Serafina and the Splintered Heart by Robert Beatty

Author:Robert Beatty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2017-07-04T04:00:00+00:00

Serafina watched helplessly as Braeden and Rowena walked slowly and formally out onto the dance floor among the other dancers. It was clear that he didn’t recognize who she was, but he seemed strangely drawn to her.

“Not her, Braeden!” Serafina shouted. “Anybody but her!”

Serafina tried to figure out what she could do to stop them. Could she create a blast of air to send all the musicians’ sheet music flying from their stands and halt the orchestra? Could she splash the water in the fountain onto all the dancers and send them running?

Rowena leaned toward Braeden and spoke to him in her lovely high-society Southern accent. “I was so positively petrified by the thought that no one would ask me to dance this evening,” she said, meeting his eyes with hers. “You are a fine gentleman for rescuing me.”

Rowena was acting so sickeningly sweet that it made Serafina want to scream her throat out.

She knew that Rowena was trying to trick him, but she didn’t understand her plan. And what was Braeden thinking? Why was he doing this? He had no idea who this girl was! Was he going to dance hand in hand with every creature that slithered in out of the forest in a nice dress and fancy hair? And with the brace on his leg, his dancing was going to be a painful, clumsy affair at best.

But before Serafina knew it, the two of them faced each other in a ceremonial fashion. As was the custom, Braeden put his white-gloved hands behind him and bowed deeply to his dance partner. When it was her turn, his lady did a slow, deep curtsy to him, with one leg out in front of her, her head bowed, and her arms elevated beside her like the wings of a graceful swan. What on earth! Serafina thought.

And then the two dance partners came together, holding each other in a formal and decorous fashion. Their dancing started out slow and easy, synchronized with the gentle overture of the orchestra’s music and the movement of the other dancers, but when the waltz rose up to its full tempo, they began to move more swiftly, turn and turn and turn and dip, sweeping across the dance floor with astounding grace and beauty.

It made Serafina’s heart sink to watch it.

She had no idea Braeden knew how to dance like that. What amazed her even more was that he could move so smoothly and effortlessly with the brace on his leg. He normally dragged it along behind him, barely able to walk, but here he was gliding with the music of the waltz, like his feet were barely touching the floor.

Then Serafina looked down at his feet.

It was difficult to detect, even for her narrowed, suspicious eyes, but when she looked very carefully, she could see an unnatural glint beneath his feet. He wasn’t dancing. The sorceress was pulling him along, literally sweeping him off his feet with her power and deceit. But poor Braeden had no idea.

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