Theo cupped her lips and darted his head back and forth. “Keep quiet.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“Father can’t know about this.” He kneeled before his sister and wound a loose hair clinging to her rosy cheek behind her ear. “If you truly want to learn to fight, I need you to keep this a secret. No one else can know.”
“Alright.” She grinned, eager to begin her first training session.
“Swear it.”
Adelaide’s eyes widened and her shoulders slouched. “You mean…” She pointed above them. Swearing to Zias was no mockery. The God of Oaths took them as binding. “I swear by Zias himself to keep our secret.”
Theo pulled his dagger from his belt, and Adelaide extended her palm. “I swear by Zias to oversee your training.” He slid the blade across her palm.
She winced as her tiny hand dripped with blood.
“To come to your aid whenever you should need me and to never let harm befall you.” He grunted as he dragged the dagger over his own palm. They clasped hands. “By witness of Zias himself, I pledge as your older brother to do everything in my power to always protect you.”
Theo rubbed at the thin scar across his palm as he stood before his sister, now fully grown and stronger than he ever thought possible. She’d always been a fighter at heart, a cunning, brilliant, and smart woman. “Would you care to dance, Addie?”
Adelaide’s playful expression softened. He hadn’t called her that in so long, partially because she’d said she’d destroy him if he ever did. This time, she didn’t threaten to gut him or pierce his eyeballs. She took his hand and pulled him to the dance floor.
Chapter 33
Theo
As soon asAdelaide and Theo headed to the center floor, they were interrupted by the clinking of a glass. He turned to spot Amaris still chatting with Alan, smiling even. He squinted. Alan had one, too, but where was Esaias? Theo didn’t see his hair poking out among the members of the crowd. They only had a few hours left and needed to be ready.
Theo returned his gaze to his father standing above the crowd with Lord Godfrey at his side.
“It’s with great honor that I present Lord Caratacos Godfrey.”
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause but was quickly silenced with a single raise of his father’s hand. A commanding presence was what he was, nothing more.
“Tonight, we celebrate the future union of Lord Luther Fastrada and my daughter, the Honorable Petra Godfrey,” Lord Godfrey began. “It has been quite a time since we had the opportunity of such a union to bring together two families as one. May it bring prosperous trade and long-lasting bonds between Luana and Ebonmaw.”
Theo’s father raised his glass. “To the groom and his bride to be.Amyamam!”
The crowd raised their drinks in unison and shouted, “Amyamam!”
Everyone in the room threw back their goblets in one swig, and the entire room exploded in applause. The small band resumed their lively chorus, and a throng of people flocked around them to the floor. Theo gripped Adelaide tighter and pulled her along to the music.
“I would’ve thought you’d forgotten how to dance,” she said.
“You don’t think I had the opportunity while away?”
She raised her brow, and the edge of her lip curled. He pushed her out and spun her to the cadence of the song. She flung back into him, grasping his arm and following his lead.
“I see you’ve become an exceptional dancer,” he noted as he dipped her.
She flourished her arm in a dramatic arch. “I’ve always been the better dancer.”
Theo narrowed his eyes at her, but a smile poked through his demeanor.
She leaned in, lowering her voice. “Keep that smile, and don’t allow your face to show what you’re about to feel.”
“And what am I about to feel?” His head snapped down to her.
“Look back up and smile,” she ordered, not averting her eyes as he lifted her. “Bennet isn’t here.”
