Page 13 of Lord of Dance and Desire

She led me to the solo practice room she'd claimed at the beginning of the season.

“There are extra wards,” she said after shutting the door. “Though I can't guarantee your guard can't get through them. He's older and has access to better training.”

I rubbed my palms on my hips. “I need a favor. A big favor.”

Her eyebrows disappeared under dark bangs.

“Since you're the consort of the city Heir and can have almost anything you want within reason, I'm assuming he wouldn’t approve of this favor, that it might, in fact, anger him.”

“I need an exit plan.”

She didn't move. That was the thing about Coralene. The Fae woman could go from fidgeting or dancing or hitting someone upside the head to completely still. In a way as if she was looking beyond me—judging how much longer I’d live and whether she could take advantage of either my life or my death.

“An. . .exit plan. What did he do to you, Hasannah?”

“He grounded me from dance for a week.”

“You're occasionally foolish, but you never struck me as particularly stupid. There must be something more to this punishment.”

“They think it's my lamia blood,” I said, clasping my hands in front of me. “When I can't dance. . .” I frowned, trying to remember those days when I sank into a spiral. “I think Andrei and Constin said I needed the dance to feed?”

Her eyes widened. “I see.”

I shook my head. “I can't go through that again. I won't. I don't care what documents I signed when I came to Casakraine, he has no right.”

“The humans have a saying. Might makes right.”

“And that's why I need an exit plan.” My voice was low, cold, determined. “I won't be threatened, and I won't be controlled. If I stay with Andrei, it'll be because I want to, not because I'm afraid of the consequences.”

Once again I wondered how old she was. The look she gave me now spoke of weariness beyond the three decades I’d been alive.

“You know if you try to leave him, he’ll likely kill you.”

I tried to smile. “Only if your plan is terrible.”

Her silence filled the small space with a tingling energy. When she spoke, there was the gravity of a scale and the tension of a roulette wheel in her voice.

Her eyes sparked with power. “This is quite the gamble. The favor you want could get me killed or start a war with my uncles’ Lord. Ashlyun,” she added. “And he isvicious.”

“He was kind to me,” I said quietly. “Lord Ashlyun.”

“How so?”

I shrugged. “He talked to me without condescension. Offered to send me a jar of his honey. I think he was trying to soothe me. He told Andrei to be nice because I’d suffered enough.”

Cora stared at me, arrested. “Ashlyun? Kind. That isn’t a word anyone has ever used to describe him.” She pursed her lips and shrugged. “Even so, I don't want to be in the middle of a dispute between the Vice Lord and the city Heir.”

I sighed, resigned. “You won't help me.”

“Don't put words in my mouth.” Her eyes narrowed. “I'm saying the favor could get me killed. The amount of luck I’d need to call on. . .you'll be in my debt, Hasannah. A substantial debt and I will absolutely collect.”

“Not my first-born kind of big?” I wasn't joking. Neither was she.

“No. Though I can't promise when I call upon you the favor won't be of similar import.”

“But if your exit plan works, and I'm safely gone, how will you?—”

Cora held up a hand. “Oh, you misunderstand me, mortal. You'll owe me for creating the exit plan, whether you use it or not. You need peace of mind. Peace of mind will allow you to make decisions based solely on your own agenda, and not fear of consequences.”

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