The Palace, known for its luxury and mystery, has taken more lives within its walls than any other part of the region. It's also known for its lousy parties, thrown to entertain the king as it is believed that he needed it to live long.
There were so many reasons to be sceptical about the royal palace, like why every beautiful lady that walks into it never walks out again, and why the princes are such perverts.
Yet amidst the horrific tale, those that were true as those that were not, the dancers never missed a month without going to entertain the king.
Today, Anna was one of them and she was no doubt one of the most anxious amongst her teammates. Having practised for three days with them, Anna has learnt a lot about those within the castle, and this information is what she planned to complete her task with. But first, she had to dance and had to do it to the best of her ability.
The King was her target, if he fell for her charms then she would complete her task easily. Yes, it was well known that the king never had his eyes on dancers, but what would he think of the new girl?
"Are you ready?" Salma, the lead dancer, inquired, looking at everyone to make sure that they were properly dressed.
"Is Anna feeling any better today?" She asked because Anna wasn't her best at the last practice.
"Yes," Anna nodded her head, but deep down, the answer was 'no'
"I'm ready to go, I'm a bit nervous because it is my first time, but I'm ready."
"Good."
The crew waited outside the castle gates, they couldn't go in unless they were ushered by a place guard who had gotten instruction from the king to let them in. So while they waited, Anna made her final request for the task.
"System, initiate emergency dance protocol."
[ Would you like to initiate a dance emergency protocol in exchange for twenty-four hours? Confirm to proceed]
"Proceed."
[ You have initiated an emergency dance protocol in exchange for twenty-four hours. This skill will remain active for twenty-four hours.]
[ Time left: 40 hours and 17 minutes or 1 day and 16 hours]
"Okay, it's showtime."
Within five minutes, the guard returned to the gate and ushered them through and into the Palace. The scene was breathtaking to Anna, not because it was the fanciest thing she has ever seen, but because it looked like she would describe such environments in a medieval setting.
The small fountain in front of the Palace, several horses and carriages indicate that the king has guests. And music came from inside the castle to tell them the party had already started.
When they got into the Palace, Anna realized that her team were not the only dancers there to entertain the king. Inside the waiting hall, she counted seven different dance teams, each one with their unique uniforms, some with matching coloured hairbands and even sandals.
Looking at how organised and different these teams were from hers, Anna couldn't help but wonder why she got such bad luck and had to dance with the worst team… maybe.
Each team would get a chance to dance, and their entertainment usually lasted almost thirty minutes. As soon as Anna learnt that her team would be the last to dance, she didn't know how to react. One minute she was relieved of her anxiety, but then the next minute she wished that she could get this done and over with.
"Alright girls, it's almost time." the lead dancer announced after what seemed like an eternity to Anna. She thanked the heavens and joined her team to the side of the hall from where they would dance.
But as they stood in line, waiting to be called upon, Anna's heart started beating rapidly. The last time she was this nervous was her high school team presentation back on earth. As the team leader backed them, the pressure and anxiety almost caused her to fumble.
"Alright this is it, girls. Let's impress the king like we always do." This was the lead dancers' call for them to dance into the hall.
The initial dance step for their entrance was quite simple and didn't require too much body movement aside from the legs and hand. And as they danced into the main hall, Anna let out gaps when she saw the crowd,
"Fuck it, it's full of men," she grumbled.
Having to dress in such short clothing in front of men was unsettling, but Anna blamed this discomfort on her marriage. After all, as a spinster, she advertises every part of her body and currently in this story world, she is also a spinster.
"You've got this," she whispered under her breath and waited for their drummer to take over from the previous team, and give them the best that they practised to.
[ Congratulations! You have received your first reader support]
Anna's eyes widened in shock, even though it was one out of a thousand, any starting author is happy enough with one reader who is following the story. But it also raised questions to Anna about what part of the story the readers see in real life. Surely Emma Broadway has no systems included in her plot.
"Bang! Bang!'
The sound of the drum disrupted Anna's train of thought, and her body instantly moved to the beat. It marked the start of the performance and Anna march to a successful quest.
Just like she did on the first day, Anna left the audience stunned. All eyes were on her even though there were ten of them on stage. But Anna wasn't interested in all these men but the King, however, he didn't seem impressed or perhaps he was always indifferent during these performances?
As time went by, Anna became worried,
"What was I thinking he'd do?" She asks herself,
"He's not even looking at me. This old man should better play along with the plot before I force him to.
She remained calm for as long as possible, reminding herself that they still had almost twenty minutes to dance, but after a while, Anna had no choice but to go with plan 'b' even though it might disrupt the flow of their performance.