The swirling of the party-goers and the beautiful colors on people from all across the realm had always been a draw for Ciara. She’d stayed in a small area for so much of her life and known the same people for so long they were like her family and there were few people outside that small circle. Her brothers, the king and queen, and the only man she’d been intimate with were the only people she felt she truly knew. Everyone else at the party were spectacles to behold, including the wallflowers who guarded the drinks and hors d’oeuvres. They, like their familiars, were things Ciara had grown unaccustomed to, but she had missed them sorely, and the birthday bash was a time to watch them.

It was also a time to get over the past and move onward. Ciara had no intention of finding someone who would fill her ex… what was he, truly? He was her husband in all ways but on paper, but it was that paper that gave someone the rights to use husband and wife. So perhaps only a boyfriend, but more than a puppylove fling. Regardless, it had been years since she’d last seen him, and for all she knew he had perished in the years since her self-imposed exile from Shaman, and yet she was still on the rebound. As long as it had been since she’d seen Damon, she’d be celibate and the time for that was over. She didn’t care about the men who cast her their interested glances, but to wake up in the arms of someone was temptation enough for Ciara.

The girl’s flippant attitude toward the party struck the older woman as a bit cynical. Too cynical for the girl’s age, really, and she frowned. No one at the party was worthy? Was that really the case? The prince was certainly worthy of any girl at the ball, but he did have a line, it seemed, of interested parties. Still, there was the best friend of the prince who, by all accounts, was a demigod. He was Aura’s son, but perhaps this girl had not been on Shaman long enough to know that, though he may not look the part of a god’s child, he was the only son of Shaman’s creator. Still, at the girl’s age, Ciara had been more inclined towards the looks of boys more than what was in their hearts. Sometimes that was enough to last a lifetime, but more often it lead to unimaginable pain for one party or the other.

“It seems awfully vain to say no one is worthy, and only a few are even close. Have you given any of the boys a chance? There may be more worthy dance partners than you think, even some without lines. But you have to give them a shot to know whether they are worthy.” Ciara shot a glance up to the dais where sat the royal family. “Anyway, there’s no commitment beyond a few minutes. The question is dance, not marriage.” The blonde woman smiled and, in the back of her mind saw that her familiar had discovered the ape beneath the table. Nalani seated herself by the orangutan and watched the swatches of color and glittering shoes pass by, though she moved quickly to snatch any fallen jewelry that hit the floor near the monkey hideout. Familiar or not, monkey or not, Nalani enjoyed shinies, especially when sparkly rocks were involved.

“As for me, I may spend most of my time on the floor, but I’m here to celebrate my friend’s family and future. The dancing is just an added bonus. Besides, I won’t have the luxury of being a wallflower for too long anyway.