Page 15 of The Shadow Heir

Zara

Icy fear prickled my skin, though my blood was still pumping quickly from the dance.

The lone sound of a chair scooting backward across the wooden floor rose over the polite applause. Casimiro stood, so close that I edged away from him. He lifted his hands and began to clap, his applause continuing long after everyone else’s had stopped.

Every eye in the room stared at him. His sweeping dark hair was slicked back, revealing his pointed ears for all to see. On his head was a crown that appeared to be made of onyx.

When his applause ended, heavy silence filled the room. No one moved.

Except Casimiro, who bent at the waist, his eyes still on me, and said, “A most moving performance. Do me the honor of dancing with me tonight.” He straightened.

The wedding ceremony was to begin directly after my performance. We didn't have time to dance beforehand. My heart fluttered nervously as I glanced to Papá to give a reply, but when I spotted my father, his face was frozen in open-mouthedshock, a visible sheen of sweat twinkling on his brow as he stared at the fae prince. My knees almost buckled beneath me.

I cleared my throat. "There is no time, I'm afraid," I replied, hoping my voice sounded calm and confident despite my rushing pulse.

The fae prince sneered. “There is time if I say there is. We shall dance," he announced, lifting a hand to the musicians. "Though I believe your first dance is already taken by that gentleman over there.”

Casimiro turned toward Lord Montrose, whose pale features stood out in the room full of dark-haired Avencians.

“Indeed,” Montrose said, rising from his seat. He bobbed a polite bow to Casimiro, who did not return the gesture. A few people gasped at the impropriety. Others whispered the wordfaeloud enough that the prince’s lips curled into a smile.

Lord Montrose walked toward me with a stiff frown, his eyes cutting toward Casimiro twice, but still no one else in the room budged from their seats. My cheeks heated as I took Montrose’s hand and stepped back onto the dance floor, away from the fae.

This wasn't how the evening was supposed to go. We were supposed to join hands and exchange vows after my dance. But Lord Montrose didn't knowwhythe timing mattered. Avencian parties never started until all the hues of sunset were gone, which in the summer was not until after ten o'clock. We had less than one hour to be wed before my time was up.

Casimiro sat down, but the tension in the room only amplified, as everyone launched into furious whispers, forgetting, perhaps, that the stories all claimed fae had excellent hearing. My pulse remained high while the music started again. As Montrose swept me into the first steps of the dance, I caught sight of the fae prince sipping my father’s prized wine, a bored expression on his face.

Lord Montrose asked me something, but my brain hadn’t stopped thinking about Casimiro’s request for my next dance. I responded with a half-dazedhmm.

“I look forward to getting to know you better, tonight,” he said in his heavy accent, offering me the slightest ghost of a smile. This was the man I was to marry, and I should look at him as my savior, my ticket away from the Shadow Court. Instead, my eyes raked the room for Casimiro. Was he about to snatch me right this minute? Did I even have time to hug my father one last time?

My shoulders tensed a little when I realized Papá wasn’t sitting where I’d last seen him. The fae had indicated that my father would die if the bargain was broken…I nearly lost the contents of my stomach on Lord Montrose’s shined shoes.

No, Papá was fine. Likely speaking to someone on the terrace, that was all.

“Thank you,” I said to Montrose, unsure if this was the right thing to say in the moment. My mind was spinning faster than my shoes. The wedding was about to take place, as planned. We still had time.

My future husband spun me around and gripped me with a featherlight touch. His light skin and freckles certainly stood out against my darker tone, but he was pleasant to look at and not yet thirty-five. I should be pleased with my father’s choice. Love was meant to surmount all obstacles, after all. Perhaps, in time, I’d find love with Montrose.

The dance ended, and I stared blankly at the table ofmantecados, hoping to have time and appetite enough to enjoy them later. It was time for the wedding ceremony. Montrose bowed and I curtsied, my heart in a frantic tangle of emotions. For a brief moment, my eyes glazed over and I pictured Talia the last time she’d been in this ballroom. How I longed to see her again.

But when I blinked, I saw another face before me.

Casimiro.

He snapped his fingers at the musicians, and their strings slid seamlessly into a fast tune. The prince didn’t wait for me to take his hand. Instead, he swept me into a dance as the music began.

His hand was tighter on my waist than Lord Montrose’s had been, forcing me closer and moving me faster. Instantly, my body responded, heating as I realized I danced with someone who matched my skill and passion. My blood flushed with anger and fear and the twisted desire to outdance this fae, to prove that I was not some toy for him to toss around.

I pushed against his hands, testing the strength of his lead in the dance. He matched my aggression and soon my arms burned as they pressed back into his hold. His lips held the faintest curl at the edges as he charged across the dance floor with the precision of a marching soldier. Confined in his grip for the duration of the dance, I allowed myself to really look at him. His features were as precisely shaped as the stone of his crown, chiseled and smooth as if age did not touch him. He stared at me with deep-set eyes the color of fresh coffee. My stomach flipped over inside me. If it weren’t for the fact that he’d only come to steal me away to the Shadow Court, I might have wanted to dance with him again. The dance raced toward the first dip, and my body moved on its own, lost to the rhythm.

He held one strong arm under my back and leaned forward, pressing me down toward the floor with such grace and gentleness I let out a small gasp. As he bent forward, his entire face fell into shadow, lit from above. This close, the spark in his eyes was undeniable, though I couldn’t tell if it was simply because he’d beaten Montrose by proving his superior skill or if he truly enjoyed dancing with me. As he pulled me back up, a shiver interrupted my next move, and his grip tightened, as if to remind me who was really in charge here. Angry at my slip,I stormed toward him, commanding the dance as my own once again.

“You think getting married will break the bargain?” he asked, his voice low and threatening.

At that moment, he released me into a spin. When I slammed into his grip once more, my heart drummed against my ribs. “Yes,” I spat back. “The stories all say love breaks curses.”

Without missing a step, he tilted his head back and laughed. Doubt clamped around my lungs, pushing out all my air.

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