His voice throbbed, and he was no longer smiling. I really could not understand Rin’s parents, who had taken a boy who lived for music, and taught him to wear a mask.
"I’ve drawn the map of your city," I told him softly. "And started on the approach to the central aeolian towers."
His hand tightened on mine, then he murmured, "Entirely impossible not to kiss," but only leaned forward a little before stopping himself. "I won’t reward you by painting a bigger target on your back than I already have."
"Lucky I’m about to leave the country," I said. "By the time I’m back, today will be old news. And even if someone did target me, well, you’re not the only person who likes to set people up and sit back to watch the fun."
He laughed, then grimaced as the music shifted into its final movement, and for a moment looked deeply unhappy. "We’re only going to dance with you once each tonight, Mika, but I’ll talk to you later."
Dance done, he bowed, and I belatedly curtseyed in response, and then looked around for Lania. I spotted Sean first, bowing to Bran and then hid his eyes as if too completely overwhelmed by his treat. I walked, over, smiled at Bran as he followed Rin toward the announcer’s podium, and said to Sean: "Overwhelmed?"
"Floating," Sean said, laughed a little wildly, and then hugged Lania as she came over. "Best. Day. Ever."
"Kyou said they wanted to dance with the people they respect the most," Lania said. "Then spent a lot of time teasing me about blushing."
Sean shook his head, said: "I didn’t think this could get any better," and hid his eyes again.
This declaration from Kyou added an extra level of entertainment to proceedings, as dances were interspersed by brief speeches, and Corascur’s Three Kings actively sought out dance partners while showing no hesitation in refusing many of those who made requests. I danced in turn with Rick, Lania and Sean, and then a foxtrot was announced.
A tall, dark-haired boy wearing a dragon mask stepped up to me, and lifted a hand, saying: "My turn," but before I could react Bran arrived, took my hand, and simply walked away with me.
"I have no idea who that was," I said.
"Kade," Bran said briefly. "Full of himself. Cousin."
The revelation that there were more of the Laurent-Beaulieu clan attending Corascur made me lift my eyebrows. Vaguely recalling the name, I said: "Oh, I know. He asked me to the dance on the last day of classes. Lania said he doesn’t come to school often."
"In France usually, winning hearts at the old head office. Most likely to win the dog fight for inheritance of the majority of shares once Rin and Kyou completely walk away from it."
"Aren’t you considered a contender?"
"I’m too unstable."
He didn’t sound bothered by this statement, although his general mood seemed to be serious verging on sombre.
The music lifted, and I gave up talking because foxtrot required more of my concentration than waltz. Bran effortlessly made up for my occasional misstep, and my heart raced as we crossed the floor, weaving between other dancers, registering to me only as flutters of gaily coloured skirts, and the glitter of sequinned masks.
"Exhilarating," I said, as the music died. "I might actually do this some other time."
"You’ve been practicing," he said, finally smiling.
"With Lania and her family. But it’s so different on the larger floor."
"One advantage of buying an old dance school is that there’s many big rooms. We’re keeping enough open space in the one with the best floor that we’ll be able to dance there." He started to speak, but then glanced around us and let go of my hand. "My turn for a speech," he said. "Talk to you later."
Hearing this, I stayed where I was, even though my feet had started to complain, and I’d planned to sit the next dance or two out.
"You and Bran looked incredible together," Lania whispered, coming up to take my arm.
"I didn’t know he was going to speak. His Vice Presidency seems to mainly involve glowering at his feet."
"He does a lot of the technical work, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do any public speaking."
We weren’t the only ones surprised, and a small hush fell on the room as he stepped up to the microphone situated neatly at the apex of the miniature Rialto Bridge.
"More people than I can remember reached out to me the last couple of years," Bran said, without preamble. "Even when I pushed them away, they still watched out for me. Never underestimate how a few words, a chance encounter, can change the course of your life." He glanced at Rin and Kyou, looked down at his feet, and then out over the assembled dancers. His voice dropped to a lower note as he added: "I can’t thank you enough."
Ignoring the scattered applause, he walked away, joining Rin and Kyou. They left through the exit opposite the bridge, where the first aid and administration tents were set.
"Less by-the-book than the rest of the Executive," I said, hoping I wasn’t visibly flushing.
"He sounded so heart-felt," Lania said, surprised, then grimaced as a slow dance was announced. "Let’s go out."
"I want to take these shoes off for a while," I said, agreeably.
Lania led the way to the area set aside for rest and refreshments. We grabbed bottles of water, found a corner seat, and immediately slipped off our shoes.
"Is the strategic sticking plaster not holding up?" Lania asked.
"Working well, mostly," I said, picking at the edge of the one that had slipped. "It’s more running back and forth with my heels jacked up several inches. My toes are asking what they ever did to deserve it."
"I thought about going with flats, but I’m so glad I left nothing to criticise. I swear my back must be a pinboard with how many darts Katerina has been shooting my way."
"Have you danced with Carr yet?"
Lania shook her head. "I saw him early on, but I haven’t seen him dancing. I am two out of three on Kings, though, which has been fun."
"Same."
"I’m hoping Rin dances with me just to see Sirocco’s expression. She looked…" Lania hesitated, then said: "Well, she looked very sad when he danced with you. Sometimes I wish Sirocco behaved like Katerina—then at least I could hate her properly."
"Making yourself feel better by watching people bully your rivals isn’t worthy of sympathy."
"No. But sometimes I can understand the temptation. Do you ever think you’ll eat your heart out for someone, Mika?"
A few months ago, I would have answered with confidence. Now…
"I’m sure—fairly sure—that I wouldn’t be like Sirocco. If I liked someone who seemed indifferent or even actively disliked me, I’d mope for a while, then move on. But I also think it’s possible that moving would be…" I stopped, and started again. "I do think it’s possible to become so accustomed, uh, to find yourself fitting so well, that their absence…"
Lania was looking at me with a very odd expression.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Who is what?"
"I’ve never seen you so disordered. It can only be because there is someone you feel that way about. And not Christophe Barrington. You don’t talk about him like that at all."
"Well," I said, after a pause. "Which person in this school would you say I’ve become accustomed to?"
Lania tilted her head, then laughed. "You weren’t going all disjointed over me. Try again."
I smiled, but turned the conversation to whether to skip the next dance as well. Eventually, I would probably give Lania some form of the truth. She had become a real friend, and one I would keep even if I didn’t manage to stay in this city. But I doubted I could talk about my emotional entanglements for at least six months. Maybe a year. Now, with only a dance with Kyou left, I was completely unsure of my ability to move on to being just friends. Which would be harder: to torture myself being close to what I couldn’t have, or to cut ties completely?