A healer. They had said this already. It had to be good too, right?
“He isbiiiiig,” Tegha said, spreading her arms wide.
This sent another rush of anxiety through me. Big. He couldcrushme. Jake had not been a lot taller than menorvery muscular. If Filbur was the same kind of man but bigger? I would probably die.
“You are scaring her,” Guidy scolded. “You have seen what the human males look like.” She cast a quick glance toward Maxwell. “They are small and scrawny.”
Tegha shrugged and Maxwell didn’t even bother to respond. “I am just making sure she is prepared. Even if our people are all larger than hers, our uncleislarger than most.”
“He isnotthat big,” Guidy countered. “It just looks big to you because you are small.”
Tegha’s bald eyebrows scrunched down into a frown. “Oh yes? Then why does he have to walk through doorssideways? Our father does not have to do this.”
Guidy’s eyes met mine and she winced. Okay, so Tegha was right… “He is still the kindest of our people! Do not let his size fool you, he would not hurt a soul.”
And I would have to take her word for it, because the light over our head turned on, signaling we were about to land.
I looked down at myself. They had wrapped me in red—to match my future husband, apparently. I had nearly cried after they hadtaken the teal away, deciding that, in fact, it would be nice if I wore Filbur’s colors. At least, I wasn’t forced to wear plain white or black anymore…
Ilovedteal. The color of the water of the island I grew up on before my parents joined this stupid cult and took me far away, where we could only see buildings and not an inch of nature.
I missed dipping my toes in the water. Missed the warm sand. Missed picking up seashells on the beach.
Life used to be good.Before. But maybe it could be good again?
The door of the shuttle opened and tears pressed behind my eyes.
If we ignored the parted crowd of colorful giant people, it looked like the place I grew up in. The sand warmed the sole of my feet as the girls led me outside. The sun, setting on the horizon, covered everything in a beautiful pink-orange light. Although I could not see it, I heard the sound of water in the distance. The chanting of some sort of birds. Some music that sounded like anything I had ever heard before.
My breath caught in my throat when my eyes landed on the two Cancos standing in the middle of the crowd. Both looked huge. Even though I had been given clues on which one of them my husband was, said clues were now absolutely pointless.
Red.
One had red skin and was wearing some gray-brown-greenish clothes that left most of his chest on display—andwhat a chest. A scarf-looking thing covered his shoulders and a long necklace fell down to his ribcage.
But the other one, although his skin was more of a purple—definitely looking like he was part of the girls’ family—was wearing bright red clothes.
Shit. Which one was it?
Did they dress me in red so I’d wear the same clothes or that my clothes would be the same color of his skin?
He gave a sharp nod to the girls and they started moving, leading me toward them.
Okay, I was going to humiliate myself. I would be stuck in front of the two, not knowing who I was supposed to turn to, and everyone around would be here to witness my anxiety attack. Maybe my husband would be embarrassed. Maybe he’dcast me away.And then what? I’d be taken back to Jake’s house? He’d beat me in front of his parents for running away? All of this would have been for nothing. The risks, the—
“Tamara,” Guidy whispered, pulling on my arm.
My feet were stuck. Digging in the sand, fighting to not move. My whole body felt numb and like I’d been struck by lightning at the same time. My heart was second away from bursting out of my chest.
Oh dear, I was going to faint in front of everyone. A joke. An embarrassment. Whoever my husband was between the two of them, he’d be regretting ever agreeing to this whole thing. He would—
“Tamara? Are you—”
Shit, I couldn’t breathe.
“Miss Matossi?” A human hand landed on my shoulder and I flinched, spinning around to face a very confused Maxwell. “Miss Matossi, are you alright?”
No, I wasn’t. No, I—
