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A pipe let out one long, aching note that sang across the lake. Then a lyre joined in, its notes running fluid and sweet. Beneath the dance of wind and strings, a drum took up a beat that fluttered, then began to throb.
On opposite sides of the lake, there came two shimmers of light, one white and one red, as if the moons had touched the ice. When the gleams cleared, Queen Alea and Queen Soteira stood where the two lights had been.
Alea extended both her hands toward Soteira, as if reaching for her. Soteira held out her hands, beckoning. They hardly seemed to walk as they closed the distance between them with weightless Hesperine steps. When they met, they joined their hands, holding fast to each other.
From here, Cassia could see the expressions on the Queens’ faces. They exchanged a smile as if enjoying a private jest. Alea’s gaze sparkled with delight like a young lover’s, and Soteira’s warmed with devotion.
The song’s luring strains plunged into a powerful, passionate melody unlike anything Cassia had ever heard, and the drums beat a compelling rhythm that must make anyone within earshot long to move. She caught her breath as the Queens began to dance.
They were indeed the image of Hesperine Grace. Beauty in motion, darkness and light playing together and worshiping each other. In Alea’s movements, Cassia caught glimpses of familiar Tenebran dance steps, which blended fluidly into motions that could only be Hesperine. Soteira seemed to set the drums’ pace, rather than follow it, with her feather-light footwork. She swept her hands gracefully out at her sides as she moved her hips in a swift, nimble rhythm. She must bring her own ancient Imperial traditions into this creation of hers and her Grace’s. Hesperines must wonder to behold the timeless steps year after year, and yet each time, the Queens’ dance must be unique, as they improvised it anew for every Grace Dance.
The Queens’ dance brought them body-to-body once more, and they rested their faces upon one another’s necks. The Hesperines waiting on shore responded as if to a well-known signal. Graces both ancient and young joined the Queens upon the ice.
But every couple stood around the edges of the lake, not yet joining the dance. They parted their circle to make way for someone. Alkaios escorted Nephalea out onto the ice. Cassia and Lio joined everyone in a cheer and a round of applause.
The Graces of Orthros waited for Alkaios and Nephalea to begin their dance first, before commencing their own patterns upon the lake. Mak and Lyros levitated out onto the ice together and charged into the dance. They moved with the power and elegance of warriors, as if each knew how the other would move before he did so, with their hands or shoulders or bodies always touching. Kadi and Javed sailed past, laughing, looking as much like newlyweds as new parents. Konstantina had never appeared so relaxed as she did now, swaying in Adwene’s arms.
“Hmm,” Cassia observed, “I don’t see any sign of your aunt and uncle.”
Lio’s chest shook with laughter against her shoulders. “It looks like Uncle Argyros and Aunt Lyta really were mightily in need of a night without the children. I think they skipped to the private dance.”
As they watched the dancers, the music seemed to wrap closer around Cassia and sink under her skin, and she realized it was Lio’s magic. Their friends standing within arms’ reach seemed far away. She felt she and Lio were enfolded in their own little world, alone in the crowd.
He swayed on his feet, rocking her in his arms. “Next year, my love, we too shall craft our own dance to that music.”
“And the year after that.”
“And the year after that.” He placed a kiss on her neck.
“When I think of how much time we have ahead of us, the time we spent apart does not seem so terribly long after all.” She took a deep breath, drinking in his scent and the smells of Orthros. “My whole mortal life will begin to feel like the blink of an eye.”
“And all of this trouble will keep fading into our past until it seems like nothing more than a bad dream.”
“How quickly you have transformed everything, my Hesperine. When I think about how different our lives were only a year ago…”
He huffed a laugh. “I stayed only until the second dance to watch Mak and Lyros share their good news. Xandra and I stood on opposite sides of the lake. Then I went home and spent the rest of the night packing my bags for Tenebra. In hindsight, an entirely appropriate activity for Grace Dance.”
“I lay awake the night before Winter Solstice debating with myself whether or not I should risk manipulating the king into taking me to court during the Equinox Summit. My temptation to meet a Hesperine proved too powerful, and I spent your Gift Night on a few little machinations to make sure I would be at Solorum when you arrived.” How frightened she had been then. How unknowing that her reward for risking the king’s retribution would be the Hesperine who now held her.
Lio wrapped his arms closer around her. “From now on, there will be no room in your thoughts for a shred of worry, only for pleasure, and no room in your heart for fear.”
“Only love,” she answered.
The first song came at last to an end. The Graces on the ice drifted to a halt, and applause went up all around and across the lake once more. Cassia felt Lio’s magic release her.
He moved to stand beside her and took her hand, gazing down into her eyes. “The next dance is for us.”
She touched a hand to his chest, feeling her braid and the betony charm beneath his robes. “I am so proud to pledge myself to you before our people.”
He kissed the palms of her hands. “This is one of the best nights of my life. I would saythebest, but there is the night we met…and the night we first made love…and the night you told me you love me…”
Happy laughter bubbled out of her, and then the music began again, catching hold of her spirits and lifting them still higher. The drums set the pace for the second song, faster than the first, full of possibilities. The pipes and horns announced the dance with a thrilling flourish, and the lyres and harps, as if braiding their notes together, interwove the sensuous melody and harmony.
The Graces on the lake retreated, leaving plenty of room on the ice for new dancers to join them. The onlookers upon the shores waited, murmuring. Out on the ice, Mak and Lyros appeared to be battling the urge to come over and drag Lio and Cassia onto the lake.
She glanced around and asked him quietly, “Aren’t there other couples sharing their happy news?”
“Grace is just that precious. We may be the only ones who have discovered it this year.”
