Page 80 of Tendu: Dancing in the Castle

“That was immense fun,” said Michelle, echoing my feelings, then kissing me on both cheeks. I fought the urge to wipe away lipstick with my hand. She’d been really friendly and nice with us all through the rehearsals, but this physical contact reminded me of the intimacy she’d once shared with Aleks, and the performance-high dissipated.

“You should make it up to Will for killing him,” she said. “I’m sure there’ll be opportunity at the party.” Her smile felt wide and creepy.

“What did she mean by that?” I asked Will and Ruaridh, once Michelle had gone.

“She means you should snog him, Phi,” said Ruaridh with a grin.

“Not the worst idea ever,” said Will, his own grin then fading. “Oh, but of course. Bevan’s bloke’s here. I suppose yours is too? Is he a boring suit as well?”

“I’ve been meaning to speak to you about that, Will. You know, it’s… He’s…” Say it, say it. Just his name; it’s not that hard. But the man himself was holding up my pink gauzy dress. For my solo.

Aleks spoke of the approaching doom. “Just be love. Love cannot know fear, Malphia.”

I sighed, taking the dress, resigned to my fate, and just hoped my feet would move in the correct way once the music began.

It was a lot better than anticipated, and over very fast as if I was in some sort of dream or stupor. Love certainly made time and feet fly, or maybe it was Aleks at the piano that did that. We held on to each other in the wings afterwards and watched Ruaridh and Sun do something amazing and gymnastic that I would have liked to have seen from out front.

Then, sticky-tape applied, I held Will and Justin’s hands as Michelle fussed over the monitors. She made sure the little stickers were all affixed to our heads properly. There had been no getting out of it. Digital lines were to light the backdrop of our ancient circle.

And it wasn’t just Will that was upset. “I’m the control, aren’t I?” said Justin. “The dimwit in the group, for everyone to see.”

“Let’s ditch them,” I said, looking round to make sure Michelle was nowhere near. “There’s nothing she can do about it.” We plucked the hair-tugging plastic circles from our heads and dropped them on the floor. The small defiance, coupled with the presence of my friends, made me feel braver, and I stood braced and ready to begin.

I performed the deep chassé that started the piece, sliding slowly onto the stage with bent knees to the drumming start of the music, arms stretching above as if I were just waking. One hand invited the sun to rise as I walked the circle, then I summoned my two cohorts with a stamp and fast arm gesture. They knelt, submissive to feminine power, and the sun rose.

We went wild. I launched myself through the air at Will who caught and raised me into a turning lift. We leant together, twisted, turned and rolled.

Will and I pulled Justin into another, totally different, lift where he curled round our heads, foetal, a baby unborn, unmade in time. The light rose higher and shone down white from above, outlining our figures against the rest of the dark stage. We stood side by side, suddenly still. Justin stepped back and out of the light, vanishing from view, as I fell to the ground under Will. My legs circled his waist, we both arched back and the stage went black with a single beat of a drum. There was a stunned silence before the clapping gradually started up.

Aleks arrived backstage as we were embracing and jumping up and down, buzzing with adrenaline. “You have blown me away,” he said. “But Michelle, she will be furious.”

“We took the monitors off,” I admitted.

“You are stepping on something she is fanatical about. Say you don’t know what happened, that it must have been a malfunction. She is talking to people, so you are spared for now.”

“Talking of people, Phi, you’ll never guess who’s here?” Justin beamed at me and I assumed he meant Edward. “Your babies!”

I gasped in delight.

“You have babies?” asked Aleks, bemused.

“Yes,” said Justin. “Three of them. Didn’t you know?”

“Justin,” I said urgently, needing to tell him before he found out any other way. “Edward’s here too.”

I knew at once it was okay. His ever-expressive eyebrows showed merely a hint of happy naughtiness.

“That was him falling apart?” enquired a somewhat disappointed Will.

My dress was shiny purple with a splash of stars across one shoulder. Simone was in red again, but the dress wasn’t such a nice fit as the last one. She tugged at it in dissatisfaction. Sun was all natural in green while Sadie looked chic in black velvet, accessorised by long gloves and pearls.

“You’re like a glamorous heroine out of a film,” I told her.

“Thanks,” she said. “I love your necklace.”

Aleks and Will waited outside the hall doors. I patted their tuxedoed chests. “Both so handsome.”

I didn’t hear their returning compliments as I was suddenly infused with spine-tingling horror. I’d been so preoccupied by the show, and then the fun of choosing shiny outfits, that I hadn’t given the after party any thought whatsoever. But here we were. Standing on the threshold of another Ceilidh-type event, another ordeal to be got through.

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