Chapter 17

Soon after dinner was finished, the newlyweds cut their wedding cake. It was served to each table and seemed to have raspberry filling, which Ian was convinced contained blood. I just nibbled on mine and avoided the filling, in the rare case that he was right.

A lot of guests made it out to the dance floor, where a DJ played a surprising variety of music.

Stanton turned to me and Ian. "After a few more songs, I think we can request to be taken back to our hotel. We've done our due diligence."

"Great," Ian responded, relieved. He quickly realized how informal he sounded and added, "Thank you, ma'am."

"Excuse me." I turned at the sound of a too-familiar voice.

Oh no.

Adrian stood next to our table with the most innocent and formal expression he could muster. I could see the mischief in his eyes.

He smiled. "I hope you're enjoying the wedding."

"We are." Ian responded in the most unfriendly tone I had ever heard from him.

Adrian acted as if he didn't notice. "Great." He continued smiling at us. "I understand that your presence here is about more than just enjoying a wedding, but also about helping cement the good relationship between moroi and alchemists."

I tried not to frown. Where is he going with this?

"Of course," Stanton responded. "Alchemists and moroi have had a great working relationship for centuries."

I didn't miss Stanton's placement of the word 'working' within her response.

He nodded. "Exactly." He turned his head to look at me. "Would you care to further cement centuries of good relationships between our kinds?"

I was confused as to what he meant until he extended his hand towards me.

I froze. He's not seriously asking me to dance, is he? Especially not in front of so many people!

Adrian lifted his eyebrows towards me, as if asking me again.

Only then did it seem to process for Ian and Stanton, that he was asking for me to dance with him.

Stanton cleared her throat.

"No, she can't." Ian responded, turning red.

"Why not?" Adrian asked in a calm voice.

"She can't, she…" Ian looked at me. "She doesn't want to," he finished.

Adrian looked at me. "You don't want to? It would send a nice message to see an alchemist and a moroi dance. You know, for political reasons."

Stanton glanced my way. "It's up to you, Sydney." She looked nervous as if I were making a life or death decision. For her, maybe that's what this was.

If I said no, I could look like someone that's not a 'team player'. However, saying yes meant that I'd be dancing with Adrian.

Everyone was waiting for my response.

I took a deep breath. "Sure. Okay."

Ian opened his mouth but a stern look from Stanton had him closing his mouth and turning even more red.

I stood up and let Adrian lead me to the dance floor. They were playing a slow song and he wasted no time putting his hands on my waist. I had no choice but to put mine on his shoulders and sway with him. I tried to keep as much distance as possible, though. Which admittedly, wasn't much.

"What do you think you're doing, Adrian?" I asked under my breath, in case anyone was close enough to hear.

"I'm just helping cement centuries of great relationships between alchemists and moroi."

Annoyed, looked away from him and noticed that it seemed as if the entire room was staring at us. I quickly looked back in his direction. I wasn't able to handle being under so many watchful eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently.

"Everyone's staring at us."

He looked around. "Huh," he said as if noticing everyone for the first time. "Then let's give them a bit of a show."

Before I could react, he twirled me.

A twirl! Admittedly, a very graceful twirl.

"I didn't realize you knew how to dance." I wasn't able to keep the surprise from my voice.

"Dance lessons are basically a requirement for all royals." I nodded and he pulled his face closer to mine. "Thanks for the compliment."

I couldn't stop the blood that rushed to my cheeks and immediately tried to change the subject.

"How have you been doing?" I asked him, genuinely curious.

"I'm okay. Ready to be done with my semester at Carlton."

I was so surprised, I almost missed a step. "You're still taking classes?"

"How else am I supposed to get an art degree?"

"You're finishing the degree?" This time I did skip a step without meaning to.

Adrian slightly tightened his grip around my waist to help balance me.

"You okay?" I simply nodded in response.

"Well," He continued. "I promised someone that I wouldn't give up, so now I just can't. Although if I'm honest with you, I don't want to give up. Don't tell anyone, but I kind of enjoy classes and the structure of college."

"Wow." I was almost speechless. I was definitely impressed by his dedication and the passion he clearly had for his art.

I cleared my throat. "Well, I'm glad."

"Maybe one day you can get a degree too. You know, live out your college dreams."

"Hm. Unlikely." The way he was looking at me. Like he believed that I could do anything. It was making me feel uncomfortable. Like there wasn't enough air in the room. I needed to change the subject again. "Thanks for the flowers, by the way. I know it was you."

He smiled. "You mean you don't have dozens of other admirers that would have sent you such a creative and personalized gift?" I couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips.

Without meaning to we just swayed in silence for a few seconds, just smiling at eachother. I was lost in the gentle sway with the music and the greens of his eyes.

"You're welcome." He said, finally breaking the silence. "I was trying to keep my distance but I also wanted to remind you that I was here and I still care, if you ever changed your mind."

"Adrian, you know we can't-"

"I know," he interrupted. "That's why I asked you to dance. I figured the chances of seeing you again are slim, so I wanted to take advantage of the last moments I may have with you."

I'm not sure why, but his words drew me up short. The finality of our relationship dawned on me just then. Would this really be the last time we ever saw each other?

The song ended and I wasn't able to let go for a few seconds.

"Do you want to dance to one more song?" He asked me, gently.

"Huh? Oh. No, that's… that's not necessary." I reluctantly pulled away from him. Last time I was in his arms like that we were kissing. It made me feel more alive than I had ever felt in my life. Followed by the most scared I have ever been in my life.

He stepped away from me and gave me a ridiculous bow. "Thank you for the dance. May I escort you to the bar?"

I was so dazed that I didn't even respond. I simply followed him to the bar.

I ordered a diet coke and he ordered a regular coke. I raised an eyebrow at his non-alcoholic order.

"What? I'm trying to help Jill enjoy her night." He nodded his head towards her and I glanced in her direction. She was on the dance floor with Eddie. They seemed to forget that there was anyone else in the room with them.

"How is she doing?" I asked with a smile.

"She's good. She lives here now, and her place is very close to mine. Also, she's dating Eddie now."

My head snapped back towards Adrian. "Really?" He nodded. "Wow, finally."

"Yeah, I agree. Some people just seem to be destined for one another."

I chose to ignore the potential secret meaning behind his words and glanced back at Jill and Eddie. They were slow dancing but Jill was resting her head on Eddie's chest as they swayed to the music. She had her eyes closed and a smile that seemed to be a permanent resident on her face. Eddie was also smiling and every few seconds he would glance down at Jill. He sweetly kissed the top of her head and I looked away, feeling as if I was intruding in a personal moment between them.

"Are you okay?" Adrian asked gently.

"You seem to be asking me that a lot tonight." I said, looking down at my drink. After a few seconds of no response from him, I looked up to find him patiently waiting for me to continue.

"I'm fine," I told him in a voice that sounded unconvincing even to myself. He simply raised his eyebrows in response. "I should go back to my table…"

He nodded. "I'm really glad I got to see you, Sydney. Thank you for dancing with me."