Page 68 of Lord of Dance and Desire

I grit my teeth. “I have not. It's not safe.”

She glanced at me. “You have the resources to make it safe. Do better, son. That's an excuse. Perhaps that's what she needs right now. The illusion of absolute independence.”

“I won't lie to her.”

“Nor should you. She should always be aware that the resources of our House are at her disposal, whether she likes it or not. That's the price she pays for living in my city.” The High Lord grimaced, though there was indulgence in it. “She is rather spoiled, isn't she? Our Muses always are.”

I stiffened, bristling with the urge to defend my Anah. Though my mother was right.

“She's young,” was all I said, resenting how ridiculous I sounded. But it was truth. Anah was thirty-one, almost thirty-two. That was nothing.

My mother, five centuries my elder, had the grace not to laugh at me. “Give her another thirty years, and some of these issues will resolve. Offer her a true choice, Andreien. That is my counsel.”

I bowed, accepting my Lord’s dismissal.

“Son.”

I straightened. Blue-gray eyes met mine.

“If you offer the choice, but you don’t believe in it, she will know. She needs your understanding as much as she needs your action. She may be spoiled, but she’s correct. A choice betweentwo different ills is no choice at all, just another trap. And ask yourself why she fears the trap. Does she not have cause?”

I bowed again, and left her.

I left the ballroom, secure my luudthen watched over my bonded, and went to the pond, taking the bucket of chopped meat with me to feed the swans, wondering idly who’d displeased my mother or sister this week.

The swans bit, of course, but I didn’t mind the pain. They were adorable creatures, especially when their bellies were full. That was always when they were most docile. Almost like my Anah.

Maybe she, and the swans, should be fed more often? What had she called it?. . .ah. Hangry.

Interesting word.

Andrei?Her voice brushed against the light mental barrier I kept erected to protect her from my ambient thoughts. Most of them would disturb her. She refused to come near the swans.The High Lord says it’s time for the first dance.

I rose, put the bucket away, and returned to the ballroom where my bonded awaited me.

HASANNAH

Andreien led me to the edge of the ballroom floor, a loose term because I wasn't certain that was the right word for the gleaming polished blackwood pulsing with energy beneath my feet. With life.

The palace wasn't what I had expected. Far more of it seemed to be composed of outdoor spaces rather than the opulent, structured interiors I’d mentally pictured whenever the word castle came up in my mind.

The ceilings were arched in a tent-like shape, dripping with white and purple flowers. There was a golden ambient glow, though I couldn't tell the source of the lighting. Two sides of the ballroom were open to the outdoor grounds.

I'd spent the last three weeks learning a few of the Cassanian Court dances, and then adding in my own choreography and teaching it back to Andrei.

Opening the dance was supposed to be a gift to his mother, who, he'd said, had been nagging him for years to take up some type of dance training. Nagging my word, not his, of course. But I understood he wanted to please his mother, and I also understood my role in the family. I was the one Lord Issahelle would be living her vicarious dance dreams through.

It surprised me her children didn't realize that that was what she was doing with Sahakian Arts. Maybe because they saw her as a High Lord first and a mother second, and not simply as a woman. I understood though. No one became such a devoted fan unless there was some serious wistful thinking there.

The least I could do to earn my place in the family was teach her son how to dance to choreography. Give me a few decades and we could make a decent cavalier out of him, though he didn’t really have the focus for it.

“Are you ready for your debut?” he murmured, amusement in his tone as he offered me an arm.

“Yes.”

“Nervous?”

I ignored the silly, silly question as we swept to the middle of the floor. This was the first time any of the Cassanians would see me dance since the showcase last season. If they wanted to see me again, they would have to purchase season tickets. The Heir’s consort didn’t busk, nor did the prima of Sahakian Arts.

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