Free Promises (Book One of The Syrenka Series) by Amber Garr

fan
themselves.
    Once we got to the bottom of the
stairs, Kain kissed his father on the cheek and then placed his arm
on my back. We walked to the center of the room and he said, “It is
an honor to be here. We are bound by duty and family to protect the
clans, support the people, and further our existence.” He nodded
his head and I gave a small curtsy. This was some formal tradition
that has been continued throughout the centuries. A syrenka swears
duty to the merfolk and basically promises to procreate and
protect. It seemed quite a bit outdated to me, but at least they
didn’t make us take a blood oath anymore.
    I vaguely remember hearing Daniel
Phillip Zane being introduced, but before we knew it, the
formalities were over and the dancing could begin. It was overtly
proper at first; with waltzes and foxtrots. Most of the younger
syrenkas stayed off the dance floor at this time, but unfortunately
I managed to grab someone’s notice.
    “ May I have this dance Miss
Dumahl?” a man about my father’s age asked. He had golden blonde
hair pulled back into a low ponytail that fell down his back. His
light blue eyes were almost grey and completely lacking any shine.
I looked up to Kain and he just gave me a slight shrug. He wasn’t
going to stop me…or save me.
    “ Um…okay, sure.” I held out
my hand and he ushered me to the dance floor. The music was
classical and it seemed to be another waltz. “I don’t know how to
do this,” I said, suddenly aware that people were going to be
watching me.
    The man laughed and pulled me into the
correct position. “Don’t worry, I’ll lead.” His large but soft hand
clasped mine and the other went behind my lower back. His hold was
forceful but not too strong that I felt uncomfortable. We began to
move around the floor, following the few other older couples still
dancing.
    “ My name is Lucian
Sutherland and you are Eviana Dumahl, correct?” He already knew my
name, so I was a little perplexed with his question.
    “ Yes, I’m Eviana.” We made
a few more turns and weaves before I continued. “Am I supposed to
know who you are?”
    “ Oh no, I wouldn’t expect
that,” he chuckled. “I knew your mother a long time ago, so I
wanted to have at least one dance with her beautiful daughter.”
Something about the way he said that made chills develop along the
back of my neck. “Your parents didn’t come?”
    I shook my head, trying to avoid any
type of eye contact with him. “No, they didn’t. Mr. Matthew is my
sponsor anyway.”
    “ Ah yes, the Matthews.” He
stopped speaking so suddenly I had to look up. There was something
about the Matthews that made my dance partner very
uncomfortable.
    “ You know Harlan and Kain
then?” I pushed forward.
    “ Yes, I know them very
well.” That was all he would say. It was subtle, but I noticed that
his muscles had tensed and he no longer tried to speak with his
usual smoothness. At one point I tried to find Kain to give him the
signal that I was done dancing with this man, but I was saved by
another Matthew instead.
    “ May I cut in?” Harlan
asked. Lucian’s hand clamped around mine almost to the point of
causing pain. I flashed him a glare and he instantly let go and
composed his face again.
    “ Certainly,” he replied
kindly. “It was a pleasure, Eviana,” he said and then raised my
hand to kiss it gently. Something was strange with him, but I
couldn’t figure it out. Harlan pulled my attention away from
Lucian’s retreating figure and set me back into a waltzing
position.
    “ Stay away from that man,”
he said.
    “ Why?”
    “ He is very bad news,
Eviana. His family is a disgrace to our kind and I’m not even sure
what his intentions were tonight. He doesn’t usually accept the
invitation.” We started to dance again, but the moves were slow and
small. Harlan was using me as more of a support system than
ballroom partner. After a few minutes, and just long enough to make
sure that Lucian was out of