Into the Light

33. I Choose You

"Where the hell is she?"

The room is just about buzzing with excitement; it's as if the air was alive. And considering that it's the hottest time of the day, that probably isn't just a trick of the light. But the wooden floor and stone walls are still relatively cool. I stretch my legs and spread them to let Rashim wedge his shapely ass between them. He doesn't shift quite close enough to lean his back against me - too damn hot for that - but close anyway.

We're all sprawled on the floor. Lying down, leaning on elbows, sitting cross-legged, chatting. We're waiting. This is our studio, our regular training room, the place where we usually are sweating like little pigs (not that pigs would really sweat, I've been informed by Beny whose uncle is a farmer). This time, however, we're here for something else. Now, if only a certain person would appear...

"Where's Thesh, by the way?" Meia has a brightly colored paper fan, and her black hair wafts a little in the breeze. Aidee looks around and shrugs.

"Oh, he'll be here all right." Dionn is taking advantage of the peace and quiet, he's stretching his legs slowly and thoroughly. His slightly sprained thigh needs all the pampering it can get. "He wouldn't miss this for anything."

I nod. Neither would I. Of course I'm just the hanger-on, the inevitable presence, but I wouldn't miss this for anything, either. After all, I train with the kids daily, and I sure want to be there to hear as Rith tells us -

"Ah, you're all here!" Rith limps in, Thesh in her wake, like the true puppy he is. "Good, good... were you waiting already?"

"You bet!" we all grumble as she pulls a chair from the corner and settles in it, places her trusted rush basket next to it and pulls out a thin binder. She doesn't seem to be in any hurry - rather on the contrary.

"I think you're rather enjoying this?" Leni whines and earns a questioning glance from Rith. "Making us squirm, I mean."

"Definitely!" Rith chuckles a little. "Don't I always enjoy it best when I get to make you sweat? But don't worry..." She opens the folder with dramatic flourish. "This is where the real torture begins!"

She pauses, then giggles when we all lean forward in anticipation to catch her next words.

"Well?" I prompt.

"Yeah, do you want us to beg or what?" Darel crouches on the floor and does a rather good impersonation of a pleading dog, and Rith laughs.

"All right, all right! Sit now, good dog..." She shakes a finger at Darel who sits obediently and cocks his head. "So. The first full-scale performance of the Dirna Dance Theater will be 'Leannoh', based on a choreography by Schamill and adapted by me."

Nods all around; concentrated, anticipatory faces.

"What's it about?" Dionn asks eagerly.

"What - don't you know your Old Donjati tales like the back of your hand?" Rith pretends to be scandalized by this revelation. "Such ignorance..."

I'm dredging through my memory but come up with nothing worth mentioning. Oh, I remember hearing the name, but the story escapes me completely, and I have been brought up on everything Old Donjati. Family tradition and all that...

"Well, let's go quickly through the main outline of the plot, before looking at the casting!" Rith relents with a quick smile, then contemplates her notes for a while. "Well... so the name of the piece is 'Leannoh', and its main character is a prince by the same name. When his father dies, he of course becomes the next King, but there's a little catch - terrible calamities will befall his kingdom if he doesn't fulfil a prophecy and save an enchanted princess... or, ah, actually it's not the princess who's enchanted but rather the castle she lives in. It's all pretty complicated and magical. But anyway, Leannoh must break the spell and marry her."

We all nod as Rith pauses to look again at her notes. Yeah, this sounds faintly familiar, there was some powerful magic involved, that's what my memory whispers to me.

"Okay, so then there's quite some action and plotting, and Leannoh is actually making some headway. Which isn't any wonder, really, considering that he's got quite a few people to help him." Rith grins. "Not that he'd be any wimp himself, he's a pretty tough guy, but in addition to his own brain and muscle he's got his clever mum the Queen, his faithful and sly servant, his younger brother -"

Everybody snickers and looks at Thesh.

"May I venture to guess that we already know who's going to dance that part?" Meia giggles, and Thesh sticks out his tongue at us.

"Obviously you do!" Rith is unperturbed. "Anyway. Where was I? Oh yes, Leannoh's cohorts... mum, little bro, servant... then there's the Guardian of the castle. Sort of a semi-divine figure, he. On the other side there's the evil Priest and Priestess who guard the Princess. They command some pretty powerful forces but those are more of the ethereal kind to start with - but then, when things start looking bleak for them, they summon their most formidable ally, the ultimate evil. The Cat."

