Page 10 of Great Falls Rogue
I nod, my throat tight as I watch my friend leave. At the front of the soaring hall, the singer leafs through her music folio while the dancers recover with goblets of punch and small pastries. Laughter and conversation swell, making my urge to flee even stronger. Without Arisha’s presence, I feel as exposed as if I were naked, my eyes on constant vigilance to note anyone who might be looking at me too long or, worse, making a move toward me. Each time a boy shows signs of considering taking me to the dance floor, I stride with purpose to some place on the other side of the room.
Not that Arisha made tonight any easier by commissioning this dress for me along with hers, a cascade of vivid blue satin that hugs my waist and breasts, leaving my back bare—and too little to the imagination. It might as well be a beacon alerting the whole room to my presence. I left my hair loose in an effort to cover up more of my skin, but now I think it was a mistake. In the candlelight, its red tones shine almost as brightly as the dress.
I feel someone’s eyes again, just as the violins pick up a new song. Turning my head, I discover my chest tightening at Tye’s emerald stare. The male looks breathtaking in his sapphire tunic and flowing black pants, his every movement filled with power and grace even when he’s doing something as simple as standing still.
I head for the punch. When I look back up, Tye is twirling Katita across the floor, the princess following his lead with a trained perfection that makes my stomach squeeze. The pair are such a whirlwind of color that the others clear the floor just to watch them spin. I don’t see why the veil went so far as to insert complicated dancing instructions into Tye’s head when it couldn’t even deign to teach me how to spell “instructions.”It didn’t,a voice inside me says.Tye’s entertained females for centuries—he knew how to dance all along. You are the one who grew up in a stable.
Gripping the stem of my goblet with a low growl, I turn away in search of something else to look at. Midnight. So close and yet so far. My eyes snag on Coal leaning against the far wall. Unlike Tye, Coal’s only deference to the festivities is a clean black shirt, matching the dark look on his face. Perfect. Whatever else, no one is going to want to come within Coal’s killing radius—a fact that I am not above using.
“I’m holding up the wall just fine on my own,” he says when I lean against the gilded wallpaper beside him.
“You never know.” I take a sip of my punch. Even in his simple black shirt and pants, Coal looks devastatingly handsome, eyes blue ice in the candlelight, strong face sharpened by shadows, pale hair hanging loose to his shoulders. His masculine scent swirls around me, and I have to remind myself not to inhale audibly. After a month of almost zero contact, our coupling is still as fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday—if anything, it’s only grown in potency with no new experience with him to replace it.
Or maybe that’s an effect of Ostera too. Everything is more vivid. The magic, the trees, the dreams.
His jaw tightens, the silence stretching between us twisting uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry about spooking yesterday,” I say finally.
He keeps looking at the dance floor. “You were right to. I wouldn’t let me anywhere near my neck.” He runs his hand over his forearm, and I see the outlines of a vambrace with throwing knives beneath the loose sleeve. “If you are taking over wall support, I’ll find some other occupation. Excuse me.”
I stand alone for some time before setting my punch down on one of the trays. Midnight is still twenty minutes off, and I need a reprieve. Spotting one of the circular staircases leading to the mezzanine, I hold up the front of my full skirt as I climb the steps. A few paces away from the stairs, an ornate set of double doors promises an escape to fresh air. And privacy.
Sending a short thanks to the stars when I find the handle unlocked, I step out onto a balcony so large, it looks like a floating terrace. Unlike the torchlit hall below, the terrace is dark but for the moon above, which adds more atmosphere than light. The sounds of music drift from the Great Hall below, the merriment of overexcited violins a gentle backdrop to the night.
Even out here in the open air, the Academy staff have set out trellises of delicate jasmine and great vases filled withhyacinths, their blue, white, and pink flowers all giving off a slightly different perfume that my immortal senses separate out into soft strands. Crossing the ten paces to the railing, I place my hands on its cool stone surface and look out at the mountains. The forest that beckons with equal parts danger and excitement.
Perhaps it’s fortunate that I don’t know how to dance, since I can’t stay past midnight. It might be difficult to leave if I had something to stay for. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, I work out the time in my head. I should show myself to the masses again before leaving, slipping back to the dance floor just late enough after the Ostera waltz starts that everyone is already occupied with partners. After the waltz, retiring should raise no eyebrows. Then I change.
Then I go out into night.
A soft whisper from the shadows to my left makes me jump, my hand going to where my sword would usually be. Heart spurring into a gallop, I note a previously stone-still form separating from the railing, the change in wind carrying me an woodsy scent.
River.
7
Lera
“Forgive me for startling you—I hadn’t expected anyone would come here.” River steps forward, his soft voice an odd contrast to my bounding pulse. Stopping a few feet away from me, he rests his hands in the small of his back, his eyes surveying the star-filled sky. He looks breathtaking, his tailored black pants and crisp blue and gold jacket highlighting every bit of his powerful physique. Despite his perfect posture and soft smile, there is a quiet, melancholy note in his voice that I’m not used to hearing. “It appeared you didn’t mark me, and I thought it poor form to keep from alerting you to my presence.”
My heart slows. River isn’t tracking me—I accidentally intruded intohissanctuary.Taking a breath, I look over at him, this time with care. As with his voice, the male’s face has a hint of sadness seeping through the controlled facade. My chest squeezes no matter how much I want to be irritated with him over yesterday’s interrogation.
“Why are you out here?” I say as the night wraps tightly around us, my words drifting into the darkness. “Do you dislike dancing?”
“I like it quite a bit, actually.” His jaw clenches before relaxing with visible effort. When I turn toward him and rest a hip on the railing, the male stays as he is. After several heartbeats of absolute stillness, I lose hope of the conversation continuing, but then his throat bobs as he swallows. “It is one of the many joys I had dreamt of showing my wife.”
Wife?A small shock of cold air rushes along my skin. The damn veil amulet gave River a wife? Despite every self-preservation instinct screaming at me to keep quiet, I can’t help the question from escaping my lips. “Is she coming to Great Falls any time soon?”
River’s shake of the head is so miniscule that a mortal would have had no chance of seeing it in the darkness. Just as his suddenly too-reflective eyes would have stayed safely hidden from view.
“Diana died in a riding accident exactly one year ago, on Ostera eve. She’d galloped her mare ahead of me on the trail, and the horse spooked and threw her. By the time I caught up to her, there was nothing to be done.”
My throat closes, the effort to pull air into my lungs suddenly too much.River’s pain is so palpable, I can feel it pressing on my soul. “I’m sorry,” I say, meaning it. Just as I mean to destroy the damn veil that did this.
He turns to me, the space between us suddenly too large and too small at the same time. The night sculpts his body, the deep shadows somehow making his muscled silhouette as defined as a sculptor’s masterpiece. Large as he is, I have to tip my head up to see his face, my eyes skipping over the pointed fae ears to land on his piercing gray eyes, his short dark hair ruffling in the breeze.
“She looked a great deal like you,” he says softly. “And had a stubborn streak to match.”
