Page 28 of Surfaces
I tried to think about the others in the tournament…but I just wasn’t certain. I had no clue who I could choose. I needed to get to know them more. Valdez and I had a vital, very lusty connection…but would a pirate ever be able to become a courtier?
I mulled over each of the remaining candidates as I sat at my dressing table, eating a breakfast of shrimp and sea snails while Gita plaited my hair for travel into this ridiculously elaborate weave, humming a love song while she worked.
When I finished my breakfast, I watched her in the mirror. She created three small braids on either side of my head and then wove them with other parted but unbraided strands of my hair until the back of my head looked like a soft blanket, the ends dangling free. She paused and gestured for me to grab a hand mirror off the dressing table so that I could see the process halfway through.
“You’re a hedge witch with hair,” I declared, before realizing it was a sky breather compliment and might not make much sense to her.
But my maid only smiled and said, “Yes, I know. But now, tell me what’s bothering you. You’ve had the most serious look on your face all morning.”
“I don’t know who should win the tournament yet, and that bothers me.”
“You’re only one competition in. There are still three to go.”
“Yes, but there are only twenty men left now.” I didn’t bother adding that four of the twenty didn’t even want to be there, leaving only sixteen true competitors. Out of those, I’d need at least four good men. Maybe five. And I had three picked … but narrowing down the others felt impossible.
Gita tilted her head in thought, staring at me for a moment in my dressing table mirror. “What about that squi-shifter? Basil, I think his name is? I’ve heard he’s really good at spearfishing, which is hard to do. He’d mingle well with all the men at court who like hunting.”
I shrugged and didn’t mention that my insides instantly recoiled. My only experience with the squi-shifter thus far had been an argument he’d gotten into with Julian about science while I’d been trapped with the two of them in my carriage. It wasn’t the best impression. “If I pick Julian, then I certainly couldn’t pick him. Those two are like oil and water,” I mumbled, thinking. Would it be better to have someone who could mingle with courtiers or a man who had rather odd, albeit possibly useful, beliefs? “How do the servants feel about science?” I asked.
“Which man is that again?”
I pressed my lips together to smother a laugh. “Not a man. A concept Julian’s fond of. Life without magic.”
“Oh, well. Um, I don’t think many would like that, you know. Life’s hard enough with it, can’t imagine how much harder it would be without it.”
I nodded and let the subject drop. “True.”
Gita fiddled with my hair a moment, finishing off one of the braids and tying a tiny ribbon around it. When she did speak again, she said, “Hmm… Well, Humberto is quite…dashing.” Her cheeks grew pink. “I mean, all of the maids talk about him.” She quickly looked back at her work, plaiting my hair with a slightly rougher touch than before.
Suspicion started forming inside my head, but it was completely unaccompanied by jealousy. Strategically, I knew the cardinal fish shifter who’d saved us on the road was the popular choice. He just wasn’t my first choice. But it seemed like my maid might be interested … I decided to test the waters.
“Yes, he’s very brave.”
“Oh, he is. I nearly fainted on the road when those criminals came after us. But then, quick as a flash, he was there.”
“It’s like a fairy story out of childhood,” I agreed.
She nodded and a wistful sigh escaped her lips. “Isn’t it? He’s like one of those squi-shifter knights from theMoonlight Tidal Tales.”
She was smitten.I was right!
I mulled over the revelation a bit as she continued to plait my hair. While I knew that Humberto would be a strategic match, I’d always wanted a love match for myself. I’d grown up dreaming about one as a second-born princess. Did Humberto really deserve anything less? Gita was fun and sweet. If she and Humberto were a match, he’d still be around. Maybe I could hire him.
I hemmed and hawed a bit before I cleared my throat to get Gita’s attention and make my proposal. “You know, Humberto is very fond of boots. Perhaps you could slip down to the kitchen after you finish my hair and get him a few for the road today.”
Her eyes widened as she glanced up at me and I worried I might be pushing a bit too much.
“Humberto is sweet,” I confessed, “but I can’t marry them all. And a hero as grand as he deserves a woman who swoons over him.”
Her eyes dipped and she shook her head. “A shifter like that would never look twice—”
“Gita! Don’t you dare insult one of my favorite people.”
She bit down on a grin. “Your Majesty.”
“I could order you to bring him some boots you know,” I threatened.
She narrowed her eyes. “If you do that, I swear your next dress will be a corset that compacts your ribs and completely exposes your breasts—”
