Page 72 of Surfaces
Had he just cut it out of an animal?
A different sort of shock rolled across the rooftop.
This was…unexpected.
The long-whiskered judge asked for his usual explanation.
Stavros replied shortly. “I hunted.”
“And what kind of animal—”
“A seagull,” Stavros answered before the question was finished.
The judges didn’t have time to consult before Taft, the blue-skinned nixe arrived. His mouth was tightly closed as he swam up onto the roof, head bowed.
“You’re late,” the head judge said.
Taft merely nodded.
“Well. Did you find anything?”
Taft held up a small needle.
“Where’d you get it?”
Taft ran his tongue across his teeth and swallowed before he answered in a low voice. “At a tailor shop.”
He tried to keep his lips together, but when he spoke, I spotted a gap between his teeth that hadn’t been there the other day in the carriage. He was missing a tooth.
My first instinct was to think he’d been punched in the mouth for his trouble, but then I thought about his magic. If he could transform his entire body…could he also transform part of it?
I stared at the needle and realized it had a slightly blue sheen.
Just like the horseshoe that Mateo had brought up and been so eager to reclaim.
I glanced around and realized that Mateo was no longer on the roof.
Taft had helped Mateo. Yet again.
I started and grabbed onto my purple skirt to hide the physical reaction of my surprise. Because as Taft swam forward and placed the little blue needle on the table, I realized that my true love was falling deeper and deeper into this stranger’s debt.
And I didn’t like that.
It was dangerous.
21
The judges deliberatedwhile everyone watched, until, finally, they gave their results to the herald.
“And the winner of the second round of the Okeanos Tournament—a Navagio local himself—Julian of the House Golden Sands!”
Cheers erupted all around, and Stavros and several of the other competitors went over and clapped Julian on the back.
Then he swam over to me and bowed formally to kiss my hand. I clasped onto his fingers as he rose and didn’t let go.
Bright, warm pride swelled up inside of me and I was so glad that Julian had won. His scores would be averaged across all the events, of course, but a win put him in a good position to make it through to the final round, from which I’d choose my husbands. He and Felipe (and by extension Keelan) were the only ones who could possibly rest easy during the next round.
Julian threaded his fingers with mine and I was surprised by how comfortable it felt to stand shoulder to shoulder with him to listen to the remainder of the results. It wasn’t magical, my fingers didn’t sweat in nervous anticipation and my stomach wasn’t swarmed by butterflies at his touch, but it was pleasant.
