Page 84 of Callista and the Elf

Guyan strode to the front of the dais, spread his arms, and sent his voice across the hall on magic sound waves. “Lords, ladies, and everyone else who has joined us tonight, thank you for such a gracious welcome. It has been too long since I’ve enjoyed the hospitality of Sirun’s Dining Hall.”

Normally, I’d think nothing of him addressing our court. But after talking to Mylo, I wondered what he was planning. I shook my head. He hadn’t given me any real signs of trouble.He’d treated Callista as less than he should have, but many elves would have made the same mistake.

Caution was different than judging without reason. I refused to misjudge my cousin simply because he gave off mischievous vibes. Robin had always been mischievous. Koan was a known-trouble maker. And I trusted both of them. I could watch Guyan for signs of trouble without assuming he was trying to undermine me.

Plus, I had legitimate suspicions about Acantha. If she’d arranged for the accident that killed his parents on the bridge, he deserved even more latitude. If that was true, and we ever found evidence of it, it would break his heart.

Guyan organized the elves in the hall to clear the tables to the edges of the room while the musicians who’d provided background music during dinner took a short break. When they came back to play, the dance floor was ready.

“Will you dance with me?” I asked Callista.

Her big, blue eyes lit up. “I’ve never been to an elven dance.” A quick blush ran across her cheeks. “Or actually, a human dance. I used to dance with my father and brother, but I love the idea of dancing with you—if you think it’s something I can do without practice.”

“Callista. If you can hold my hand, you can dance.”

She smiled with her whole face, and I felt that burst of happiness flood through our bond. I hated that bond. I hated myself for putting it on her. But I loved the insight it gave me into her emotions.

I escorted her to the dance floor, wrapped one hand around her shoulder blade, and lifted her right hand in my left. She settled a hand into my bicep, ready to follow wherever I nudged her. We held that position while the musiciansplayed a test note, and then for a few more seconds while I felt the pacing of their song. A three-count ballroom dance. With the next downbeat, I swept Callista away.

She flew with me, easily staying in step, while her hair tossed and her dress spun around her. I twirled her, testing her comfort with the movement, and catching her easily between her shoulder blades. She threw her face up and laughed, pouring more joyful emotions into my soul.

I spun her again and again, feeding off her delight like a sparrow in a sunflower patch. She threw her free hand out to the side, and I lifted her into my arms, tucking her legs to my right side. She tipped her head back and spread her hands like wings. I kept one arm around her hips and my other hand in the middle of her back while we spun again.

And for a moment, we were not dancing in the Great Hall after a feast with hundreds of nobles watching. For a moment, we were the only two people in the world. I held her, and she moved with me, and nothing else mattered. I was as close to her as I was to my own heart.

We came out of the spin, and I brought her back to her feet, pulling her close in a standard position again. With another downbeat, we traveled across the floor, and I thought I sensed new emotions in the bond. Not actually new, but emotions that she might have felt before in smaller amounts—now they were abundant enough that I knew exactly what I was feeling: excitement, hope, and anticipation.

A wild grin broke across my face. If she was hoping for an exciting dance, I would give her that. “We can do better than that,” I whispered.

“Go for it,” she breathed back.

Her confidence in me took my breath away. “You trust me?”

She laughed and slid her hand off my bicep and onto my neck, where she nudged my head closer to hers. “You’ve carried me hundreds of feet off the ground in your claw. There’s nothing you can do on a dance floor that would frighten me.”

A reckless abandon rushed through my heart. “Nothing?” I asked, drawing her closer.

“Nothing.” Her breath hitched halfway through the word.

My hands dropped to her waist, and I hoisted her high above my head. She spread her hands again, as if she could fly, and—while the music built to a crescendo—I tossed her in the air. As she fell back to the ground, I caught her with an arm around her waist and another across her back. I tucked her legs to my side again, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I used her momentum to throw us both into a spin. When we slowed, I lowered her to her feet, caught her hand, and twirled her two more times.

The music slowed, so I tipped her down in a dramatic dip, resting her hips against my knee. She flung her hands out above her head, panting with exhaustion, but radiating a joyful pleasure I had never seen in her before.

I pulled her back up to her feet, took one hand, and bowed over it. I dropped a quick kiss on her knuckles before I stood back up. She held onto my fingers, but fell into a gracious curtsy. My heart pounded at the sight, and I lifted her up as quickly as possible.

Applause exploded around us. The fools had never seen me dance with such uninhibited energy. “Thank you,” Callista breathed as I escorted her back to our table.

“Oh no, Firehawk.” I stopped walking and brushed a wild lock of hair away from her face. “Thankyou.” I brushed her glowing cheek with a thumb. “That was the bestdance of my life.”

She blushed and radiated more of those heady emotions as I led her back to my table. An elf could get drunk on those emotions. I’d entered dangerous territory—a new addiction—where all I wanted to do was make her happy enough to radiate enough delight that I could feel it through the bond.

After Callista caught her breath and had some more lemonade, Koan approached the dais. I turned slowly to face him.

He bowed with a cheeky flourish. “Your Majesty, as the D’Aeran house representative, I was hoping to offer a dance to Callista.” He winked. I was tempted to light his jacket on fire, purely for entertainment value. “And as a friend, of course,” he added. I restrained myself. We were friends now, after all. As a high noble who was finally acting like the adult he was, he should be sitting on the dais with me.

I nodded with a smile as gracious as his. “Upset her at all, and you will burst into flames.”

His smirk grew into a genuine laugh. “Fear not, Your Majesty. I will do nothing to warrant spontaneous combustion.”

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