Chapter 30

30

REYA

I stand at the back of the room, leaning against the wall-to-ceiling mirrors, ready to start our first dance class. I huff as I look at the ridiculous dresses we must wear for this class. Full length and layer after layer of organza.

I'd sworn like a miner when I'd had to put it on this morning. Orna laughed at me and told me I was being ridiculous. The shoes were the worst part, though. How in the goddess are these practical to dance in? It will be like dancing balancing on a needle!

There's a murmur of surprise when a Shadow Borne male walks into the room. He looks to be middle-aged and has a perfectly groomed moustache sitting above his stiff upper lip. He's small for one of their kind and wears a waistcoat adorned with crystals.

"Good morning, good morning, ladies. I am Arzhel Skystride, and I am your dance teacher! By the time you attend the ball, you will be masters of the dancefloor, gliding across it with finesse and grace."

I can't help the snicker that leaves my mouth. I mean, grace and finesse aren't exactly two words I'd used to describe my dancing skills.

"Miss, you have something to say?" he asks me as he glides closer to us.

"No, nothing," I reply. I'm hoping I can fade into the background, and no one will notice how appallingly bad I am.

He claps his hands together excitedly. "Your first ball is in two months. This will be your chance to impress and show your potential. Today we will learn a basic and traditional dance called the ‘Swaltza de Umbra'."

He closes his eyes and touches his heart dramatically. He is passionate about his subject, that's for sure. "Now choose a partner and decide which one of you will lead and which will follow, and we will learn the basic steps."

Girls quickly pick their dance partners as I glance around the room, feeling hopeless. Saveya appears before me and winks. "Ready, partner?"

I grimace. "Are you sure you want to partner with me? I'm borderline terrible and have two left feet."

Saveya snorts and dismisses my comment. "Nonsense, you can't be that bad."

I fight a laugh. "Oh, I am that bad."

"Take your positions! One arm at the waist and one holding their hands for the male. Females with one hand on their shoulder and the other clasped tightly within their hands. And now we dance." He closes his eyes for a second and sways to the rhythm of the piano notes. "It's all about feeling the rhythm and becoming at one with it. Step right, step left, step back, right, right, left, left. Then release away and come back together. And again, right foot, left foot, back a step, right, right, ah very good. A natural Miss Willowshine."

I roll my eyes. Of course, Shalia is a natural!

"Ouch," Saveya groans, as I stand on her foot again.

"Sorry." I grimace. "I warned you I'm terrible."

Saveya shakes out her foot and forces a smile. "It's fine. Hopefully, I'll still have sensation in my feet by the end of class. Let's try again. Ready?"

She looks at me with expectant hope and I nod my head. Right foot, left foot and then was it forward and back? I stomp on Saveya's foot, and she lets out a yelp of pain, and we step apart.

A few of the girls on either side of us giggle and I flush red in the cheeks, feeling humiliated.

"Are you deaf or lacking coordination, Miss Lockwood?" our teacher asks as he strides over; disappointment written all over his frowning face. "Were you born with hooves for feet?"

One girl right next to us snickers and makes a neighing sound and I see red. I turn on my heels, ready to give her a piece of my mind, when someone grabs a hold of my wrist and twirls me into their arms.

"If dancing is all about the rhythm, Master Arzhel, then teach your students to feel the rhythm and not think in steps." I look up into the steel-grey eyes of the Lord Commander. "Ridiculing your students is not the way to get the best out of them." Raegal reaches out a finger and places it under my chin. "Close your eyes, Eretreya. Imagine you're holding a sword." He taps his fingers against mine to the beat of the piano tempo. "You sidestep right and avoid his sword and then left as you counterattack. You step back out of his attack and swipe and swipe with your sword to his right and then his left."

I close my eyes and allow his voice to guide me. Picturing myself in the sparring ring with him, a sword in my hand, as we spar. He spins me out and then pulls me back in and he clutches at the back of my dress at my waist. "It's just like sparring. You move on the balls of your feet and when your partner steps forward, you step back," he whispers into my ear, causing a shiver to tingle down my spine. "Follow the beat of your heart, buh-bum, buh-bum, buh-bum, buh-bum," he instructs, as his fingers move against the tips of mine to the beat. "Now just feel it. Open your eyes and keep them on mine. No looking at your feet. Eyes on me the entire time."