"Ooh, sounds dangerous! Are the rest of the cast then mice?" Beny grins and the rest of us chortle. Rith tries to look exasperated.

"The Cat is just a symbol, a form that the evil powers assume! Well, then follows the climactic battle between Leannoh and the Cat. Where good prevails, evil is slain, Leannoh gets the princess. All rejoice. Curtain."

A collective deep breath. I swear we all have pictures, images, scenes already playing in front of our eyes.

"Okay, and now please open the curtain a little!" Rashim demands. "Who's who?"

Rith pulls out a list and clears her throat; I'm sure she could rattle the roles out even without it, though. "Very well, your Highness."

"What - me in the title role?" Rashim's eyebrows shoot up. "I was sure Darel would take it!"

"No, I already see him as your sidekick, the servant." Rith nods to Darel who nods back. "It's the part for you, Dar, let me tell you that! And Thesh is the little brother, as you all already guessed. Dionn will be the Guardian and you, Meia, you're the Queen mother."

Thesh puts a thumb into his mouth and looks round-eyed at Meia who yelps.

"Exactly how little is the little brother?" She eyes Thesh suspiciously and Rith smiles broadly.

"Not that little, Thesh!"

The thumb is quickly pulled out again and Thesh looks angelic.

"Beny will then have a double role." Rith looks at the tall young man who leans forward. "To start with you'll be the King, but that's only in the first act. Then you'll crawl offstage to die, and then you'll reenter as the evil Priest. And your equally evil partner will be Leni."

"Why not Meia?" Beny inquires. "I mean, then both of the evil forces would be tall and dark. Besides, wouldn't it look more, uh, probable that Leni might have a kid who looks like Thesh?"

"Valid point," Rith concedes, "but no. This is the way I want it."

"Well, that leaves me as the princess!" Aidee bats her eyelashes at Rashim. "All shy and demure, right?"

"Oh, in the original she's all demure and virginally jittery," Rith agrees. "But I thought we'd change that a bit. The princess could in fact be more than just a little eager and willing to let Leannoh molest herself, except that there are these inconvenient supernatural complications to worry about."

"But hey, there's still one part open," Dionn says. "Who's the Cat?"

"Isn't that obvious by now?" Rith smirks a little and looks at me.

At me.

Hold it a second. Everybody else turns to look at me, too. Just wait a second here, now. Me?

"You can't possibly mean it," I splutter when I get enough air into my lungs to make some sound. "Isn't that a major role? A crucial role? You can't mean it."

"I can," Rith says, eyes calm and cool as she looks straight at me. "Toni, don't forget that I'm the boss here. If I tell you that you can and will dance that part, it means that you can and will dance it."

They're all looking at me. I can see no animosity, or mocking, or disdain in their eyes. They are assessing and yet encouraging looks. Rashim's hands descend to squeeze my thighs gently. Beny nudges me.

"Hey, you listen to the boss!" he says. "Don't you remember that she knows best?"

"Exactly." Thesh nods vigorously. "Surely you're not going to let us all down?"

That's exactly what I don't want to do. "For heaven's sake!" I'm just about to panic here, and nobody seems to understand. "You're all dancers. I'm just a dilettante. You can't expect me to -"

"Toni - shut up!" Rith cuts me short. "Breathe in a couple of times and listen to me while you're doing that! All right, the Cat is an important role. But it's also a role where you'll be just sneaking around and looking sinister and malevolent for the great majority of your stage time. The only real dance in it is the battle scene. One scene, and that is a duet. Between you and Rashim. Are you still following me?"

"I sure am," Rashim says. "And he'll do it, Rith, don't you worry."

Oh my god. Now even my own lover, my beloved partner, is turning against me?

"I know he will." Rith smiles - to me? "Toni dear, aren't you now forgetting something? That I may be a tyrant, a slave driver, a monster, whatever. But I am also someone who wants this dance troupe to be successful, and because of that I'm not making anyone do anything he or she is not capable of."

She looks me in the eye for a moment. "And now I'm asking you to start rehearsing the role of the Cat for Leannoh with us. Will you do it?"

I nod. I mean, what else can I do?