Jon smiles at Jade and he seems to visibly lighten up. "As you wish, my Sea Princess, deep thoughts for another day." Nods to Ari "Besides you two have a dancing lesson to finish." winks at Jade "And don't forget to put me on your Dance Card, once or a few times"

Ari chuckled
"I think i have a good hang of it, so if you two want to try, or if we want to invite others to dance,  that works,  too"

"Yes, I believe we have waited long enough even for dramatic late comers arrivals." She clapped her hands.

"Alright everyone, let's dance shall we." She then looked to her cousins, "I have something for you both, follow me."

She led them to a table and takes out wrapped presents with bows. Handing one to each of them.

Inside each is a beautifully crafted wooden box with artwork carved across it. Within each box is a small deck of cards for them to add to any they might already have.
Jade, Ballad, Random, and each of them are within the box.

Jon follows Jade and accepts the gift, smiling as he opens it.  He looks at Jade "This is beautifully made." he opens the box and checks out the Cards.  He is stunned by the gift and the artistry.  Lacking for words John steps up to Jade and embraces her in a long hug. He steps back "Thank you." is all he can say.

Ariadne smiled at Jade and opened her present
"Wow!  This is...wait,  what are these again? Are these those card things that Gerard used to bring us here from Earth?"
She looked at the cards curiously

"They are used for communication and transportation." Jade smiled.

"If I had more time, I would have made more for you."

Ariadne nodded and smiled
"This is fantastic, Jade, we'll have to play with these later"

"I am glad, they should let us keep in touch and help each other if we get in trouble out in shadow and need assistance."

"So, shall we get a dance in Prince Jon ?"

(There may be more cards. I made them so long ago need to check with GM.)

Jon nods at Ari "Definitely need to play with these" he smiles.

He turns to Jade. "You are amazing." He then gives her a partial bow. "I will be my honor and pleasure to dance with you." he offers her his hand.

Jade bobbs her head slightly her curls bouncing. She takes Jon's hand and lets him lead her to the dance floor.

"Did you want to ask for a specific song or style from the band ?" She smiled brightly.

Ariadne nodded as Jade and Jon took their turn on the dance floor, then went back to the snack table for more punch and some of those flaky cheese turnovers.   As she loaded up a small plate, she reflected on how this impromptu snack table thrown together quickly by Jade and the staff was still better than most of the party fare she'd seen at after Oscar parties.

Jon smiles "Pick your favorite song." escorting her closer to the band.

Jade makes a request for a Song of the Sea of Stars.

A slow lilting tune begins on the string instruments. Jade smiles.

"You might not know this one, do you wish me to lead ?"

Jon smiles "My dear Jade, it would be a pleasure to follow your lead." he says low as he stands ready to follow her lead.

Jade bobbs her head and leads Jon to the dancefloor and begins to follow the movements of the music. It was classic court dance and so she fell into the steps readily showing Jon as she had Ariadne some of the local dance of the realm. "It's even more fun with several couples in the floor. As everyone moves almost as one like a wave."

She spun and turned to the music until she was sure Jon had the rhythm of it then she let him lead. She was enjoying the dance immensely.

Jon follows her moves, and quickly learns the steps. ~Need to thank Master Eichensehr, seems his training proved more valuable that I would've thought~ he thinks to himself as he takes the lead from Jade. "Indeed, there is definitely a ocean wave vide to this dance."

As they dance, Jon relaxes more and his movements become more fluid to match Jade.

Julian walks into the room, looks everyone over, arches an eyebrow, and sort of does a half-smile half-smirk thing. "Well well well," he muses.

Ariadne looked around the room, hoping, perhaps against hope, for another dance partner.  This gathering was a bit too small and intimate for the noblewoman she'd met at the musical performance to have been invited, but perhaps she'd catch the eye of someone else.
She saw a dark haired man walk into the room, and paused, unable to look away.  She wasn't attracted to him, certainly, but he had a powerful quality about him that made it hard to not be impressed, even as recently suffused with Pattern energy as she was.
He definitely screamed "family".
Ariadne might have seen him before, perhaps when she first arrived, but even though it was barely a week or so ago, that couple of days was too much of a whirlwind to properly keep track of everyone.  But this man was definitely Family, and not a cousin.  He reminded her of the King, or perhaps more closely, her Uncle Gerard.  Especially in how he stood, how he effortlessly seemed to take up more room than was physically possible.

She made her way to his side, walking casually.
"Hello there. Thank you for coming to this little shindig."

(Not as I recall...?)

"Hello there... I am Julian..." He frowns very slightly, studying Ariadne closely. Something about her face-- "--Hooves," he mutters, and then more loudly-- "--you look like... You look like my half-sister Deirdre."

Jade was lost in the dance enjoying herself, but she did not fail to notice the heralds announce her uncle. She inclined her head slightly in greetings to Julian when he came into view. She hoped that meant Ballad would be along soon as well.

For now though she was focused on her dance with Jon and wanted to do her best at the courtly dance they were putting on. She was grateful during another turn in the dance that she saw Ariadne had moved to greet their uncle.

"This was one of my favorite songs, it was one I heard from the sea during a special occasion on the beach by Amber's nobles. I watched entranced at how they all moved together like schools of fish. It was impressive and stuck with me. I learned the dance when I started visiting the city on rare occasion."

In reply to The GM (msg # 927):

Ariadne raised an eyebrow of her own at the odd choice of word Juilan muttered.
'Hooves?' She thought to herself. ' What was that about??'
She smiled, diplomatically.
"Deirdre is....I mean was, my mother."
She felt odd talking about a woman she'd never met.  And to mourne a mother she'd never known.

In reply to Jade (msg # 928):

Jon smiles "I am very glad you shared this song and dance with me.  Thank you." he whispers to her as they dance.  As he notices his Uncle, he gives him a nod as well. "Hmm, I don't see Ballad." he continues the dance, enjoying the closeness and relative privacy with Jade. They continue to dance until the end of the song.

"Let's go say hello, have you met uncle Julian ?" She asks Jon.

She walks over with Jon to say hello to Prince Julian and welcome him and thank him for coming to the celebration.

Ariadne, perhaps eager to change the subject, looked at Julian inquisitively
"Someone mentioned that you were some kind of Warden in the forests around here?  What does that entail?"

Jon offers Jade his arm as they walk "Yes, Uncle Julian is the one who arrived as I was fighting the Greymen.  He helped me finish off the second one and then brought me to Amber via a Card."

As they arrive "Uncle Julian, pleasure to see you again.  And under better circumstances." he smiles, and his sentiment is genuine.