Page 60 of Untamed

“Do all the royal families have an inquisition upon arrival?” he asked.

A servant filled my glass with magenta colored liquid.

“What is this?” I asked the servant.

“Wine.”

“Would you get me a glass of hibiscus water?” I peeked at Zichri, searching for any hint of annoyance at my extra request.

“Could I get a glass of hibiscus water too?” Zichri asked.

The servant departed.

Zichri leaned over my shoulder. “Good thinking. We can’t be sluggish on the job.” His full lips set in a playful pout.

We laughed together. The deep sound of his voice pleased my ears and took some tension off my shoulders.

Once we’d settled, I had to ask, “How did you and my brother unite?”

His expression sobered. “Minerva.”

I stilled, trying to control my lackluster feelings about Minerva. Though she was nice and courteous, her relationship with Cosme baffled me. She had all his respect and confidence while I couldn’t steal a peanut-sized chunk of his regard.

“You made the face,” Zichri whispered with a playful lilt.

“What face?” I tugged on my collar, suddenly self-conscious.

“The one where you suck in your cheeks and pout. The look suits you well. I take it she hasn’t won you over.”

“She certainly has not.” I veiled my mouth with a hand and pitched my voice low. “She flirts with my brother all day long. How did they meet? Who is she? Who are her parents?”

He chuckled.

I smacked his bicep. “How is this funny to you?”

“You've avoided Minerva the entire trip thus far, besides when you nearly pushed her offLa Lavia.”

“I did not.”

“Perhaps if you got to know her, you’d come to like her.” Zichri kept his round, brown eyes trained on me.

Seconds passed before I finally looked away and met Monserrat’s stare from the high table. She tilted her head behind her toward the balcony.

“I’ll be right back.” I stood even though a question pinched on Zichri’s forehead. “Don’t worry. I’ll be out on the balcony.” A glimpse at Laude, pointing at the entertainers filed at the entrance, stopped me from asking her to accompany me.

My boots raced along the marble floors as I made my way to the arched openings behind the royal table. I glanced around. A middle-aged lady with long black curls strode to the center of the room in a crimson gown. Her hands shone with golden light. I stopped, curious.

The lady lifted her arms, and a legion of stars tumbled from her person and flung to the ceiling. A gasp caught in my throat. She was a skilled illusionist, making Minerva’s exhibition seem pitiable. The dome above our heads had the appearance of a clear night sky, stars swarming overhead.

“Once, long ago, deep in the pits of a dying land,” the lady’s raspy voice boomed, “the seven royal children were led by a whyzer through a portal to a new world.” She parted her curved fingers, forming a rippled pool of light behind her. The lady’s thin silhouette paced to the edge of the light. “They entered the Agata Sea world with the relics to protect against the forces of evil that chased them.”

Silhouettes of children rushed across the light. Black smoke curled at the ceiling and grew into dark clouds, covering the illusion of the night sky.

Monserrat grabbed my wrist and yanked me outside. “You might catch a horde of gnats with your mouth hanging open like a fish.”

I snapped my mouth shut and let myself be dragged out onto an enormous balcony. Monserrat strode to the center and placed her palms on the balustrade, somehow maintaining impeccable posture. Her gossamer white skirt fluttered with the sea breeze. I stood by her side, watching her sorrowful profile. Waves smacked rocks beneath us and slurped as the water returned to the sea. The noise masked our words and kept me leaning in close to Monserrat.

The flow of energy poured through my veins and lit the vines along my skin. My fingers instinctively curled into fists. The temptation to prod Monserrat’s emotions trickled into my mind like chocolate drizzled on fruit.

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