Valmond came to Draka’s side with his hands behind his back and leaned over to his ear. “It is time for the first dance, your Majesty.”

  The Hall was still alive with echoes that had grown into incoherent voices, like a roar of whispers from faces whose eyes were hovering on him. Draka was shaking. He didn’t want to move. He didn’t want their gazes on him anymore. He hated his crown. He hated their attention, their false loyalties, their envious eyes, their assumptions he could feel in his bones. He hated that he couldn’t go to Aurie, to comfort her with the hurricane of emotions he knew she was combatting after the stones Balor had given her over all those years were put back into her hand where everyone could see, where she was caught, blindsided and vulnerable. He hated that Maud was beside him and not with her, supporting her the way he would want if he were Aurie in that moment, the way he wished someone would be if they were to present some token of his time with his lost loved ones in such a way. All he could do was nod.

  “Well?” Maud squeezed his hand tight enough that it stopped shaking. She was smiling when he finally turned to her. “Our first dance, Second Pa.”

  Draka grinned with wonder at that. Second Pa, his eyes moistened.

  As they both stood, the Hall came alive as the Clerics, Enya, and Adrian, moved to form a circle in the center while everyone else stood from their chairs.

  Draka led Maud down the stairs with a gentle hand to guide her. Faces followed them as they went to the center of the circle. Maud’s cheeks were a shade redder than he’d ever seen before but her emerald eyes were fixed on his above a hesitant, trembling grin. Draka met it with a stiff-backed confidence that he knew helped her keep balance with each step to their place where everyone could see.

  Adrian was the one who called out, “Knights of the Holy Sepulcher and Honored Allies, present thine arms for the Seven-Pointed Paladin, His Royal Highness, King Dietrich.”

  Blades and maces were drawn in a single, resounding echo of steel and gasps. Some of the onlookers staggered at the sight.

  Maud gave Draka a squinty-eyed grin. He only rolled his eyes and shruggingly nodded as he pulled her to where he had one hand on her elbow so she could hold the petticoat from falling under her feet while the other hand remained cupped softly in his fingers.

  Draka gave her a questioning look.

  She nodded. Alice showed me. Her smile said.

  Draka turned a nod to Adrian’s sideways glance.

  Adrian called out the command, “Hold fast and true until God’s Will be done!”

  The others forming the circle around them echoed, with Enya the loudest, “God’s Will be done!”

  Alice signaled for the gypsies to begin playing. It was the piano that began first.

  Draka led Maud, following the soft notes, watching her beaming expression with each step they took.

  The violinist, Merethe, began singing with a voice that flowed around them with such softness, soothing and flowing with each word, that were matched almost too perfectly to the joining cellos, violins, harpsicord, and accordion. His heart was singing with her, beating through his hands into trembles that he knew were shaking through the draping sleeves of Maud’s periwinkle dress. He could see with every moment that they waltzed within that circle, every moment that their eyes were connected, that hers was singing as well.

  He wasn’t hearing the lyrics being sung, though he knew the song better than most. The music rose in tempo, the drums and makeshift orchestra coming alive as the vocalist lifted her voice above it all with angelic precision, and a tear trickled down Maud’s cheek from eyes that never slid away from gazing into his, over a cheek that never softened from being stretched by a grin.

  She was listening to the words as she watched him, her brows adjusting as each chord struck deeper and deeper into her soul, as if the song were written about them, about all that they have been through to that moment. Draka crinkled his brow and ran a thumb to wipe the tear away.

  Words spoken from a woman seeing that one she cares for is breaking before the winds of a hurricane that is raging against all that surrounds them, tearing their lives apart, knowing that they stand against those winds for each other. And as Maud listened, as the tune moved through them, as Draka led them in their dance, he realized that, like the one singing the song, it was her who had been holding him up with her faith and her love against the storm. It was her who always reminded him to keep on the right path. That in the end, all that is lost, as the song built to a toppling crescendo of drums and strings and pounding piano, that all is made anew.

