Page 27 of Surfaces
8
I wasn’table to speak with Lizza at all yesterday. The tournament had flown by, Felipe confirming Keelan’s worst fears and showing everyone else up in the joust. His swordfish had rammed right into the middle of his opponent’s armor, making the siren backflip through the water, my chest tumbling right along as I’d stared at Felipe and tried fiercely not to acknowledge how turned on I was.
All of my guards had cheered loudly and been puffed up with pride the rest of the day over the scores and the fact that one of their own won the entire joust.
“Didn’t even have to try,” Ugo would tell anyone who’d listen. My orange-haired mer guard also often added, “I taught him everything he knows. Man can’t piss without asking me which way the current’s blowing.”
Paavo, poor man, had been more than ready to escape Ugo’s incessant second-hand bragging by the time Felipe returned to his post. I couldn’t help but notice my favorite guard had a little bit of a glint in his eye and a swagger to his tail.
I’d wanted to compliment him and thank him profusely, but all I could manage was a quick nod and a “nicely done,” because Mayor Deacon’s arm was around my shoulders as he carted me off to see yet another important merchant.
Sahar and Mayor Deacon had insisted I visit several of the finest establishments in Reef City the second that the tournament had ended and they kept me swimming, tiring out my fins, until moonrise.
There was a money lender with a giant painted sand dollar outside his establishment. He’d been a shark shifter who smelled of roasted eel and smiled far too cunningly for my liking. But he’d been just a part of the whirlwind of people I’d met. The head of the mining commission had been a jelly shifter with tentacles for hair. He’d greeted me with a grin that showcased two missing front teeth and then tried to lead me into the caves to display all their work searching for gemstones.
It had nearly triggered a panic attack for me, being back in the dark amongst nothing but rocks, drudging up memories of my kidnapping. Luckily, Sahar had made some excuse aboutherclaustrophobia and gotten us out of that mess; now we sat on couches in his office and spoke over warm cups of seagrass tea.
After that, I’d visited the reef’s scavenger association to see all of the treasures collected from trash washed into the ocean. I’d been forced to admire several bedpans that had been repurposed as soup pots, handles welded on by local blacksmiths. Worst of all, when we escaped from that meeting, there was no one to share my horror or amusement with because not one of them knew what a bedpan was, and I longed for Mateo.
But I couldn’t visit him.
No, there had been shops to visit, merchants wanting to discuss taxes and trade. Even the weaver’s guild had asked us to stop by so they could show me the latest in seaweed tapestries.
Finally it was over. My wings ached fiercely because there had been very little opportunity to walk in Reef City. The rainbow-colored reef buildings were entered and exited by a variety of holes and gaps in the reef that could be anywhere, including in the ceiling. That made for far more swimming than I was used to.
When we returned to Mayor Deacon’s mansion to prepare for the evening’s farewell dinner, I wanted a shoulder rub and a nap.
But Gita trapped me in a chair for an hour so that she could paint my face with bright orange stripes up the bridge of my nose. She carefully swirled her brush and created fins that fanned out dramatically around my violet eyes, applying the most elaborate face makeup I’d ever seen.
She was careful with every detail, edging the orange in red, then using gold to fill in the spiny fins, along with tiny little diamonds that she magically adhered to my forehead. She added dramatic yellow and orange blush, painted my lips a bright red and edged my eyes in pitch black khol when she was finished with everything else.
I was enthralled by my reflection; I looked like I was attending a masquerade.
My dress was a gorgeous burnt-orange tulle that faded to gold at the ends. It hinted at translucency in the most alluring of ways and I felt absolutely radiant in it, particularly when Gita had gathered up my golden hair into a netting of gold and sparkling tangerine jewels.
For a moment, I perked up, certain that the night would be full of fantastical dancing and romance with my competitors.
It wasn’t.
While the scene itself was magical—Deacon’s ballroom was full of enchanted floating candelabras from the scavenger association and the candles danced with flames as the waves caused by dancers made them swirl and dip; a foot of water at the base of the room was dyed a deep purple by Deacon’s mage for ambiance; giant seahorse ice sculptures framed all of the entryways—I was stuck politicking until the wee hours and my gorgeous dress had been completely wasted.
I ended the night with cheeks that were as sore from smiling as my shoulders were from all the swimming earlier.
Such was the glamorous life of a queen.
I woke determined not to let the same be true today.
We were traveling to Navagio for the next competition and I was going to ensure that I got to speak with several competitors, damn it all. Now that I wasn’t dying, I was incredibly invested in who I’d end up spending the rest of my life with. I couldn’t afford a mistake.
Mateo was a given—I’d use my single exception for him each round if necessary. Keelan was a shoo-in since his stand-in had won the joust and he currently led the pack. Watkins was … unfortunately inevitable, though I spent a good long minute daydreaming about locking him up in a tower, like some damsel, from one of the fairy stories before the kingdoms of Sedara were cursed with a low birthrate for women.
I could just picture him brooding and pacing in his tower, chipping away at it and trying to throw bits of glass at passersby. But I’d magically control the current around him so that anything he threw out of his tower window came zooming back in to smack him in the face.
I wondered briefly if I could do that, control the waves in that specific a manner, before deciding I didn’t even care if I could. It made for a deliciously satisfying fantasy. Watkins hadn’t done anything but glower in my direction last night, as if I’d initiated that kiss instead of him.
Idiot.
I shook my head to clear it of the angry haze that always came on whenever I thought about that shark shifter.
