Chapter 19
I excuse myself from my dance partner and step away so that I can have a moment to myself. I'm not used to dancing this much at these events. Usually, I can shrink into the corner and not have to deal with any of it.
"You should come with me."
I jump at the sound of Veronica's voice. "You scared me."
"Sorry," she responds. "But come with me." She gestures for me to follow her.
"Why?"
"Because I know you need a break from Mama's approved dance partners," she says. "Just trust me?"
"All right, but if you get me into trouble with Mama..."
"I will get you out of it if I do," she promises.
"But you're not going to get into trouble.
" She takes my arm and draws me over to where a man is standing at the edge of the ballroom with a mask that covers most of his face.
There's something familiar about the way he's standing and how he's presenting himself, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.
"I don't believe you need an introduction," Veronica says.
"Erm..."
The man chuckles, and I realise that there's a reason he's familiar to me.
"Nate?"
"May I have this dance, Your Highness?"
"I still don't like it when you call me that."
"I know, but there are other people around, and you are wearing a tiara. It makes it a little obvious who you are."
"She lost that fight with Mama," Veronica says.
I shoot my sister an unimpressed look. She just shrugs and flounces off.
"She's right, I did lose that fight with Mama. She said that the whole point is that people know who I am. I thought a masquerade would give me more anonymity, that's what Veronica said when she suggested I ask for one."
"I think your sister may have had other ideas," he responds.
"Such as?"
"May I have this dance?" he asks again as he holds out his hand to me.
I stare at it, not entirely sure what to do with the request. "Can you dance?"
"Princess Veronica arranged some lessons for me a few weeks ago. I think she's been planning this since the moment you agreed to a masquerade."
Warmth spreads through me directed at my sister. "That was sweet of her."
"It was," he agrees. "I wasn't sure about it at first, especially because I've never learned to dance, but then I thought about how it would feel to dance with you, and I knew it was the right thing to do. So, will you dance with me, Evie?"
I raise my hand and slip it into his, feeling the surety that comes with being around Nate, even if I'm a little nervous about the dancing part. I'm sure Veronica arranged for a good teacher, but a few lessons is nothing compared to the years of lessons most people in this room have had.
"I'll warn you that I've only had a couple of weeks' worth of lessons," he says as he leads me out onto the floor. "And I believe Veronica has purposefully timed it so that we're dancing the one dance I know how to do."
I laugh even as we take our place on the floor, something I don't believe I've ever done before. "That sounds like something she'd do."
I dip into a curtsy, unable to keep my eyes off Nate as he bows to me. It feels different to the other times he's done that. Partly because this time it's not to do with our stations, and I get to show the same kind of deference to him. Something he deserves so many times over.
The music starts to play, and I lift my left hand to rest it in his, while I place the right on his shoulder.
"You might have to lead," he murmurs as he puts his free hand on my waist.
I laugh. "What makes you think I'm any better at this than you are?"
"You've had years more practice," he points out.
"And I avoid dancing at all costs. Other than tonight, where I've not been able to avoid it at all.
The only saving grace is that Mama did eventually concede that I could wear comfortable dancing slippers instead of heels.
Which you should be glad of, because it means that I'm not going to stand on your feet with them. "
"I'm sure you wouldn't stand on my feet anyway," he responds as we turn around the floor.
He might say that he needs me to lead, but I feel as if we're both going through the movements together.
It certainly feels as if it's going smoother than some of my other dances, even if Nate isn't very practised.
"Don't underestimate how bad I am at these things."
"I'm not." He smiles at me in a way that makes my heart flutter.
"Thank you for coming tonight," I say. "You've made the whole thing that much more bearable."
"I'm glad. But it's not all I have planned for tonight if you come down to the kitchen after you're done here."
"You know how late that's going to be, right?"
He spins me under his arm before pulling me back close to him. "Yes."
"But you already said you hate early mornings, I don't want to make it worse..."
"Tomorrow is my rest day," he says. "I asked Camille to deal with everything tomorrow."
"You did?"
"Of course. Your birthday only happens once a year."
"Nate..." My voice cracks, and I don't even know what to say.
"I've missed five of them, I'm not about to miss another one," he promises.
"Does that mean you're going to let me do something for your birthday too?"
He chuckles. "I feel like I might have to agree."
The song comes to an end, and for what feels like the first time ever, I find myself disappointed.
I step back and dip into a curtsy while Nate bows to me.
"Would you like to get a drink?" I ask. "I'm not sure how long you've got..."
"Not much longer," he admits. "But I think one drink is fine."
I smile at him and draw him over to the refreshments table. "This is the blackberry wine from a monastery not far from here," I say as I pick up a glass and hold it out to him. "It's really good."
"Thank you." He takes it from me, his fingers lingering over mine for a little longer than is strictly necessary, but I love it. I never realised that it would feel so good to have him by my side at something like this.
Is this what the future is going to look like? He's made it clear that he's willing to give up his job in the kitchen to be with me, but will that mean attending events like together? Maybe after tonight he'll change his mind.
I distract myself by picking up one of the glasses of blackberry wine myself and taking a sip.
"It's good," Nate says.
I nod. "I prefer it to normal wine."
"I don't think we've drunk wine together since..."
"That Yuletide when we were sixteen," I say. "I brought a bottle down to the kitchen, and we drank it while trying to make gingerbread."
He laughs, presumably as the memories come back to him. "We forgot to put the sugar in."
"They didn't taste good. But I had a lot of fun." I reach out to touch his sleeve. "I always have fun with you."
"Same." He smiles in a way that makes me forget that everyone else exists, or that we're in the middle of a ball.
"I hate that I can't kiss you here," I blurt out.
His face shifts, and it takes me a moment to realise that he's raising an eyebrow. "I didn't realise you were thinking about that."
"I like kissing you," I admit. "I've never really thought about kissing anyone before. I mean, I have, when I, you know."
"I assumed," he says. "But I can't say I've spent much time thinking about what you did with other people."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't. I don't think of it either. But I do think about kissing you. It feels nice."
"I'm glad you think so. I want you to like it."
"I like everything about you," I say, looking up at him and completely ignoring everything about the rest of the ball. I don't care about spending time with anyone in the room except for him.
His eyes soften behind his mask, and I find myself wishing that we were down in the kitchen already.
Someone clears their throat, and I turn to see Veronica beside us. "Sorry to interrupt, but you asked me to tell you when it was time to go back to the kitchen."
"Thank you," Nate says.
"I wish you didn't have to go," I say.
"I know," he responds. "But I'll see you in a few hours?"
I nod.
He takes my hand and raises it to his lips to kiss the back of it. He meets my gaze one more time before he disappears back into the crowd.
I let out a longing sigh.
"Eurgh, somehow the two of you are more sickening than Artie and Solana," Veronica says.
I roll my eyes. "I don't know what you mean."
"Mmhmm."
"Thank you," I say. "I don't know what it took for you to organise this, but I appreciate it."
"Consider it a birthday present," she responds.
"You already gave me a necklace."
"A second present, then." She touches my arm and smiles.
"Well, I'm grateful."
"You're welcome. I want to see you happy," she says.
"But now you should go and dance with someone else so that Mama doesn't get suspicious.
" She pushes me on the back so that I head back to where everyone is dancing.
I suppose she's right, I am going to need to do that if I don't want Mama to start interfering.
Besides, it's only a few more hours before I can see Nate again. I can manage that.