85 Something Special

ELIA

As it turned out, the feast wasn't over. She'd thought their speeches—her choices—were the end of the night. But it was only the end of the formal traditions. Once she'd arranged to meet with Candace, Aymora, and Gahrye the following morning, and they'd taken their seats at the podium table, she turned back to Reth, still feeling shaky at the response from the people. But he'd ignored the tension and taken her hand. "May I have this dance?" he said, his eyebrows up.

Elia blinked. "Dance?"

There was music playing, but she hadn't noticed any dancing until Reth nodded towards the crowd and she saw that the people had moved the tables from the center of the market back to the edges, and now they all sat and stood around while couples and individuals began to leap and sway in the dirt at the center.

Elia loved to dance, but she wasn't very good at it. And she'd never seen dancing quite like this.