CHAPTER 52
Sakura
Dinner went well. They’d eaten most of their meals with the court since reaching the capital, so Keenan looked more comfortable than he had that first night at the winter castle.
But even as he joked with a count sitting across the table from them, Sakura could see a tightness in his eyes. He claimed he was perfectly happy marrying her instead of a common girl who would let him live a simple life. But how long would that really last?
Her hand curled in her lap where no one could see. Keenan was made for doing, for using his hands to serve and to create. Could he really be content in a castle, being served and whiling away his days mingling?
When dinner was over, they relocated to the ballroom. And Sakura feared it might be the thing that finally broke Keenan’s determination to stay.
A bead of sweat ran down his forehead as he led her stiffly to the center of the floor. Keenan had never taken the time for a dance in a Hartford square. Never spun a happy turn as he walked down the street.
He had studied smithing and swordplay, and footwork wasn’t his strong suit.
And now she was asking him to dance in front of a hundred people. Knowing they expected something far more intricate than the simple swaying to the music that she and Keenan would be doing.
Her own neck tightened at the thought. These people were used to her perfection. What would they think when they watched this dance?
“Relax,” she whispered, as much for her own benefit as his. “Calm as the sphinx’s smile, even if your wings ache to fly.”
The muscles in his arm tightened. Coming to a stop, he raised his left hand and set his right hand at the small of her back.
Sakura placed her palm against his, wishing she could remove the tension at the corners of his mouth.
But affection wasn’t suitable for the situation, and conversation and Keenan’s dancing didn’t mix.
“Why did you say that?” he asked abruptly as the music began. “About the sphinx?”
She looked at him in surprise. “The sphinx is my family’s symbol. Sayings involving it are common in Ryuni. My mother used to tell me that one when I was younger.”
He gave a sharp nod, but his shoulders relaxed a little.
As they swayed to the music, inching around the dance floor with the occasional slow turn, Keenan pulled her a little closer.
His brilliant blue eyes trapped her with their intensity, and suddenly, Sakura discovered that she didn’t care if they weren’t fulfilling the nobles’ expectations for the opening dance.
Keenan looked very much like he would gladly stay with her forever, no matter the setting.
And that was more important than any tradition.
The fingers of his left hand spread apart. Then he shifted, threading his fingers through hers and clasping her hand. Her heart skipped a beat at the sensation. What she wouldn’t give for the ballroom and guests surrounding them to simply vanish so she could enjoy this moment with Keenan alone.
The music swelled in a brief climax, then daintily trotted to its conclusion. Keenan kept moving for a few beats after it stopped, his hand tightening around hers while his eyes scrunched closed.
Sakura couldn’t help a frown, despite their audience. “Keenan? Are you all right?”
Releasing her waist, he pressed the heel of his hand to his temple.
“Fine,” he grunted out. He slowly unwound their fingers, but he didn’t let go.
Instead of offering his elbow to escort her from the floor, he wrapped his hand tightly around hers and barreled toward the closest edge of the floor.
The people lining it dodged out of the way, clearing the path before his shoulder did it for them.
Keenan didn’t stop until he’d shoved through the doors and into the hallway. He collapsed against the wall, looking like the wood paneling was the only thing keeping him upright while his breath came in short, shallow gasps.
She set a worried hand on his chest. He gripped it with his free hand, squeezing until she almost cried out from the pain.
“Keenan, you’re hurting me.”
“Sorry.” He sank down, pressing his hands to his temples as he slouched against the wall, one knee bent while the other sprawled across the floor. But at least he was still upright. That was a good sign.
Right?
“Keenan?”
“I feel terrible,” he panted. He gave her a pained smile. “Sorry to ruin the celebration.”
“Nonsense; you haven’t ruined anything,” she said, even though she could hear the music emanating from the ballroom. There would be one song for the guests, and then she would be expected to dance with her father. But she couldn’t dance while Keenan was in such obvious misery. Could she?
“I’ll send for a physician,” she said, beginning to stand. “Perhaps he can—”
His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go,” he begged. He squinted up at her through one eye. “Stay here, please.”
She sank back to her knees. “But the physician may be able to help. I can do nothing.”
He shook his head. “You’re here. That—I think it would be worse if I was alone.”
