Taking a steadying breath he turned back around and scanned the crowd, she now stood off to the side of the ballroom talking to another man. He grabbed some campaign off a table on his way over to her. He tried to casually blend in but that was a rather hopeless affair with his blasted hood and mask, he'd almost be less conspicuous with his scars on full display but with all the ladies present it likely would just cause a panic. He looked more like a rogue criminal than a man of high society.
Before he could reach her another man led her out onto the dance floor leaving him staring with nothing to do. She danced quite well, and he suddenly regretted never taking his dance classes seriously. By the end of the song, his champagne glass was empty and they were heading to a nearby table to get drinks. Should he approach or stay back and see how things go? He couldn't remember feeling so unsure about anything before and it was incredibly frustrating, what if she danced with other men all night?
While he stewed about that possibility, another young man approached them and asked her to dance and he found himself unusually irritated.
Just a few turns into the dance he saw her grimace and his body went on high alert looking for the cause. That's when he noticed the man's hand on her shoulder just over his handkerchief and her forced smile shuttered again.
This time he didn't worry about what to do he was already halfway across the dance floor before he'd thought of a plan. Her smile became hard and her eyes dark at whatever the man said to her and it was all he could do to keep his cool as he tapped, a tad aggressively, on the man's shoulder rather than toss him to the ground. Years at war really had made him far too violent for polite society.
The man spun around already raising his voice "Do you mind?…" The man trailed off when he looked at him and this time he enjoyed the fear in the man's eyes as his face blanched white.
"Yes. You hurt her," he said in a low threatening voice. The man bowed and apologized as he walked backward until he stumbled, then he turned and outright fled from sight. All dancing had stopped around them and Kassidy looked around uncomfortably at all the staring eyes. Shit he'd just made things worse for her hadn't he.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly not sure what to do next to rectify the situation but still worried about her arm.
Surprising him and likely everyone she smiled brightly up at him. "Yes, thank you for saving me yet again. Why don't we find a place to sit and chat for a bit?" she asked brightly holding out her hand to him.
"As you wish," he replied tentatively taking her offered hand. It was just so small, how had he not noticed how small her hands were on her bow or sword? They were likely made specifically for her grip but still.
She led him away to a small round table near the corner he'd so recently occupied that remained empty of people. He pulled out a chair for her and sat in the one across from it raising his hand to call over a waiter. It took a moment before one finally gathered himself to approach and when he did it was like the spell of silence that had overtaken the ballroom suddenly collapsed and talking and music finally began to resume.
He ordered the tea he'd requested be prepared earlier to be brought out. Then turned to Kassidy who kept looking all around nervously despite the volume returning to normal many eyes watched them curiously and they were likely the topic of many of the resumed conversations. "Ignore them, are you alright? Did he crack the wax on your arm?"
"No, I don't think so. He didn't grab me that hard. Is this... part of my punishment?" she asked gesturing to all the people watching with her eyes.
"No. Well, it's sort of linked to your punishment. What did he say to you to make you so upset?" he asked still concerned about that dark look she'd had on her face, she hadn't even looked that affronted when he'd torn her shirt so whatever he'd said must have been quite bad.
"Why does that matter?" she asked offhandedly "And what's my punishment?" she added excitedly. She obviously didn't want to talk about it so he allowed the change in subject.
"Well… your life debt and your punishment will go hand in hand if you are still offering it."
"You can't take back a life debt, I already promised it and I'll keep my word," she said resolutely.
"Well, I need someone who can help me rebuild my social persona into something more amenable to people. It will require a fair amount of socializing and etiquette, hence your punishment," he said suddenly nervous to share his proposal.
Okay," she said trying to piece together the details he hadn't shared aloud.
The tea arrived and he was thankful for the distraction while he thought up how best to explain it. But after she'd had a few sips, she demanded answers.
"How exactly am I supposed to change your image just by going to social events?"
"You already have, with this one, spreading rumors that I'm kind and gentle will surely have people talking for a while," he said with humor in his voice.
"I never once said that was you…" she tailed off and stared at her tea, "you planned all of this… To convince everyone you cared about me and for me to unknowingly improve the social opinion of you… and to later use this situation and my debt to you to ensure I continue to help you…
"I didn't plan all of it like that and I'm-"
"It's brilliant," she said and laughed.
"What?"
"No one would believe the match was made for political reasons because my family has nothing to offer, you're probably getting pressured into a political marriage where you don't know what back door deals your family council is trying to make or if they would be loyal to you over the council. My being indebted to you ensures my loyalty and derails any of their plans. I'm just curious about one thing, did you know who I was from the beginning and plan to threaten me with exposure of my crimes or severe punishment if I didn't comply or did you come up with the entire plan after I pledged my life?"
"I had no idea you were even a girl until you took your mask off or that you were a lady until you told me…and I- wait you're not mad?" he asked confused.
"What do I have to be mad about? I was in the wrong, you saved me anyway and I offered you my life in return, in part for my own selfish reasons. On top of that, you did warn me you had a punishment planned that I wouldn't like and that you weren't really that nice which is a relief since it was making me feel ridiculously guilty. It may not be how I expected to be used and I'm certainly not the best candidate to play the part of admirer or wealthy refined suiter, but I imagine I'm one of the few women who owe you a life debt which means you can't trust anyone else with this plan or your desperate."
Her excitement faded a little into a smile of reassurance "But don't worry I may not be great at what you need but I will do my best, and I'm especially skilled in ending relationships and their contracts cleanly and efficiently with minimum damage to either side and I can give you the inside scoop about a lot of the single noble ladies.
"I'll be like your spy which is so much cooler than maid guard and a lot more practical. You may not know me well or if you can rely on me yet, but I know you enough through my brother to trust and respect you so I will do my best to help where I can. Oh, so what was the test I had to pass in order to qualify as good enough to be useful to you?" she asked excitedly.
This was not the reaction he'd been anticipating at all.
"Well, just that you could handle yourself in social settings and utilize proper etiquette even if you hated it, and that you didn't have a horrible reputation that would give the council leverage to veto my request…" he said truthfully hoping it wouldn't hurt her feelings.
"How diligent of you, and quite impressive! It's amazing that you were able to come up with all this so quickly. My brother was right when he said the scariest thing about you was your intellect rather than your sword. You hide it well, I'm sorry I called you stupid."
"What? When did you do that?"
"I thought you were spying on me all day did your spies not report that? I guess it was more calling out all guys for being stupid but that apple and embarrassing message were all part of your master plan huh?"
"Ah… well. It didn't go quite as planned but I guess it worked out in the end." he hedged. Everything was working out better than he'd planned so why did he feel guilty like he'd somehow fallen short of her expectations for him and was bound to disappoint her when she realized he was not some kind of genius mastermind?