Copyright 2012, Pippa Jay All rights reserved, Lyrical Press, Inc. Brilliant flashes of multicolored lights burst and bloomed like flowers in the sky, drawing him onto a small balcony outside. He stood in the shadows and watched them in fascination, the night air cool on his skin and the wind stirring his hair. His quarters overlooked the stone bowl of the plaza in which they had arrived, a deep crater in the craggy mouth of the mountain that cupped the shell-like palace. Even in the glow of the illuminated sky, he could see nothing below the crater's rim or the landscape beyond, all of it hidden by night's dark mantle. The stars were white pinpricks, dimmed to insignificance by the explosion of lights and veiled by a mixture of smoke and wispy clouds. Amidst the noise and flashes, the sound of movement drew his gaze aside. Quin stepped out onto the adjoining balcony to lean nonchalantly on the ledge and admire the show. The display forgotten, Keir immersed himself deeper in the shadows and watched her instead. Quin had unbound her hair, which now formed a wild red halo around her face. The formal robes had been exchanged for a short black slip that ended mid-thigh, and a long-sleeved robe of black lace. The gentle curves of her slim figure showed through the fabric. His eyes strayed to the white skin of her legs, like fine marble shaped and smoothed. What would it feel like to touch? Cool like stone? Or warm like velvet, soft as silk? Unease tightened his muscles, and he tried to pull his gaze away. A Salusian woman would never expose herself like that. But she does not know I am here. I should not be looking. Even as he thought it, even as he berated himself for it, his gaze drifted back. A smile arched her lips as she watched the skies, as enchanted as a child. A stronger gust of wind brushed the hair back from her face and folded the satin cloth of her outfit taut around her figure. A sudden sense of elation overwhelmed him, combined with