  Maud’s lips were trembling. Draka had lost his smile. He had faded away in the realization that he had been restored and had been too blinded to realize it. Here he was with the family he had lost. With the home he had once watched burn away. With friends who surround him and love him as he loves them. He is a father. He is no longer alone. God had provided what he never thought to ask for but had always wanted, always needed.

  Draka purposely made Maud step on his foot.

  She winced.

  He winked and twisted sideways with a wide smile, sending her into a spin. Her first spin. She nearly stumbled, but he caught her before she did and made her do another, slower, in the other direction. She smiled beyond the tears.

  He spun her again. This time, she didn’t stumble. This time, there were claps from the onlookers, a few cheers from her aunt and uncle.

  She stomped Draka’s foot and threw her head back with cackles. Draka stepped on her foot a few steps later. Her cackles were riddled with giggles.

  She made him spin her. He was laughing. She put both feet on his and he led her for a few steps as if she were a child before deciding that was a foolish idea, both having to take bending paces away from each other for laughing so hard before returning to finish the dance properly.

  When the tune finally came to a finish, the Hall erupted with claps and laughter. Adrian’s order for the circle to disperse was drowned out by the joy that filled the air.

  Maud mouthed her silent thanks to Draka with a subtle wipe at her moist cheeks, brimming a toothy smile. But that wasn’t enough. Draka hugged her. He didn’t care about protocols or whatever chastising he might get from whoever about it. Nor did he care if anyone saw the way his own eyes were spilling in that moment, as his cheek rested on her dark hair, feeling her warm and loving embrace.

  Lord, thank You for bringing me into Maud’s life, for blessing me with her trust and love. Thank You for keeping me safe all these years so that I was able to be here, now, to dance with my darling daughter. Thank you for keeping her safe when I could not. Thank You for all her smiles, all her joy, for the life she will have because of You, Lord, and for letting me be a part of it. Thank You for the many blessings you have given her, the many blessings You have granted me that brought me to this moment. Lord, I have been lost because I did not see what You had placed in front of me whom You sent to guide my heart all this time. Thank You, Lord. Please take care of her in the coming days, please continue blessing her, if it be Your Will, O Lord, so that she may see her father and say that I fulfilled my oath to him and that he granted me more than I could ever have asked of anyone in my life by blessing me with such a wonderful guide back to Your divine Light.

  “I love you, Second Pa,” Maud said into his chest. She leaned back from her embrace to look up at him. “I’m proud to be your daughter and I think Pa would be, too. Probably not what he meant when he had you promise to take care of me, but you’ve done well enough.”

  Draka smiled down at her. I hope so.

  A tap on his shoulder made Draka turn the same moment that Maud tipped her head with a furrowed brow. Adrian was waiting expectantly with his hands behind his back like Valmond does before saying something important.

  Draka cocked a brow at him, ignoring that the tables had emptied onto the dance floor and music was flowing through everyone in the hall around them. He still had his arms around Maud.

  “With your Majesty’s permission,” Adrian bowed with a cross of his ankles and courtly twist of the wrist that wasn’t resting on the golden handle of his shining falchion in his sash. “I would very much like a dance.”

  “With me?” Maud’s face went red as her eyes widened.

  Draka pursed his brows at that. Then at Adrian, who straightened as if he was accused of stealing. That made him glare.

  “You, no. I meant the King,” Adrian put a crooked elbow up for him with a playful grin. “Care to waltz, Majesty?”

  Maud choked on her own giggle as Draka rolled his eyes. He turned his back on Adrian and gave Maud a turn of his eyes toward Adrian with a flick of his brows.

  Maud tried to swallow down her blushing, Really? You don’t mind?

  Your choice, Draka waited. Maud fluttered her lashes. He had her answer. He turned back to Adrian, dismissed him with a roll of his eyes and walked away.

  “What? She gets a dance and I don’t? For shame,” Adrian called after him before turning back to Maud with a smile that barely widened as much as hers. He lifted a hand for her, bowing nearly double, “If her majesty would be so kind as to grace me with a dance.”

