Dusk of the Realm

20

Will provided good company; he was kind, and he made Serena laugh. He was a fine dancer as well, and it felt wonderful to dance again, to give her body that freedom to move that had been one of her saving graces in the human world.

Yes, Will was great. However, no matter how much Serena wanted to give him her full attention, she could not keep herself from stealing glances at Tarin throughout their dance; she saw him meet with the rest of his Wolves, saw them disperse after he gave them a rushed set of orders. She was desperate to figure out what exactly was going on, and wondered if Will knew something more.

Will led her into a spin, and as she twirled, she caught sight of Tarin heading towards her mother. She froze for a moment, though Will did not seem to notice, and simply pulled her back against him. She smiled at him and pretended she had been listening to what he was saying, all while cutting continuous glances the queen's way. Triana looked unhappy with whatever Tarin was telling her.

"I think you've hogged the princess for long enough, don't you?"

Will released her instantly and took a step away from her. Serena lowered her arms slowly after the abrupt motion, feeling her eyes narrow as she took in the visitor.

Cade was smirking, as usual, his amber eyes glinting with that glimmer of ill intent that made her stomach turn. His hair was a gleaming chestnut brown that lay in short waves over his head, and his frame only seemed so impressive because of the arrogant way with which he held himself; in reality, Tarin was much larger than he was, and it was preposterous to think otherwise.

"With all due respect, Lord Cade, I think that Princess Serena is the only one in charge of choosing whom her dance partner will be, and for how long he will remain so," Will replied cordially. Nevertheless, Cade's pinched face somehow became even more mocking.

"You are little more than a servant. I am sure that the princess, as well as every other guest here, would prefer to see her dancing with someone of her own calibre and breeding."

Insufferable. He was utterly insufferable. Serena turned her head slightly, trying to see if Tarin had moved, but he was still speaking animatedly with her mother. Triana still did not seem interested in whatever he had to say. When she turned back to Cade, he was looking at her expectantly.

"Fine, Cade. One dance," she sighed. Cade smirked wider.

"What a generous hostess," he commented as he bowed. He offered her his hand, and, swallowing her revulsion, she took it and allowed him to draw her against him. Will watched her go with daggers in his eyes, but removed himself from the dance floor without argument. She quickly lost track of him in the abundance of people, and even more quickly grew uncomfortable by all the eyes staring back at her. Though he was one of the last faces she wanted to look at, she reluctantly turned back to Cade. His family was powerful in the Realm, and she had to at least be friendly with him. It was her duty as Princess.

"You left my company very suddenly," Cade remarked. "Without even answering my question, I might add."

Serena swallowed again. It was physically painful, being this close to him. Last time she had been in Cade's company, he had teased her, had bullied her into playing a game of tag with him, and then had used magic she had not yet mastered to shove her to the ground. While the memory was bitter, there was of course the silver lining: Tarin had scared Cade out of his wits after the event, though Cade would never admit it now.

The young lord was watching her, and though she knew that he was probably under instructions to be sociable with her as well, he appeared not to have any interest in her at all. While there were some men here who looked on her with varying forms of desire, and everyone else looked on her with at least interest, Cade seemed entirely indifferent to being in her company. It was such a different experience from whenever she was with Tarin, who gave her that undivided and incomparable attention that left her feeling like the most important person in the world.