“There is.”
“You are the guest of honor. You must join one dance before the night is through. So pick your partner, planeweaver. My court is yours to choose from.”
I didn’t look at Falin. It took every ounce of self-control in my body, but I didn’t even glance at him. He was chained to the queen—I doubted she’d give him to me, even if I asked.
Which I won’t. But the way the queen said “must” made me believe I actual y did have to join the dance. I turned, searching the crowd of fae.
“Him.” I pointed at Caleb.
“An unusual choice.” She waved him forward. “Do unburden yourself first.”
I looked down at PC. I didn’t want to get separated from him—he was an awful y smal dog—but the look the queen him—he was an awful y smal dog—but the look the queen gave me said this wasn’t a negotiable point. I unslung the bag and set it on the edge of the dais.
“Stay,” I whispered.
He whined, and then immediately jumped out of the bag and pranced across the dais. He stopped in front of Falin and pawed the man’s leg. Falin didn’t move, but the edge of his mouth on the side facing away from the queen twitched upward, just a hair, and I swear I saw his gaze flicker toward me.
“Bad dog,” I mumbled, and then Caleb was leading me to the dance floor.
I don’t dance. It’s sort of a personal rule. I’ve never been good enough at it to reach the point at which dancing became fun. And this wasn’t mere dancing. This dance had choreographed steps.
The dance started with a bow, and I didn’t realize I was supposed to be curtsying, not bowing, until the woman beside me cleared her throat. Then the women made a line and danced in a smal circle. I was pretty sure there was some move I was supposed to be doing with my feet, but my feet weren’t visible under the gown anyway, so I just tried to keep pace. Then the men danced because, of course, this couldn’t be a dance where the men and women did the same thing at the same time. I was gritting my teeth again by the time the lines of men and women joined.
“Are you okay?” I asked as Caleb and I circled each other, our right palms pressed together.
“I’m not in the dungeon anymore, so that’s a plus.” He flashed me a bright smile, which was completely fake.
“Good behavior wins rewards, if not trust.” Then he turned and held up his left hand. The couples around us switched directions, but it took me an awkward moment to figure that out and by the time I spun around the dance had moved on to the next step.
I remained perpetual y one step off throughout the dance.
I didn’t care. I was watching Caleb and the cord binding I didn’t care. I was watching Caleb and the cord binding him. He appeared to be able to move anywhere he wanted to in the bal room, but I had the feeling he couldn’t leave.
Which meant it had to go. It was definitely magic, but I had no idea how it worked. I’d only just started being able to feel fae magic. But I do have my dagger. The dagger was enchanted to cut through anything, and from its pressure against my leg in its sheath, I could almost feel it agreeing that it could get the job done. First I have to get to it.
The queen hadn’t changed my shoes, probably because the gown dragged the ground, so it wasn’t like anyone was going to see my feet. The problem? Getting to a boot holster underneath a bal gown was a real bitch. I waited until the end of the song, when I was once again curtsying, and even then, drawing the dagger was anything but smooth. It was more of a hike-the-skirt-and-dig-through-layers-ofmaterial-until-I-found-my-leg kind of move. I had no doubt that I’d been noticed. But with what I was about to do, I couldn’t avoid being noticed. Dropping from the curtsy into a kneel beside Caleb, I slid the blade through the halfreal cord. It dissolved.
“Al, what did you do?” Caleb hissed, his gaze darting around the room as if to see who noticed. Most of the fae had moved into the next dance already, but the queen pushed herself to her feet. I could feel her staring at us. I wasn’t the only one, Caleb clearly sensed her gaze as wel .
“We have to get out of here.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and dragged me forward.
“No. Caleb, I—” I had a job to do. And PC was here. And
—Caleb didn’t give me the option to protest. His arm around me tightened and he lifted me off the ground, running with me in tow as he dodged dancers.
“Stop them! Bring them to me,” the queen’s voice yel ed just before Caleb dove through the doorway.
The music went silent, the sound of dancers disappeared, and the smel of food vanished as the disappeared, and the smel of food vanished as the stil ness of the hal way settled around us. Caleb set me on my feet, glancing first to the right and then to the left. Both directions looked exactly the same, and he cursed as he grabbed my arm and dragged me down the corridor to the right.