When the other monarchs left, he fixed his gaze on her and lowered his voice. “Was that necessary?”
Through her wide, fake smile, she replied in Iubian, “Since no one ever taught you to keep your hands to yourself, yes.”
Taiyo raised an eyebrow. “And you were taught that such macabre, treasonous jokes were appropriate?”
“You know…” Hellebore leaned in closer, voice soft but sharp as she gave him a cold grin. “I think that was the lesson right behind the one about kings who kidnap their brides and treat them like prisoners.”
Taiyo scoffed, sitting back in his seat. “And here I thought you might want to enter our marriage with a fresh start, given your hands aren't clean either.”
“Don’t mistake my acquiescence for agreeableness. Maybe I'll get over it when you get over the sedative and thank me for saving your life.”
“Spent the morning brushing up on your vocabulary? Soon you’ll be fluent. That seems agreeable to me. But no, I don't seemyself thanking you for botching your escape and nearly killing me in the process anytime soon.”
“Then maybe I should have left you there. The great Sun Elf king killed by a little princess playing alchemist. It’d be the start to a bloodier war than any in history, but if you're the Sun Elves’ leader and representative of Iubar’s strength, then I like my chances.”
Taiyo shook his head and looked back out at the crowd, that pained smile from before returning, but there was no light in his eyes. She heard him mutter, “This was a mistake.”
Oh, now he was regretting it?
He couldn't have thought that last night?
It was then that music started up, and she did her best to restrain a sigh while Taiyo’s brow pinched. Haruko gave them a pointed look, and Taiyo rose from his seat, holding his hand out to Hellebore, and said, “Our dance?”
She ignored it and pushed herself out of her seat and said, “If we must.”
Although, what she really needed were answers. Maybe it was time to get them.
Her skirts billowed around her as she followed Taiyo to the dance floor where he gave her a stern look and she let him take her hand and set his in the proper position on her waist. He’d at least chosen a dance they had in Chymes that she knew.
Of course, because elves had magic, they had to show off with it as well. So that was why Taiyo’s fingers on her waist kept shifting slightly to twirl the threads of sunlight he left in their wake as they began moving. Hellebore understood the necessity of the spectacle as part of the Sun Elves’ traditions, but the feel of his fingers darting against her side was maddening in its distraction.
She wasn’t an excellent dancer in the first place, so if she was going to live up to expectations and not embarrass herself as well as interrogate her husband, she needed to focus.
Her hand rested on his shoulder, and she spoke beneath the music, keeping her eyes on the crowd. “You may at any point, but preferably now, inform me why you’re doing this. I still don’t understand why having me would be in any way a victory for you.”
“You make me sound like a monster.”
“Pardon, I forgot. That’s supposed to be me, isn’t it?” Hellebore ducked under his arm as he spun her before pulling her back in. She looked up at him. “Which again simply proves my point, and yet all you do is avoid answering.”
“You’re the one who had no interest in any discussion and insisted upon moving forward in ignorance.”
Hellebore let out a scoff as his sunlight kept weaving a path behind them. “Like you would have been honest with me when there was a chance I could find a way out. I saw through your façade and didn’t waste our time. You were determined to marry me at any cost. You slung me over your shoulder and threw me in a carriage.”
Taiyo’s jaw clenched, but he said nothing.
“But now… You’ve got me. There will be no escaping on my end anymore. You win,” Hellebore said right before he spun her out again and pulled her back in, this time her back to his front and his arms encircling her. She looked up at him from the corner of her eye and whispered, “But what exactly did you win? I’m not a fool. What did you do all of this for? You can’t have lowered yourself and gone to all this effort just because you think the Moon Elves are a little antsy. What is this really about? Revenge? The desire to humiliate an alchemist? Something to do with whatever you’re hiding on these grounds that is rotting to death?”
His eyes widened, and instead of finishing the move properly, he shoved her away from him.
It had been the last move of the dance anyway. She recovered easily enough and flashed a smile at a crowd that at best feared her and at worst wanted her to drop dead. Most wanted both.
Then a hand brushed the small of her back and she watched Taiyo recover, stepping up behind her and smiling at his people, who finally applauded for his sake. His breath brushed over her ear as his hand clenched into the fabric of her dress. “Believe me, I’m not trying to humiliate you. As much as revenge might be justified, I would rather have nothing to do with your kind ever again.”
So it was the last.
Then his hand slipped into hers. The sun had just started to set.
“Come with me.”
