CHAPTER 62
The Dance
Itake Colsar's hand and we move into the dance, the music drawing us forward before anything else can be said.
"You have been gone," he says. No softness in it.
"Yes," I answer.
He watches me, something held too tightly behind his composure. "You left the palace."
"Yes."
"Asharin—"
"We do not need to do this here," I say evenly. "Not in front of your court."
His hand tightens around mine. "I have been looking for you all day," he says, his voice low and controlled in a way that only pulls tighter the longer he holds it.
"I am aware."
Something moves through his expression. "You are aware."
"You are very thorough when something requires your attention," I say.
A brief reaction crosses his face and disappears just as quickly.
Before I can say anything further his hand comes to my waist and he pulls me closer than the dance requires, his mouth finding mine with a force that has nothing to do with the music or the room around us.
The change is immediate. Conversations falter. Attention turns. I feel it gather before I see it.
I pull back, my hand pressing lightly against his chest. "Do not do that here."
"Why not?" he asks.
"Because you are king," I say quietly, my voice even despite the eyes now fixed on us. "And I will not have you made into something for them to watch. But I will not hesitate to embarrass you if you touch me like that again without asking."
Something moves through his expression. "Since when do I need permission to touch you?"
I hold his eyes and say nothing.
The silence stretches between us, filled with everything I choose not to say in this room.
"Asharin," he says again, lower now, the control wearing thin at the edges. "Where were you?"
"Out."
"With whom?"
"That is not your concern."
His jaw tightens. "It became my concern the moment you disappeared."
"And yet," I say, "you seem to have survived the day."
The music continues around us while we remain caught inside it, neither of us moving with it anymore.
"You do not get to ignore me for weeks," I continue, "and then expect me to wait quietly until you notice."
