The distance was safer.
When a large brown wolf stepped out onto the path from between the trees, Lannahi had collected herself enough that his sudden appearance didn’t surprise her. When their eyes met, she didn’t look away. When Roshanak licked his muzzle and he rubbed his body against her, she suppressed her jealousy. For shapeshifters, touch was as natural as nudity…
“That wasn’t a guard?” Tallahi asked curiously when Ashared had passed their group.
“He’s Lizaar’s guest,” Lannahi said.
Until now, the musicians had carefully avoided topics they considered sensitive like her short hair but hearing the name of the former queen of Goldfrost, Neilari pounced.
“Does Lizaar have many guests?” she asked.
“Just one.” Lannahi saw in the singer’s eyes the conclusion she once made when she’d discovered that Ashared occupied rooms adjacent to Lizaar’s chambers, but she saw no need to clarify the misunderstanding. “Lizaar doesn’t have much time to receive guests. I entrusted her with most of her former duties.”
These words allowed the musicians to understand the situation in the palace and saved them from having to ask awkward questions. This suited Lannahi as they were now able to occupy themselves fully to music.
When they saw the instruments in the ballroom, they cried in glee and immediately tested them. Though Lannahi hadn’t performed in public for many weeks, she barely noticed the moment she was incorporated into the choir.
Blann started sending them treats from the kitchen, and Erril, who finished his shift with Dallal, returned dressed in an elegant outfit and pulled Neilari into a dance. Esau, who stood watch with Ledaii, initially refused to dance, but when he saw Souhi accepting Lemil’s invitation, he changed his mind and, after dancing with Tallahi, snatched her away from the singer. Seeing this, Lannahi couldn’t hold back a smile.
When her voice tired and Asal’s fingers began to slow over the lute, Lemil took their place and Erril dragged her to the dance floor. Ledaii, whom the twins fastened onto his arms, bravely refused to succumb to their charms until he met the laughing eyes of Lannahi, who relieved him from his duty with a nod. Esau didn’t let Souhi leave his arms, but the latter didn’t seem to mind. Lannahi spun and laughed until she was dizzy.
She didn’t notice that Ashared had entered the room, nor that Erril gestured for Neilari to bring him over. She saw him only when Erril turned her in his direction after they finished another dance and asked her if she wanted to change partners. She was too surprised to answer, but all that mattered to her euphoria-fueled heart was Ashared’s gaze, warm despite the cool color of his eyes.
“I guess that means a yes,” Erril whispered in her ear as the tune of another song began.
Before she had time to react, he and Neilari stepped back and danced away together at a considerable distance.
When Ashared extended his hand to her, she took it. Instead of being frightened by how small and fragile her hand appeared in his, she felt safe. When he embraced her, everything was as it should be.
Then they started dancing and all that mattered was the music and the closeness of their bodies.
“Change?” Erril asked without much conviction when the song ended and they didn’t take their eyes or hands off each other.
“No,” Ashared said and twirled Lannahi into another dance.
***
The next day, Lannahi was distracted, but everyone pretended not to notice. During breakfast, Neilari, who failed to get even a shadow of a smile out of Kalahadd, hypothesized that the landshapers’ grim faces might be related to the bitterness of the nectar they consumed, and Lemil suggested that they go to the forest again “to draw inspiration.” When they returned from their walk, Lannahi sent for Nazarr and Eder. The day took a musical route again, though because most of the whirlsongs were moody and thought-provoking, it was a quiet day—a rest after a day of madness.
After an early supper, Erril and Souhi left to take the musicians to the portal square, and Lannahi, for whom the palace seemed suddenly quiet and empty, set off for her chambers. When she passed the door of the ballroom, she decided to enter on an impulse. She crossed the dance floor and touched the harp standing on the stage. The last two days seemed like a dream…
“You should invite musicians here more often,” she heard Ashared’s voice behind her.
Her heart stopped and then began to beat at an accelerated pace. When she faced him, memories from yesterday flooded her body.
Her hand in his palm. His muscular arm around her. Their accelerated breaths. Warmth of their bodies. Music.
Esau and Ledaii either considered that Ashared posed no threat to her or decided to be tactful as neither of them entered the room. Lannahi was alone with her dream.
They danced until she began staggering from fatigue. He bid her good night with a smile and a slight bow.
The swordsman moved his gaze over the instruments. “Your palace needs to be filled with music,” he finished his previous thought, stopping a few steps away from her.
Like the previous evening, he was dressed immaculately as if he was ready to invite her to dance again. Lannahi wracked her mind for a reason to leave, but his silver eyes immobilized her thoughts.
When she didn’t reply, he surveyed her face. “I didn’t know how to approach you,” he confessed, “until your friends showed me that besides being a queen, you are also a young woman who needs to live as a young woman does from time to time.” He smiled. “You make it easy to forget about it.”
Lannahi didn’t know what to say.
