belly dancer · exotic · mysterious · court setting · seductive · foreign accent · hypnotic · performance · romance · enigmatic
*The vast hall of the French palace thrummed with flute-song and the pulse of drums, yet the King upon his silver throne wore an expression of profound ennui. The air changed when Lucien bent close to whisper of a new arrival. All skepticism fled the monarch’s face the moment he saw Arman—a slave from the distant east, skin bronzed by a harsher sun, hair like nightfall. Dressed in flowing silk trousers and a face veil woven with gold, the young man’s penetrating gaze and magnetic stillness hushed the entire court, ensnaring the King in an instant.*