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My cheeks flush. Scratch that, my entire body does as I cover my mouth with my hand, pretending to wipe something away to hide the smile tugging at my lips. Loric chuckles shortly as Mira deals me in then leans closer to me, his arms on either side of my body. He organizes the cards, fanning them and arranging my fingers along the bottom edges of them. “Just like that,” hesays, his hands dropping to my lap as he rests his chin on my shoulder.
Jesper smacks Loric in the arm. "Show some respect, will you? She's practically royalty. You can’t be breathing all over her. You should, however, be kissing her damn feet." He winks at me, a gesture meant to be teasing,I think.
Loric's low grunt rumbles against my back, sending a shiver down my spine, his breath warm against my neck. I fight to resist the urge to lean into him. "Royalty or not, she likes it.”
Jesper rolls his eyes. “That’s… You're insufferable, making all the single folk around this table uncomfortable.”
I squint, trying to do the math in my head, but it’s…not mathing.If he’s counting Loric and I as a couple, even though we’re definitely not. Jesper would be the only single person here.
Ignoring him, Mira leans forward, her eyes on me. "Alright, the game is simple. Collect pairs by getting all four cards with the same number or letter. You can ask anyone if they have any of that number, and if they have them, they have to fork them over. If they don’t, you take a card off the top of the pile. The person with the most pairs at the end wins. Just watch out for Jesper, he cheats."
Jesper gasps in feigned shock, a weak little ‘ugh’ escaping his open mouth. “How dare you divulge my secrets…”
Loric snorts, against my shoulder, amused, and takes the four twos in our hand and sets them down.
Jesper sucks in a breath, his eyebrows squishing together as he tries to get a better look. “Oh, yeah.. AndI’mthe cheater.”
I laugh, the sound lighter than I've felt in days. The tension that had been coiling within me begins to unravel, replaced by a sense of belonging. "Beginner’s luck, I guess."
Glancing at Jesper, he looks mock-offended. “You sure you don’t want to sit on my lap? I need some of that luck right about now."
Music sounds somewhere off in the distance, drums to be more specific. “When does the festival start?” I pick up a card, keeping it.
“Sounds like it is now,” Mira says, tapping her chin. “We should probably get you dressed if you’re going to go.”
Jesper’s up and out of his chair before anyone else can move. “What are we waiting around for, then?”
Loric taps my hip, silently telling me to stand up. “Mira can help you get dressed, unless you prefer me to do it.” I meet his silver eyes, and something tells me if I take him up on his offer, there will be no leaving to attend the festival.
Mira’s out of her chair before I can answer, her arm looping in mine. “Well, come on. You don’t want to miss the best part.”
“What’s that?” I’m not really sure what happens at the bloom festival, other than it’s some ritualistic celebration for maidens. Loric and Jesper alluded to music and dancing, but what’s the best part?
“There’s a blood oath that you and your partner take. Well, whoever your date is for the night. If you don’t have one, then you miss out on it, but since Loric is going with you…” she leaves it open-ended as we slip into one of the bedrooms and Jesper lays my dress on the bed before taking his leave.
“A blood oath, like a marriage oath?”
“Sort of, but temporary. It only lasts as long as the paint is on your body. Bathe and it’s over. You mix your blood into a mortar with the paint that’s been enchanted. For the night, you feel everything they do. It’s kind of erotic if you ask me, but we have celebrations like that in the outer realm, and most people attend just for that.”
Mira helps me out of my dress in silence, and before I know it, I'm left in nothing more than the flimsy linen layer that goes beneath everything.
“That too,” Mira calls, turning her back toward me as she gathers the white dress I'll be wearing tonight in her hands.
I didn't get a chance to look at it, but the merchant said it's the same style all the maidens will wear. At the time, we were trying to hurry and get everything we needed before the merchants on the main row closed for the day. With today being the festival, Loric thought they'd all pack up early. Regardless, I want the full experience, and I won’t get another chance if I’m leaving the realm.
Hesitantly, I lift the gown over my head, turning back to Mira in the nude. I've never felt self-conscious before, but the more I'm around them, the more perfect they become. Both Mira and Vik are gorgeous,goddessgorgeous. They practically float when they walk and I'm still getting used to running in boots. I'm better off barefoot or in flats these days. Yet, they make it all look so easy. Their posture is poised and practiced, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d believe they were royalty before I so much as thought about myself.
Mira's about to say something as she turns, but her face morphs instantly, becoming expressionless, save for her jaw flexing as she swallows.
Even she knows that they’re everything I’m not.
“Shut up. I’ll eat her if you keep thinking that.”My beast’s voice echoes in my mind and I try my best to feign confidence, to straighten my shoulders, to stand tall, even if all I want to do is disappear.
“What? Is something wrong?” I resist the urge to wrap my arms around myself as she looks me over from head to toe.
“No… I just…” she stutters.
“Just what?” There’s a nip to my tone I hadn’t intended, but her gaze lifts to my face and she feigns a smile. It doesn’t come close to reaching her eyes as she lifts the fabric over my head.
