I let the ribbons flow from the wands I held, coiling around my arms, then sliced the air with them, sharp and fluid. They cracked like whips and shimmered. I bent low, then rolled up slowly through my spine and spun on the ball of one foot. The fabric flowed behind me.
A tilt of my chin. A flick over the shoulder. A flash of teeth between breaths. I had control of this body, if nothing else, and I knew exactly how to make the ribbons snap like whips, how to arch my back and swing my hips until everyone stopped talking, how to let the tension build in the room, gazes fixed upon me like a weapon I could wield. I spun, arms cutting arcs through the air, the fabric slicing behind me.
A tiny thrum in my chest flickered to life, soft and warm. Istarted to hum without realizing it, a soft thread of melody winding through the air.
Movement became music.
Music became breath.
And for a little while, nothing else existed. My faint yin magic pulsed as I moved, binding the room to me. A thread of sound slipping from my throat, barely audible under the drums. It wound through the crowd, and it pulled the room to me like a tide.
The audience, Silver and Azure alike, bent toward me.
I swept one arm across the floor, then rose slowly, letting the sweat slick down my back. My dress was made of thin, worn cotton. The color had faded, but it clung to my curves, and when I moved, it fluttered around me. My long hair brushed my hips, a shimmering blue-green under the tavern lights.
I flicked a ribbon high, let it spiral down beside my cheek, slow and silky, before I snapped it back with a crack. I let my hips sway, arms rise, and the ribbons followed, sweeping through the air. My ribbons swirled as I turned and twirled the wands in my hands, two streams of light spiraling around me.
Men watched me, yes. But women did, too. With longing. With hunger. Not for my body but for what I felt inside mine when I was dancing. The passion. The freedom. Some leaned forward, tankards halfway to their mouths, mesmerized.
Even among Azures, I was a sad case. A weak yin magic user, I couldn’t change into some powerful animal form like the more magical from my dominion.
But here, in this moment, with my ribbons and the heavy beat of the drum, I wasn’t Rubi, the Azure woman with no memories. I wasn’t less.
I was silk and breath.
I waspower.
I twirled again, slower now, before throwing both arms out, ribbons cracking wide in one final arc of color.
The music stopped, and I held still with one knee bent deep, the other leg extended behind me in a long line, toes pointed. My arms arched overhead, ribbons trailing like flames, my head tilted back, throat exposed to the light.
Applause shattered the spell. The room howled and clapped and pounded tables. Coins clattered at my feet. I bowed, chest heaving, then quickly swept them up into my bag, placing it on my hip. I stepped off the platform, legs shaking from exertion. The ribbons now hung from the wands in my hands, limp.
Slowly everyone resumed their conversations. My eyes scanned lightly over the crowd, searching for Quinn.
Instead, I caught a pair of arctic blue eyes staring at me from beneath a darkened hood on the Azure side of the room. His jaw was chiseled, and he had a square masculine chin.
I couldn’t make out his hair color, hidden by his hood, but something told me it wouldn’t be blue. Though he sat among the Azure refugees, his cloak was worn too evenly, the frays looking almost deliberate, and his gloves, which he’d laid beside him on the table, though scuffed, were crafted from a fine, supple leather.
Azures didn’t have that kind of money. Not to mention he was far too broad. The outline of his shoulders stretched the fabric tight across his back.
A Silver, then. On the wrong side of the room.
Ignoring the strange, almost eerie brightness of his eyes still locked on me, I climbed down and headed for my things, planning a quick exit.
At the bar, two Silver soldiers watched me. One flexed as he rolled up his sleeves and ran a hand through his silver hair. The other, well-dressed and handsome, stepped into my path as I exited and grinned wide.
“Care for another dance?” He spoke in the Common Tongue with a heavy Silver accent, voice slurred but loud.
I glanced around him, no quick escape in sight, so I sank into my hip, arms crossing.
“Come here, steelheart.” His grin sharpened. Stepping closer, he grabbed my arm and whispered into my ear: “I’ve always wanted to try an Azure.”
My body moved on instinct, slamming my head against his lips. It was impossible to hide my satisfied smirk as he staggered back, bleeding from the mouth.
I’d have a better retort than violence if I weren’t so exhausted.
“You blue-haired whore!” The drunken Silver raised his hand to strike and I braced for a blow—
