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He held her hand high in the air as he paraded her around the circle, easing his way back to the center. The instruments picked up, and then they danced. Laurince spun her around, his palms light on her ribcage and a smile on his face.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Sir Laurince?” Kallie asked, grinning.

“A chance to dance with my future queen and make my best friend jealous?” He spun her around, laughing. “I am having the time of my life, Princess.”

Kallie couldn’t help but chuckle along with him.

When the spinning stopped, he pulled her closer. His hand was on the center of her back, his face shielded by hers. “And to be chosen first? Before Sebastian? Oh, he is never going to let me live this down.”

The song increased in volume.

Kallie arched a brow. “Is there something I should know about him, Laurince?”

Throat bobbing, Laurince leaned forward, preventing anyone from reading his lips. “May I speak openly, Your Highness?”

“Always, Laurince.”

“Sebastian has always been . . .” Laurince hesitated, his voice barely even a whisper now. “Jealous. He believes his title as second son and captain is enough to have anything he wants.” Laurince gave her a pointed look. “Besides, of course, when his brother gets to it first.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Kallie asked. The Captain of Rian’s guard had barely said more than a few words to her since she had arrived in Frenzia. For him to give her this insight into the king’s brother without her even using her gift on him? Something was amiss.

“Rian’s a good man, but he often ignores what is right in front of him.” Laurince spun her away and quickly reeled her back in. “Be careful, Princess. Sebastian is not one to be taken lightly.”

Kallie offered a small smile. “I think I can handle myself, Laurince.”

“I do not doubt it, Your Highness.” Then his gaze turned serious. “Even still. While he respects his brother’s title, it hasn’t always stopped him from pursuing his desires.”

Laurince spun her away from him, and Kallie’s hand slipped from his and into someone else’s before she could respond. Her conversation with the king’s guard disappeared into the air as Trenton appeared before her.

The Kadian smiled and spun her around. As the song picked up, Kallie spun from one man’s hand to another. Her dress glided through the air as she was swept across the floor, the diamonds on her shoulders rattling against each other.

The lord from Ragolo grabbed her hand and immediately twirled her. Once, twice, three times. In the blur, the whisper of a grin graced her face. Laughing echoed around her. Soon enough, she couldn’t even identify the men’s faces, their time with her blurring past her faster than she could recognize them.

How many men had she danced with already? Four? Five? She had lost count. She was swept into the music and the motions of the dance. The chaos of jumping from partner to partner intoxicating.

First, the room was spinning. Then, the room was upside down as Lucien dipped Kallie low. She giggled, her smile wide.

She couldn’t remember the last time her cheeks hurt this much. Her disinterest in the dance before it started was a distant memory. How could she have disliked this?

At least, that was what she thought before she was thrust back up and into the hands of the next dance partner. Her body knew who it was before she did, and the joy washed away as the air shifted. Her smile faded.

When she looked at the man in front of her, Kallie wanted to run as the smell of smoke overtook her senses. Sebastian’s green gaze bore into her skin. Unlike the other men who kept a respectable distance between themselves and Kallie, Sebastian used the momentum of pulling Kallie up from the dip to pull her closer to him. The places where their bodies connected burned, and Laurince’s warning echoed in her mind as the music thrummed louder. Sebastian’s closeness made her want to break the connection before his flesh melted into hers. Because the way Sebastian stared at her, the way he held her gaze, and his left hand kept inching lower and lower down her back, gave her the impression that Sebastian wished to own her. Control her.

This was not how a man should dance with a woman about to marry another man. Especially not one who would soon be said woman’s future brother-in-law. But that fact did not appear to be a concern for Sebastian.

He pulled Kallie closer.

Kallie searched for a helping hand, her gaze landing on Rian sitting at the head table. However, the king was not looking at her. No, instead of watching his betrothed like the rest of the crowd, he was listening to his mother, who had since claimed Kallie’s unoccupied seat.

Then, as if he felt Kallie’s eyes on him, Rian glanced at her, and Sebastian’s hand lowered even further. An emotion flickered across Rian’s features but disappeared almost as fast as it came. The king returned his attention to his mother.

Did Rian not see how his brother’s gaze bore into Kallie’s flesh? How Kallie’s body had gone rigid the moment her hand fell onto Sebastian’s palm? Was Rian that oblivious? Or did he not care? Was this the whole purpose behind this wretched tradition? For the other men to see what they could not have—to tease and taunt them?

And in that second, Kallie knew then who Rian would be in their relationship if Kallie didn’t take control—if she didn’t continue to manipulate him. She would become the crown’s shadow, never truly seen but always there.

Rian might have beengood, but he would never be her savior. He would never interfere in traditions, never make a stand to protect her. He would ride the line in between, never steering too far off the path to avoid disturbing the natural order of things.

Rian was a traditionalist, while Kallie, on the other hand, wanted to tear apart those traditions. And that was why they would never work. A kind man or not.