I open my eyes and the first thing I see are his near-silver ones staring back at me. I fight the urge to wrap my arms around his neck. "Concentrate, Terror. We're following the rhythm, remember," he reminds me with a knowing smirk. "Now sword up high and it clashes against mine and we push, and we pull." His opposite arm holds mine in the air as his other holds mine at the base of my back. "There is nothing you can't do, terror. You just have to believe in yourself. You dance like you fight, with grace and elegance."

I'm lost in his eyes as we dance. My nerves and embarrassment forgotten as he thrums the beat on my fingers and guides me through each step, all the while our eyes are locked together. He spins me out and pulls me back in, with my back against his chest. He encircles my waist, my arms enclosed beneath his. "Dancing is like just like fighting. You follow the rhythm and mirror your opponent."

His mouth is so close to my ear, and I fight the urge to lean my head to the side and allow him better access to my neck so he can shatter me with barely-there kisses. I'm on fire everywhere.

A gasp spreads around the room as darkness plunges us into obscurity, with every curtain closing shut and blanketing the room. But it matters not, we dance on, oblivious, his fingers thrumming the beat against mine, he nibbles at my ear, and I fight the urge not to moan as he steps away and with one hand on my waist circles around me until we are facing one another again. The curtains all swing open at once as we come to the end of the song and it's only when we stop, I realise that the room is silent, and we are the only ones dancing. Everyone else is watching us. Applause fills the room, and I blush even more.

Master Arzhel claps his hands. "Lord Commander, you have taken a lost cause and made her passable."

Raegal pulls his eyes from mine and glares at our dance instructor. "You should know full well that chastising and belittling is no way to teach someone." He turns his attention back to me, a predatory smile on his lips as he takes my hand and kisses it. "Miss Lockwood." Before he turns and strides from the room. His shadows skirt once around my feet before they chase after him. It's only as he walks away, I wonder why the curtains all closed like they did just then? How strange!

Master Arzhel stares after Raegal, his face blood-red with embarrassment. "Let us continue! Take up your partners." He pauses and steps my way. "Well done, Miss Lockwood."

Shocked by his praise, I stare after him as Saveya takes my hand, and we repeat the steps. This time I complete them with ease, not missing a step, and Saveya grins at me encouragingly.

A fternoon class is history, and I am pleasantly surprised. I thought it would be rather dull, but we learn about all the reigning kings of the Shadow Realm and their length of service to their people and as I leave class, I'm excited to read more about the shadow wielding rulers. Now that all the girls are at the mansion, we no longer take dinner with Moryen. Instead, we dine in our wings with our fellow district females.

Chatter falls silent when I enter the room, and I pause and look around the table at my four roommates. "What? Have I got wrenbry's around my mouth?" I ask, having indulged in a few I'd picked from a tree in the mansion grounds earlier.

"What was it like?" Tyria asks me, her purple eyes dancing with excitement.

"Does he smell as divine as he looks?" Alora chips in, leaning her elbows on the dining table and toying with a strand of her long, brown hair.

I bow my head and make my way to my seat. I really don't want to talk about what happened today. About the way he strode into the room and made Arzhel eat his words about me. Nor am I ready to dissect the way it felt to be in his arms, the excitement, and the way he was so patient with me.

"It appears you have bewitched the Lord Commander, Reya," Imrie chips in with a wink from where she sits reading her book, feet up on the dining table.

I scoff and shake my head, reaching for the steaming bowl of potatoes. "So, I bewitched him with my terrible dancing? I think not."

Imrie arches a brow at me. "The two of you dancing was hot. He didn't take his eyes off you even when yours were closed."

"It's true!" Saveya pipes up.

"You're all ridiculous. You read too many of those silly romance books," I reply, concentrating on filling my plate with food.

