Page 20 of Cinder
“See, a more preferable experience all around,” Prince Lorenz said. “You lose the full intensity of the crispness otherwise.”
The surrounding guests were looking at them. Not just looking, but in some cases glaring, even if they seemed to be doing their best to hide the emotion. Someone tried to interrupt Prince Lorenz with a slight bow and a muttering ofYour Royal Highness, but the prince acted as though he hadn’t noticed, taking Cin by the arm and leading him down the rows of desserts. One of the ornamented watch members—a different individual from the previous week—followed slowly in their wake.
“So much sugar,” Cin muttered, shaking his head. He’d admired it the first time, but now that this was a second night, a second round of all the most delicious of foods, it was finally sinking in.
“Pardon?” the prince asked.
“Nothing.” Cin paused, blinked, and then said, “I was just thinking how lavish this all is, with still no signs the famine willend. I know the kingdom appreciates your family’s generosity but...”
“Why drain our stores now?” Prince Lorenz grimaced, but the next thing out of his mouth seemed to change topic. “Do you want to see the gardens? They’re not so full as they are in the spring, but it’s quiet and dark.”
Quiet. And dark.
Cin’s mind went immediately to the things he’d told Prince Lorenz he didn’t want to do last time they were in such a quiet, dark place, and nausea twisted in his stomach—not all bad, but not all good either. But the prince had, so far, always backed off when Cin had asked. At least, when he wasn’t chasing Cin out the front doors.
He wrapped his arm through Prince Lorenz’s, trying to ignore the flutter that simple, chaste motion birthed in his chest, and led the prince out of the ballroom.
The chill in the air felt nice after the warmth of the crowded indoors, and though a few guests poked their heads out, the prince’s watch-person positioned themself in the doorway, and no one seemed anxious enough yet to try to worm their way past. Cin let go of Prince Lorenz as they reached the railing that overlooked the gardens, the great pond at its center shimmering in the light that streamed from the ballroom windows.
“I didn’t ask for this,” Prince Lorenz said, and Cin had a flash of confusion before he continued, “To have our reserves wasted on such a frivolous party—one in my honor, nonetheless.”
“Says the man who wants shirtless statues of himself in every town square,” Cin teased. But as the joke faded into the night, he tried to find the positives in this thing the prince seemed so bent against. “You must admit, these balls have lifted the spirits of the entire country. Perhaps it is frivolous. Certainly the reserves could be better distributed in a different manner. But this oneis making your people happy. They feel connected to their royal family again for the first time in… years.”
Prince Lorenz’s brow furrowed—such an odd expression, half masked in the darkness as he stared out at the garden. “Do you really think so?”
“If the way the people in my town speak of it or the joy I see on my ride through the city is anything to go on, then yes.” Cin took a breath, then let it out. “I’m certain I could critique your parent’s leadership if forced—”
“No one would needforceme,” the prince muttered.
Cin logged the thought away as he continued, “—but I can’t deny that this particular choice is makingmehappy.”
“You...” Prince Lorenz turned to him, looking thoughtful. “You, who came here for this,”—he waved toward the ballroom—“and not for me?” There was a gleam deep in the darkness of his eyes that made Cin’s heart thud. The prince lifted an eyebrow. “Or so you say, though I haven’t actually seen you dance yet.”
“Dancing isn’t all there is to a party,” Cin objected. “There’s food, and music, and people, and lights.”
“People and lights can be found in most places. If you’re here for food and music, but not dancing or the wooing of the most eligible man in the kingdom, then you’re missing half the reason for the ball.”
Cin crossed his arms, looking up at the prince. “Does it count, when the most eligible man in the kingdom doesn’t want to be wooed?”
There was less space between them now, but Cin didn’t know which of them had moved. Prince Lorenz’s smirk only grew. “I never said I don’t wish to be wooed, only that I’d prefer not to accept anyone’s hand in marriage,” he said. He leaned his shoulders in, whispering in Cin’s ear. “I, for one, love to dance.”
Cin lifted his chin, feeling insufferably smug and just a little lightheaded as he replied, “Then why, pray tell, are you out here with me?”
Prince Lorenz made a sound in the back of his throat. He pulled away, both hands on his hips and his lips bunched in something very much like a pout. “Because I’m trying to get you to dance with me here, dammit. You can’t be that obtuse.”
Cin made a show of blinking, holding his hand over his mouth in feigned shock, but he couldn’t contain the slow smile that spread across his face. “I’m not that obtuse, no. I just...” He could feel the flush from his first meeting with the prince trying to return, and he scolded himself for it, turning toward the darkness of the garden in the hopes that Prince Lorenz didn’t catch it. “In truth, I don’t know how to dance.”
“You,” the prince stated.
Cin lifted both shoulders. “Me?”
“Yes! You with your rich fabrics and your pigeons and your absurd climbing that would rival the goats on the mountain slopes to the south and you can’t dance.” Prince Lorenz looked very sternly at Cin and held out a hand. “Now is as good a time as any to learn. And I’ve been told I’m averygood teacher.”
Cin lifted one brow. “Have you considered that I may be a terrible student?”
“In that case,” Prince Lorenz replied, “you will surely be even more impressed by my skills.”
Cin’s heart seemed to pound against the uncomfortable tightness of his binding, reminding him just how little effort it took for his lungs to burn and his sides to ache. But he could sacrifice for a single song. He gave the prince a stern look. “Onedance, then.”
