Page 1 of Lord of Dance and Desire

Chapter

One

His voice came to me from the darkened bedroom.

“What?” Setting down the brush, I left the bathroom. “You punished me last night.”

He stood at the window, gazing out over the courtyard. “The corporal punishment was for leaving Mathen’s protection. It did not include the punishment for attacking a House Casakraine warrior with your affinity.”

“I didn’t know I was attacking him.” Which was technically not a lie, if one focused on the definition of attack. I had definitely not meant it as an attack.

“You lie.” He turned to face me.

The soft chill of his voice prickled over my skin.

“I’m not trying to lie.” Much. I tiptoed around the words. Now wasn’t the time to poke the monster lurking behind his eyes. Still, it was a little hypocritical that he didn't like it when I dissembled, but he did it all the time. “I thought I was. . .batting my lashes and looking fragile so he’d feel sorry for me.”

“Your ignorance doesn’t excuse the transgression I will be called before the High Lord to explain.”

“But I—” I paused. Arguing wasn’t going to change his mind, and no one could save me from him. “What's the punishment, Andrei?”

“You will not dance for a week.”

The words wouldn't register. I must have misheard. “What?”

“For one week. You will not dance. You will be banned from the Sahakian Fine Arts building. While you are home, wherever you go, you will not dance. If you so much as execute a twirl or a skip, I will render you immobile for the remainder of your punishment.”

The shattering was so loud I thought it was an actual physical sound.

But no. It was only my soul coming apart into pieces.

“You can't do that,” I said.

He looked at me; remote, expressionless, hard. “Can I not? Lady Hasannah, be glad that it is only one week. I almost find that to be too lenient.”

“Stop calling me Lady. I am not a Lady. I've sworn no oaths to any House or Court. I'mnota Cassanian citizen.”

“You will find, if you review the documentation you signed upon being granted your resident status, that you are materially incorrect. You were, technically, sworn to the Lord of Coal District, as it is colloquially called. He transferred your oath tome.”

I knew he was correct. As soon as the protest left my mouth I understood all I was doing was bleating about something I’d already accepted. His right to rule over me.

“When did the oath transfer? And how can that be done without my consent?”

The High Lord studied me for a long, long moment. “Your consent wasn't required. I am Heir. My will is law, if I can enforce it without opposition. And in your case—” the corner of his mouth curled up in a smile equal parts mischief and malice “—there was none.”

My hands curled into fists. “Then let me rephrase. I won't submit. You can be my Lord or my lover, but you can’t be both.”

The reptilian cant of his head referenced a snake poised to strike. “You don’t understand the nature of relationships between Fae then. It’s not unusual for lovers to be unmatched in power and authority. One naturally submits, one naturally rules.” He shrugged, flicking a strand of imaginary hair over his shoulder. “It’s the way of things.”

“It’s notmyway.”

“The human way.” Now his amused malice morphed to mockery. His small, humorless smile that of a High Lord holding an ace. “Shall I call for Math, or Con? It should only take either male a week to heal a broken leg. Perhaps two. You will, of course, explain why they’re to be your whipping boy again.”

The High Lord waited a beat as words strangled my throat. “Will you submit, Lady, or will I call for my luudthen?”

The horrifying reality was, for a second a part of me considered it. Considered letting Mathen or Constin take the fall. They wereFae; this was their world, their Lord, their rules. I'd asked fornoneof this.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to be like the other High Lords.” The soft words I wielded were the only weapon I had left. Constin had told me what to say, if I ever needed to. “You said you wanted a lover’s no to mean something.”

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