A Sprinkle of Stardust

Chapter 20 - Waltz

"This is a nice place to think, isn't it?" asked a voice, mellow and buttery like sunlight.

Lyrani knew that voice. She had lain awake the previous night, replaying its warm laughter and the way it said her name.

She had been buried so deeply in her thoughts that she hadn't heard King Nash come up behind her.

"It is." Lyrani turned to see the king within arm's reach of her.

The sun shining from above moved with him like a spotlight, drawn to him by his likeness to it.

The king's honey eyes glittered in the brightness of his tunic. He usually wore his shoulder-length mahogany hair loose, but today it was pulled back to flaunt his sharp cheekbones.

If he had snuck up on Lyrani without her noticing him, could he have overheard her argument with Trelle?

She studied his face for any signs that he had. There was nothing, no narrowing or his eyes, no suspicious tilt of his head, just a slight smile curving his mouth, a smile Lyrani tried very hard not to return.

She was safe. If King Nash had figured out the truth about her and the previous night, he would've thrown her in his dungeons already. He wouldn't show her mercy, just like he hadn't to the other assassins he had caught in the act.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lyrani.

This lunch was in celebration of the king's birthday. That was where he should be, not in the middle of the forest with the last person he should trust.

King Nash shrugged, not a very kingly gesture. "I got bored, so I came away from the lunch party for a few moments."

Lyrani raised her eyebrows. She had heard of dutiful kings, ever smiling, ever generous with their celebrations, but she had never heard of kings who wandered away from engagements when the mood struck them, especially events being hosted in their name.

"You're not a very good king."

King Nash smiled at that. "I'm a person too, Lyrani."

That was something the stories never seemed to mention. Behind a title and a role, there was a person with the same needs and feelings as any other, a life as full as anyone else's. Lyrani had seen that with her previous targets, the lovers who mourned them, the children who missed them. The only way she could justify the lives she was tainting was by remembering that there were more she was saving.

King Nash held Lyrani's gaze, his bright eyes steady.

Every time they spoke, Lyrani saw more of King Nash's layers, even peeled away some of them the previous night. It made her want to get closer even though she knew she shouldn't, like a fly buzzing near a carnivorous plant.

The haunting melody of flutes floated into the clearing like the woeful voice of the wind. The violin played its first chord.

The surrounding trees tried to dampen the music with their wide trunks, but it trailed between them, riding the air. Lyrani closed her eyes, losing herself in the beauty of the sound.

She had forgotten about the world around her when the king's breath brushed against her ear.

"Dance with me, Lyrani."

The strangely intimate sensation sent pleasant shivers through her.

Lyrani offered her hand to him before opening her eyes. King Nash took it gently, the movement like an embrace. His other hand rested on her waist, soft but sure. She placed hers on his shoulder.

His tunic's sunlight fabric was warm against her palm. He smiled at her before their feet began to move in a simple rhythm he knew well and she was starting to remember.