  “If I do…”

  Adrian lifted a knowing grin, still extending a hopeful hand. “If you do,” he hesitated, “then I will be the happiest in all my memory. But,” he lowered his gaze again, “We shall only dance once, and you must dance with at least one other before the night is through, or there will be assumptions to be answered.”

  Maud fluttered her lashes with a mischievous grin, catching Draka observing through the dancers from a few paces away. “And if I dance with only you? What does that mean?”

  Adrian’s eyes were open and looking about him, though he held that bent pose, “That’s not…I got permission to dance with you, I need to work my way up from there. Can we just…you know…start with the dance?”

  “No, I’m curious. What happens if I only dance with you? Say, three times. Will you have to duel Draka?” Maud audibly gasped, stepping a little sideways. “Would he kill you for it?”

  Adrian thinned his lips and narrowed his eyes. He was still holding his arm out, though the bow was starting to wear on him, judging by how he was beginning to shake. “If he doesn’t consent to me asking you to marry me and you don’t say yes, probably. Highly likely. If…maybe…you could…answer. One dance is all I’m asking for. You can absolutely say no. I’m okay with that. Moreso now than I was, to be honest.”

  “Oh, good,” Maud stepped away from him, leaving him there.

  Adrian straightened.

  Draka tucked his chin to hide his laugh as Adrian nodded toward him with an unfettered grin. He shrugged and went to his table to take a long gulp of ale before coming to his side.

  “You told her to tell me no?”

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  Draka shook his head.

  “Oh,” Adrian’s grin faded. “That can’t be good. I thought I was doing pretty well until she…you know.”

  Draka nodded. Among the dancers, he noticed that Enya was speaking with Alice and Valmond about something. Hopefully nothing happened with Aurie. He had expected her to be back by now. Then Enya came to beside Adrian with a huff and a fist gripping a stein of ale. Adrian crinkled his brow at it with a finger aimed.

  “One word and I’ll use it to ease your next visit to the outhouse,” Enya grumbled before taking a long swig.

  It took a moment, but Adrian began laughing. Standing between her and Draka, smile wide as ever, laughing. Then, with a wink, he turned to Enya, “Promise?”

  Enya nearly spat her chug into the stein and Draka had to bury his face into one hand while slapping the back of Adrian’s head with the other. Enya had to wipe what came out of her nose.

  “Here,” She handed the stein to him between chuckles, “You deserve some after that, you wastrel.”

  Draka gave her a questioning glance toward the dancers. Enya winced around Adrian’s tipping of the stein for some reason. With a quick glance, he saw that Maud was dancing with her Uncle Gregor, laughing and talking. Alice and Valmond had taken their opportunity to dance together. Leta was dancing with Olaf and looking impressed that his gruff beard in no way reflected how proper he was on the dance floor. And Aurie had found her way back into the Hall, meandering along the edges of the dancing toward the far end, drawing his every attention as if the room had suddenly become void of all but the tables and chairs. He swallowed down the need to go to her.

  Leta tapped her husband’s shoulder as Olaf led her past him and Maud. Gregor hugged Maud and went to Aurie, who accepted his request for a dance. Maud ended up in the arms of Pierre, who looked completely baffled that she grabbed him in passing, and was even more awkward once they were among the dancers.

  Draka heard a whimper from Enya and sudden end of Adrian’s gulping as a reaction to it. Pierre knew the steps. It was very obvious he wasn’t used to doing them with a partner, though, which seemed to only make Maud laugh and encourage him.

  “Piss on all of it,” Enya snatched the stein from Adrian and looked in it. “Really?”

  “I just got rejected by the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, what’s your excuse?” Adrian shrugged.

  Draka smacked his head again.

  “Alright, then, what’s yours?” Adrian took a step forward and rounded on both of them with crossed arms. “I’m a prince. There’s only one woman here I can dance with, she said no. I’m not related to anyone, I don’t know anyone, and they’re all married or about to be. What would be your reasons for not dancing?” After a moment, he tapped his head, “Right.” He pointed at Draka, “You’re technically married and you’re…I don’t know. Why aren’t you dancing?”

  “How important of a prince is he?” Enya tightened her jaw.

