Page 53 of Untamed

“It’s all right. The storm’s calming. Shh, shhh, shhh.” Laude squeezed my clammy hand. “Did you have a nightmare?”

Frenzied breaths rushed between my lips. I managed to scoot up to relieve the weight over my chest. My heart’s thumping on my breastbone subsided. I tugged at the chain around my neck and pulled out the pocket watch. Flecks of light shone around the edges. This dream had to have been from the relic. I pressed the slick latch, and it opened with a click. The Himzo tune chirped within the mechanism.

“Is that what I think it is?” Laude hopped into my bed and neared the watch. “It is. This is the pretty song Zichri likes to sing.”

“It’s a relic.” I lowered my head, unsure how she would respond.

“What? Like the one in the tome?” A strange note hung in her voice.

“I think it gives me night visions.”

She gasped. “What did you see? It’s the one that shows you the future, right? No, I don’t want to know. Okay, tell me. Wait. Does Zichri know?”

I chuckled, but my heart squeezed with worry. How could I tell her she’d be captured by pirates and burned on the shoulder?

Laude sparked a flame on her index finger. The firelight danced in her eyes, revealing an eagerness that couldn’t be brushed off.

Inhaling a gulp of air, I answered, “Zichri doesn’t know yet, but I’ll tell him tomorrow morning. A strange lady gave me the gift, and it’s the same one Lady Myla took from me to give to Mamá on the day of my ceremonia. Do you remember?”

She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t remember, but I was so focused on your hair and dress and the suitors. Wait … I thought the relics were all accounted for?”

“That’s why I was looking at you during the meeting.”

“To think, I thought you needed to break the tension between you and Cosme.”

A real chuckle tumbled from my mouth. “I probably needed that too. Now, go to bed. I’ll be fine.”

Laude hesitated to move.

“Promise you’ll keep this a secret?” My voice came out in a whisper.

“You needn’t ask.”

The next day arrived. Dull light shone through the singular window as Laude and I readied to meet Monserrat and the king and queen. Today we’d be in the hands of those ready to betray us. Worry wove in my stomach and made breakfast impossible to swallow.

Once La Lavia docked, Laude and I waited in the ship’s darkened corridor for Cosme to escort us off. Through the closed door, we could hear rain pelting the decks. Would Monserrat call for our arrest? Had she changed her mind about being a friend to Giddel? Huddled in silence, we stewed in our own thoughts.

“How did your lessons with Whyzer Uly go?” Laude asked.

The markings along my arms pulsed, the gift begging to be released. “We haven’t talked about my gift, have we?”

She bit her lip, contrite. “Sorry, Princess. I guess my mind has been full—”

“Beatriz,” I corrected her. “We’re by ourselves, and you’re my best friend. Please skip the formalities and call me by my name.”

“Yes, Beatriz. As you say, Beatriz.” She wrinkled her nose in disapproval. “It feels too odd.”

“You once called me Cicadas. I think my name ought to be an appropriate alternative now that we’re even better friends. Wait, we never agreed to that name.” I wracked my brain for the fake alias we devised. “You called me Cypress.”

Laude’s perky cheeks drooped with an expression I couldn’t place.

“And as for your question about my lessons, I made progress.” I allowed a trickle of warmth to swoop from my elbow to my fingertip. A trace of a glowing line reached out to Laude and twirled around her shoulders, bringing back a heavy helping ofguilt. I flinched and wound the energy back into my grasp. “So long as I can tame my emotions, I can control how much power I release … I hope.”

Laude’s eyelids drooped with compassion. “You should consider allowing your gift to run freely. I don’t know anyone who focuses so hard to contain their gift.”

“It’s complicated.” I crossed my arms. “Would you please check why Cosme tarries?”

Two servants in green vests and white puffy sleeves barged in from outside, marched through the passage, and entered our room on La Lavia. One of the men called to us from the other end of the hallway. “Are these the only trunks?”

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