That made no sense, but if Keenan said he felt better with her there, then she would stay. It wasn’t a big ask.
But what about when this song ended and she was supposed to return to the floor?
“Sakura!” Her brother’s voice cut through the whispers of the nobles gathered in the doorway. She hadn’t yet turned to see what they thought of her kneeling beside her grimacing fiancé. “The next dance begins soon. Father is looking for you.”
She turned to face him. “Keenan is indisposed, Hari. Do you expect me to simply leave?”
Her brother frowned. “Does he need a physician?”
“Yes, please. And inform Father that we’ll be postponing our dance.”
Hari’s eyes jumped around the small collection of guests clearly pretending not to watch. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. They’ll already be talking because of his collapse. You can’t let them think either he or you are weak because you skipped the dance.”
“But Keenan is—”
“I’ll stay,” Hari interjected. “I’ll send a servant for the physician and then sit with him while we wait. But you need to get back in there.”
Keenan squeezed her hand. “It’s all right. Go. Prince Hatori can keep me company.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Marrying a commoner is enough damage. Go show them that your choice doesn’t make you weak.”
“If you’re certain,” she said uncertainly.
He gave her a grimace that looked like a failed attempt at a smile. “I’ll be fine with Prince Hatori. And I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Unless you’re in the infirmary,” Hari remarked. “Don’t worry, Sakura. I’ll take care of him.”
It was with some misgivings that she placed a light kiss on Keenan’s damp forehead and rose, but Hari was right. Finishing the dance would make the statement that Keenan was fine and that there was no need to worry.
Even if she was worried.
“You should really call me Hari, or at least Hatori,” she heard her brother saying as she walked away. “You are marrying my sister in a few weeks.”
“When I know you better,” Keenan grunted back. “Until then, you’re still a foreign prince.”
The dance with her father passed without incident. He released her as soon as the music ended, knowing how eager she was to check on Keenan. While he declared the floor open for the rest of the night, Sakura lifted her skirt in one hand, trying to hurry without looking like it.
“Your Highness.” Someone stepped into her path and swept her a bow. “May I claim the first dance of the evening?”
She looked up and stifled a groan. “Chujiro. It would be an honor.”
He offered his arm and led her back to the floor. “Your fiancé looked a little worse for the wear after your dance. Is he well?”
Knowing the nobleman as she did, she doubted that he asked out of any true concern for Keenan. If only she’d taken a less direct route to the door! A request from any of her other guests would have been preferable. “Something he ate disagreed with him. He will be fine by morning.”
“After growing up on the streets, he should have a stomach like a stray dog,” Chujiro snorted as he pulled her into the dance. “He must be quite frail for one of the crown’s fine dinners to upset him.”
Sakura stiffened. “He is not from the streets, but he is from a different kingdom. It is perfectly feasible that he would find something unmanageable in our cuisine. And Keenan has gotten himself out of tighter spots than you’ve ever been in. He is anything but frail.”
“If you insist.” He shrugged. “I certainly hope you are correct; it would be tragic if anything happened to him.”
If anything…happened to him?
“Indeed,” she coolly replied. “It would leave me free to find a nobleman to marry, and then I would be queen someday.”
“But the prophecy…” Chujiro frowned.
“Was fake,” she concluded for him. “Haven’t you heard? So there is no reason to expect me to choose another commoner if I lose this one.”
“I hear you had a fondness for their kind even before the prophecy.” The nobleman smiled meanly. “So I wouldn’t count on it.”
Her face fell into the hard lines that her brother’s wasn’t capable of.
“Chujiro-kun,” she began, intentionally insulting him with the old honorific for a child, “I may never be queen. But I am the daughter of the current king and the sister of the future one, and both love me dearly. I would watch my words if I were you.”
“Is that a threat, Your Highness?”
She broke his gaze for a turn required by the dance, staring him down as soon as she returned. “I do not make threats, Chujiro-kun.”
“I’m shocked.” He set a brief hand on his chest. “I’ve never seen such forcefulness from you.”
“One man’s blindness does not make something cease to exist.” She made certain he could see every bit of her sincerity in her expression. “If you seek to harm my family, you will regret it. And my family includes Keenan.”
The song ended, and Chujiro stepped back with a bow. “Naturally, Your Highness.”