Page 19 of A Filling of Fables and Firelight

“Just livening things up a bit.” Zamar took another sip of his drink, far too composed to have been caught by surprise.

“This was your plan?”

“It’s one thing to maintain decency and decorum when things are going well. It’s another entirely to retain both when responding to an unexpected disaster.”

Kamaran shook his head. Yasmin was still wailing. Inara’s laughter had only increased, as if she found the whole situation to be a marvelous joke. Spot was gamboling through the fountain, sending out splashes of water with every step. Zade leaped onto the punch table and zipped across, sending the crystal bowl teetering. He started forward on instinct to help, but Nour caught the bowl just in time to keep it from crashing to the ground, rewarded for her efforts by being doused with its sticky, sweet contents.

Rana dashed past him into the fray, appearing as if out of thin air. Kamaran tossed his drink onto a nearby rose bush, shoved his glass at Zamar, and was following her before he realized what his feet were doing. She stuck two fingers into her mouth and a sharp, piercing whistle cut through the frenzied haze, effectively causing everyone to freeze in their tracks as she pushed her way through to the fountain before dropping onto her knees beside a prone figure.

“Are you alright, Laila?”

Her answer was too quiet to hear, but the young woman lifted her disheveled head and accepted Rana’s hand as she rose shakily. Her dress was torn at the shoulder seam, and the skirt had clearly been trampled by several pairs of boots. Rana looped an arm around her waist and whispered something in her ear, waiting for Laila’s answering nod before she looked out at their unintended audience. Her eyes met Kamaran’s, one brow lifting slightly as if in challenge, and for a moment he was frozen in place.

The spell was broken as Spot, choosing that moment to hop out of the fountain and shake himself dry, pelted both Rana and Laila with droplets of water. Laila held up her hand to shield her face and stepped back, then suddenly both women were falling backwards into the fountain.

“Rana.” Kamaran crossed the distance quickly, ignoring the whispered comments that immediately started traveling up and down the crowd. He reached her just as she managed to pull herself up into a seated position. Rivulets of water ran down her face and her shoulders shook. Concern for her, far more than was demanded by their brief acquaintance, pushed him into her space. “Are you hurt?”

Rana threw her head back and laughed, and the contagious sound spread, eliciting chuckles and loosening nerves as the guests began pulling themselves back together. Nour stepped forward, offering her hand to Laila, as Kamaran helped Rana to her feet. She wiped tears of laughter from her face.

“I’m surprised you can find this whole thing amusing.” Kamaran reluctantly let go of her hand. “Most women wouldn’t take a dunking in the fountain quite so well.”

“What can I say?” She looked up at him with bright, sparkling eyes. “I like to make a splash.”

He chuckled at her joke, but before he could say more, she was already moving away from him. “Laila, let’s get you inside so I can take a look at that dress.”

Kamaran watched as she and Nour helped usher Laila back inside. Around him, palace workers began scurrying around the milling guests, most of whom had congregated into tight groups, likely to gossip about everything that had just transpired. He gave Zamar a wry look out of the corner of his eye as the vizier approached. “Did you learn everything you needed?”

Zamar’s sly smile made him slightly uneasy. “Yes. I think I did.”

Chapter Eleven

RANA

“How much longer is this going to take?”

Rana breathed deeply through her nose to gather her patience as she attempted to keep a hold of the fabric pinched between her fingers as Yasmin shifted her weight and turned to look at her profile in the mirror. She slipped a pin through the fabric, narrowly avoiding Yasmin’s waist as she moved again, and stepped back, surveying her work. “I’m almost done. I just wanted to make sure that all those darts fell in the right place.”

“It would probably go faster if you stopped preening in the mirror like a peacock and held still,” Inara offered from her position on the low-backed sofa, where she had curled up with a book. She looked up, brushing a loose strand of hair behind an ear that was just slightly too large for her head. “I’m honestly surprised Rana hasn’t turned you into a pin cushion yet. You would make a lovely hedgehog.” She batted her long eyelashes innocently.

Aliyah, seated in the corner and engaged with Laila in a game of chess, snorted.

Yasmin’s upper lip curled in a sneer. “At least I don’t already resemble an elephant.”

Inara shrugged, returning to her book. “You mean that as an insult, but elephants are some of the smartest creatures in Nomescia.”

Nour cleared her throat from the other side of the sitting room all the contestants shared, interrupting the verbal spat that was about to take place. “Rana, can you tell us anything at all about the next challenge?”

Rana smiled gratefully as she began undoing the buttons down Yasmin’s back. Of the five remaining women, Nour was the one she liked the most. She was sensible and kind, and though she was every bit as beautiful as Yasmin, she didn’t flaunt her looks as if she deserved special treatment because of them.

“I can tell you that you will be wearing these dresses,” she answered, motioning for Yasmin to step behind the tall screen to change.

Yasmin groaned. “I hope it’s not something Kamaran has to watch.” She ran a hand down the bodice of the dress. “I don’t want my future husband to see me looking so…drab.”

“You know perfectly well that you look good in anything,” Aliyah interjected with a roll of her eyes. “Rana could dress you in a sun-bleached tent and you would still be the most beautiful woman in the room.”

A smug smirk settled on her lips as Yasmin disappeared behind the screen. Rana stood quietly to the side, intent on staying out of the discussion while she waited for Yasmin to change out of the dress.

Yes, I definitely made the right choice when Teta was trying to convince me to submit my name for all of this. It’s hard enough to spend a few hours with them; I can’t imagine living together for six weeks.