Page 66 of Crimson Kingdom
“You knew I didn’t mean this one,” she sighed.
I bit back a laugh. She hated getting muddy, and I doubted she was thrilled about being carted around like a sack of potatoes.
“Can you blame me if I want an excuse to have my gorgeous wife pressed up against me?” he asked, eliciting a soft laugh from her.
Evander cleared his throat in what felt like a pointed manner, and I studiously ignored him.
Uncle Finn was overseeing the event this year, so it was his voice that called for us to take our places. We headed to the starting line while he announced the rules, which were largely obvious.
I stepped behind Evander, and he lowered himself enough for me to throw my arms around his neck. Then he put one firm hand under each of my thighs, bringing them around his waist.
And I had a moment of pure, intense, instant regret for choosing this competition.
Truthfully, the idea of a piggy-back ride hadn’t seemed intimate in theory.
But the reality…
The reality was the warmth from his fingers that seeped all the way through the fabric of my dress.
The reality was my head on his shoulder, my lips inches from his ear.
The reality was that I had an unreasonable urge to close that gap, to put my teeth on his earlobe and see exactly how he reacted to that.
Before I could contemplate that too thoroughly, the whistle sounded, and Evander took off.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
We did, in fact, win the wife-carrying competition. Oli and Jocelyn came in fourth, but they were both laughing as they crossed the finish line.
Which made four of us. Even Evander couldn’t fight back a chuckle by the time we were both spattered lightly in mud, surrounded by the cheers of the onlookers.
All in all, that had been a success.
Lanterns flickered to life around us as the sun blazed with fiery shades of pink and orange and purple. A smile tugged at my lips. I had waited all day for this part of the Summer Festival.
The village dances.
While the dances of the court were generally somewhat restrained, the village dances were always far more spirited. The first one was led out by my parents, who always acted like teenagers at the festivals.
Sure enough, only a few notes in and they were giggling, my father pulling her close to whisper something in her ear that made her blush with happiness.
Everyone applauded as the song ended, smiles on their faces as my parents bowed and moved away from the clearing.
The musicians had only played three simple notes before my younger sisters started squealing, along with plenty of other girls. It was a dance for the women, and another contest of sorts.
Blair ran for Avani, and Bronwyn came to me, dragging us to the center of the dance space. Gwyn, Mamá, Isla, and Taisiya were already in one of the lines, leaving us to join the one in front.
The twins looked happier than I’d seen them in a while. Avani looked less thrilled, but a smile still tempted the corners of her mouth as she watched Bronwyn and Blair.
I looked up in time to catch Evander’s bemused gaze before the music picked up speed. Then each of us was a blur of movement clapping our hands and stomping our feet in time with the music before launching into a series of kicks and fast-paced twirls.
All of this was done in synchronicity with the line of women behind us. The twins had clearly been practicing and were doing a decent job keeping up with the others around us.
After the tension-filled day and the constant attempts to ignore the rumor mill, dancing with my sisters was like a breath of fresh, exhilarating air.
Laughter sounded all around us as the tempo increased. Each dancer moved faster and faster in an attempt to keep up. The ones that couldn’t rushed away from the dance floor, cheering the rest of us on.
By the time the song ended, only Avani, Gwyn, a handful of villagers, and I were left standing. The crowd roared with approval, and we fell into each other, panting and laughing.