“I could see what I could get together to help her,” He suggested with a small smile, “Where are you from? Just so I know what region I’m working with.” The song stopped and so did he, half bowing to her again before taking her hand gently and leading her off of the dance floor.
"Talin, you're really too kind." Her smile brightened a little. "I'm from a low caste town in Kent which I guess explains why the child mortality rate is so low there." She chuckled softly, glancing around the room when she noticed Jackson. He was dead staring at them both, his eyes burning with jealousy. Her brow furrowed slightly, what was up with him? Jackson had never taken any interest in her before he left so why was he acting like this?
"Of course. I'll let you get back to your night." She smiled brightly before bounding off to interact with the French women like she did at the beginning of the night.
For a minute he just watched her go, a smile on his face. He shook his head and cleared his throat, going off and wandering around the ball looking for another one of the ladies to dance with.
Zaera had been dodging and weaving different members of her family for most of the ball. She had been considerably lucky so far and was so focused on not running into her family, she hardly noticed when she nearly ran into the prince.
Lillian and her husband were waltzing in their matching purple outfits. The Queen had observed every girls interactions, some worried her, not for her son's sake but for the girls. She sincerely hoped none of them would get caught in a romance while their stay at the castle continued.
Talin was wandering around, jumping slightly when he felt someone run into him. He didn’t stumble though, a small smile crossing his face, “Sorry, Miss Zaera, I didn’t see you there.”
"Ah," Zaera stopped and stepped back to look up at Talin. She gave him a slight curtsey, "My apologies Prince Talin. I'm the one that ran into you."
He smiled slightly, “I think we both ran into each other, but never mind that. Are you busy right now? Or could I ask you to dance?” Talin offered her a hand and his smile grew, deciding that if she said yes, it would be his last dance before he danced with the ambassador. After dancing with her though, he would go out and see if he missed any of the ladies to dance with.
Zaera smiled back to the prince and carefully took his hand. If she was dancing with the prince, her family had no good reason to bother her, "No, I'm not busy right now and, yes, you can ask me to dance. My answer is yes if you must know."
“I was going to ask you that next,” He said with a chuckle of a laugh, leading her out to the dance floor and placing his hand on her waist. The song started and he started dancing with her, eyes glancing up at her hairstyle and back to her face, “So, Miss Zaera, where are you from?”
"I'm from Paloma," Zaera looked up at the prince's face, since that was the polite thing to do, and let out a light laugh, "Well, my father is in charge of the province. So while I've never been to most of the province myself, I could tell almost anything you need to know about it's geography, political affiliations, and how it benefits economically."
Talin smiled, his face showing how impressed he was, “Wow, that’s quite a lot of knowledge for somewhere you haven’t traveled most of. Is it just you and your father?” He knew of Zaera’s family, since they were from a higher caste, but he was trying to be polite and learn more about her not from a magazine or news.
"No," Zaera said with a slight sigh as she glanced down slightly before looking back up, "I have a mother and six elder sisters to live up to as well."
“Ah, that’s a lot of living up to do,” He looked around for a moment before back at her, “So, what else should I know about you, Miss Zaera? I haven’t gotten a chance to speak to most of you ladies, so I want to get to know you guys a little better.”
"Besides the obvious," Zaera thought for a moment before continuing, "I find much simpler things enjoyable than big fancy parties such as this. However, I've never really had the luxury of being able to enjoy such things."
Talin nodded, keeping it in mind, “What do you consider simple?” He spun her gently as the song continued, feet moving almost on their own. Dancing came natural to him, though he wished he was a natural at something else, like running a kingdom, or making the right choices that wouldn’t ruin the kingdom.
Zaera had no problem spinning, her feet moving in the familiar rhythm of past lessons, "Oh, I don't know. Things most people think beneath a person of my caste like playing childish games or, or actually doing physical work. I don't know, I find it both fascinating and enjoyable."
He nodded, “Just regular, normal, things?” Having someone who could actually dance was sort of nice, especially since he could dance and not have to worry about stepping on feet or the hem of her dress or anything.
"Yes," Zaera responded with a shy laugh, "It sounds a little silly saying it out loud doesn't it?"
“Not really,” He replied, a small smile hinting on his lips, “I was like that when I was a kid. All I wanted to do was to be normal, to play with the kids in the city, make fake swords out of sticks or build stuff.”
Zaera had a smile prominent on her face, "I suppose that's at least one thing we share in common. The want to be what others consider normal than the weird normal that's been forced upon us since a young age."
“I think we share a lot in common, like the fact that there are huge expectations for us and that we both have to be the person the world wants us to be,” He added, spinning her once again. Talin could tell that him and Zaera got along, maybe not in the goofing around way, but in the way that they understood each other.
"Indeed," Zaera allowed herself to be spun once again, "If we meet those expectations is yet to be seen I assume. I'm also offering my help to the selected in lower castes to adjust to life in the upper castes. Since from everything I understand it's a bit of a jarring difference. Not to try and change them or anything like that, but to simply allow them to be more equipped for items such as balls and ambassadors."
( @PrettyLittlePyro basicly what is going on is that there's the ball, there's been some interactions with the prince for some of the ladies and with the guards for some of them. Right now I think Zaera is the one talking to the prince, and most others are just walking around.)
Zia was quiet, grabbing a snack, and watching the dancers quietly. She wished she had her camera, then realized that it didn't matter. She could grab it. She smiled, and went to her room, grabbing her camera and putting the strap around her neck, then going back to the ballroom and taking pictures of the dancers.
"There you are!" Jade walked up to Zia. "I've been looking for you!"
She jumped slightly. "Me?" She asked, turning off the camera. "But why?" She raised an eyebrow, brushing a wisp of hair out of her face.
