Crescent (Book 1)

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I'm glad when Ceth leaves before dinner. The dance Friday night comes together a lot more smoothly without him here to breathe down my neck. Music plays in the private library, and the floor has been cleared, creating a formal space to dance. People are either lounging or drinking or dancing around lazily. Not just the ambassadors but a few of the servants too. Some tap their feet as the music plays. Others sway as they carry refreshments from table to table. Even Moira sits, humming along happily. For once, there's no talk about trade or politics.

I'm out of breath already. Renly was my first dance, and after a few more formal songs, I requested that the band play something else. Audelia took that as her cue to teach me a few dances from Ireodran. She and I both slipped off our heels, content to dance barefoot on the floor for the rest of the evening.

She holds my hands and shows me the movements slowly, only laughing when I echo them half-stumbling. I've had enough wine that I'm not embarrassed by it. Everyone is nearly as out of practice as I am. It almost feels- normal. Everyone smiling, dancing, swinging around to the music.

When the song ends, I dismiss myself. I settle in a chair near the fire, sipping from a glass of wine as I catch my breath. The next song starts, a faster, lilting song full of heart. Audelia waves from the dance floor though her new partner is struggling to keep up. I wave back, smiling for the first time in what feels like a while.

Normal. This is the closest to normal I've felt in... Months. I'm not surprised when someone leans against the table a safe distance away. I cast a look at him, sipping from my wine to hide my smile. "You," I say by way of greeting.

The corner of his mouth quirks upwards, just slightly, as he takes me in. "Lady Brenna."

"Mmm," I hum my response, refraining from telling him to do away with the titles and formalities. But that... That's just the wine talking. "I haven't seen you dancing yet. Don't tell me you don't dance."

Gabriel shakes his head, drinking from his own glass. Some kind of amber liquid. Not wine. "I don't, usually." He sets his glass aside before extending his hand toward me. A challenge is clear in his eye.

"Is this your way of telling me you'd like to dance with me, Ambassador Caldwell?" He huffs a laugh, and my wine becomes a forgotten thing as I take his hand, letting him lead me to the dance floor. I don't know the steps to this dance, and for a moment, I watch as everyone shuffles back and forth in practiced motion. "I don't know this one."

"I'll show you." Gabriel leans toward me, breath hot against my neck.

His hands find my waist. He sweeps me off my feet, spinning me like the others with their partners. When I settle, I nearly apologize when my feet land on his boots. But he holds me there, guiding me through each of the movements, my weight on his feet. One of his hands is at my waist, and the other is laced with mine at his chest.

"This dance is from Glalas?" I ask, my eyes snagging on Audelia across the floor. She grins over her partner's shoulder, and heat floods my cheeks as I clumsily stumble over Gabriel's feet. His calloused hand tightens around my own, and I force myself to watch our feet instead of looking at him. I know the simmering gray I'll find in his eyes, and I've had too much wine to think clearly.

"Here actually. Your dancing is swift, sanguine," his voice is in my ear again. "But I think I'm rather biased to my own realm."

In a moment where all of the partners sweep outwards, I follow the motion until I come spinning back toward him. We meet in the middle, one of his hands finding my back, the other finding my thigh as he dips me backwards. His grip is strong, his fingers firm where he holds me. When the song ends and blurs into the next, I'm more than breathless.