Imrie sits up and puts her book down. "Oh, you mean the silly romance books you hide inside your class books?" She waggles her brow at me and taps her nose. "Nothing gets past by me."

"I do not!" I protest. "Why would I read such ridiculous fantasies? There are no knights in shining armour. There is no dashing, handsome prince to rescue us from a life of misery. We are nothing but brood mares, sold to the highest bidder to churn out shadow babies."

The room falls quiet, and I gulp as I realise how vehemently I spoke.

"You know Reya, sometimes you're so full of anger and hate," Tyria replies, shaking her head at me. I look around the table at the now hurt faces of my fellow roommates.

"Maybe that's because I don't want to become nothing more than a womb to pump out babies and keep their race prospering. I want to live my life here in Asen, with my brothers and do something with my life! How can you be content with this destiny?" I stare at each one of them. "Don't you all want more out of life than to lie on your back and pop out babies?"

Alora flinches. "You know what? I'm not hungry anymore. I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Same," Tyria snaps, picking up her plate and standing from her seat. "I'm going to finish this in my room."

I watch in silence as they both exit the room. Imrie mutters something under her breath and swings her feet off the table. "You really can be a buzz kill sometimes, Reya. Do you think you're the only one missing their family? Or the only one who is scared and uncertain about what our futures will be like? So what, we get lost in silly romance books, because it's a distraction or because it gives us hope that maybe we can find our prince charming in the Shadow Realm." She closes her book and heads towards her own rooms, leaving me alone with Saveya.

"Why do you push everyone away?"

Her question has me pausing mid-chew.

"I don't."

"You do." She sighs. "You push all the other girls away. They try to get to know you and you just put up your walls and refuse to let anyone in."

I stare across at my sweet friend. "Not everyone is good and kind, Saveya. These girls will trample over you to get into the top five. They might be all smiles now but just you wait until the competition hypes up."

Saveya looks at me with deep sadness in her eyes. "Not everyone is out to hurt and deceive you, Reya. You're actually pretty cool and fun to be around, and perhaps you need to consider that there are people here who just want to get to know you better."

I snort. She's living on cloud cuckoo land. "Have you heard of the saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" I point out of the room. "That is what they are doing right now. They don't want to be your friend, Saveya. They want to figure out your weaknesses and find the right time to exploit them."

Saveya places her fork down and wipes her mouth with her serviette. "I really am sorry for whatever happened to you growing up that made you so suspicious and untrusting of others, but if you want to survive here, Reya, at some point you will need to trust in others and let people in." She squeezes my shoulder as she passes me, and I'm left alone with a table full of uneaten food.

Stuff them! I am being honest and if they can't take the truth, then that's on them. I pick at my food for another few minutes before I realise I've lost my appetite and head to the sanctuary of my room.

Closing the door, I lean against it and sigh. What a day!

I sense him before I see or hear him. Gasping when he grabs a hold of my hands and slams them against the door above my head. When I open my eyes, they meet two black orbs. The silver gone, replaced with nothing but darkness.

"Raegal."

"Shush," he whispers, placing his finger over my lips. "What have you done to me? You're an Asen, and yet I yearn to touch you. To hear you moan my name as you come on my fingers."

My heart gallops in my chest, thumping loudly in the deafening silence and tension.

His shadows flow from him and grasp my chin, forcing my head back. "I want to mark you everywhere with my shadows."

I gulp. I should send him away. I should tell him I could never want someone like him. That I hate his kind. I should tell him that his touch disgusts me and that I disdain his very presence.

"Then why don't you," I reply.

His mouth is on mine the moment the words are out of my mouth, and I groan at the contact. We crash together, our mouths in a frantic dance. I attempt to pull my arms down to touch him and he slams them back against the door, his black eyes warning me.

"I make the rules, Terror. Are you sure you want to play in the shadows?" he asks me as he kisses down my neck, sending waves of pleasure down my spine and to my core.

"I want to drown in them," I whisper. My eyes opening briefly to find his.

His lips curl into a wicked smile. "Oh, Terror, you really shouldn't have said that. I'm going to ruin you."