The Return Of The Exiled Villain

The musicians had already started a slower piece.

Not the bright second dance Aurora had pulled him into, and not the old court waltz he had shared with Seraph.

This one was meant to be a complete slow dance.

Evelyn lifted her right hand.

Gray took it.

His other hand settled at her back, just below her shoulder blade.

She stepped into closed hold as if she had done it a thousand times, which she probably had.

For a woman who ruled the North, she moved with no stiffness at all.

They started in a basic box.

Forward with his left.

Her right slid back to match.

Side. Close. Back. Side. Close.

The pattern was simple, but Evelyn did not dance it like a lesson. She kept her frame firm, chin level; her eyes were completely on him instead of the floor.

Gray led her through two full boxes before turning the figure into a progressive waltz, carrying them down the line of dance along the edge of the open floor.

"You looked like you needed saving," Evelyn said.

"I didn’t."

"You accepted in a second."

Gray turned her with a gentle pressure through the hand at her back.

She followed into a natural turn, her deep-blue gown sweeping around his legs as they rotated.

When they came out of it, he sent her into an underarm turn.

Evelyn passed under his raised left hand, her fingers trailing along his palm, then returned to closed hold without breaking time.

"I’m asking because I’m curious about something," she continued.

"Have you planned something for today?"

Gray did not say yes.

He did not say no either.

He only guided her through another natural turn, then a change of direction that brought them closer to the center of the floor.

Evelyn’s mouth curved at the lack of an answer.

"I thought so."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You didn’t have to," she tilted her head to the side.

"Today’s banquet is not only a celebration of the Exchange. It is meant to make the engagement official. Seraph and Prince Aerion. The whole court knows, and so Seraph herself should know that. And yet she walked in on your arm."

Evelyn’s smile turned faint.

"Interesting, isn’t it?"

Gray answered by spinning her.

The turn was clean.

Evelyn’s gown flared, gold light sliding over the dark blue fabric, and when she came back he did not return her to a normal closed hold.

He stepped behind her instead, both hands settling at her waist, and they shifted into a slow side-to-side sway.

From the front it still looked formal enough.

From close up it was something else.

Gray’s chest was at her back.

Her head stayed high.

They moved together in small, even steps, left then right, the music keeping them there longer than a standard figure should have lasted.

Nobles near the floor noticed the position.

A few of them looked twice.

Gray leaned in just enough for his voice to reach her ear.

"And if I do?"

Evelyn’s smile did not fade.

He spun her out of the hold before she could answer.

She turned once under his hand, dark-blue fabric lifting, and he caught her again on the next beat, drawing her back into closed position.

Her palm landed against his shoulder while his hand calmly returned to her waist.

"Nothing~," she said.

"I just wanted to confirm my thoughts."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, still smiling.

"Though there’s something we still need to talk about."

"What?"

"Your engagement with my daughter."

"No. I’m not getting engaged anytime soon," Gray replied flatly.

Those words made her face go cold in a single instant.

One moment she was almost playful.

The next, the Northern Duchess was looking at him as if he had put a blade on the table.

They kept dancing, though.

Gray led her through a promenade, both of them turning to face down the floor, then closed the position again.

Evelyn’s frame remained perfect, but her eyes did not.

"Don’t you know?" she whispered.

"Mermaids can only have a single love. Even if it is forced, they will only love one person in their entire life."

It was clear what she was talking about.

Selene.

But Gray did not let her finish the thought the way she wanted.

"Is that right?" he interrupted.

Evelyn’s fingers tightened against his shoulder.

Gray’s tone turned mocking, quiet enough that the nearest pair would not catch every word, clear enough that she would not miss any of it.

"Then why are you preying on your daughter’s only guy?"

The last bar of music landed.

They separated just enough for the ending bow.

Gray took her hand again, dipped his head the proper degree, and released her with the same courtesy he would have shown any other partner.

To the rest of the hall, it looked like nothing more than the close of a dance.

Then he spoke, still standing close enough that only she would hear him.

"For a mermaid to truly fall in love, one needs to surrender her true name to their partner... which seems that you did not do."

Evelyn’s eyes sharpened.

Gray continued as if he were only making a polite observation.

"I was getting a little curious about a mermaid’s lust, since it usually overflows when they meet their loved one... but I couldn’t feel a single ounce of lust from you."

He held her gaze for a second longer.

"...Strange, don’t you think?"

He backed away immediately after those words, leaving her standing on the floor with the last of the music still fading around them.

Gray went straight back to the corner where Aurora and Seraph were waiting.

Aurora had a glass in hand and a look that said she had enjoyed the show.

Seraph’s expression was more careful. Both of them had watched the dance with Evelyn, and both of them had seen how it ended.

"That did not look like a friendly turn around the floor," Aurora said.

"It wasn’t," Gray replied.

Seraph glanced toward the Northern Duchess, who still had not left the edge of the dance floor.

"What did she want?"

"Something she isn’t going to get."

Aurora hummed, clearly tempted to push further, then let it go for the moment. Her eyes moved to the dais instead.

"The greeting is done. The first dances are done. If this follows the usual palace order, the announcement should come soon."

Seraph’s fingers tightened around the fold of her gown.

"I know."

"Prince Aerion has been watching you since you walked in," Aurora continued, lowering her voice.

"Your father too. They’re waiting for the hall to settle before they make it official."

Gray took a glass from a passing tray and did not drink.

"Let them wait."

Seraph looked at him, then at the Emperor and the Elven Prince on the dais.

The two men were speaking again, heads inclined toward one another. It had the shape of a conversation that was almost finished.

"Once he stands and calls my name, there won’t be a clean way to step back," Seraph said.

"Then we don’t let the night stay clean," Gray answered.

Aurora smiled at that, but before she could speak, the great doors opened again.

The doorman’s staff struck the floor harder than before.

The sound cut through the hall at once. Conversations broke off. Several nobles turned, expecting another late house or a minor foreign envoy.

The doorman’s voice carried farther than it had all evening.

"The delegation of the Crimson Court."

The reaction was immediate.

A woman near the side tables dropped her glass. It did not shatter, but the wine spilled across her glove, and she did not even look down.

Someone else whispered the word before the rest of the hall could catch up.

"Vampires..."

They entered in a line of three.

The one at the front wore black and deep crimson, a high-collared coat cut with old-world precision.

His skin was pale enough to look wrong under the chandelier light, and his eyes were a dull, living red.

The two behind him were similarly dressed, their presence colder than any noble who had walked through those doors tonight.

There was no heavy killing intent, or an open display of power. They did not need it as the hall already understood what they were purely by their appearance.

Shock moved through the court in a visible wave.

A few hands drifted toward hidden weapons and then stopped, because drawing steel in front of the Emperor would have been suicide.

On the dais, the Emperor rose.

He did not look surprised at all.

"Welcome," he said, and his voice was warm enough to make the hall freeze a second time.

"The Crown is honored by your presence tonight."

The lead vampire smiled.

It was a polite smile, almost gentle.

"Your Majesty. The honor is ours."

The Emperor smiled back.

’Just as I thought...’ Gray thought, frowning slighly.

’They really invited Vampires to the banquet...’