As a child without his master, Felix had found himself working alongside others of similar skills—bounty hunters, assassins, thieves, spies, or any other who fed off of the greed of powerful and wealthy individuals. He had always hated it. There was a stifling air of superiority that surrounded every guild he worked with, as if they were better because of the blood that stained their hands. If he was just a little younger when his master had passed, perhaps he would have been stained by their ways.

But as he matured, he grew into his own opinion, and he was no longer favored by the guilds. Perhaps that was why the raven-haired girl sent a shiver down his spine. Or maybe it was because if she was here, so was her gang. They were almost as renowned in Furvus as he was, rumored to have killed at least twenty-three people since forming their guild only a few years ago. If it was truly them, there were others after Aiko's life. Dinah had not stopped at commissioning one assassin. She had built a failsafe in case Felix could not do what was asked of him.

Time was short. Sucking in a sharp breath, Felix quickened his steps as he approached Aiko. The heels of his boots scuffed the polished floors, producing a squeak that rubbed his nerves the wrong way. He cringed and pressed on, holding his head high and keeping his blank locked firmly in place. Aiko. He needed to get to Aiko.

Surprise flickered across her expression as he drew nearer—though it didn't carry even a hint of recognition. She straightened her spine, tilting her head back slightly to meet his gaze. There was uncertainty in the flicker of her eye's brilliant flame, and she almost seemed to shrink back from him. If his guess was correct, he appeared as a total stranger to her. Some part of him stirred with pride at her unease. He had tried to teach her to be wary of strangers, and perhaps it had registered with her.

Or she threw caution to the wind just to toy with you, he reminded himself.

Ignoring his snide comments, he dipped his head to her in an awkward bow as he held out a hand with a flourish. "Would you care to dance with me?" he asked, laying as much charm as he could in the words. He had never thought of himself as charming, but he could at least try to revive his silver tongue, which had fallen to disuse since he left Furvus. Weariness and confusion had eroded it, and this was a good chance to try and polish it.

Aiko hesitated, casting a nervous glance around her. As she began to speak, she lifted her hand to rest it in his own. "It's tradition for the newly-crowned queen to have the first dance, but to be honest, I... wasn't expecting anyone to ask," it came out as more of a murmur, as if she was talking to herself rather than to him.

"You told me once that, if I ever wanted a dance, all I had to do was ask."

As soon as her hand brushed his, the blue aura shifted. Aiko gasped, her eyes growing wide. She took a firm step back and he closed his fingers around her hand, locking it firmly against his palm. He pulled her in close, mimicking one of the formal dances his master had taught him so long ago. Music filled the room once more, slow and soft as it set the tempo for their dance. The rise and fall of each note was unfamiliar, but his master had been sure to teach him a dance that could be adapted to any song. Pulling her along, he guided them into the rhythm of their dance.

"You!" Aiko hissed. The word grated on the light and airy melody of her voice, and her surprise hardened into a wickedly sharp glare. Despite that, she didn't fight as he led her into a dance. If anything, she simply let herself follow him, her steps as practiced and poised as they ever were. Each step matched the beat perfectly, each swing falling in place at the perfect time. Even the way her full skirt flowed around her ankles was in time. Why should this be any different? She lived her life in a constant dance.

Confidence surged through him when she didn't pull away. Beneath the seething fire of anger in her gaze, there was most likely still a shred of friendliness. He hoped, anyway, as he was betting on it.

"Don't I get a hello at least?" he murmured, leaning close enough to feel the heat coming from her skin. His other hand rested gently against her waist, and he felt her tense beneath his touch. A blush darkened her face, her lips pressed together in a firm line as she narrowed her eyes up at him.

"You smell like a man who's been in the dungeon for three days," she spat. Reluctantly, she dragged her free hand up and placed it against his shoulder. "Why are you here? No, forget that, how are you here?"

"Your cat set me up," he said, letting his gaze wander over the nameless faces around him. Hidden among the crowd, he spotted another member of the raven-haired girl's gang, marked by the black cloak pinned around his shoulders. Gripping Aiko's hand tightly, Felix fixed his gaze on her once more. "I need to speak with you."

