A Moment

Selene stared at her blankly.

Elyra, undeterred, continued. "You don't need to be delicate. You don't need to fake refinement. You just need to own the space. Show them something they've never seen before. And you can do that. Something unforgettable."

Selene's fingers twitched.

Unforgettable.

She could still see the dancers in her mind's eye, the way the firelight had caught the gold threads of their tunics, the way the drums had pulsed beneath their feet like a heartbeat.

A dance of warriors.

A dance of something long lost.

She exhaled sharply and shook her head again. "No."

Elyra let out an exasperated sigh. "Selene—"

"I said no."

There was something in her voice that finally made Elyra pause. A sharp edge.

Selene's shoulders were tense, her hands clenched. She wasn't arguing. She wasn't debating. She was done.

Elyra studied her for a long moment. "Why?"