Page 22 of Of Curses and Courtship

“No.” She turns on her heel. “And if you don’t offer me more riveting conversation, you may never meet me again.”

I follow her without hesitation. “Wait.”

She looks at me over her shoulder. “I won’t.Youcan hurry.”

I don’t know where this strange fae is leading me, and Idon’t care. She could lead me to certain death, and that tugging in my heart would still beg me to join her. The stranger steps outside, glowing in the moonlight. It’s as if the light in the sky belongs to her alone, beaming onto her crystalline eyes.

“Why are you leading me to the garden?” I ask. “I only wish for a dance. We can do that inside just as well.”

Mortals have a set of decorum I can’t begin to understand, rules about being alone in gardens. Neither of us is mortal, but the rest of the party will certainly talk about my disappearance. Heaven knows my parents will be upset.

Or, if things go as well as I am hoping, perhaps they’ll be thrilled.

A faint blush spreads across her fair complexion. “I’m… not the best with crowds. Did you already gather that?”

She came to a ball even though she doesn’t enjoy crowds. How peculiar. There are times when I avoid the masses myself, and given my interest in this fae, this may be one of those nights. If she wishes to stay outside, I’ll remain with her.

“I truly did not notice.

“I would still like to dance with you.” She takes the smallest step forward. “We can hear the music out here, can we not?”

My lips tug up at the corners. “I suppose we can, though this is unlike any ballroom dance I have done.”

Everything about her is so strange. When she extends her hands, I take them in mine, and our fingers brush; it’s as if we’re touching in a dream. She may dissolve into dust at any moment.

Despite her shy nature, she knows how to dance. I hold her waist and clasp her hand, and we glide along to the music. The sweet scent of salt air and flowers hits me whenever the wind blows.

There is no ocean around—no need for her to smell like sand, moonlight, and sea.

“You must be from the moon kingdom,” I say.

She glances away. “I am, yes.”

“I’ve not visited your kingdom in years, but it was lovely the last time I managed the trip.” I duck my head, desperate to close the space between us. “Surely we did not meet on one of my trips?”

“You’re obsessed with the idea of knowing me, but I can assure you, we are strangers.”

Being around her makes me feel as though I’m in a daze, my thoughts drifting as quickly as they come. Perhaps I don’t know her after all. Merely a trick of the light.

“Hm… and are you here to meet the prince?” I murmur. “To see if he’ll have your hand?”

“The prince?” She laughs so genuinely that I believe her. This fae may be the only one who is not here for me, and that only makes me want her more. “I’m not waiting in line for any prince.”

A soft chuckle—a sound of surprise—slips past my lips. “You would not have to wait. You’re already at the front of the line.”

Her lips part, and the flush on her cheeks deepens, nearly matching her hair. “You’re…?”

“Do I not seem regal enough? You wound me, my lady.”

“Then I will not answer that question and wound you further.”

I like this one. She is quick-witted, and she has quite a sense of humor. Even though she attempts to wound me with her words, a sense of mirth lurks behind, as if she is jovial rather than lunar.

Our dance is perfectly appropriate, and peering eyes watch us waltz alone under the moonlight. No matter how charming she is, I know there is noone. There is no true love.Still, if I could choose anyone in the ballroom to be that for me, it would be her.

“I wouldn’t mind you wounding me,” I murmur, “so long as I hear your sweet voice.”

“Sweet?” Her laughter comes out like a gust of wind. “Surely, you don’t think I’m sweet. No one has ever referred to me as such.”