The jewels on her crown glittered as she twirled, her skirts flaring out. Her hair was pinned back, twisted up in an intricately woven braid, but a few curls were left loose to frame her face. Her hands were soft in his, as fragile and delicate as she looked in her red gown, woven with gold strands that looked like cracks running down her bodice. One wrist was still bare, missing the bracelet that he wore on his own. All he needed was to speak with her, and yet he couldn't stop looking at her as they danced. Her lips were painted a dark red, her eyes lined with coal, her wild curls tamed by the crown upon her head.

For some reason, this was the face he projected onto the scarred portrait in the hall. The face of a princess; the face of a queen. It was her, and yet it wasn't.

She seemed to notice him staring, as her expression flattened. "You don't need to speak that urgently, and if you do, you can do it from behind bars—where you can't reach your weapons." She stamped her foot down hard, nearly missing his toes. From the spark in her eyes, he knew it was a purposeful warning. The best she could do in these circumstances. Yet somehow, it didn't raise any heads. "I have no reason to trust you," she went on with a sneer. "I could give the word right now; I'd have you exposed and killed in front of all these people."

A small part of him wanted to mock her as he always did. To laugh at her and her game, to ask why she hadn't done such a thing yet. But all he could do was squeeze her hand tighter as he whirled her around again. Beyond her, he caught sight of a third assassin in the crowd. This one—a tall man with sharp features—watched the two of them more intently. Felix pleaded that Mae's enchantment would hold. He didn't know what they would do if they recognized him, but he doubted it would make them back off. Dinah had probably offered them something just as enticing as the freedom she promised him, and he knew the raven-haired girl's gang did not value sharing targets or rewards.

"Please, Aiko," he urged, keeping his voice low. "I swear on my life that I'm not toying with you. If anything, you can blame Mae for my being here. I need to talk with you. Please."

Her glare slowly morphed into a puzzled frown. Following his gaze, she surveyed the crowd. Her steps faltered as she caught sight of one of the unwelcome guests, and he held firm to keep her steady. When she faced him again, she drew in a deep breath, stiffening ever so slightly. The hostility had faded and she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Okay," she said. "Let's talk. But I have to finish the dance first. Ameris is breathing down my neck already, and I don't need him hounding me for screwing up another tradition."

"I can help you with that. Although I'm leading you in a traditional Furvus dance right now. I don't know any Niveus ones."

Aiko smirked and a little of that playful flame returned. "I don't care about the specific dance. I wasn't expecting to dance at all—and if I did, I expected it to be with an old man or some creep."

"I'm touched that I'm not a creep."

"No, you're a murderer. That's a different class altogether."

The note changed as the music shifted into the chorus. Following the flow of the dip in tune, he leaned in closer, snaking his arm around her waist. "And you would dance with a murderer?" he whispered, his voice lifting slightly as a smile pulled at his lips.

"You didn't leave me much of a choice." She pulled away to meet his eye, searching his face. The longer they danced, the more her anger melted away, leaving only concern brimming in her gaze. Despite how his words were crafted to needle her, she seemed to see right through it all. There was nothing they could do but act normal until the music finally faded to a close, but that didn't remove the wound-up feeling of stress in the back of his mind.

Before he knew it, the music began to close out. He spun Aiko around one last time before pulling away, dropping her hand as he bowed low to her. She curtsied in response. As silence fell, the crowd began to applaud in that polite rich person clap Felix had heard many times before. He and Aiko remained still until another song began to play: one that was more upbeat. Voices filled the room once more as other couples took to the dance floor.

Once he was certain the crowd of dancers had grown thick enough to escape through, Felix took Aiko's hand and guided her away. She did not resist this time, flowing easily into his lead as she tried to match her pace to his. Together, they weaved through the sea of people until they broke free. After a quick glance around them, Felix shifted his hand to Aiko's elbow, pulling her a bit closer. They made off toward the open door that led into the hall, her long, crimson skirts trailing after them.

No one turned to watch them leave, and no one stepped out to stop them. A slight twinge of wrongness latched onto Felix's mind. While he was grateful that they weren't questioned, it didn't seem right. In Furvus, Dinah could never go anywhere without turning a few heads; Aiko's reputation spoke of the same thing, yet no one even batted an eye when she left her own coronation with some unnamed man.

