The lavender-haired girl smirked at me. “You have great taste in men.” Her gaze shifted from Tezya to Sie, and I had to roll my shoulders to keep myself from doing anything stupid.
“How come your markings don’t fade from your skin,” Sie asked her. He’d been quietly taking everything in and hearing his voice shocked me. It was the first time he’d spoken since we left the tent, and I still hadn’t comprehended that he was back yet. “There isn’t a drop of sweat on you, so I’m assuming you’re not wet right now?”
The girl choked on a laugh, and Kallon spit out her drink she had just gotten back from Peter. “That isnotsomething you ask a girl in front of others.” Kallon chuckled.
“She’s human,” Tezya answered over the girls’ laughter. He was the only person taking his question seriously.
“Human?” Sie repeated softly like he couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t either. I hadn’t anticipated running into a mortal here and with her height and slender frame, she looked Advenian. “Why does she have the Luxian markings then?” Sie asked as he pointed to Savannah. Her tan arms were inked with black designs, but they didn’t fade from her skin like ours did. Hers remained present. The phases of the Earth’s moon went up her right forearm while her left had a variation of numbers and letters I couldn’t make sense of. The sliver of her stomach that was showing had glimpses of black markings, but I couldn’t make out what they were.
I assessed her in a new light, taking a good look at her now. Sie was right—she didn’t appear to be sweating or have any form of liquid on her skin, so why weren’t the designs fading?
“Because they aren’t markings, prince,” the girl answered Sie. “It’s a tattoo.”
“What’s a tattoo?” Peter asked.
“Think of it like artwork for your skin.”
“Is this rare among your kind to be born with art?”
She laughed again. “I wasn’t born with it. I went to get it done. It’s tiny needles filled with a special ink—”
“You stabbed yourself to look like that?” Peter asked in amusement.
“I wouldn’t call itstabbing. They’re small pinpricks. It barely hurts.”
“You’re mortal,” Sie said, still taking her in. “And you know about us?” He paused to look around the large gathering tent before his eyes rested back on the girl. “How many mortals are in this place?”
“Three,” she responded flatly, crossing her arms over her chest. “And seeing as this is my home, it would be odd if I didn’t know about your kind.”
“Where’s your brother?” Tezya asked, ignoring Sie’s shocked expression. Actually, all three of us probably looked dumbfounded as we processed the fact that a human was standing in front of us.
“Wells is here somewhere.” She shrugged. “It’s burger night, so you know he wouldn’t miss it for any chemical compound he could compose in his lab.”
Kallon huffed a laugh. “I don’t blame him. Allen can make one mean burger, which I desperately need right now to go with my ale.”
“Good, I’m starving.” Savannah turned around, eyeing the tent. “Let’s get a table.” She gave one last glance at Sie before locking arms with Kallon and walking off. Seeing them arm in arm, one head full of lavender, the other half black, half yellow, I could see where Kallon got her sense of fashion from. I’d always wondered how her hair kept changing and now figured it had something to do with her.
I was left standing with Peter, Sie, and Tezya. No one spoke as we silently followed them. We blended into the line and waited our turn for food.
I watched Tezya ahead of me, taking in everything he did, mimicking his motions, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sie and Peter do the same. I grabbed a circular slab of meat, then a piece of bread shaped the same and a few vegetables.
A little girl, who couldn’t have been much older than five, came charging at Tezya. “Tezzia! Tezzia!” she yelled, stumbling on his name. She leapt into his arms, nearly knocking the food out of his hands.
“Lamitte.” Tezya smiled. “You grew. How old are you now? Three?”
The girl laughed in his arms as she reverently shook her head. “No, I’m four!”
“Sorry, Tezya,” an older version of the girl he was holding said. “I told her not to jump on you like this.”
“It’s not a problem, Clarice,” Tezya said as he gently set the girl back down, and she ran to her mother.
The two of them left, but it didn’t stop the numerous Advenians from staring after him. I silently followed him toward the table where Savannah and Kallon were already eating when something dawned on me. So far, Tezya knew everyone by name. Several other people acknowledged him or patted his back as we passed, and almost everyone bowed their heads. Tezya regarded each of them, and despite the recognition, he wasn’t getting any special treatment here.
I tried not to dwell on the fact that I’d been openly staring at him, watching as he interacted with everyone. And now, I was full on glaring as he took the open seat next to the mortal.
I purposely sat away from him, forcing myself to look around the tent instead of at him and the girl.
There were variations of eyes within the tent. Most of them were the unique coloring of Lux—silver, purple, aqua, sage, yellow, opal, lavender, coral. But within the unique coloring, I saw mixes of black eyes, some brown, some hazel—the Tennebrisian coloring.
