Airlie hadn’t left me, she’d been taken from me.
Determination rose inside my belly. After tonight, with or without Evermund, I was going after my sister.
When I turned back around, I had a smile on my face, but it changed into a gasp of surprise when I saw the dress Karielle was holding toward me. I hurried over to run gentle fingers over the fabric.
“Are you sure your sister won’t mind me wearing this?” I asked. “It’s so beautiful.”
The cornflower blue gown had a full skirt of the softest layers I could have imagined, swishing satisfyingly as Karielle waved it back and forth enticingly.
“Of course she doesn’t mind. She’s not even here. She was married two years ago and has her own home and a baby now. She left some of her dresses here, and they’re still in her old wardrobe. In fact, you should keep it.”
“I couldn’t do that,” I said fervently before grinning up at her. “But I might be able to be convinced to wear it tonight.”
“Excellent.” Karielle pressed it into my hands. “Let’s see it on you.”
It fit even better than I’d hoped, and I couldn’t help swishing the skirt as I walked back out of her dressing room. Gia had arrived some time during my absence, so an audience of three waited for me.
They all exclaimed in delight, telling me no one would guess the dress hadn’t been made for me. And when I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t help agreeing. With my hair up in soft curls, I hardly recognized myself.
“Here, I’ll tie this for you.” Gia skipped over to twist the long blue sash into a bow at the back, letting the two ends drape elegantly down, almost reaching the floor.
“You look incredible,” I told her when I spun around and got a proper look at her red gown.
It had simple, elegant lines that only made it more striking—a perfect match for the vividness of her personality.
“My parents will hate it,” she said with satisfaction.
“You’re hopeless, Gia,” Karielle laughed before disappearing off to get into her own gown.
It was only a short walk from the family wing of the house to the large ballroom, but a sizeable crowd had already gathered before we arrived. Despite its generous size, the room couldn’t accommodate half the court plus the nomad delegations, so the long row of double doors on the opposite side of the room had been thrown open, giving free access to the equally large stone terrace on the other side.
With the warm summer air making the outside even more pleasant than the inside, the crowd flowed freely back and forth, dancing on the stone as happily as on the polished wooden floorboards. Green vines and bright, colorful flowers had been wound around the stone balustrades and draped along the walls of the ballroom, giving the two spaces a unified look.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed to Karielle, who blushed prettily.
“I spent most of the day on the flowers. Do you like them?”
“I love them! And congratulations again on your graduation.”
Gia sidled up next to me, a grin on her face. “Someone’s looking for you.”
I looked around, suppressing the nervous desire to rub my palms down my skirt. “Who? Where?”
She just snorted as my eyes landed on Zeke. He stood in one of the double doors to the terrace in conversation with Liara and Jaylen. But he was no longer looking at them, his face turned toward me.
Our eyes met, and my heart skipped at the warmth that leaped across the ballroom from his gaze to mine. Seeing the expression on his face, the last of my doubts fell away. And with them went the deceptions I had been using on myself.
This was what I had been dreaming of since before my first ball back in Tarona. Zeke was the reason I was standing here at all. I had no desire to dance with anyone but him.
Zeke didn’t break eye contact, abandoning the other nomads to come straight to my side. I caught a hazy glimpse of disgust on Liara’s face, but nothing could puncture the happy feeling growing inside me.
When Zeke reached us, he bowed low.
“Cadence. You look beautiful tonight. As always.”
“Thank you, Zeke,” Gia said gravely from beside me. “We all appreciate your heartfelt compliments.”
“You look equally incredible,” he said, still not looking away from my face.
Gia snorted. “You’re hopeless.”
That made him finally break the breathless moment between us, looking over at her with a grin.
“You do all look lovely, ladies. But I’m going to steal Cadence away now.”
“Just as long as you bring her back,” Gia called after us, as he led me away. “I want my best friend back!”
I laughed as her voice faded into the distance. “Are we running away from Gia?”
“If necessary for me to have you all to myself,” he said, his warm hand squeezing mine.
Liara and Jaylen remained where Zeke had left them, but he pulled me toward one of the other doors and out onto the terrace. The crowd was only slightly less thick here, but he swept me into his arms and joined those dancing in the center of the space.
The first time I had been wrapped in his arms for a dance, it had been thrilling—heady and exciting and like nothing I’d ever experienced before. This time his solid strength felt comfortable and familiar. The sense of belonging was one I had only ever felt with Airlie, but with Zeke it had transformed into something entirely new. Exhilaration lent my feet wings, my pulse pounding out a beat along with my feet, and warmth filling me from the inside out.
He pulled me closer, and I almost forgot to breathe.
“Why are you so captivating, Cadie?” he breathed in my ear. “From the first moment I saw your bewildered blue eyes staring up at the Guild building, I haven’t been able to look away from them.”
“That’s not very complimentary,” I said, although my laugh came out a little shaky. “Do I have to come up with a list of my own virtues? Starting with confused, apparently.”
He chuckled, pulling me even closer. “The confusion just makes your bravery all the more admirable. You clearly had no idea where you were, but you didn’t falter for a moment. Even when everyone fawned over your sister, abandoning you entirely.”
“That’s because I had you,” I said, remembering the moment as if it had just happened. “I would have been lost without you to show me around. Literally.”
He shook his head. “You would have found your way. I don’t doubt it for a second. Just like you’ve always been there whenever you were most needed, ready to quietly shoulder the burden for everyone. How many times have you saved me now?”
I couldn’t recognize myself in the picture he was painting. “Are you sure you’re not thinking of Airlie? I’m the rebellious one, always trying to get away and be free. She’s the responsible one.”
“Maybe,” he said. “And maybe there’s a family pattern. Are you sure you wanted to be free? Or did you just want to step out from under her shadow? You certainly accepted her mantle fast enough. Nothing you’ve done since her departure has been the actions of someone thinking only of herself and her freedom.” He dropped his voice even lower. “Like Gia does. If that was what you wanted, you could have walked out of the Guild the same night Airlie disappeared and never looked back. Gia would have done it in your place.”