Gideon froze in his steps, eyes wide, as her soft words reached him. She couldn't know he was coming to ask her to dance, could she? No, the healer reasoned swiftly: her gaze was focused somewhere else, and, indeed, the pretty young woman did not seem to have noticed him at all. Though a bit deflated by this realization, a tentative smile still lingered on his lips as he spoke.

"Friends of yours, Miss?" Gideon asked.