Page 52 of Untamed

Cosme glanced at Laude and flinched at her expression. He shook his head. “Laude and Beatriz, you two need to make sure I’ve surveyed a room before you enter. I promised Papá and Mamá to keep you both safe. Should anything go wrong, Minerva will teleport you home. No entering rooms without approval. Got it?”

“So, I need to be your shadow at all times in Aracibel?” I cringed even while asking the question.

“You’ve grasped it well.” Cosme continued, “Prince Zichri provided us with information about his brothers traveling in this direction. If we’re in the Ancient One’s favor, we’ll get a hint of the missing relic. Any questions?”

Minerva dipped her head. Fermín tapped his long fingers on the table, and Lucas nodded in agreement. Zichri leaned back.

I had to ask, “Why don’t we just follow the map that Mon—” I met Laude’s gaze, gasping for air, and she bobbed her head in return.

“Of what map do you speak?” Ignacio cleared his throat.

Cosme pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s fake.”

“How do”—I inhaled to keep the curse at bay—“you know?” I leaned on my elbows.

“I’ve studied every map of the Agata Sea and have traveled those waters before.” Cosme pinned me down with his intense focus. “Those islands do not exist, and we need to burn the original when you get to Aracibel or that curse will remain.”

Firelight flickered, illuminating Fermín’s and Lucas’s raptured attention on Cosme. Zichri nudged my side and lifted a placating hand as if to say let it go.

“Fine.” Still pushing words past my swollen throat, I asked, “What happens if Monserrat accepts your betrothal?”

All eyes focused on me, but I kept my attention firmly on Cosme.

Cosme didn’t flinch. “She won’t. Time for bed.”

A beat passed where none of us moved. It was as if the air had been sucked from the room, and no one dared to breathe.

In silence, we slid off the benches and meandered into the passageway. My last couple questions seemed to have breached some sort of rule between those at the table. Zichri and Cosme lingered longest by the door, speaking in hushed tones. Had they settled as being on the same team? Was Zichri apologizing for my abrupt manners?

“Beatriz,” Lucas leaned his head close to my ear, “I’ve been wondering that exact same question about Cosme and Monserrat.” He pulled away at one sharp look from Zichri.

Lucas walked away, head bent low. His nervous manners were off-putting, but he had justified my thoughts. Now, as he turned a corner, my curiosity about him perked like a child handed a lollipop.

Laude swooped to my side. She held her index finger high, a steady flame alight on her finger pad. “We’ve got some work to do.”

In that instant, I felt a part of the Dotados. I had a role to play, even if it was ever so small.

Chapter 23

Beatriz

That night the shipswayed and dropped on stormy waves. I clung to my covers, shivering. Sleep wouldn’t come fast enough, even though I had been exhausted after the meeting.

Laude lay on the bed across from me, facing the wall in silence. I took that to mean she had fallen asleep, though I couldn’t tell. Sickness rolled in my stomach and threatened to come up my throat.

I clung to the neckline of my nightgown. The pocket watch pressed up against my skin, knocking. For all I knew, it could have been my heart hammering or my imagination spinning with worries lodged into my soul. But my whole chest rattled until my eyelids eventually crashed downward.

The dreamworld illuminated brighter than I had ever seen it. I stood on the foredeck of La Lavia,pressed against the railing,looking ahead. The seawater wrestled with the ship as storm clouds brewed dark skies above. Zichri’s arm grazed my elbow. I hadn’t noticed him before, but he remained ever near. Gusts of wind tousled his hair, and prickles of beard shadowed his square jaw. The anticipation on his face reflected my own sentiments. But why?

La Lavia cut through the water toward what looked to be simply more open water. That was, until the gray sky rippled around us like we had been dipped into thick, invisible liquid. I twisted around to find Minerva at the bow, stretching her arms to the heavens. Light shone from her neck and through the woven fabric on the back of her dress.

As we crossed the mysterious threshold, the skies ripped apart into brilliant light. A ship with black sails appeared before us. A woman in a yellow dress with fiery-red hair stood on deck: Laude. A tall man in the robes typical of the whyzers stabbed at her shoulder with a burning staff. She shrieked in pain and fell to the ground.

I screamed. “Nooooo!”

“Princess, Princess?” A hand grabbed my wrist.

My eyes flickered open, and the silhouette of a curly-haired person loomed over me in the dark of night.

---