Page 36 of Caged By Dance and Desire

I slid my arm through Samuel's.

“Baby,” he drawled. “You look delicious. That jewel green does things for your skin tone. I thought you were poor.”

I grinned at him. “I am. The dress was a. . .loan. And you look more Fae than Coralene in that outfit. I want the name of who styled you. Taima, that dress, sweet baby Jesus. Are you going to start a riot tonight?”

Taima winked at me. It was a short gold dress, and she’d styled her red hair in loose waves over her shoulder, makeup a smokey eye and nude glossy lip. She’d also contoured, a skill I’d never master. “I’m going to start something.”

I laughed. “Game on.”

“Are we done with the adolescent human greeting rituals?” Coralene asked. “I would like to enter before the occasion is over. Some of us have yet to make significant connections.”

I glared at her back as she swept towards the entrance.

Vargas took the assembled dancers aside in a small receiving room before we were led to the main ballroom. We glittered, polished to within an inch of perfection. I owed Andrei. My little black dress would have relegated me to a wall immediately.

“Remember why you're here,” she said. “Mingle, use the scripts we gave you when answering questions—whatever you do, don't lie—and in general try not to sound like buffoons. Please, by the Darkness, no political discussions. Just. . .don't. Talk less, smile more. Taima. . .look reserved and mysterious. If you gain a patron, you'll need to request dental work.”

I winced, but Taima's expression was resigned.

“Hasannah, why are you not in heels? Your legs are too. . .short for flats, you need the lengthening effect.” She smiled at me, or I assumed that's what she thought she was doing. “I brought spares. I know you, my doves. And Samuel, bony is not attractive. Make sure you eat visibly tonight, the Cassanians have this taboo about starving athletes and no one wants to be accused of that. Coralene?—”

“Yes?” Coralene said, voice chilly.

The mistress eyed her. “Try not to look like you're about to start a House feud.”

“At least the evening wouldn't be boring.”

Vargas turned her back on the Fae female. “And if I were you, doves, I'd avoid being talked into anyone's bed or coach tonight,no matter what pretty promises they spin. It's too soon, and they're still testing you to see how stupid you are. Disappoint them. It will increase your value in the long run.”

She gave us a gimlet look. “Since the others are not here, I’ll tell you what the students suspect but we're not allowed to confirm. If you don't royally fuck up tonight and embarrass us, you more or less have a place in at least the corps—as long as your audition is as we expect from observing you the last several weeks. Congratulations are premature. . .but congrats, doves.”

We gave a muted cheer and began to leave for the ballroom.

“If someone asks you to dance, dance,” Mistress called after us. “If someone requests an impromptu performance, it's fine to oblige that too. This is why we had you bring your slippers.”

I'd grabbed mine as an afterthought and stuffed them in the satin reticule hanging off my wrist.

“You're thick, Samuel's scrawny, and I have bad teeth,” Taima said, leaning on me as we walked. “Oh, and Cora's psycho. Nice to hear what they really think of us.”

I shrugged, unbothered. My looks were the least of my concerns, though Andrei had this obsession with feeding me, and I'd gained five pounds in as few days. Most of it water from the carb load, hopefully.

I pursed my lips. Still. “I need to trim down again.”

I'd been neglecting my strength training in favor of learning the medium difficulty Fae leaps and didn't want to risk my toes and ankles over something as silly as an increase in body weight without corresponding muscle tone. It was faster to lose the extra padding.

A week of protein and dark vegetables should do it. No pasta. Andrei consumed pasta and dark bread like it was his religion.Iwas a human female, and my hormones preferred me plump and ready for baby making. To those hormones, dance was an amusing hobby and whenever there was a lapse in my training routine, they perked up thinking it was time to start adding padding because I must be ready to have that baby now.

Taima bumped my shoulder. “You know how the Fae feel about restrictive eating. Just don't tell anyone. They can't turn a blind eye if you open your mouth.”

“I'll visibly load up my plate while we're here and avoid the snack table tomorrow.”

“Yeah, odd they started catering everyone's food in the middle of the season like that. I wonder why.”

Oh, Iabsolutelywondered why. But I kept my sarcasm internal. “Who knows? Okay, deep breath. Showtime.”

We stepped into the ballroom.

I didn't see Andrei among the throng of guests, but he'd be watching. Constin and Mathen too.

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