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Shomari lifted the water from a drinking goblet and swirled droplets through the air in intricate maneuvers. Kamaria, holding a candle, used her control over fire to turn the droplets into puffs of steam, occasionally winking at the crowd. Alessa hid a smile behind her glass. Some people, like Kamaria and Adrick, were born with too much charm to contain, and it poured forth no matter the circumstances.
Next up, Saida checked the gold headband holding her thick curls off her face before creating a wind funnel that made all the napkins on the head table twirl. She was also a year older than Alessa, but when she smiled at the applause, her round cheeks dimpled, and she appeared much younger.
Thanks to Hugo, Alessa had a bit of experience with wind power, but not enough to make Saida an automatic front-runner.
The next two performers were strangers who must have traveled from outside the city. One girl controlled fire, like Kamaria, and the other manipulated matter, like Nina, but not very well.
There was a long pause before the next performer. A skinny boy with glossy black hair, hovering slightly apart from the rest of the group, stepped up, his arms held stiffly at his sides and a look of determined courage on his face.
Alessa felt ill.
“Jun Cheong?” she whispered to Renata. “Really?”
“His parents weren’t thrilled, but he’s old enough.”
“Ishe, though?”
Jun couldn’t be more than thirteen, and while the bonding of a Finestra and Fonte wasn’t aregularsort of marriage, Alessa didn’t want achild groom.
“No. Absolutely not. I used to babysit for him.”
Renata protested, as Alessa knew she would, but Tomo agreed, as she knewhewould. And soon, they had one fewer prospect on their list. Alessa tried to give Jun’s parents a reassuring smile, but they didn’t know that Alessa was arguing for their son’s elimination and only looked more nervous.
When the last performance was over, Renata heaped effusive praise on the Fontes, so out of character for her that it made Alessa squirm, then invited the guests to enjoy the rest of the evening, with a pointed look at Alessa.
Alessa took a last, fortifying sip of water before stepping down from the dais, scanning the Fontes for a promising place to start. A smile was too much to hope for, but maybe someone would look her way without flinching.
Kaleb and his handsome friend were perusing a table of desserts, and a Fonte with pastries was more appealing than one without, so Alessa headed there first. Brushing a stray hair from his forehead, Kaleb met Alessa’s gaze, and her heart leapt. His power over electricity could make him a powerful Fonte, especially if he was willing and not compelled. She could deal with a poor personality if he was strong enough to endure her touch. And, who knew, maybe he was one of those people wholookedangry but would warm up once she got to know him.
His lip curled as she neared, and he leaned in to say something to the other boy that made them snicker.
Face hot, Alessa bent to fix an imaginary problem with her shoe.
Fine. Not Kaleb, then.
She found another target. Their huddle tightened as she neared, but Kamaria, Shomari, Nina, and Josef held their ground.
At Alessa’s tentative hello, Kamaria and Shomari glanced at each other, a brief look loaded with words unspoken. Kamaria uncrossed her arms. Shomari did not.
Silence fell after a round of strained greetings. The others nursed their drinks, but Alessa had nothing to hold, so she wedged her hands inside the deep pockets of her skirt, picking at a loose thread. If Saverio’s morale depended on her talent for small talk, the outlook was bleak.
Nina tugged on her long reddish braid. “Do any of the books in the Cittadella say when, exactly, Divorando will arrive?”
“No,” Alessa said. “We won’t know the date until the First Warning.”
The gods’ idea of a countdown clock to the final invasion was a month of blights, floods and storms and locusts, so people didn’t forget that something much worse was coming.
Nina didn’t seem reassured. “But it will besometimethis year. Aren’t you worried?”
“Of course, she isn’t,” said Josef. “That’s why Dea sends the First Warning, so we know to begin preparing, and that hasn’t happened yet, so we still have plenty of time.”
“Exactly,” Alessa said. “She won’t let us miss it.”
“Right,” Nina said. “How big, exactly, are the scarabeo?”
Apparently, Nina hadn’t outgrown her tendency to blurt out uncomfortable topics. Kamaria sighed. “Nina, most people will never even see one. Including you. Right, Finestra?”
“Not from inside the Fortezza,” Alessa said. “You can leave the scarabeo to me. And my Fonte, of course.”
