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“Cath, dear, have you chosen your partner?” the Marchioness asked, voice dripping with ice. Cath stifled a sigh. She looked across the room at the hopeful King, waving at her with the giddiness of a child at the fair. For a brief moment, a life flashed before her eyes, one where she danced every dance with him, where no matter how hard she tried, she went home to him and his gleeful smiles and sickly poetry. Bile rose in her throat at the prospect, and she took a deep breath. She turned her head ever so slightly, and locked her eyes with Jest. His mouth quirked in a small smile, but his eyes were sorrowful and lonely.
Something stirred in her. It was rare for Jest — Jest the Rogue, Jest the Otherworldly — to be so vulnerable, so achingly human .
She smiled back.
She turned to her mother, who’s impatience was growing.
“Yes, Mother,”
The Marchioness gave a satisfied hum, and Cath walked up towards the King. He smiled again, reaching his arm out to grasp her, but she turned away at the last second, facing Jest.
“Jest, may I have the honour?”
A murmur of shock rose from amongst the crowd.
“Catherine Pinkerton!” her mother hissed. She winced slightly, preparing herself for the scolding she would receive, but she had made her choice.
Jest’s usually composed face wavered in surprise for a split second, then flickered back to his wonderfully schooled facade.
“The honour is all mine, Lady Pinkerton,” he said, lifting her hand to press his lips to her knuckle. Something inside her fluttered at the touch, and she felt a tinge on her cheeks.
She led him to the dance floor, and the band started playing a melodic, flowery piece, one that Cath thankfully knew well.
Jest pressed a hand firmly against her back, and her mind unwittingly wandered to the night she had fainted and he had unlaced her corset. There was a definitive blush on her face now, and Jest mentioned it.
“What are you thinking about, Lady Pinkerton, that has you so undone?” he murmured into her ear.
She smiled, but did not answer.
They stepped and twirled in time to the music, and it was later said that such elegant and beautiful dancing had never been seen in all of Hearts. But for the moment, they were focused simply on each other.
As they approached a swell in the music, Jest dropped his hands to her waist.
“Jump,” he whispered, and she did, and for a moment it seemed as though the only thing anchoring her to this world was Jest.
Then her feet touched the ground again, and Jest lifted one of his hands to rest on her shoulder, tracing her collarbone with his thumb.
As she stared into his lemony yellow eyes, another life flashed before her eyes — one where she danced every day with Jest, where their fingers were clasped as they roamed the world together freely in the public eye, where she never wanted to leave home because she would always come back to someone she loved.
The thought brought tears to her eyes.
“ Jest ,” she said softly, voice breaking.
“Catherine,” he whispered, eyes glinting with tears as he pressed another kiss to her knuckles. “ Catherine ,” he murmured again, and she shivered slightly at the longing in his voice.
The words she wanted to say bubbled inside of her. “I-”
Jest pressed a finger to his lips. “I know,” he said.
“Then let me say it,” she pleaded.
There was a pause.
“I love you,” she said, the words slipping out easier than they should have.
Jest smiled sadly as the dance ended.
Before Cath could say another word, she was whisked away by her mother, whose angry scoldings fell on deaf ears as her eyes met those of a sorrowful court jester.
Someday , she promised.
Someday