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Ace didn’t even try to hide her smirk as she took the cucumber and repeated the spell out loud. The vegetable warmed in her palms, heating until her fingers couldn't stand the touch of it anymore before it began to dissolve. In its wake, sparks danced across her skin, chasing up her veins toward her face. She squeezed her eyes shut trying not to let the panic flood her as the warmth settled in her face. She shook off the leftover residue of the cucumber that looked more like mush than ash.
When she met his gaze she could tell that she looked different. Shelby squinted and stepped closer. A strange fuzzy feeling turned over in her stomach. It was almost pleasant but more than that it was a little bit scary.
He reached toward Ace’s face, setting his palms against her temples. She looked up at him blinking. "What are you doing?" Her voice went up an octave as that fuzzy feeling in her stomach turned into dangerous butterflies.
“I’m looking at my work to make sure it’s convincing.” He tipped her chin. “If they can sense this magic they’ll just assume it was a basic beauty spell sold at market. Unless they’re investigating every little bit of magic they feel. Then…good luck.” His slight chuckle was without any actual humor.
"Oh," Ace whispered.
She couldn't stare up into his hazel eyes any longer. And the longer she examined his face the more her mind wandered to the possibility of closing the space between them.Thathad to be a thought placed in her head by the gods because it was absolutely ridiculous! Shelby could barely stand being around her. She couldn’t imagine he’d have any interest in kissing her. This…feeling…whatever it was, was all probably because he was her first real human contact since she came back to life. That’s all.
I liked your orange eyes. There is beauty in the unique,Tamar whined.
The girl must do what she has to do.Sylik tried to shush the goddess of beauty.Maybe it wasn't wise of you to send her back with orange eyes.
I can't do anything about the amount of holy fire her body took in. Her eyes are an example of that.
One of Shelby’s thumbs drew a line over her eyebrow and then abruptly stopped. They stayed still like that for a minute looking at each other until Shelby finally exhaled. "It’s so weird. I guess I got used to your orange eyes. This is what your natural eyes used to look like then?"
"I don't know. What do they look like?"
"Well, part of the spell was to revive your natural eye color. They are brown."
His hands were still on her face. Did he know his hands were still on her face?
"Oh, that must be them then. Brown, plain unattractive brown."
Shelby pursed his lips. "They're not plain unattractive brown. Around your pupils is a lighter color that looks more like tea once you've added milk. And… " He turned her face until he found a spot where the sun came through the leaves and hit her eyes just right. "In the sun, even more stunning. I would say your eyes could never just beplain brown."
Shelby's words made those little butterflies take flight. He thought her eyes were pretty!
Slowly, he let go of her face, catching a bit of hair that had fallen over his hand as he pulled away and ran it through his fingers before he dropped it. “I also changed the shape of your jaw and nose just slightly so that you aren’t so easily recognized.” Shelby cleared his throat and then pointed toward the line of guests. "Now that you look almost like your old self, should we find ourselves some disguises? Sounds easier said than done.”
He scrubbed his hand together and began pushing through the woods. They skirted the castle until they got to where the trees ended and the road that led to the castle began. Vendors and their booths were all along the street that normally remained empty. Luckily, there was a pretty decent crowd which meant that Ace could blend in and be easily lost amongst everyone else.
A plan was already forming in her mind. She blended in just fine, leaving Shelby in the forest. She made her rounds as she tried to take in all the different booths and what they could offer her. She was ready to grab a cloak off of a hanger, a beautifully embroidered one too, that someone had put a lot of time and effort into, but then she saw the carriage.
Inside the carriage she saw a man with skin as dark as Shelby’s and a woman a little bit smaller than her with brown hair and brown eyes. She knew this couple. She’d seen this couple…stolen from this couple before. They were wealthy, so of course they were making their way to the castle by invitation only.
That was it! That was their in.
Ace pushed through the throngs of people, careful not to bump anyone too hard until she made it back to the forest where Shelby waited patiently. "Come on, I've got an idea." She waved him forward.
"Are we sure about that?”
“No, I'm never sure, but when an idea feels right it just feels right. We're going to give it a go." She looped her fingers around his wrist taking him into the crowd with her this time. They stood at the edge of the market as Ace tried to look inconspicuous as she pointed to the carriage. "All we do is get inside there, take their clothes and pretend to be them."
"I think I can find about abillionthings wrong with that plan."
"You could find a billion things wrong with literally anything. Think positively!"
It’s a terrible plan,Greshta interjected.I can’t believe I’m saying this but I agree with the warlock.
It’s not the most put together plan,Bedesh agreed,but with a bit of luck…
It could work,Sylik finished for him.
“What about an invitation?” Shelby pressed, trying to keep his voice low.
