Page 21 of The Kraken Bride
As soon as I noticed, he yanked me against him, our lips suddenly only a breath apart.
I almost kissed him. The rising of another ring saved me from making such a silly mistake.
The crowd whispered. Two pairs left. Us and another. Either I handed the king his victory, or his first loss in decades.
The next crest rose on the off-beat. I jumped without thinking, expecting Sebastian to spin me midair. He did it seamlessly, appearing to melt into the light.
A hush settled over the garden. A split second later, the fourth and fifth peaks rose and fell in rapid succession, testing endurance rather than grace. My calves burned. My breath came shorter, but I didn’t care. The dancer in me recognized the careful give-and-take for what it was. Two partners matching perfectly to the choreography.
The crowd leaned in as the tide gathered. I felt the wave before I saw it—a pressure beneath the light, building as the final crest rose. Too fast. Unpredictable.
When it exploded upward, I moved with it. The floor shifted, but I swept my palm through the beam.
The dais went dark, and silence crashed down. Then the garden erupted, cheers breaking out. We’d done it! We’d won.
Nobles leaned toward one another, voices overlapping, speculation already blooming. I caught fragments:
Never seen the king—
Who is she—
Did I see an outline of smokewings—
An outline? Truly I knew I hadn’t unleashed my smokewings, but maybe tendrils of smoke escaped.
Sebastian kept his hand on my back, warm and steady. I glanced up, and we shared a genuine smile without any hint of artifice or practice. Until his gaze iced over. The gloved hand at my spine curled briefly before falling away. Cool sea air rushed in where his warmth had been.
Did he regret the moment of unguarded vulnerability we’d shared?
Bjarki cleared his throat, visibly shaken. “The winners are His Majesty and Ambassador Bronwyn Drachenveil.”
Applause surged around us.
Sebastian faced me again, his expression now schooled into bland politeness. “I can take no credit,” he announced to one and all. “My partner is the incarnation of grace.” He smiled once more, but it wasn’t the same.
At the edge of the crowd, Gunnar caught his attention and made clipped motions with his hands.
The king’s eyes narrowed. “I must go. We’ll study runes when I finish this.” Without offering an explanation, he strode from the dais, then the garden, never looking back.
Okay, what just happened? First the ice over, now this.
Every gaze whipped toward me. Yes, of course, his people would be curious about the woman he’d chosen as his partner. My tongue sealed itself to the roof of my mouth.
Pretending this was any other performance, I lifted my head and glided off the stage. As the spectators braced to throng me, Gunnar approached, his mere presence keeping everyone else at bay.
“What did you tell him?” I asked at low volume.
He jumped right over the question. “Let me take you to your room, princess.”
Hint taken. No details given in public.
As soon as we were inside the palace, Gunnar filled me in. “The primordial requested… a word.”
I pressed a hand to my heart. “You should be with the king, not me.”
“I go wherever he wishes, whenever he wishes, and he wishes for me to be here, with you.”
I sighed. We reached my suite, where I holed up. Pacing, watching the connecting door, and worrying about the danger Sebastian might be facing for one hour, then another. I didn’t relax until a servant arrived with a feast and a note.
