Page 11 of Untamed

Jaime shook his head. “Her coming might risk them being kept apart even longer. Remember King Ezer’s proclamation?”

“Yes, but it seems so unfair. And how am I ever going to face Beatriz after spending time with everyone when she should be here too? Please?” I pressed my palms together as if praying.

“There would be consequences.” His words rattled my crumb of hope.

Then, I jumped off the stool and thanked the Ancient One that I was a nobody for the first time ever. Don’t get me wrong. I still would have done anything to be someone’s child or sister or to have a permanent role in life. But I took solace in being able to attend a friend’s wedding with no political implications attached.

Andcielos, was it a fun time! At the main plaza, the Himzo palace hovered on a peak above a large, rectangular space full of ladies and gentlemen wearing their finest attire in bright shades, as if attempting to copy tropical birds. Lamps had been lit in every window, and strips of white curtains hung like clouds from buildings and pillars.

We squeezed between groups of people who were chatting in tight knit circles and enjoying empanadas and figs. I held fast to Jaime’s shoulder, scared we’d be separated by the throng. Milo and Zichri seemed to be playing a game of hide and seek. The groom would show up beside Prince Zichri on the platform and then chat with guards at the palace entrance. I turned around again and caught them mingling in the crowd. All over the place.

Enthusiasm vibrated through the air like a palpable force. Now, my only concern while zigzagging through the plaza was my bladder knocking for relief. I shouldn’t have had several glasses of water before leaving Milo’s estate. Making it to the front, Jaime searched the platform ahead and the palace entrance behind the podium.

In front of the palace, musicians played the Viola de Gamba with shawms, flutes, a harp, trumpets, and tambourine girls. A trumpet blasted a staccato melody, and ladies hooted through the crowd, drawing me into the merriment. Dresses swayed as the ladies lined up in rings that grew smaller as they reached the center of the square, forming something that must have looked like a target from a bird’s view.

Jaime leaned close to my ear. “They’re doing thejarabeHimzo to kick off the festivities. At the end, each woman chooses a suitor for the next movement.”

The tambourines clapped and jangled, the trumpets roared, and a melody swam through the plaza. Ladies twirled and stepped. They shifted their hips side to side with their hands held elegantly to the sky. Many of the damsels smiled toward the crowd. One girl, with slick black hair and the beauty of a mermaid, winked in Jaime’s direction. I grabbed tighter to his arm, but she blew him a kiss anyway.

Jaime laughed and pressed his lips to my forehead. “The next hundred dances are yours.”

“And what about the hundred after that?”

“Those are also yours.” His deep voice smoothed over my annoyance at his laughter about the mermaid girl.

“Good. I might need that many dances to learn your steps.” I crossed my legs, feeling the urge to relieve myself even more. “So, the water is going straight through me. Do we have to go all the way back to Milo’s?”

“No, there’s a palace entrance not too far off.” Jaime led the way across the bustling street and weaved around the crowd.

We reached the palace gate where lines of guards stood, outfitted in black garb with golden sigils the shape of a mountain-lined horizon.

Blas hopped into view, smacking a stony-faced guard on the back. “Come on, good compadre. You know you aren’t going to keep Prince Zichri’s entourage out of the palace.”

Gonzalo’s face appeared above Blas’s, as if to suggest he were the muscle behind Blas’s words.

Stony face opened a door in the gate entrance without so much as a crack in his expression, as if this were the most dreadful of tasks. Jaime smiled at me, as he gestured for me to enter.

“You know we can’t let you do all the tramping around the palace.” Blas clicked his tongue with a grin that said he was coming along no matter what.

Gonzalo lumbered behind us in silence and scanned the premise with a focus beyond the casual glance. His hands remained at the hilt of his sword.

Jaime leaned closer. “It’s best if they join us. We’re not sure how safe the palace is these days. Prince Zichri resides elsewhere and visits sparingly.”

Those words brought little comfort, but if I didn’t make it to a privy chamber or a chamber pot, I might make a mess of myself on the street.

Jaime had failed to explain that reaching the first floor of the palace required a trek halfway up the mountain. My toes pinched from the long walk, and my thighs begged for a break. By the time we fled into the dim servants’ door, Jaime said, “The privy chamber is the last door to the left. Watch your step in the dim light. They must have turned out most of the sconces for the night.”

“I’m a living torch. I think I can handle it.”

“But giftings won’t work until most of the relics are gone.” Jaime tapped on my index finger.

Raising my finger with the pale, swirling lines that marked my gift, I let the energy surge from my palm to the fingertip. The lines illuminated in golden orange, like my skin was made of bronze. As the power reached the tip, the glow flickered a weak flame that barely extended past the end of my fingernail.

“What in all Agata? Why don’t powers work here? Never mind. I can handle the dark. And it looks like there’s one sconce lit at the end.” My feet sped down the hall, driven by a growing need.

“We’ll wait on the balcony.” He gestured to the opposite end of the long passage.

Thank the Ancient One for a clean facility. This must be a special quarter for servants, but with the festivities, no one remained on the floor. I exited the chamber to the dim passageway and let the familiar tingle of power spark on my fingertip with the tiniest flame alight. So strange.

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