Page 59 of Surfaces
I was doing calisthenics in between one of the trunks full of my undergarments and the case of my jewelry that Valdez had supposedly saved—though I still had my doubts about that—when a knock came at my door.
I shoved out from my push up, chest heaving, taking one barefoot step across the marble toward the door as I waited for Felipe to crack it open and announce my visitor. I brushed back my hair from around my eyes as I wondered who it could be. Neither Sahar nor Gita were allowed to be announced, I’d told them I didn’t want such formalities from them. But both had already come together—I suspected Gita was avoiding letting me speak to her alone about Humberto—and gone for the morning. Sahar had run through the basic structure of the event while Gita dressed me in a short golden tunic that had slits cut for my betta fins and full deep purple bell-shaped skirt that brushed my ankles.
Hair and makeup would only come the hour before the tournament. So…if it wasn’t Gita and it wasn’t Sahar, who could possibly want to see me?
Felipe’s eyes met mine and he gave a formal nod as he announced, “Keelan would like to speak with you, Majesty.”
Keelan! I nodded. “Of course, let him in.”
Felipe held open the door and the siren entered, a purple lightning bolt on the side of his white-blond hair this morning. His amber eyes sparkled but he swam slowly, cradling his injured arm as if it pained him. When my guard went to shut the door again, Keelan turned to him. “Can you stay please? Just for a moment?”
With a neutral face that hid his curiosity, Felipe shut the door and stayed just inside, floating by the wall.
Why would Keelan want Felipe to stay? Was something wrong? I watched the way the siren cradled his arm, which was still wrapped in bandages.
I swam slowly over to him, hesitating to reach out and touch him. I didn’t know if his ruined arm came with residual pain. Lizza had healed his other injuries, but men returning from war often ached—pain lasted for years and varied with the weather, according to my fathers. “Are you okay?” I asked, not quite certain what else to say. “Has something happened to you or Mr. Whelk?”
He shook his head. “The bastard’s just sleeping. Don’t worry.”
“But you?”
“Queenie, my arm is aching so badly I can hardly think straight.” He grimaced, clenching his teeth. “I just…don’t know how I’ll even be able to think through this pain.”
“Oh.” My eyes widened and my hand came up to my chest. I felt like an ass for not even considering the possibility that Keelan’s injury might affect—
“In fact, I don’t know if I’ll be able to complete any of the challenges…”
I was rattled and thrown off balance by his statement. We’d already discussed him quitting. We’d already made a deal! And our connection was strong—or so I’d thought. We were a perfect match, his playfulness the perfect relief to offset all the serious tasks I had to take on. I swam forward, placing my hand on his good shoulder, ready to shake sense into him. He couldn’t threaten to leave me again. I’d build that entire damn statuary he wanted. “You can’t quit!”
“Quit? No. I thought…I could have a substitute. Like before.” Keelan’s eyes swung to the side where Felipe was silent, standing in position by the door with his spear.
I blinked at my guard and watched his eyebrows shoot up in surprise at this proposal.
“It just hurts so terribly bad. Like fire.” Keelan reached over to clutch his injured arm.
I noticed he didn’t actually flinch. If pain was shooting up his arm, wouldn’t he react, at least a bit, when he touched it?
Suspicion peeked out from behind the rock where she lived and wagged a finger in Keelan’s direction.
But I didn’t say anything. I simply turned to stare at Felipe to see what he wanted to do. I wouldn’t ask him again, wouldn’t force him to keep competing because that wasn’t fair to him. That put him in a position he might not like.
Sahar’s murmured precedent about Queen Karisa and the two brothers who fought over her did drift through my mind.
If Felipe decided to stand in for Keelan…if he completed every round of the tournament…could I have them both?
I didn’t consider myself a greedy person but at that moment, I wanted it all. Everything. My funny courtier and my perfect knight. I wanted to wrap my arms around both of them and call them mine and never, ever let go.
But that’s selfish, I reminded myself.
Felipe had had a dozen chances to kiss me, to tell me something more. He never had.
Then again, he’d always been my guard and not a competitor.
If he accepted, this would change his status.
It could change everything.
Could hope explode out of a person? Could it become so big that it burst through their skin and just couldn’t be contained any longer? I wasn’t certain, but I felt like it must be so, because every fiber of my being filled with hope. Even after last night’s utter debacle…the tears that still probably bobbed through this room, mixed with the current.