"They won't bother," she said softly, answering his unspoken question. She hung her head slightly as they walked. Defeat crowned her; it was dark and lowly, a stark contrast to the jeweled symbol of power resting on her head. "Why would you mourn the absence of a burden?"

Felix furrowed his brow as he scrambled to put the pieces together in his mind. It didn't make sense. With the shake of his head, he shoved it to the side for the time being. "Where can we go to talk?"

Aiko's steps quickened and she pulled her arm away from him to take the lead. "There's a balcony where we can talk. It's sheltered and usually positioned between a chink in the guard. Couples like to go there to... well, you know. We won't be bothered."

The idea of slipping off to an area known for sheltering lovers with Aiko twisted his insides uncomfortably. His face warmed with embarrassment; luckily, she didn't turn to mock him with one of her twisted smiles.

They swerved off to the side, where a thick, maroon curtain hung closed over a section of the wall. As Aiko pulled it back, it revealed the balcony she spoke of. Moonlight flooded into the hall, bathing the red-and-gold in a soft, silvery glow. A sofa was set out on the balcony, one dressed in the same crushed velvet as the blood-red carpets. Columns of smooth stone formed the parapet wrapped around the edge of the balcony. Far below, the courtyard and its maze of rose bushes were spread out around the base of the castle. Up on the balcony, the pattern of hedges seemed to form the shape of the sun: Niveus's royal emblem.

Aiko heaved a sigh as she lifted the crown from her head and set it on the sofa. She leaned against the parapet, resting her chin in hand as she gazed out at the courtyard below. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Felix pulled the curtain closed, gripping the thick fabric tightly in his fingers until they ached. When he released it, his hand dropped to his side, already balled into a fist. "Originally, I was going to bargain with you," he said, looking away from her. His gaze fixed on a chink in the stone that ran across the top of the columns—the perfect size for a blade to fit into it. "I was going to offer to continue to help you search for a way to break yourself from the Core, and once that was completed, I was hoping you could... pardon my actions. If you could allow me to live in your country. I was going to say that you would never have to see me again. As far as you and Furvus would be concerned, Felix would no longer exist."

"But?" She turned her head ever so slightly, one brow lifted in question. Though her tone came out flat and unconcerned, the look in her hazel eyes suggested otherwise. "Something changed?"

"There are others," he said, throwing all his cards down in front of her. Unease coiled around his heart like a vine, choking him as its thorns pricked his flesh. "I spotted other assassins from Furvus while we were dancing—you saw them too, didn't you?"

"I don't see why this matters to you," she muttered, folding her arms. "Don't you have the same goal as them? Let me guess, it's a contest. Whoever kills me gets the grand prize, and right now, you're the winner." A curse tore from her lips as she shoved herself away from the railing. "And I fell for it again. I might as well walk right into your knife now!"

"No, Aiko, that's not— I'm not here to kill you. If it was up to me, I would have stayed in that cell until you came back for me."

"You could have stayed there anyway!" she snapped. "I don't understand why you came back. Because Mae told you to? You could have ignored him; he doesn't control you." Suddenly, she stopped and pulled back, her brow furrowing as she searched his face. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she sank back against the stone again.

"Don't tell me..." With a sigh, she shook her head and rested the heel of her hand against her temples. "Don't tell me you're—"

"I want to help you." The words tumbled from Felix's lips before he had a chance to fully process the weight of what he was saying. Only the sting of his nails digging into his palms kept him grounded in reality as he pressed on. "I would still like to bargain, only I'm altering my terms."

He waited patiently, but she said nothing. She nodded silently for him to continue, though the motion was slow and her gaze grew distant as her mind drifted elsewhere. Without her blank, she was somehow more unnerving. The knowledge that he was looking at the raw, unfiltered emotions of Aiko rather than the filtered mask of Cinere stirred the butterflies in his chest. Moonlight illuminated her in its ethereal glow, contrasting starkly with the brilliant, flaming red of her gown. If he didn't know better, he too would have proclaimed that she was a goddess among men.

And yet, someone had placed her in a cage, tethering her to a world that didn't seem to care for her. Like him, she wasn't free. She was a bird in a cage, left for all to stare at until she was called upon.

Like him, she would do anything to escape from her cage.

