Chapter 39: The Dance Competition

The Dance Competition

Roxanne walked into breakfast with Isla the next morning, still replaying yesterday’s rehearsal and hoping the whole dance situation could stay simple from here. It didn’t. A large announcement lit up the academy screens the second they sat down, declaring the Founders’ Festival Royal Dance Competition, pairs performing before the entire academy and visiting packs, with special recognition waiting for the winners at the closing banquet.

"Absolutely not," Roxanne said, staring at the screen.

Isla laughed. "You haven’t even seen the prize."

"I don’t care if they give the winners the academy."

Liam appeared behind them before she could finish complaining. "Good news. We’re taking the academy."

"We’re?"

He pointed toward Kai. "You and Tall, Dark and Terrifying over there."

Kai looked completely unbothered by the whole exchange. "We’ll win."

"You sound very confident."

"I am."

"What if I’m terrible?"

His eyes stayed on hers. "You’re not."

The simple certainty in his voice caught her off guard, and Liam ruined the moment almost instantly, cooing about how sweet it was that they already believed in each other. Roxanne threw a napkin at him without missing a beat.

After classes, she met Kai in the dance hall expecting a normal rehearsal, but he told her they were starting from the beginning again.

"Again?"

"You want to win, don’t you?"

"I didn’t say that."

He raised an eyebrow, and she sighed, admitting she did, in fact, want to win. They began the routine, and Kai turned out to be far more demanding than the day before, correcting her foot placement, her timing, the angle of every turn.

"Are you always this difficult?"

"Yes."

"You weren’t yesterday." ℯℯ𝑙.

"Yesterday you were learning. Today you’re competing."

She glared at him but kept going, since it was clear he wasn’t pushing her this hard just to create tension between them. He genuinely wanted her to win.

They reached the final section, a complicated turn where Kai caught her mid-motion and guided her through a sudden change in direction, and she hesitated every single time, failing the movement over and over until she stepped back, frustrated.

"I can’t do it."

"Why?"

"Because I don’t know where you’re going."

"You don’t need to."

"That’s not exactly reassuring."

He stepped closer. "You’re trying to control every movement before it happens." Her expression shifted, because he was right. She’d been doing that since Dorian, since Arabella, since the fall, always trying to see everything coming so nothing could surprise her again. "You don’t have to know what’s coming every second," he added quietly.

"Easy for you to say."

"Then trust your partner."

The word landed differently this time, settling somewhere deeper than the last time he’d said it. "And if I fall?"

"I won’t let you."

She didn’t know why that tightened something in her chest, but she nodded and told him to go again.

This time, she stopped anticipating him entirely and simply followed. One step, a turn, his hand at her waist, another turn, and then he caught her exactly right, landing the sequence perfectly. Neither of them moved for a second, standing exactly as they had the day before, except this time she wasn’t uncomfortable. She wasn’t looking for an exit. She just trusted him.

"There," he said quietly.

"I did it."

"I know."

"You’re supposed to congratulate me."

"I’m impressed."

"That’s better."

A small smile crossed his face right as the door burst open and Liam walked in with Roshan and Lucien trailing behind him.

"How’s our future champion?"

"Why are all of you here?"

Liam pointed at Kai. "He stole you for two hours."

"You were told rehearsal started at four," Kai said.

"I don’t read schedules."

Lucien immediately took charge, asking how rehearsal was progressing, while Roshan listened to the music playing and frowned. "That song doesn’t suit Roxanne."

"You know anything about dance?"

"I know what you’re good at," he said, suggesting a different arrangement that would give her more room for faster footwork. Liam insisted they needed something more fun in the routine, and Lucien told him they didn’t need to turn it into a circus, and within seconds all four of them were arguing over the music.

"Do you four ever agree on anything?" Roxanne asked.

"No," Liam said.

"Rarely," Roshan added.

Lucien sighed. Kai simply said, "Not really."

Roxanne laughed, and for a moment she wasn’t thinking about Dorian, or Arabella, or any of the whispers that had followed her here. She was just standing in a dance hall watching four ridiculous brothers argue about music, and she liked it more than she wanted to admit.

During the break, Isla caught her smiling and pointed it out immediately.

"No, I’m not."

"You are."

Roxanne looked toward the boys, thinking back to how strange everything had felt when she first arrived here, certain she’d spend the whole time completely alone. Now Liam stole her food constantly, Roshan remembered everything she liked without being asked, Lucien trusted her with real responsibility, and Kai made her feel steady in a way she hadn’t expected from anyone.

"I didn’t think I’d have friends here," she admitted quietly.

"You have more than friends," Isla said, smiling.

"Don’t start."

Isla laughed, but Roxanne’s smile stayed exactly where it was.

At the next rehearsal, Joanna arrived with her own dance partner, having entered the competition herself. She approached Roxanne directly.

"So you’re actually competing."

"Looks like it."

Joanna’s eyes flicked toward Kai. "I hope you understand this isn’t another popularity contest."

"Good," Roxanne said simply.

"Good?"

"Because I don’t need popularity to dance."

A few students nearby reacted, and Joanna’s expression tightened before she walked off without another word. Kai looked at Roxanne afterward.

"You didn’t have to answer her."

"I know."

"But you wanted to."

"Maybe," she said, and his mouth twitched at that.

Their final rehearsal came together perfectly, every turn smooth, every beat landing exactly on time, and when Kai caught her during the final move and they held the pose, the instructor called it flawless and told them not to change a single thing. Roxanne let out a breath.

"Still think this was a bad idea?" Kai asked.

"Ask me after we win."

"Fair."

That evening, students crowded around the competition board to check the official pairings, and Roxanne pushed through until she found her own name listed beside his.

Kai Moonstone and Roxanne Silver.

Joanna’s pairing sat just beneath theirs, and the whispers started immediately, some students already rooting for the Moonstones, others betting on Joanna instead. Roxanne stared at her name sitting next to Kai’s, and a few weeks earlier, seeing her name paired with someone else’s would have dragged her straight back to Dorian.

This time, it didn’t hurt at all. It excited her.

Then she noticed him across the hall, staring straight at the board, specifically at her name beside Kai’s. Their eyes met for a moment, and Roxanne didn’t look away first.

She simply turned back toward Isla and the four brothers, realizing something she hadn’t quite let herself see before. Dorian wasn’t the person she worried about anymore.

He was the person watching her move on without him.

And Roxanne walked away smiling.