Amleah smiled knowingly at his words before allowing her attention to alight upon his companion with a small amount of amusement. She even tittered slightly at his jest before she was forcefully moved away by her dark twin. Ro'or leaned down to his sister's ear, drawing her in close as if trying to reconcile with her when he was instead commending her on her little play-acting.
"You have done quite well, little sister," he whispered into her ear.
"He is not what he seems."
"Indeed."
"He wishes to meet with me later."
"Proceed with caution," he directed, "I'll intervene if necessary."
"As you wish," Amleah responded demurely but a bit louder, stepping away from him to face the room as the lady of the house hurried to hush them and gain their attention. Ro'or slid his arm down to wrap loosely but possessively about her waist.
"Ladies, Gentlemen please may I have your attention," the woman called, continuing only once the room had fallen quiet. "Now as you all know our ball this evening has been held in honor of our esteemed guests Lord and Lady Dvorak." The woman motioned towards the couple who nodded politely in acknowledgement as a small amount of clapping echoed about the room. "Now, what you may not be aware of is that the lady of the hour has been so gracious as to accept an invitation to sing for us this evening. I'm sure you all remember her lovely voice at the induction ceremony, right?"
Many of the guests murmured in delight at the news. "Now then without anymore fanfare, let's give her ladyship newly-elected High Lady the respect and attention she deserves." The clapping in the room grew louder as Amleah smiled warmly and give a small curtsy before drawing away from her brother whose eyes remained firmly upon Akakios.
"Thank you Lord and Lady Wechsler and company. I am most honored by your kindness and hope to serve this province proud, and not only with my singing," she jested, much to everyone's amusement. "The song I shall sing for you tonight is a very old one called The Rose and The Sword," Amleah stated, knowing that it would entice the man interested in her more to hear her sing in the old tongue.
After taking a deep, calming breath the High Lady let the notes slowly and softly flow off her tongue like dew of a blade of grass then faster and louder as the passion of her singing and the words consumed her. Amleah gave it her all as she sang without accompaniment and still managed to captivate the room into pure silence and stillness with the beauty of her song that spoke of pain and loss, of bittersweet love and longing.
When at last it came to an end though, her eyes fluttering open it was to a room that echoed expressions of awe and wonder. She even spotted a few tears in the corner of some eyes as she surveyed the room with a serious expression. Amleah knew that the song was not well-known among the nobles as it had fallen out of popularity long before she was born but it was still one that she had loved her mother to sing in her youth.
Her brother's strengthening touch at the small of her back drew her back to the present though and allowed her to look away with a shy smile that broke the spell about the room as guests clapped and stood to crowd her once more in a clamor for attention. She answered every question as expected of her but her dark stranger was never far from her thoughts as she searched for him out of the corner of her eye.