She felt herself growing overwhelmed, a sea of unfamiliar faces stormed around her. And she almost wished that her eyesight was as bad as Zeven's so she wouldn't be able to see the way their fake smiles became disjunct and broken the more she looked on.
Suddenly a familiar face surfaced in the crowd.
"Brennan?" she called out, offering a little wave, "I didn't know you would be here."
"Someone has to babysit Zeven." he said with a smile.
"I thought that was my job."
"I think your job, at least for the night, is to try and look like you're enjoying yourself."
"It's different from the balls I used to go to. I don't know that I'm pulling it off."
She gave a stiff laugh, taking a sip from her champagne flute. Puckering slightly as the bubbles hit her tongue.
"If it makes you feel better, you are absolutely radiating. I'm not sure if you noticed how many eyes you are drawing."
"That's nice, but I've worked my ass off this past week and he's not giving me a chance to show off."
"Not to overstep my bounds, but if you are wanting to dance," he offered a hand out to her, "I'd be happy to accompany you."
"Not a chance," Zeven appeared suddenly, cutting in between them, easily replacing Brennan's hand. "I did not have my toes repeatedly stepped on for someone else to have the first dance."
Brennan didn't say anything, but he no longer held their attention anyway. Whatever he could have said would only be lost in the shuffle of the dance floor.
"You can move in a bit closer."
"Are you really in a position to be critiquing me right now."
Not only did she keep the space between them, she also kept her eyes to the ground as she counted the steps under her breath.
"Excuse me, my eyes are up here."
"Well, your toes are down here and you've already expressed how little you enjoyed me stepping on them."
He pulled her further into him. A gentle hand on her back guiding her.
"Now I can't see my feet."
"You don't need to see them. You're doing wonderfully."
She took a deep breath before looking at him. Her face was much closer to his than usual. Their height difference was much less noticeable with her heels on. Captivated by his dark brown eyes, she found herself unwilling to look away.
"Speaking of seeing things, you're blind, how do you keep finding me so easily?"
"Your radiant personality draws me in like a beacon."
"And what is it really?"
"Height and hair color."
He laughed as he spun her around, keeping time with the music. Chris looked around, and sure enough there were no other women with the same colored hair. She had also noticed that just as Zeven promised, she was taller than almost everyone.
There were many men that she was still only eye level with, but it did give her comfort not to be looked down at. It was a battlefield. One where she was not armed with swords and daggers, but with looks and charm. Dances were never her strong suit as a prince. She remembered being kept away from as many of them as possible. Her secret too important to risk leaking.