Chapter 29 #3
The sight of Tobias twirling Caleb in his arms and brushing a kiss to his lips had Dominic smiling.
He was happy to see Tobias so openly affectionate with Caleb, considering his past. Tobias had been sold to a brothel at a young age, and when he first came to Andreilia, he despised anyone getting near him, let alone touching him.
It was refreshing to see the light return to his hazel eyes around Caleb.
Then there was Zephyr sitting atop Everux’s broad shoulders, whirling around, with their heads tipped back in laughter.
Niran approached a girl with a courteous smile, and she gladly accepted his hand, both of them joining the fray.
The rest of the Andreilians sat along the parapet, eating sticks of skewered meat and chatting to themselves.
Silas’s eyes narrowed in focus on the small block of wood in his hands he was carving.
Vesper held a spyglass to his eye, tilted high above the open ocean, gazing at the stars.
Ace gazed at the crowd of dancers, eyes tracking his brother and Adara.
Dominic’s gaze followed, admiring from afar as Adara expertly waltzed with Asher, skirts flowing in a glittering veil.
Something tugged within him, like an invisible string tying him to her.
The thought of her affection—her key—her smile, blinded him.
And before he could think better of what he was doing, Dominic plunged into the masses of dancers.
Adara and Asher’s arms extended between them, Adara twirling away. Her fingers slipped out of his as she continued whirling in elegant circles, until Dominic’s hands found her hips, and she halted in his arms, hands placed on his chest.
“May I have this dance?” he said smoothly.
Adara stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, mouth slightly agape. She took a step away from him. His hands were cold as they fell away from her waist, disappointment clutching his lungs.
Then, as if she were afraid he’d retract his offer, eyes bright with anticipation, Adara broke into a radiant smile. “Yes, you may,” she said with a curtsy, taking his hand, and all that anxious warmth flooded back into him like a tidal wave.
He glanced at Asher over Adara’s shoulder, who was grinning widely and giving him a thumbs-up.
Then Asher effortlessly swept into a dance with a girl who approached him.
Dominic followed Adara’s act and sketched a bow, placing a soft kiss to her knuckles, lips meeting those mangled scars that marred her skin.
For once, she had taken off those leather gloves. Then he led her into a dance.
It was ridiculous. The two most feared people in the realm, laughing, dancing, and acting like children.
Technically, they were. Both were still teenagers, aged by the weight of the responsibilities and trauma they carried with them.
It would completely ruin their reputations as heartless monsters, but in that moment, none of it mattered.
They didn’t have to be the ones people cowered before.
They were just two strangers passing through, having fun without a worry in the world.
The weight of their deadly journey to the Ruins could wait until tomorrow.
Dominic pulled Adara in close, with their hands clasped out to the side of them, his other on her waist, and hers on his shoulder. They followed the flow of the others dancing around them to the ethereal music full of life.
“How’d you learn to dance?” he asked.
She gracefully flowed through each step, as if the music spoke to her in a language only she knew.
“My mother taught me. She thought it was a skill I should have, along with wielding a weapon. She never wanted me to limit myself with anything,” she said, that nostalgic glimmer returning to her eyes, but it was gone in an instant. “You’re not too bad yourself.”
Dominic shrugged, trying not to step on her feet. “Good at improvising.”
The song ended, but the musicians didn’t pause there.
They immediately launched into another tune, this one more upbeat and exciting, the kind that didn’t have a specific way of dancing to it.
A song that was filled with the electrifying, wonderful sound of violins.
A song that made the world believe that anything could happen.
Startling Adara, Dominic took her hand and spun her around, drawing her in close so her back was to his chest. She looked up at him with a smile over her shoulder, waiting for him to take the lead.
He twirled her back out, arms extended between them, before pulling her back to him.
His other hand found its place on her waist once more.
They danced and danced. The steps were uneven and clumsy, light and fun and better than what he’d imagined any ball would be like. The others followed their lead, dancing however the music led them. They leaped and twirled and clapped their hands to the beat, spinning around in each other’s arms.
Adara spun and spun and spun, blue skirts billowing around her like water shimmering underneath the starlight.
Her head tipped back in delighted laughter, the flower crown so vibrant against her dark hair, like flora thriving with life in the soil from which it grew.
Her sensuous lips curved in an elegant smile around teeth that shone like the moon.
Her eyes were lit with such glee Dominic hadn’t even known was possible.
He admired her as one would a star—with distant glances, for he knew if he ever got too close, he would find himself burned beyond repair.
It wasn’t until late at night, when most had cleared the streets, that the music died, the musicians retiring for the night. Adara sighed with mirth, finally peeling herself out of his arms. She brushed a stray curl away from her face, adjusting the circlet of flowers atop her head.
Adara smoothed out the skirts of her dress. “I guess we should head back to the inn?” she asked.
He shook his head. It might be the atmosphere of Livisian, or the fact that he had no responsibilities here, or the magic in Adara’s laughter, or Hel, he may have even gone insane, but Dominic said, “I have a better idea.” Because, for once in his miserable life, he felt strange, different.
Happy, he supposed—if he could truly remember how it was to feel anything.