He licked his lips, gathering his words carefully. A weight pressed against his shoulders, threatening to crush him beneath the pressure of her waiting stare. When he was sitting alone in the cell, wishing for a chance to speak again, it was easy to imagine what he would say. Now, the words froze on the tip of his tongue, freezing despite the steady warmth of the night air. Niveus had always been warmer than Furvus, but it never made him feel less stiff and cold.

As if to save him from his choice of words, the curtain was yanked open. A guard with a golden sash stood in the entryway, one hand against the hilt of the sword at her side. Aiko flinched away at the sight of her, a small gasp slipping from her lips.

The guard's blue eyes swept over the two of them, lingering for a moment longer on Felix as she furrowed her brow. Pale blonde locks stuck out beneath the rim of her helmet—sandy against the white sheen of her skin. Felix studied her.

Although her features were more Furvian, it wasn't that which dropped a heavy stone in his gut. It was the fact that she was familiar to him.

She cleared her throat and stood a little straighter. "Your Highness," she said with the slight dip of her head. "Ameris wishes to speak with you."

"Right." Suspicion creased Aiko's brow and she didn't move from her place at the far end of the balcony. Her fingers curled against the stone behind her. "Actually, it's Your Majesty now."

"My apologies." The guard didn't lift her head. "If you would, please follow me."

"I am entertaining a guest at the moment. Whatever Ameris wishes to say, he can say after my coronation," Aiko said firmly. "I am Niveus's Queen now. Ameris submits to me."

"My apologies, Your Majesty. He said it was quite urgent and he asks that you come immediately." The guard stepped forward as her hand shifted away from her sword. "And he asks that you come alone."

As the final word left her lips, she ripped a dagger from someplace hidden at her waist, slashing the blade in an arc that aimed for Felix's neck. His hand snapped up to catch her wrist before his mind could fully process what was happening. Gritting his teeth, he twisted her arm, spinning her around before throwing her to the ground and planting his knee against her back. The knife clattered out of her hand; Aiko scooped it up and tossed it over the balcony.

"That's no good way to treat the guests of your kingdom." Felix squeezed the arm of the guard until she tensed beneath him, eyes flashing as she glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "My lady said no. The least you could do is respect that."

The blonde guard chuckled, though the sound was strained and cut off with a groan. "Furvus was surprised to see that there had been no word from you. So then, what now? Do I get to meet my end by your renowned blade, o great Assassin Felix?"

His skin prickled. If she recognized him, his touch must have disrupted the spell. She was another assassin from Furvus, which meant several had already blended in with the guards and other guests. It wasn't just the raven-haired girl he needed to watch out for.

"No," he said, coldly masking his expression with his blank. His voice fell flat despite the pounding of his heart in his chest. Slowly, he drew a heavier dagger from its hidden sheath, flipping it in his palm so that the butt of the hilt faced her rather than the blade. "But I am going to ask that you stay here awhile."

With that said, he slammed the butt of the dagger against the side of her head. Her eyes darkened as her body fell limp. Holding his breath, he waited another second before he released her and rose to his feet.

"Did you... kill her?" Aiko asked, her voice barely more than a whisper as she bent down to examine the body.

"No." Felix tucked the knife away, grateful to have its weight leave his hands. His fingers ached from gripping it so tightly, and the visions of blood on his hands danced across his gaze. He shook his head. "No, she's unconscious. She won't stay that way for long; I don't know that I hit her all that hard."

Aiko glanced up at him as she pushed herself to her feet. "Then we should go," she said.

His heart skipped. "We?" he echoed.

She shrugged as she stepped past him, hiking up her skirts as she made her way through the open doorway. "What can I say, I like to gamble, and I'm taking this chance. If you wanted to kill me, you've already had plenty of chances to do so. If the other assassins lurking in my castle are anything like this girl, I'd rather have someone like you by my side." She stopped, turning to him with a smile. "I'd like to bargain with you, Felix."

For some reason, he found himself smiling as his blank fell away. "Then let's go."

I've been thinking about this dance scene since the very beginning of this story. It's one of those central figures that appeared in my head when AtA was in the initial planning stages and I couldn't resist. Act I is quickly coming to a close and there's still a lot left in store for you guys :D

Thanks for reading! See you in the next update :)