A Legacy of Ash

14 | Crossroads

The music picked up and time disappeared.

Existence laid in the skilled shifting of their feet across the ballroom. In how his thumb worked patterns against his hip, even as he shifted her beneath the curve of his arm. She barely noticed the eyes of the peerage following their every breath. It took everything she had to follow his simple lead through steps she'd known for a decade, but seemed new in his hands.

Her heart raced as a suffocating feeling clutched her chest. No matter how many breaths she drew, they felt ragged and poor, echoing the sweltering heat that overtook her skin. So, she did the only thing she could to anchor her mind--she aimed for his foot.

Ranese escaped the pointed missteps at first. He was too skilled a lead to be caught so easily. So, she chased. Each swirl he led, she followed with intricate steps he seemed to anticipate with ease. A thrill electrified her skin as her irritation boiled into a strange sort of determination.

It wasn't until he dipped her, leaving their faces inches from one another that she landed a pointed blow. Her heel dug into his instep. It had to hurt, but his eyes never shifted form hers as that smug smile swept over his face.

"Satisfied?"

His voice was a caress. A whisper only she could hear as he lingered too long, leaving their dance in an awkward limbo.

Charlotte's eyes settled on his curled lips.

"Hardly."

He tugged her up, but didn't bother to shift back. Her chest heaved with each breath as he left less than a hair's breadth between them. Acutely aware of each second that shifted into life between them, Charlotte brought her hand away from his shoulder. Her fingers curled into his intricate hair, digging into the locks as if they could anchor her crumbling emotions.

Ranese tilted his head into her touch. His eyes closed, a slow, heavy breath escaping his lips.

"What will satisfy you, Lotte?" he asked. "What do you want from me?"

Her heart and brain stuttered in sync.

What did she want from him?

Ice clutched her chest. She wanted her family. She wanted her country. Her freedom.

She wanted her knight-in-shining armor safe in her arms. She wanted to clutch him close and feel his heat.

She wanted Ranese bleeding at their feet as she told Ian the crimson camellias he'd found were the perfect flower for their wedding.

"Just you."

His breath stilled.

Then, within a heartbeat, the hand that held hers clenched to an almost painful degree. Without a word, he released her hip and spun around, pulling Charlotte across the dance floor. Nobility skirted out of their path as he cut through the ballroom, ignoring the confused and knowing looks tossed their way. She flushed, knowing exactly what thoughts were flashing through the minds of the court.

The second Ranese dragged her onto the balcony, however, all embarrassment fled her mind. She could only think of how hard her back hit the palace wall, and how the stone dug into her chilled skin as Ranese towered over her. His forearm settled above her head. An impossible expression took his face as it neared her, leaving the smallest space between them.

"Think again," he told her. "Think once more, before you give that answer. You can live like a ghost in the concubine's palace. A forgotten princess allowed to live by my mother's grace, wed to a monster, but never required to see him. Your hands can be clean of the blood that drenches this throne. You can hate me in peace. Picture my death bed and smile. See the ghosts of your countrymen and return their stares with a guiltless mind.