Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Lute trailed them, with Tzeri perched on the pauldron on his shoulder. He’d discovered that she really liked seedrocks, a hard candy made from honey and sunflower-like seeds. Lute had been giving her little bits of it as training aids and over the past week she had finally stopped screaming every time someone came near. The way to a mordok’s heart was clearly through her bottomless stomach.
The dancing teacher was Clover’s idea. She’d informed me that he was highly sought after and expensive, but worth every den. I was getting worried about Clover. After we cleaned up Isadau and situated her in a spare room, I had gone to check on Clover before heading off to bed. She was still in the kitchen, and when I woke up, she was back in the kitchen again. I wasn’t sure she had even slept. Fingers crossed that the dress took the dye, because I really didn’t want her to have a breakdown.
The dancing teacher approached me and executed a beautiful bow. “My lady, my name is Erodel. I’m dapchel and a ranowen. You may address me as he and him. It is my privilege to serve you today.”
Ah. In Rellas, like in every society, some people didn’t fit the stricter definitions of gender roles. Dapchel were designated female at birth but lived their life as men, while darchel were designated male at birth but lived as women. Both identities embraced the feminine and masculine parts of themselves as one harmonious whole, not one gender but rather both. It was a complex philosophy centering on acceptance.
Dapchel often worked as ranowen. The word meant battle brothers in the Old Tongue, but their actual duties were much more complicated. They served as escorts in a strictly nonsexual sense. They were well educated, had impeccable manners, and were highly skilled in combat arts. If you had to attend a social event where bringing a bodyguard wasn’t appropriate or just needed a sympathetic ear without any judgment, you would schedule a date with a ranowen.
“It is my privilege to benefit from your instruction.”
“We will begin with simple stretching,” Erodel announced. “Listen to the music Ruana plays, my lady, and try to find the rhythm.”
The stretching took a full fifteen minutes. Apparently, I had a good sense of rhythm and was flexible, but my footwork would need major improvement. We progressed into making small circles around each other, with strategic turns and arm raising.
“Our time is limited, so we can only concentrate on a single dance,” Erodel said. “Luckily, we only need one. Although joedurars include dances, the main point has always been conversation.”
He reversed the direction, and I followed, trying to mirror his movements.
“I will teach you how to dance the polhe. It’s not a particularly fast dance, with only five main parts, and it’s danced in pairs and designed to keep you moving at just the right pace to easily converse with your partner. It’s a way to have a private talk in a very public setting.”
“So it’s an excuse for flirting?”
“Single people such as yourself have limited opportunities to interact with other single people their age unless they are chaperoned. This is a way to sidestep that limitation. And that is our next move. We sidestep to the left . . . and to the right. And again, to the left . . . and to the right. Very good. You will not be chaperoned at the joedurar. The invitation is for you alone. You cannot bring a companion.”
I was painfully aware of that.
“During a polhe, the entire gathering acts as your chaperone. If anything untoward were to take place, the perpetrator would be instantly condemned by everyone. There is nothing society loves more than tearing down one of their own when they stumble in a public way. You will be perfectly safe during this dance.”
“What happens if they don’t play a polhe?”
“They will. They will likely play it more than once as well. The first dance at the joedurar will be an exhibition dance, something fast like a sarett. It will be danced by a single pair handpicked by the Chamber of Ceremonies, usually someone young, of good birth, and excellent at dancing. The sarett will be followed by a polhe, then a fast dance since the dancers will have warmed up, then a polhe again. Raise your hand like this, my lady.”
He raised his hand as if for a high five. I mimicked him and we touched our fingers.
“So far this doesn’t seem too complicated.”
“The polhe is an old dance. It’s relatively simple. The challenge isn’t in learning all of the steps, my lady. The challenge is in training your body until the dance is so familiar, you can do it without thinking and with casual ease, so you won’t stand out.”
“So I don’t look like I’m trying too hard?”