Caius entered like a secret—hips swaying to music only they could hear, feathers trailing behind like a living firework. The peacock dancer. Every jewel on their costume caught the torchlight, casting it back with a challenge.

But it wasn’t the court he danced for. Not the nobles perched on marble seats, not the drummers chasing their rhythm.

It was the prince.

The prince sat still, unreadable, carved from obsidian, watching with eyes that burned a little too quietly