“Ah, but then you wouldn’t get to have this divine creature hand-feed them to you. To miss out on such an opportunity is akin to a crime.”
“I’ll take my chances. Don’t mind me; I’m just going to be looking for a few ingredients I’m missing. You’ll never even notice I’m here.”
He was wrong. The chain linking us in the crowd forced Zafir to stay close so that other market-goers didn’t get tangled up, and there were even more stares and whispers than normal as Zafir cut a path through the crowd.
“You look radiant,” Julian told me, plenty loud enough for Zafir to hear. “A beautiful desert rose to be treasured.”
“You’re too kind. You’re the most handsome man I’ve met in Pyren.”
Everything with Julian felt like over-the-top flirting, but neither he nor I minded, because with each new ridiculous remark, Zafir would scoff, roll his eyes, and avoid looking at us.
“I’ve never had more fun,” Julian told me quietly. “He’s been a thorn in my side for years.”
“He does have a thorny personality, doesn’t he?” I said, stopping to admire one of the large braziers full of leaping blue flames. The music of drums, tambourines, and maracas swirled through the air. A circle had formed around the performers, and several people danced in the middle, some alone and some together. One woman with long, thick black hair was dancing with Razo, the enormous guard who had asked me if I needed help. Her feet were bare on the sand, and as Razo picked her up and spun her around, she laughed aloud, head thrown back.
“She’s beautiful,” I whispered.
“Not half as beautiful as you are,” Julian said without hesitation, and Zafir let out another sound of revulsion.
When the music slowed, Julian held out his hand. “Come dance with me.”
“Oh, I’m not sure?—”
“Come on,” he teased. “You said you’re a duchess. Surely you can manage a simple dance.”
I glanced at Zafir, who looked ready to grind his teeth into powder. He said I would need to prove myself as a duchess, but he hadn’t given me any dancing lessons.
“Our music and dancing differs from this,” I told Julian evasively. “I don’t know the steps.”
He placed one hand on my waist and the other took my hand. “Just follow my lead.”
The chain tugged as I moved, forcing Zafir to step closer to keep me from being yanked out of the circle. Julian swept me into motion, but I stumbled each time he tried to guide me in a new direction. For all my memorizing exports and family trees, I hadn’t expected to have to prove myself on the dance floor.
I was about to be found out.
Julian tried to spin me in a circle, but we found ourselves unable to separate—the chain had wrapped around us so we were forced together. The crowd laughed along with me and Julian as we fought to untangle ourselves.
Zafir made no attempt to help us, but one of the drummers got up to help us unwind.
“That didn’t go how I planned.” Julian laughed and jingled the thin golden chain. “I had hoped to dazzle you with my skill on the dance floor.”
“You can dazzle me in other ways.” I couldn’t help butbreathe a sigh of relief, saved from revealing that I didn’t have duchess-level dancing skills.
Zafir was standing at the edge of the circle, the firelight casting dark shadows across his face, and he muttered something in another language that sounded suspiciously like a curse.
“Don’t mind him. He doesn’t know how to have a good time,” Julian said, guiding me toward a quieter path lined with fountains and garlands strung between the columns. The air smelled of orange blossoms, and Julian stopped beneath one of the archways. “You know,” he said softly, “Since you’re from Brisden, you must feel terribly alone here. I can’t imagine being so far from home.”
The teasing in his tone had faded and he took my hand. “How are you feeling? My father told me about your interrogation and how you were sent here against your will.”
I hesitated. “It’s been difficult,” I admitted. “I miss certain things.”
“Anyone in particular?” he asked, his smile playful again as his thumb stroked the back of my hand.
“My sister.”
“Of course. But no one else? Another man, perhaps?”
I smiled. “I do miss this one man, Eldridge.”
