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“I didn’t realize you had so many scars…” She averts her eyes as the sheer fabric floats around me. It’s damn near, see through in some places. The neckline plunges to just above my navel, and the sleeves are short, scrunched over my shoulders. There’s a high slit that cuts up to my hip bone and the fabric flows, pooling slighting at my feet.
I look around for the rest, but I don’t see anything. “Is this…? This can’t be all.”
Mira’s smile returns as she steps back, crossing her arms as she takes me in. “That’s all of it.”
“But you can see through places,” I say, pulling the fabric taut around my breast, clearly able to see the whole nipple. Not half, not a peek, but the whole thing.
“It’s intended to be that way. It’s meant to show off your assets and attract a mate.” She steps closer, adjusting my dress in places. “You could also change back, go watch. No one would blame you.”
The air deflates from my chest. “This is really what people wear?” My voice is quiet, defeated.
“Yeah… The festival is mostly for men, and they enjoy looking at pretty things. It’s pretty messed up if you ask me.”
I bite my lip, staring down at myself. “Loric won’t murder someone will he?”
Mira’s laugh takes me by surprise as she flops down on the bed, resting back on her hands. “He certainly would if someone touches you, but otherwise, he’ll get one look and be drooling on the floor.”
I flex an eyebrow up. “Assuming he doesn’t see my scars.”
Mira’s lips pinch into a fine line. “You’re hot, scars and all. He’s just going to think you’re even more badass than you already are… Though, I have to ask. What does lotus mean?”
My hand inadvertently brushes over my thigh, the carved letters there. “It’s from a story. The king was wiping my memories of his experiments. Carving it made me remember.”
She nods but doesn’t comment.
“Well…” I take one last look. “Wish me luck, I guess.”
We head out of the room after I slip my feet into the sandals that came with the dress. The door barely makes it open before all eyes are on me. Brenn, a bite of food paused just before reaching his mouth. Jesper frozen, plate in hand. He’d been on his way to the table. Then my gaze slides to Loric. He’d been spinning my rose crown in his hand when I walked out, facing the door as if he was waiting for me to walk through it.
His eyes slip over me, taking in every curve, every pleat in the sheer fabric. He wets his lips before meeting my gaze, then stands from the table, flipping my rose crown over and over in his hands as he nears. Slowly, he sets it on top of my head. Crooking a finger beneath my chin, he tips my face up, hovering over me before gently brushing his lips to mine.
“You look beautiful,” he says, whispering it against my lips. “I almost don’t want to let you walk out that door.”
“You’ll be with me, though.” I set my palms against his chest, running my fingers over the firm muscle beneath his shirt.
“Yeah,” his voice goes up an octave. “I’m going to have to be.”
He takes my hands in his, threading our fingers together, then lets one drop as he leads me out of the house, leaving the others to pick up their jaws off the floor.
Chapter 29
Calamity
The festival unfolds before my eyes like a dream.
Loric keeps me close, his arm wrapped possessively around my waist as we wander through the village that’s been transformed by magic. Girls twirl in diaphanous white gowns under the twinkling stars, their laughter mixing with the melodies carried on the breeze. Various creatures wear intricate masks, and beneath their feet is a vast painting on the cobblestone. It depicts the triplet moons surrounded by wild, unruly flames. The image itself covers most of the village center, where all the roads converge into a giant circle.
Magic hums, vibrating through the air, growing stronger by the second until a midnight dome rises from around the town’s edges, as if connecting to the mountains that surround the village, and it swallows up the light. Darkness swirls overhead in sparkling blues and voidless blacks as bright white orbs rain down, floating like soap bubbles.
“What are those?” I crane my neck back, watching them fall.
“Magic.” Loric watches me as I twirl in a slow circle, soaking it all in, waiting for one of those orbs to be close enough for me to get a better look.
“They look like wisps.” Wisps are magical little traitorous fairies that float around in bubbles just like that, except they sing to you, feed you lies, and are willing to promise anything to lure you into their trap.
Loric laughs, and the sheer sound of it is so beautiful that I can’t help but look at him. His teeth gleam in the fire light, cast from torches that fill the village center with an ominous amber glow. It’s a sight I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of.
“Not wisps, maybe inspired by them. They’re just lights, but they’re beautiful, aren’t they?”
