"Where did you learn to dance like this?"
Lucavion received the question without disturbing the rhythm between them. His hand guided Elara through a shallow arc, their joined fingers rising as the Court Variation carried them between two other couples, and only when she returned to him did he answer, "Before entering the Academy, of course."
Elara studied his face. "Really?" Lucavion met her doubt without yielding a fraction of the lead. "Really."
The confidence would have been more useful if dinner had not supplied several witnesses against it. Caeden had described Lucavion's attendance at the preparation lessons as occasional, while Toven had been less diplomatic and claimed that Lucavion once left before a pairing lesson acquired any pairs. When the others attempted to arrange a review before the examination, he had refused that as well.
