The music was fast and delightful. Hani loved to dance, and she was having a blast. Ethirdir was an excellent dancer and she could tell he liked to dance as well. It always seemed to her that Doryn was reluctant to dance with her. He never asked and she just assumed he either did not like to dance, or did not know how. In either case, she did not fail to see Doryn dragging Mercy down the stairs to dance.<br/><br/>Hani never missed a step as she spun around and avoided bumping into anyone else. She did glance at the bartender to see if he was aware that Mercy was dancing with Doryn. Ordinarily, the bartender did not mind as long as customers did not complain at not being served. Mercy was good at keeping up on the drinks, and there were other servers on the floor. Likely she would not be scolded too bad. The Inn liked to keep its customers happy, especially one as influencial as Doryn. So far, he had not noticed.<br/><br/>When the song got to a point of changing partners, she smirked at Ethirdir as he passed her off to Doryn. They were so smug at this point that she was not sure if she should be flattered or annoyed. She smiled at Doryn and gave him a little curtsey as part of the dance. "I see you have decided to grace us with your fancy footwork, Captain. All this time, I thought you did not know how to dance." Her cheeky comment directed at him to tease.<br/><br/>The fast pace of the music did not allow for much chit chat. They whirled around and made several passes around the floor. Doryn was strong and it took all of Hani's agility to keep up with him. But she loved every minute of it. Doryn could dance, just as well as the Elf, and it surprised Hani. Why then had he hesitated to ever ask her before? He knew she liked him. Was it Mercedes then that had his heart? Perhaps Hani had misinterpreted his cool stand off manner. He needed Hani for his information network. Maybe he really did not mix business with pleasure. Mercy was just a barmaid who liked to flirt and carry on. Did Doryn see something in her he liked better than Hani? She was not angry at this, it just made sense.<br/><br/>But why then was he suddenly eager to dance? And why was he acting like it bothered him that the Elf had asked her to dance? This was fun and she was determined to show Doryn he had lost out on her because he had hesitated to ever do anything but mildly flirt back.<br/><br/>----<br/><br/>The barmaid was not sure about all of this...first the handsome Captain had treated her as he always had. Mildly flirting and even dragging her onto his lap to snuggle with her and whisper in her ear. She knew this was a good way to get a few extra coins in her pocket. But more than that, she genuinely liked Doryn. He was strong and handsome and he was far from shy. He was also a marvelous tipper and did not skimp on his praise.  Of course Mercy knew he liked Hani more than he let on. She had seen the look on his face when she came in to the room with that drop dead sexy outfit and long red curls.<br/><br/>Mercy had no illusions that Doryn liked her as anything other than a tavern wench with a pretty smile. She worked hard for her tips and she was proud of her fast and efficient service. What she was not prepared for was Doryn to grab her and drag her to the dance floor! Not that she did not know how to dance, more like she was supposed to be working! Her protests met with a flippant, "I don't care!" That almost made her snap back at him. But he was not going to listen, he had his hackles up and ready to do battle. Or so it seemed to Mercy.<br/><br/>She had no choice but to go along with him and hope the bartender, her boss, did not notice her dancing. She did her best to stay away from the bar area of the dance floor, but it was not easy when Doryn whirled her around like a madman, trying to impress Hani. At one point when he was holding her close in a tight circle and swinging her to the point her feet were off the floor, she cursed at him softly. "Captain, please..." but he ignored her, his eyes constantly glancing at Hani and the Elf.<br/><br/>It was with some relief that the dance went into a partner change. Mercy sighed as she realized it would be rude to run away from the Elf. Besides, he was kind of sweet and he smiled at her and asked her name. "My name is Mercedes, M'Lord. I am honored to dance with you. Even though I am supposed to be working. If we do not stray too close to the bar, the boss won't notice. At least I hope he won't. I am sure he won't get too angry. He does want customers like you to come in here and have a good time."