“What?”

“It’s tradition,” Aunt Jovana added. “The highest families dance to honor the new couple.”

“But I don’t know the dance,” I squeaked out in fear. “Why not have Scar—” Where had Scarlet gone? I scanned the room, and saw she was holding something that looked delicious in her hands and right across from her was a very tall and bashful-looking Julien, smiling as he tried to talk around whatever he’d just taken a bite of. They looked so precious. Even if I could have raced across the room to steal her away, I wouldn’t have.

I turned back to Etan.

“Are you doubting my ability to lead?” he asked, that joking tone ever on his lips.

His lips.

“The only other partners I’ve seen you with are those fellows in the joust, and I’d rather leave this room standing on my own two feet, if you don’t mind.”

Mother laughed at that, but Etan held out his hand, undeterred. I took it, and he led me onto the dance floor. “It’s simply a volta. If you know that, then you’re fine.”

“Oh! I love the volta.”

“Perfect. Then you don’t need me at all.”

I looked at him out of the side of my eyes. “You say that as if I ever have.”

He smiled.

Other couples were flooding the floor, and I stood toward the center beside the other women, with the men on the outside forming a shape like a flower. When the music began, Etan and I wove past one another, circling around and going to the next couple. The dance was so full of movement that it excused any lack of conversation. So, instead, we danced, hand to hand.

Etan did as he said, waiting exactly where he said he would, exactly when he was meant to. His hair kept flopping in his face, and he kept flicking it back, keeping his eyes on me. I was smiling. I could feel it in the very soles of my feet my smile went so deep. We came to the section where we could move side by side, and Etan held me tight.

He looked down at me, eyes locked. There was something in them that said he wanted to speak, to say something now that all our family wasn’t right over our shoulders. He just kept studying my face, maybe trying to judge how he’d be received if he did speak. I tried to wordlessly tell him that I welcomed his apology or explanation or whatever he felt he needed to say. I was prepared for it all.

All he did was smile.

The end of the dance was coming, and it was a good thing, as I was already breathless. Three lifts back to back, and then it would be over. I swept around the circle a final time, coming to Etan’s ready arms, and he was smirking, ready to prove he was capable. I jumped as he lifted me up, throwing my head back in delight. The watching crowds were gasping at the sight of the couples moving in time, many of the members applauding. He lifted me a second time, and I laughed at Etan’s mocking groan, as if I were too heavy to pick up more than once. The third lift, I found myself looking down at him, and he seemed . . . happy.