“Don’t,” Saeldian said. “Don’t be. I’m not the one who deserves sympathy.”
Kell picked up his fiddle. “Yes, you are. Now, come on. Showtime face. Parties make people happy.”
Chapter Nineteen
The Send-Off
Where Something Just Doesn’t Feel Right
The party sounded even more raucous now that Saeldian was outside Kell’s cottage, and as they rode the platform up to the rooftops, the voices became clear enough for them to hear that they were toasting everything they could think of.
“To yolk mushrooms!” Verandil cried, to great cheers.
“The moth knight attacks!” Jubilee yelled, and among the cheers, a voice croaked, “I won’t fall for that next time!”
“Well, here we go,” Kell said. He straightened up and strode right in.
“Kell! A song, Kell!” someone cried, and Kell went to Verandil’s side to play a song meant for clapping hands and dancing. Whoops rose in the air, and people jumped up to drag tables apart to make a dancing space. Jubilee guarded the table where a half-done game of lanceboard waited.
A circle formed in that empty space, and Terandis wheeled inside it to tilt his chair on one wheel to spin in a circle. His arms flexed as Filandior stepped in to dance figures with him, and he made his chair step, circle, and spin for his partner. He caught hispartner’s hand and reeled him in to sit cradled in his lap as he danced his chair back to the edge.
Saeldian clapped along with the music, cheering when Quickwit dove for the center to partner with Jubilee, who kept one palm up for whenever Quickwit wanted to land. The two bowed for wild cheers, and then Jubilee pointed right at them.
“Let’s see how you dance, dreamweaver!” Quickwit shouted, and the platform shook with the crowd’s stamping feet.
Saeldian laughed and tried shaking their head, but Kell leaned to say something to Verandil, who signaled to a drummer, and the music changed to something a little slower. Kell drew his bow while sliding to the next chord, making the music slide in between a beat that Saeldian thought a drummer would need four hands to play.
Party face time.
Saeldian strode into the center, elbows squared, and stamped as they posed for a beat before unwinding their hips like a silk ribbon falling from a lover’s hair. Everything about them curved and swayed to the melody until they kicked one foot in the air and then spun into falling on the ground. A little Tenser’s Floating Disk to raise them into the air, and the crowd cheered so loudly they could be heard in Eightbridge. “More!”
But that was enough time to stay in the center, and Saeldian took a bow. Kell struck up more music to let the crowd close in. Saeldian stayed to match steps with people but kept moving to the edge until they could slip away. A few empty plates in their hand gave them a purpose no one would question. They dropped them off and glanced backward.
Terandis nodded at Saeldian and set himself gliding toward them. “I know someone stealing away from a party when I see it. Are you on an errand, or are you just running?”
Saeldian studied him for a moment. “Did you spend a lot of time with me while I was recovering?”
“Someone had an eye on you at all times,” Terandis said. “I sat with you for a bit. You didn’t make much sense when I tried to ask you questions.”
“I can imagine.”
“It made the most sense to let you sleep through it,” Terandis said. “I spent my time sleeping through the worst of the healing myself. Were you trying to deflect my question?”
“No. I just thought I remembered you.”
“I was there,” Terandis confirmed. “Why did you act like such a prat before you all left?”
“I knew what you were thinking, and Kell denying it would have made you sure you were right,” Saeldian said. “So I decided it would be easier if you thought I was awful.”
“It nearly worked,” Terandis said with a chuckle. “Then I heard what you did. Tried to do. So I was right. Eh?” He grinned and jostled his elbow at them.
Saeldian shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
“Are you sure you’re not just making it that way?”
It was terrible, seeing people think the best of Saeldian, hoping they were worth hoping for. “Believe me. If I could tell you, you’d agree with me.”
“And is that why you’re sneaking off now? Is this your exit into the mists I’m interrupting?”
