The dance between Ulrich and Airam continued with a smoothness that would have looked almost elegant to anyone watching from the edges of the ballroom.
Only the two of them knew how much resistance still ran beneath it.
Despite the sharpness of their earlier exchange, despite Airam telling him plainly that she would never trust him and never become as open toward him as Esther or Hermione, she still kept to her role well enough. She followed when she had to, adjusted when the steps demanded it, and hid the strain of their conversation behind a composure most adults in the room would have struggled to maintain.
Ulrich did not care much for her words.
Airam had begun with far worse.
