The Fault of Dances

                                    

                                          
Wyn only hesitated for a moment when she heard the high-pitched noise screech through the air, sending shivers up her spine and launching her adrenaline into overdrive. She knew that whistle, it was a signal that they had used in times of trouble since they were children. 
                          
Somewhere in the back of her mind she became aware of the threats around them as she hadn't been before and she grabbed Caelur, who had not worn his weapons that night, pulling him down and to the side as she drew one sword. She continued the movement, catching a blade that had been meant for him and booting the attacker in the chest. The kick was hard and vicious, sending the man flying into the dazed and startled crowd that had not yet begun to realize the threats around them. There was stunned, useless silence despite Nerini's yells somewhere in the distance, calling for Guards, telling everyone to get out of the way.

                          
Wyn didn't see Nerini but knew that she didn't have time to look for her friend as the fight began around her and the others, on the dance floor, noting grimly that they were surrounded.
                          
She didn't hesitate past that, tossing Caelur her drawn sword as he straightened before pulling her other one out, along with a dagger from her boot. She turned to meet another sword with an overhead cross as the sounds of shrieks and yells and the screech of metal on metal picked up around them. Distantly, the sound of people running for the door filtered through her awareness as she continued to counter the slashes and thrusts coming at her. 
                          
Beside her Caelur caught a blade with her sword, shouldering the attacker away, and grabbing Lyana, pulling her between the two of them. The girl was unarmed and still a novice as a fighter, leaving her helpless, her fists clenched as she watched the fighting going on around her. Wyn spun and caught another blade coming for the Prince, drawing a grin from him as he spun his sword to kill the attacker. He may be a Regent who was used to being protected, but he was a trained fighter and seemed to fall into fighting in tandem with her quicker than she expected.
                          
At her back, Kannein fought with the ceremonial short sword and dagger he had allowed himself to carry tonight, as Rael cursed over choosing to not wear a weapon that night, momentarily as helpless as Lyana.
                          
Shiar fought on her other side with his short sword and dirk, circling to keep the Queen safe between him and Kannein. All of them under the pressure of being inadequately armed in a frantic melee of unknown attackers and panicking people. Nerini's paranoid words rose into her mind then and Wyn knew that if they survived this fight, her friend would never shut up about balls being horrible places again.
                          
*** 
                          
"Rael! Catch!" Nerini pulled her sword from where it had impaled a man wearing servant livery, tossing it across the dance floor to her friend who caught it easily in a splattering of blood that probably destroyed the Queen's white and gold dress. Nerini then used the man's body as a shield, shoulder him into another attacker before cutting that second man's throat in the resulting confusion.
                          
 Other than tossing the sword, she was unable to help her friends as she found herself ringed off by four more attackers for the time being. Nerini grinned all the same, her expression dark, pulling out a dagger to act as her second blade and growling as still more attackers came after her. With all the fighting she had been doing, it appeared that she had made a target out of herself.
                          
*** 
                          
Rael caught her friend's blade, spinning out from the protection of Kannein and Shiar to meet the slash of a man wearing cook's clothing, head butting him before running the sword through his stomach and shoulder checking him away. As he fell back, she grabbed his sword and began fighting in full form trying to make up for standing helpless for so long. She was not going to stand by and watch her friends fight for her life. Rael could and did hold her own, cutting through those trying to overwhelm Kannein and Shiar, then turned her fury on the ones who tried to separate her from Wyn and Caelur, who were also fighting to protect Lyana.