dance and started moving through the steps.

Like this? she asked, flawlessly carrying through each step.

Not quite, he stopped her. Watch. Since you arent in the main hall you should be able to see the moves that were shielded from you before. It is a subtle shift, but it makes all the difference in the world. Gavinar moved through the steps, indicating just where to change.

Of course, she cried, I have never noticed the difference, but now that you show me, it is almost like I can see the older dancers doing the same steps. I seem to remember!

Taking the stance from the beginning, she went through the steps on her own, replicating the patterns she had been shown. A smile formed on her face as if she could feel the power coming closer as she moved her body. She swung around and grabbed Gavinar by the hand to complete the motion.

Understanding burst upon her like a ray of light, illuminating the patterns that she saw etched into the stone of the floors and walls, carved out of the very air, swirling, connecting, dispersing. She knew without a doubt that this is what Temon and Nocs had been carrying on about, trying to tell her. They just hadnt been able to for some reason.

Why do they keep this from us? she thought, realizing that if she thought about the other dances that they had learned over the years, that she could now begin to see the moves that had been changed, the steps that were slightly different, the pattern subtly morphed into an almost image. As she thought this, she changed the pattern slightly in a different way, and began to glimpse something

That, you see, interrupted Gavinar, abruptly breaking contact, context and pattern, Is what your dear friends would not tell you.

Oh, but I am sure that they would have if they could have, Trancy stated, I mean, well Temon has been going on about this, about something they werent telling us, something hidden she trailed off. She was sure that this was what he had been trying to tell her earlier in the day, that this was indeed the secret that the villagers held so closely. Why else would he have mentioned being tricked, being right about his suspicions all the time. Maybe, she thought, Maybe if I just play along with Gavinar, I can find out why he and the other strangers all showed up at once. Its not likely that they had simply wanted to participate in the spring celebration at this remote location so far from the well worn paths of the One World.

That was amazing! I have never had an experience quite like that before. None even remotely like that. Can anyone do that, see that?

Not everyone, my dear girl. Certainly there are few who give the clarity of designs that you provide. Thinking to himself, That was an understatement if ever I made one. She must be the brightest, clearest walker I have ever seen. She and the boy can only be the reason that Marivon is here. It has to be them. Such a pair has the power to make or destroy the neaGaemel if they were trained properly.

Why dont we dance some more? I can show you more steps that will show new and wondrous facets of what you can do with this power.

As he showed her the different dances, the new steps, she grew more confident, following his lead expertly. She thought of how wonderful it would be tomorrow when she met Temon and told him of all she had learned. A true smile was on her lips when the world shifted.

Time seemed transparent and variable, space came unglued from its rightful places to expand and contract, distorted yet immutable, all at the same instant and no time at all. It seemed to her as if she were in a bubble, encased tightly around her, but the turning of her thoughts toward or away from a concept made the air around that concept gain or lose clarity, the bubble moving in the direction of her thinking, or maybe that was the wrong way of looking at it and she were the one moving, or everything else, or maybe it was just some patterns, she really could not orient so she could not tell. Was it she directing the flow of the patterns, or was she just playing along a predetermined set of patterns on an already charted course.

Where am I? she said imploringly, the need for knowledge of what she was experiencing to anchor her was pressing, urgent, palpable and almost overwhelming. Where am I? She repeated, stress beginning to edge into her tone.

Shhhh. You are doing fine. Amazing even, Gavinar crooned into her ear. Temon cant bring you here. He hasnt the knowledge or the skill. He cannot make you feel. As he spoke, glissandi of touch, butterfly sensations of caresses began to slide over her skin and through her mind, flying away with the thoughts of Temon, of Aberdale, slivers of light and sound coalesced and solidified, massaging and relaxing thoughts and muscles.

Thats it. Youve got the idea. Flow into and around your surroundings, envelope the thoughts, the sinew and muscle with gentle softness. Trancy seemed to melt, to flow. She could see the thoughts, taste the sweetness, the sour of ideas. Honey and beyond licked her lips. She left her body, carried upward, outward and inward, all directions at the same time, instant ecstasy played within the folds of her mind, on the surface of her body, in the depths of her soul. These sensations increased with the tempo of the dance. It was all feeling, all emotionally taught yet loose, pushing and pulling, inside and out, physical, mental, surreal and fantastic.

Trancy had never, ever felt this way before. All of the passions inside her relaxed, all tensions released. Shuddering, everything cleared, all content, all good.

Now lets see what your boyfriend Temon is up to, Gavinar smirked as he led Trancy in a new set of moves. The setting shifted to inside the Great Hall and the scene that appeared bore little resemblance to any dance she had attended. Clothing lay discarded about the room. It was not neatly placed or even roughly piled as the people she knew would remove it if they were overheated from strenuous exertion, but appeared to have been hurled randomly with no care whatsoever by the dancers. There was no sense of decorum in its disposal, no semblance of shame or modesty from the wearer.

The assembled bodies of the dancers were as strewn about the room as the clothing, hot, sweaty, the hall full of the scene and scent of orgy. Not paired up as one would expect, husbands with wives, but mixed like they had fallen down in the middle of a dance, the old, the young, male and female, as mixed and jumbled as the clothing, the dresses and shirts, shoes and pants. No semblance of order could be placed upon the room. Order was the last thing that Trancys mind could achieve.

She turned in the dance and in the room, surveying the complete abandon that had encompassed and possessed the people who she thought she knew: Her neighbors, friends and relatives. Was this, she thought, normal for the dances? Was it real? Was she ensconced in some dream, some surrealistic phantasm of reality? Even the musicians had succumbed to whatever the force was that had infected the hall.

Blood, which had been draining from her face, rushed back, abandoning the inner core around her heart to heat red her face and ears. At the head of the room, on the Spring Kings dais, the throne tipped over, the bunting and decorations in broken, trampled disarray, lay Temon, intertwined in embrace with Marivon, both naked, looking disheveled, sated, and happy. Marivon opened her eyes.

Take me away from this place! Trancy screamed and was immediately transported away, back out of the hall, back to where they had been. But, Trancy noted, where they had been was not outside the hall. It wasnt anywhere she knew.

And now, Trancy thought, still searching to awaken her thoughts, Here I am. Somewhere that I dont know where is, I dont even have a clue how long Ive been here or how I am going to get home. She sat up, absently reaching in the darkness to pull her gown around herself against the chill of the air. She stopped. Bare flesh, her bare flesh met her fingers. Reaching and searching about her body lead her to the realization that the only thing she had to cover her naked body was a sheet and blanket that were loosely draped over her.

Good morning, lover, came Gavinars voice from beside her body, and inside her head.

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