The Betrothed (The Betrothed #1)(30)

“Thank you for inviting us.” Cecily came and greeted us with a little curtsy.

“Oh, you’re quite welcome. You remember Delia Grace, of course,” I said, gesturing over to her. Delia Grace stood with her head high, knowing that finally she was in a position no one could deny was exalted.

“Yes.” Beside her, Yoana swallowed. “Very nice to see you.”

“Delia Grace, dear, won’t you show them to the refreshments?”

She nodded, not needing to speak to anyone she didn’t want to at the moment, and I felt sure she was enjoying the knowledge that if anyone so much as breathed at her wrong, I’d eject them from the room.

Another knock came, and Nora opened it again.

“Scarlet!” I called. “So glad you could make it.”

I was pleased to see her parents and Saul walk in behind her, but I was surprised to note that the Northcotts had joined her as well. And then, as if he was determined to be seen as an afterthought, Silas Eastoffe walked in the door. And there went my heart, skipping as if being trapped in my chest was just too far away for comfort.

I cleared my throat, turning to greet my guests.

Lord Eastoffe came over, bowing before me. “Thank you for letting us come along. It was more . . . unnerving than any of us thought it would be to see King Quinten again.”

I tilted my head in sympathy. “You may all hide here as long as you like. The apartment extends for days, and we have plenty of food—we’ll make a camp,” I joked. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”

Delia Grace was already moving to the music, and I joined her, doing a dance that we’d choreographed ourselves last year.

“That’s very pretty,” Nora commented as Delia Grace and I touched wrists and walked around one another.

“Thank you,” Delia Grace answered. “We spent weeks on it.”

“You should try your hand at choreographing the one for Crowning Day,” Nora added.

Delia Grace seemed almost stunned by the kind suggestion. “If Lady Hollis wishes it. Thank you.”

When the dance ended and a new song played, I watched as Nora started up a dance of her own. Honestly, if she and Delia Grace choreographed our dance, it would probably be one of the best I’d ever done.

More than once, I got distracted by a pair of blue eyes watching contentedly from a chair against the wall. I looked over at Silas, speaking as I swayed to the music.

“Do you dance, sir?”

He sat up a little straighter. “On occasion. But of everyone in the family, Etan is the best,” he said, nodding to his cousin across the room. I searched and found him frowning as he studied the tapestries, hands behind his back, looking as if he were very much here against his will.

“You must be joking.”

Silas chuckled. “Not at all.”

“Well, please don’t be offended if I don’t extend him an invitation.”

He made a face. “In his current mood, I don’t think he’d accept if you did.”

I sighed, believing that. “Would you?”

He swallowed and looked at the floor. “I would . . . though perhaps not today.” When his face came back up to me, I noted the hint of a blush on his cheeks, and I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to dance in front of such an intimate gathering.

“Lady Hollis, come and see,” Cecily called, and I went quietly across the room, which thankfully gave me time to clamp down the growing smile on my face. What was it about Silas Eastoffe that turned the air in the room into something sweeter? He made everything feel . . . easy. Words came out clearer, thoughts became less foggy. I hadn’t realized people could do that, could make everything sharper.

The room separated into relaxed conversations and fits of giggling, leaving me in a blissfully happy mood. And when I somehow ended up having little Saul as a dance partner, it seemed perfectly natural. I spun him around to much applause, and it was nice to see his tears from yesterday replaced with laughter. When the song ended, I bent down and kissed Saul on the cheek. “Thank you, sir. You’re a fine dancer.”

The violinist played on in the background as everyone spoke, and as we all sat and conversed, the new apartments felt like they could eventually be a comfortable place. There was a promise of it.

“The king must care for you very much,” Silas said, coming to stand next to me. “These rooms are amazing. They remind me of our rooms back at Chetwin Palace. But the Coroan architecture is so different. I think the stones alone change everything.”

“How so?” I asked. It was the same stone I’d known all my life.

“In Isolte, the buildings are tinted slightly green or blue. It’s a mineral in the stones by the northern coast, and they’re very pretty, but in the winter especially, it makes thing seem dark. These stones of yours have such warm colors in them. So everything looks brighter, welcoming. And when you combine that with the impressive scope of the apartments, it’s quite striking.”

I nodded, many feelings playing through my heart. “It’s easily the most beautiful place I’ve ever rested my head, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t I miss the simplicity of my old room, not to mention knowing what was going to happen most days.”

I swallowed, once again wondering if I’d said too much but still feeling there was no one I’d rather share too much with.