Page 40 of Blood of the Sands

“I will do what I can.”

If I had been afraid of feeling like an imposter all dressed up for a royal dinner, I had underestimated Neven’s skill. When I had mentioned the occasion at dinner, Neven had immediately jumped to his feet and rushed to his workshop to figure out what I would wear to such an occasion.

When I had frowned and mentioned that I could wear the purple dress from the festival again, Aderyn had shaken her head and smiled fondly.

“Neven enjoys making clothes for his friends more than he likes selling them, and I can only wear so many outfits.”

It turned out Aderyn would be coming to the dinner as well, as the commander of Kelvadan’s riders, although she already had a trunk of custom outfits to pick from. Now she helped me slip the gossamer red fabric of my dress over my head.

Underneath, I wore a band of golden fabric around my breasts and my hips to keep me decent, although the dark red fabric of the dress was thin and light enough that it left little to the imagination. I need not have worried about feeling constricted in my formal wear—my outfit was as light as air and left me free to move whichever way I liked.

Once the dress was on, Aderyn fetched gold bangles for my wrist while Neven approached me with a pot of gold paint.

“Are you sure?” I eyed it warily. While clansmen regularly wore paint into battle, or inked lines into their skin like Aderyn, citizens of Kelvadan had taken to decorating their skin for aesthetics alone.

“Trust me,” he insisted, and he seemed so pleased with himself that I closed my eyes and let him get to work.

The brush tickled my face as he dusted the golden pigment across my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose. Then he proceeded to dot it on my bottom lip before tapping my jaw and telling me I could look.

Staring in the hand mirror he offered, I found the effect more pleasing than I’d expected. The light dusting of gold across the high points of my face reminded me of the way the sun touched my skin when I turned my face up to the sky, and the metallic color was the perfect contrast against my light brown skin. I smiled, and Neven grinned back at me.

The moment settled the nest of snakes churning in my stomach. Perhaps I was not so unprepared to face the ambassadors from Viltov and Doran after all. By the time we reached the palace though, my nerves had begun to jangle again and my palms grew sweaty. I itched for the feel of a saber in my hand or Daiti between my thighs. As it was, I felt as if I were walking into a battle nearly naked. The only armor I wore was the wet blanket over my magic from chugging a cup of lyra tea before getting dressed.

When we entered the palace dining room, we discovered we weren’t the first to arrive, a few of the queen’s councilors milled about. I caught sight of Kaius among a cluster of them and he threw me an easy wink. The doors to the adjacent terrace had been thrown open, letting in air and offering a perfect few of the ombre sky, ranging from dusty purple to flaming orange as the sun flirted with the horizon. Near the exit to the terrace stood the queen, conversing with two men that could only be the ambassadors.

Aderyn caught my eyes, jerking her chin toward the trio and indicating we should approach. I lifted my chin and squared my shoulders. Somehow, joining their discussion felt less intimidating when I was doing so on an order from Aderyn. After all, she was my commander, and I was one of her riders.

“Ah, just who I wanted to see.” The queen graciously opened her arm toward Aderyn and me as we approached, stepping back to let us join their group. “This is Lyall from Viltov,” she gestured to the taller of the two, who took me in with an unimpressed expression. “And Hadeon from Doran.”

I observed the second ambassador as Queen Ginevra introduced us in turn. He had golden hair and a wide smile that revealed a chipped front tooth, although the flaw did little to detract from his general handsomeness. He wore a light blue tunic with a plush white fur draped over his shoulders from some animal I couldn’t possibly imagine. It wouldn’t be very practical to wear in the desert, although the evenness of his fair complexion betrayed the fact that he didn’t get nearly as much sun as the clansmen or residents of Kelvadan. While people here had a range of skin tones, those with paler complexions quickly accumulated freckles, even if they always wore a hood.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” intoned Lyall with a flatness that indicated he felt nothing of the sort when Queen Ginevra finished introducing us.

“Quite a pleasure,” echoed Hadeon with much more enthusiasm. “Although you make me realize I might be a tad overdressed.”

I looked between the three women in the group, finding we were all similarly dressed, with bare arms and abdomens, while Hadeon was covered from wrists to ankles. Even the men of Kelvadan, with no need to hide themselves from the rays of the sun as they dined inside, wore belted vests with bare chests beneath and pants that ended just below the knees.

“Out on the sands, it can be nice to protect yourself from the sun with a hood and a robe, but in the protection of the palace it is nice to stay cool,” I admitted.

“Not something I would have thought of when preparing for my journey,” Hadeon admitted with a grimace. “I didn’t realize it could actually get this hot. In Doran, it’s cold enough to snow for three quarters of the year.”

“Snow?” I asked.

“Why don’t we all take a seat so dinner can be served,” Queen Ginevra cut in. “And Keera and Hadeon can sit next to each other to talk about snow.”

I didn’t miss her pointed look over Lyall’s shoulder as we arranged ourselves around the table. Frankly, I gladly positioned myself on Hadeon’s right with Aderyn on his left, between him and Lyall, who sat next to the queen. Kaius sat on Queen Ginevra’s other side, with most of the councilmen across from us.

“Have you really never seen snow?” Hadeon asked as the meal began.

I shook my head. “I’ve only heard about it,” I admitted. Indeed, some tales from my childhood had mentioned the white powder existing high in the mountains.

“I can’t imagine,” Hadeon said with an incredulous shake of his head.

The first course of the meal passed easily enough, conversation mainly comparing homelands. I learned the pelt on Hadeon’s shoulders came from the cold-weather cousins of the fennec foxes we were familiar with. I kept one eye on Aderyn and Queen Ginevra’s conversation with Lyall, and although he divulged his country to be an island nation off the coast of Hadeon’s homeland, his descriptions were perfunctory, and he seemed much more interest in what Hadeon was telling me.

“Well, I’m excited to witness these Trials,” Hadeon said as the second course was served. “You indicated that they are of great importance to your people.”

“They are.” Queen Ginevra jumped into our conversation, revealing her ability to listen to every conversation happening around her. “Keera will be competing, and none of us here would be surprised if she were crowned Champion.”