Roarke's eyes met Shar's as she drew close and let him lead her out onto the dance floor.  The Sidhe, light and dark alike, gave them a slightly larger circle of space than most couples as they moved across the floor, but that was too be expected of them.  The eloquent and intricate steps of formal dance were not what Roarke would have preferred, and he could only imagine that Shar would have likewise taken quite readily to a more lively dance.  But this was a formal ball and that was not how proper Sidhe behaved.<br/><br/>"So far, so good... perhaps I should stumble to see if you hold true to your words."<br/><br/>His lips quirked at her words.  "Now, now... you say that as if I would find it an arduous task to<em>properly</em>entertain a lady of your grace and beauty," he answered with a light chuckle.  Then they turned and he dipped her with as much flair as one might be allowed in a formal dance before bringing her back up and briefly close enough that he could have kissed her if he wished.  And as they were so close, he added in a low whisper, "I believe in a court where such as we would not be avoided by those who think themselves better and will do whatever I must to see it made reality."<br/><br/>She had not asked, but he had no doubt that she wondered why he'd placed his oath and support behind the Seelie princess rather than Aria.  And despite his feelings for Dawn, at the moment he was suddenly very acutely aware of how close Shar was to him, and of every contour of her body that touched upon his own in that moment of nearness.  Beads of sweat glistened upon his forehead that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room and a stirring low in his belly and between his thighs came unbidden and suddenly upon him.  And the span of a heatbeat that he should have held her before moving back came and went with her still drawn against him.