She began to ascend the steps to the main entrance. At the entrance to the ballroom, a young page bowed to her. “How shall we announce you, my lady?” he asked.
“Lady Ashlin Cabril,” she responded.
Chapter 30
Onric returned to the side door of the ballroom and slipped inside. Hoping to avoid the next dance, he stayed in the shadows behind one of the spiral staircases. His brother was still on the dais, a playful smile on his face.
While Ian had been smiling for the past two hours straight, Onric knew the difference between his brother’s fake smile and this real one. Ian appeared to be actually enjoying himself. Who was the girl in his arms that could be causing such a positive reaction?
All Onric could see was her back. Her head did not even reach his brother’s shoulder, and she was wearing a brilliantly blue dress. The small flames from the large candelabrum above the dais reflected off her dress, making it appear more luminous than anything else in the entire room. Why was it so bright? He looked around the room. Everyone was wearing deep colors, wine reds and navy blues and violet purples. No one was wearing the color of the sky. So, she was different. He liked that. He liked that for Ian.
He looked back at his brother, waiting for a moment to catch her face. Ian laughed. He spun the girl around.
Onric’s face lit up as his heart skipped a beat.
She had come.
He felt ridiculous for not recognizing her without the brown kerchief in her hair, but it was definitely Ashlin. He would know those bright eyes across a thousand ballrooms. She was smiling, her hair was piled on top of her head in a way he had never seen, and she had captivated the attention of everyone else in the room. He wasn’t sure if it was because her smile was so luminous or because she was the lucky one to be dancing with his brother.
She was dancing with his brother.
His face fell. He whipped around to disappear out of the doorway behind him and never set foot in the ballroom again. He wasn’t angry at her. At least, he didn’t think he was. But he was angry. When he turned around, however, he found himself facing three women who stood between him and the doorway like a wall of well-constructed masonry.
“Your Highness,” said one as she dropped her eyelids half closed.
The next went into a deep bow, and the third held out her hand to be fawned over.
He attempted a smile, which probably looked far more terrifying than inviting, and turned back around to stand in the shadow of the twisting staircase. His heart pounded.
He wanted to look anywhere else, but the only place his eyes seemed to focus on was the center dais.
Ian swung Ashlin out in another full spin. Onric watched her face closely, wanting to make sure she was happy but also hoping that she was miserable.
Her eyes scanned the room as she spun. When she had finished the rotation, she took a half step closer to Ian’s side so that her head was positioned against his shoulder rather than directly in front of him. In that position, her eyes continued to scan the room.
She was doing the thing. She was doing the thing that nearly every other woman had done to Onric tonight. She was searching for someone else she would rather be dancing with.
He stepped out onto the dance floor, braving the moving sea of people. He waded through them, taking as direct a line to the center dais as he possibly could. The music slowed, the final few notes coming to a crescendo.
He was close. His brother bowed over her hand, both of them still smiling. Ian said something to her, but Onric was not close enough to hear what it was. Ashlin laughed and withdrew her hand.
She turned away and stepped down the small staircase from the dais to the dance floor.
“My Lady.” Onric bowed to her.
She was already smiling as widely as she could, but her eyes came alive as soon as she recognized him. “Onric.” She held out her hand and he grasped it, inwardly vowing to never let it go.
“May I have this dance?” he asked.
She squeezed his hand and stepped forward, placing her other hand on his shoulder. “I need to speak with you,” she said, leaning closer, “as soon as possible.”
He placed his hand at her waist and nodded. Looking towards the side door, he started to dance with her, guiding her through the sea of people as quickly as he could.
As they neared the door, however, she slowed behind him, and he heard her gasp. He turned around to see the cruel woman from the seamstress’s shop holding on to Ashlin’s wrist. The woman’s eyes were narrow as she gazed down at her stepdaughter.
“What are you doing here?” the stepmother asked.
“What areyoudoinghere?” Ashlin spoke calmly but firmly as she twisted her wrist from the woman’s grasp. “You have no right to restrain me.”