  Draka shook his head at her.

  “Not that important, really. How about this,” Adrian grabbed their hands and put them together. “Have fun while I figure out how to recoup my ego enough to ask her again.” And he pushed them toward the dancing, snatching the stein out of Enya’s hand on the way.

  Enya was stiff and wide-eyed as she stumbled, gripping Draka’s hand a little too tightly. Draka turned toward her and pulled her to him the way he did Maud, though a little closer, with a hand to the square of her back instead of her elbow. She was too tall for him to hold her elbow. She looked down at him with a crooked brow and he only looked up at her with the same as a reply.

  “We really doing this?”

  Draka shrugged.

  Enya softened. She looked worried. Frightened even.

  Draka met that with the grin of a man who knew when he was looking at someone who was pleasing to look at. And she understood, her ebony cheeks blushing.

  As if she had been running, she said with a heaving breath and a smile, “Don’t ever look at me like that again.”

  Draka chuckled and led her wading into the dancers fluidly. He knew within a few steps that she wasn’t familiar with it, so he made certain to slide his feet into hers, directing her with ease.

  She was beaming. After a few bounds, he wondered how she would feel if he spun her. He remembered that the far east had their own way of doing it, though he was having trouble remembering how exactly they did it, imagining each way he knew with each round of the floor. With how tall she is, he even wondered if a man had ever spun her, or if she would like it, for that matter.

  It was when she started to look glum with a glance that drew him to Maud and Pierre that emboldened him. That’s definitely what she wanted, to feel like Maud did when he was dancing with her. She wanted to feel like she wasn’t a soldier for the night, Draka decided in that moment, like a woman who was wanted, who was as beautiful as she was. He switched her hand to his other behind her back.

  “What are you do—?” Enya barely got out before he sidestepped, letting her naturally spin away until her arm was extended.

  He was wincing at first, but she laughed when she came back to him.

  “You—do it again.”

  So Draka did.

  And she laughed again, this time her hand landed on his shoulder when she returned, blushing over him. “I’ve never danced like this…”

  Draka caught Aurie’s glance from the edge of the dancers. She had a warmth in her gaze at him. Approval. And then she was gone from his vision as they moved on with the motion of the dancing.

  “I have a confession,” Enya was leaning close, but not so close that Draka had to lean back from the collar of her dress. “I’m a coward.”

  Draka scoffed in disbelief through his grin before sending her into another spin.

  When she returned, “Really, I am. I’ve never danced with a man I wasn’t related to. Always said no, at least until they stopped asking because I was bigger than them.”

  Draka pursed his brows at her. She was following the flow of the dance easier than before. His sweeping feet rarely had to direct hers anymore.

  “I’m shy. Deathly shy,” Enya was trembling. He could feel it in the thick blades of her back through all the layers of her dress.

  Draka led her to the edge of the floor and stopped so he could look up at her with a long, studious breath. He motioned all of her and shrugged.

  “You all keep saying that, but I…” Enya looked down at herself, then rolled her eyes, “It’s the bloody dress. I’m pretty because of the dress and all this crap they put on my face. Wash it off and throw my armor on and everyone thinks I’m abstinent because I look like a man, so I must like women.”

  Draka regarded her for a moment. Then he flicked her nose.

  “The bloody hell?” Enya staggered back from him, hunching over to cover her nose. “Why would you?”

  Draka shook his head and pulled her wrist down to point at a window reflection nearby. When she looked at him, he pointed at his eyes and then at her to circle her face. He grinned. With that look.

  Enya blushed again.

  He shook his head at her. A finger to his heart, to her heart, a circle rounding her face, and a shrug.

  “You look at me like I’m a piece of meat again and I’ll tell Aurie,” Enya jabbed a finger at him.

  Draka laughed. He held up a finger and went to the window, running his finger through the slop of a plate left on the table near it. On the window, he wrote, ‘Beautiful. Always. All men see.’ He ran out of slop. He got more and wrote, ‘They’re shy.’

  Enya crinkled her brow. “You thought I was beautiful before you saw me in this?”

  Draka nodded as if she should have already known that.

