Lualhati was leading Warden Hallum by the hand away from the door where he’d stuck himself since their arrival.
“This is great,” Tasha said, grinning widely.
“Yes, it is,” I agreed. “I cannot wait to see what counts as dancing to Warden Hallum. I never thought I’d get such a chance as this.”
“No, I mean that he’s dancing withher!”
“Technically, they are not dancing yet.”
Currently, they were standing together, still holding hands. Then, the music stopped. When it started up again, it was a very slow song, the melody poignant. Almost sad. Shiloh, Xennet, and Dorn stopped dancing. Shiloh so that she could catch her breath. Xennet and Dorn because they had no idea how to dance to this new type of music.
“I’ll change it to something more upbeat,” Tasha said, making as if to fetch her tablet.
I caught her ‘round the waist with my tail.
“Wait,” I murmured. “Why do we not wait and see what they will do?”
“Lualhati and Warden Hallum?” she asked. “Do you think they’ll slow dance? Warden Hallum probably won’t even know what that is.”
“Why don’t we show him, then?” I asked.
I grasped both her hands and led her back onto the dancefloor.
17
HALLUM
“It’s a slow song,” Lualhati said.
“Yes.” I wasn’t sure why she was pointing this out to me. Anyone with ears could hear how the tempo and mood of the music had shifted. “What do you require of me?”
“A dance,” she said.
I knew that much. She’d come storming over to me at the door a moment ago, her eyes huge, and asked me to dance with her. I’d pointed out that if she needed fellow dancers, Xennet, Dorn, and Shiloh remained in the centre of the room.
“I don’t want to be with them right now,” she’d said. “I want to be with you.”
A terrible part of me wished I’d somehow been able to record her voice in that moment.I want to be with you.
My memory would have to suffice. Luckily, it was a good one. And even if I’d had a memory like a water bucket full of holes, I did not think I could ever forget, to the end of my days, the way she’d sounded when she’d said it.
“I do not know how to dance. I will disappoint you,” I’d told her.
She’d replied that she did not care.
And when she raised her hand between us, I found it entirely impossible not to take it.
“You must instruct me,” I told her.
“Just do what Warden Tenn is doing.”
I glanced beyond her and saw Warden Tenn holding his wife by the waist, swaying with her to the music. It appeared to be like some kind of moving hug.
The act seemed incredibly intimate, lasting longer than a normal hug and involving that rhythmic motion. It seemed like something a married couple might do in the privacy of their own home. Shiloh and Rivven began to dance the same way, which only seemed to confirm my thoughts on the subject.
But then again, Xennet and Dorn were now slow dancing with each other. So perhaps I was overthinking this.
“Put your hands on my waist,” she murmured. By the blazes, she had a lovely mouth. My gaze was on her lips as she spoke.
