Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey [36]
"Sidonie." I held out my hand to her.
Beyond her, Barquiel L'Envers was watching us, arms folded over his Akkadian robe. Sidonie ignored him. "You do keep your promises, don't you?" she mused.
"I do," I said. "Yes.”
She gave her gilded spear to Amarante of Namarre and took my hand. I led her onto the dance floor. The musicians were playing a galliard. I wished it was a slower tune. I wished half the room, including L'Envers, wasn't watching us.
"You look absurd, you know." Sidonie touched the ragged neckline of my tunic, her fingertips brushing my skin.
"Do I?" I asked, not caring.
Her lips curved. "No," she whispered. "Not really.”
We drifted closer toward the far end of the floor, dancing beneath the looming form of the Winter Queen's mountain, its hidden opening closed once more. The musicians ended their tune and shifted into the opening bars of a quadrille. Lines of dancers began to form, a dense wall of costumed backs presenting itself.
"Here." Tugging my hand, Sidonie darted behind the mountain.
It was dark and cramped and wonderful. We stared at each other; masked and unmasked, rag-clad and golden. I caught her other hand, pinned them both against the false mountainside, pinning her there with my body. Our fingers interlocked. My blood was roaring in my ears, and I could see the pulse beating in the hollow of her throat. I couldn't see her eyes, only dark glimmers behind the radiating sun-mask.
"Sidonie." My voice sounded raw and strange.
Her head tilted and our lips met.
Wrong, so wrong! And ah, Elua! Glorious. I felt her lips, impossibly soft, part and I made a sound I'd never heard before. I kissed her, and it was a delirium of kissing; avid mouths, darting tongues. It felt as thought it could go on forever, more and more and more, all of it new and undiscovered. Her mask scraped my cheek, and I didn't care.
I pressed harder against her and felt her shudder, our intertwined fingers spasming. Deeper and deeper, I kissed her. If I could have crawled down her throat, I swear to Elua, I would have.
"Sidonie!”
An urgent hiss. She tore her mouth away from mine, gasping. I leaned my brow against the mountain and groaned.
"L'Envers is on the lookout, cousin.”
A different voice; Mavros, wry and warning. I let go of Sidonie's hands and stepped back, breathing hard. My body was one single quivering ache of desire. Mavros glanced over his shoulder, then beckoned to Sidonie.
"Here, your highness. Quickly.”
She adjusted her mask, then took his hand. He led her around the curve of the crag, shielding her gilded figure with his height. My legs were trembling, and I sank down to sit, resting my back against the mountainside.
Amarante looked down at me. "Prince Imriel?”
"Give me a moment." I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes.
"It's all right now." Her voice had regained its usual composure. "Anyone who noticed will think it a foolish game, nothing more.”
I dropped my hands and squinted at her. She was arrayed as Spring, in a gown of pale green with a crown of flowers. I knew the costume. Sidonie had worn it last year. "It's not, you know. A game.”
"I know." Her mother was the head of Naamah's Order. Of course she knew. And I had asked for Naamah's blessing, knowing the risk. I was at the mercy of my own desire. Genuine desire, fierce and real. I was an idiot.
We waited until the musicians began a stately pavane, then slipped back onto the dance floor. By the time the dance ended, my pulse was nearly normal and I felt steady on my feet. I thanked Amarante, who merely nodded and went to find Mavros.
"Shall we go?" he asked.
"I think we'd better.”
I made my farewells. The royal family was together. Alais, who was beginning to look sleepy, hugged me and kissed my cheek. Sidonie and I exchanged cordial nods. She was as cool as ever, her back as straight as the spear she'd reclaimed, but the sun-pendant on