  “Well, if they’re shy, then how the shit am I supposed to get a husband? Cause I’m not doing that ribbon thing! Those little shits are a different level of vicious.”

  Draka narrowed his eyes and held out his hands. Who?

  Enya hesitated. But he followed her eyes. Once again, to Pierre, only this time he was dancing with Aurie instead of Maud. And they were coming their way.

  Draka grinned.

  “Oh no,” Enya shook. “You’re not dancing with her and using me as an excuse. You two are like magnets for destruction right now. I’ll have no part in it.”

  Draka tipped his head at her, raising his shoulders.

  Enya winced. “No. It’s a bad idea. I—this was a lost cause. I’ll just find myself another drink and go my merry way.”

  Draka winked and grabbed her hand.

  Enya winced again, but she didn’t pull away as he led her back into the dancers, though her worry was spilling through her in shivers. Her grip on his hand and shoulder were like vices. He didn’t grimace from it, only smiled broader as he led them closer and closer, with each bound, to Aurie and Pierre.

  “Please don’t make me regret this,” Enya whimpered. “You two just need to hold on a little longer. It could just be a few days, okay? A few days. That’s it.”

  Draka nodded. And then he locked eyes with Aurie, a few bounds away.

  We need to switch partners, His eyes and flicking brows said to her through the many dancers.

  Go left. He’s all right feet, Aurie’s answered.

  Are you alright? He expressed when he caught her gaze once more.

  As much as I can be, Aurie grinned warmly, distance in her eyes through the crowd. Then, she nodded, thanks for asking.

  Draka nodded, You’re welcome.

  The opportunity came. Just as Aurie’s eyes had indicated, Pierre shifted right and Draka winked up to Enya, who was dripping with worry.

  It was smoother than either of them expected. As the two couples collided, Draka spun Enya into Pierre’s arms, taking Aurie into his, before Pierre could comprehend what had just happened.

  “I—I’m very—I don’t mean to be staring at—I truly…” Pierre was stuttering, looking nearly straight into Enya’s bust while Enya bit her lower lip and glared at the two of them waltzing away from her.

  “I,” Enya took in a deep breath and let it out before saying through a nervous smile, “Don’t mind so long as you look up every now and then to let me know you like what’s up here, too.”

  Pierre looked up and gaped at her. “I—I do. Always have, actually. I’ve never truly been able to express, upon the right opportunity, how honored I have been to meet someone as prestigious as you, Paladin Commander.”

  “Of course,” Enya glowered.

  “Did I say something wrong?” Pierre asked as they bumped their way along the dancing waltzers.

  “No, Chancellor,” Enya looked like she was going to cry.

  “I’m too old to be so flabbergasted when in the presence of an attractive woman,” Pierre said after a long silence had lingered between them. “I apologize profusely if I make you uncomfortable.”

  Enya looked down at him. “Say ‘flabbergasted’ again.”

  He raised a brow, “Flabbergasted?”

  “Now ask if I would like something to drink and talk about something that bores everyone else but really interests you.”

  “Wo-would you like some wine and perhaps we can talk about how I find Diogenes to be the funniest philosopher in history?”

  Enya smiled, “I prefer ale.” She stopped him near a table with a wanton grin, “And I would have told Alexander the Great to get out of the sun, too.”

  “You know Diogenes!” Pierre jumped with excitement. “Ale! I’ll be right back. Please…please don’t go anywhere. And, and…oh, the chicken!” He ran along the edge of the tables to get to the servants waiting by the carts with drinks, shouting over the music, “Wait until I tell you about his chicken!”

  He stopped about halfway there and regarded her for a moment, making her blush because it was the look that Draka had given but less practiced, less purposeful, more…awkwardly genuine.

  Enya was flush over her ebony features, her eyes glistening. She caught Draka’s knowing grin her way from among the dancers as he led Aurie. He nodded with smugly at her.

  Enya rolled her eyes. She couldn’t smile wider.

  Fleurie – Hurricane (Second Pa dance)

  CHVRCHES – Clearest Blue (Enya’s Dance)