Page 36 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

Maybe it was my lack of memories that allowed me to enjoy things that didn’t seem to impress him? I had no recollection of ever watching a performance before. The novelty of it was exciting on its own.

But I also felt that I would’ve found this dance mesmerizing even with all my memories intact. The harmony of the dancers and their synergy with the music was extraordinary. It was pure pleasure to watch.

The king straightened in his throne suddenly.

“Let’s show them how it’s done.” His voice lifted.

His face lit up with excitement as he grabbed me around the middle and spread his great, snow-white wings.

In one fluid movement, the king lifted into the air, taking me with him.

“Let’s dance!” he exclaimed, his eyes glistening wildly.

“I can’t dance!”I wanted to scream, but the words stuck in my throat as he leaped up to the ceiling with me.

Panic sliced through me when the ground lurched away. I gripped his robe, crushing the butterfly-wing appliqué.

The king laughed with glee, landing in the middle of the dancers. They scrambled away, shattering their crystal stilts in panic. The shards of crystal sprayed the floor, scattering around and shining like diamonds.

“Dance, my precious baby chick!” The king twirled in the middle of the room. His great wings created a twister that blew out my carefully arranged hairdo and whipped my skirts around my legs.

He dipped down, touching the floor with the toe of his right shoe, then leaped back up again, arching his back and extending one arm gracefully while holding me to him with the other.

The king was dancing, moving in a perfect rhythm to the music. I’m sure he presented a sight to admire. Me, on the other hand…

I clung to his shoulders, desperately hoping he wouldn’t drop me, either by negligence or as a part of his choreography. I didn’t even attempt to follow his lead, not moving a limb.

With the next dip, he set me down on the ground. My foot landed on one of the crystal shards, and I slipped, almost falling.

The king caught me, laughing. “You’re so clumsy, it’s adorable.”

“I… I’m sorry. I can never dance like you, Your Majesty,” I muttered, finally finding my footing on the solid ground.

“No one can,” he boasted. “It’s good you understand that. You’re smarter than you look.” Smiling, he flicked my nose with his finger.

As the dancers cleared the floor, the guests reclaimed it, dancing to the music that never stopped playing. Most of the courtiers moved with the grace of the dancers, too. Some flew up, using their wings and rising swirls of feathers in the air among their half-naked bodies.

“I shall let you retire for the night,” the king said. “You must be exhausted. Crossing from another world isn’t easy, I’ve heard. Off you go. I’ll see you soon, my sweet baby chick.”

He clearly wished to join his guests in the dance, without me slowing him down. The wine I’d drunk rose to my head. My mind was spinning along with the twister of the gyrating bodies floating all around me. The group dance looked fun, making me wish I had wings, too.

“I’m not tired,” I protested.

But the king was already gone. His white wings beating the air, he joined the others.

Between the fluttering wings above, I caught the glimpses of fae chasing each other. Two women giggled, catching a man. One ripped his loincloth off, the other claimed his mouth in a kiss.

Another man dove headfirst under a flowing skirt of a woman passing by.

Two men twirled, hugging and kissing while hovering high under the ceiling with a laughing woman trapped between them.

The king had dismissed me. I should be leaving. But I feared I’d never make it out of the ballroom alive. With so many tall, hard bodies zooming through the air all around me, I risked being knocked down if I moved a step in any direction.

With King Tiane joining the crowd, the chaos intensified. The longer I stood there, the greater the danger of someone crashing into me grew.

Folding my arms over my head for protection against an unintentional kick of a foot or jab of an elbow by those flying above, I ventured a step toward the doors and immediately bumped into someone’s hard abdomen.

The familiar silver buttons and the embroidered shooting stars on the black velvet betrayed whose hard abs I’d slammed into.

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