Azriel soaked herself in a tub of warm water. Every muscle in her body ached, from her efforts of the morning with Tara.
By the end of the session, she had felt she would either burst into tears or punch Tara in the face. Her knees were red from getting knocked to the ground repeatedly. Her stomach hurt and her arms were sore from lifting up multiple times to defend herself. She had no idea what everyone was trying to teach her, but Tara had been profusely apologetic to her once the lesson was over and had gone back to being a rather subservient attendant. Azriel had not had the heart to be angry with the girl who spent so much time and effort seeing to her comfort.
As she got dressed in a simple light blue kaftan, which matched the colour of her eyes, Tara appeared with a steaming hot cup of tea and some carrot cake. Azriel gratefully accepted the tea and bit into a carrot cake, moaning with the pleasure of it's rich taste. The food in Irismus was richly flavoured and very different from anything she had eaten before. The rather strange lessons she would have to undergo, seemed like a decent recompense for the same.
As she kept her cup down, Tara peaked in and said, "Lady Azriel, would you like to join us in the courtyard for the evening Melee?"
"Melee?", she asked incredulously.
"Well, it's not much, but a bit of a walkabout across the large courtyard of the fortress to hear some musicians or artists. The work for the day is done, and we usually go for a bit of a leg stretch and relaxation. It's better than sitting here in the room, hence I thought...."
"Yes, I would love to. Thank you Tara." Azriel said. She was delighted to be away from her rooms, lovely as they were. Anything was worth being away from her own morbid thoughts.
"One's own company is always best, Ive had mine for hundreds of years," piped in the Book.
Azriel rolled her eyes as she slipped on a cream tunic and breeches and skipped down to the courtyard with Tara and Wole. The courtyard was full of pretty tables and small stalls that boasted of all sorts of games and activities. There was singing in one side with a band of merry musicians, playing all sorts of funny musical instruments, while a whole bunch of people and creatures danced on another. Azriel realized that Irismus was host to so many types of beings that even she was confused. There were large brown bearlike creatures playing chess in one corner, while satyrs danced with pretty maids in another. A fountain had a few mer-folk frolicking in it, while some humans and dwarves sat on the sides of it, tossing coins. What looked like a bunch of trees was actually 2 or 3 very large tree like creatures, sitting in a corner while a few squirrel like beings ran up and down them. Tara's own whiskers were very twitchy, when they passed a leopard growling along the way. Azriel was dazzled and could not take her eyes off the scene. She found herself cheering Wole as he challenged a rather flexible pale human girl to a series of calisthenics. It just felt good to be among people her own age again, and forget about all her problems for a while.
Suddenly the entire buzzing courtyard quieted down.
She whispered to Tara, "What's happening?"
"It's a special evening Lady Azriel, we have been graced by the presence of one of the travelling Flamenco dancers."
"Flamenco...but isn't it from far south in Sparade?"
"Yes it is, but they travel across the land and perform in many places. We are lucky to be graced by them today."
A lilting music started and the entire crowd looked at the suddenly empty space in the middle expectantly.
Azriel waited along with the others with bated breath. The veiled flamenco dancers of Sparade were known for their exotic and mesmerizing art. She could only imagine what it might be like that even the people of Irismus were entranced by the idea.
Slowly, a woman walked into the empty space. She was almost 7 feet tall and her dress was shaped at the top, hugging her taut breasts and then widening into a a riotous set of frills from waist down. She wore a veil on her face, made entirely of a delicate lace. Every inch of her body appeared graceful and lovely. She pulled out a fan and slowly began to whirl it around. Soon the fan and she were moving in unison, as if they were part of the same body. In a little time, the entire crowd, including Azriel were watching her with rapt attention as she whirled and dipped across the empty space. No one seemed to move. It was like they were all enchanted. Just like that, the woman began to widen her circle, whirling within touching distance of the audience. No one touched her but kept a respectful distance from her allowing her the space she needed for her dance.
She came whirling across the space towards Azriel and Tara, and before anyone could do anything, she grabbed Azriel and screamed in her face, "Death will come to you.....leave Irismus, join your true love in the Blight!"
Azriel shrieked and tried to pull away as Tara pushed the dancer off her. The dancer's veil came off and Azriel realized that her nose and eyes were bleeding dark red blood. In a matter of minutes the dancer collapsed onto the floor and she died gasping for breath.
The crowd erupted in chatter and Wole and Tara whisked Azriel back to her room, literally dragging her and carrying her away.