He grinned. “Sure. Predict your opponent’s movements, but instead of countering them, move with them. Try it with me.”
“I’ll step on your feet.”
“I’ll survive. May I?” He reached out for me.
This time, I allowed him to take my hand, and he swept me into his arms. “Just follow my lead.”
He had been right. Dancing shared many of the same principles as fighting, but this time, I matched my movements to Lochlan’s instead of resisting them. He used the press of his hand at my back to indicate where I should move, and even though I tensed from the touch, it was accompanied by a pleasant, anticipatory tingle.
I did step on his feet a few times, but each time he simply smiled and continued to whirl me across the floor without a word of complaint. At first, the music was upbeat and fast-paced, but at the close of the song, the orchestra struck up another, slower melody.
Lochlan didn’t let go of me and held me a little closer as he began stepping in a careful pattern that was simple to copy: three steps one way followed by three steps another.
“You’re a natural,” he breathed into my ear. “How does it feel?”
“A little strange,” I answered. “Where did you learn to dance?”
He chuckled. “Roderick had me take classes when I was younger. Knitting, medical training, dancing, all sorts of things. He said it would make me into a person that no one would ever suspect of wrongdoing, and he was right.”
Another couple spun past us, the woman’s head resting on the man’s shoulder while he stroked her back.
“Why do you call him Roderick instead of Dad or Father?” I asked.
Lochlan’s mouth tightened. “He doesn’t want to be called anything but his name. But enough about me. The line is dying down. Do you want to go meet the royals?”
I looked over his shoulder. “Not really. I’ll wait until they’re done. I want to talk to Dahlia but I don’t care about meeting the others.”
“Fair enough. So what are your plans once you find your family?”
I paused. “I don’t actually know,” I confessed. “I’ve been looking for them for so long I don’t know what will happen once I find them. I’ve never let myself think that far ahead since there are so many unknowns.”
“You won’t need to be picking up odd jobs with crime rings once this is all over,” he said with a grin. “Do you have another career in mind?”
I continued to step in time to the beat of the music with Lochlan but let my mind wander.
Whatwouldhappen once I found my family? I wouldn’t need to work for the Syndicate any longer. I already had enough money saved up to last years and years. Would I get married and have children one day?
“I guess I assumed that my family would just be happy together. We could get a plot of land and grow a garden or something. We’d read and go on walks and I would take care of my parents when they get old. Who knows? Maybe I can find a teacher to show us how to knit and we’ll sell things at your booth.” I glanced up at where Dahlia was leaving the raised platform along with the others. The greeting line had dissipated, Jameson and Elena were headed over to the cake, and Tess was pulling Ernst over for a dance.
I wasn’t going to let this chance get away.
“Dahlia!” I called, breaking away from Lochlan and hurrying over. “Dahlia, I need to talk to you!”
She raised her eyebrows. “Fancy seeing you here and dressed like a girl to boot. I thought you just pretended to be a cabin boy now. If you’re looking for another bounty?—”
“No, I’m not. But you grew up in the castle in Ebora, didn’t you?”
“It’s the People’s Republic of Ebora now, but I did, yes.”
“So you knew the other servants.”
“Correct. I grew up there and was Princess Odette’s handmaiden for many years.”
I could barely form words. “Right. I’m looking for a woman who was sold to King Raquel about sixteen years ago. Her name’s Brielle. She looks a little like me with blonde hair, or at least it was blonde sixteen years ago, probably gray now, and…and…”
An immense sadness had filled Dahlia’s eyes and her expression turned somber. “You’re one of her two daughters, aren’t you?”
The rest of what I’d planned to say dried up in my mouth and I swallowed several times, unable to speak. “Yes,” I finally whispered. The regret on Dahlia’s face was all I needed to see to know what she was about to say. Time ground to a halt.
