“And it’s clearly smart to be talking about it now,” Javier hissed, saving Reina. “In an unfamiliar palace, where the walls could have eyes and ears.”
Before anyone could escalate his concerns, they were interrupted by four servant girls. They were nozariel, all with skin the color of umber and wearing sheer linen dresses with cutouts to allow for their intact tails.
Reina had to force herself not to react in delight.
“My lord and ladies, follow us to your rooms.”
They did, down the open corridor, taking in the adjacent courtyard with its romantic benches shaded by magenta bougainvilleas. Finally, they were separated at a long corridor, each of the maidens stopping outside engraved doors and first motioning to Maior, then to Reina, then to Celeste, and at the fourth door, to Eva and Javier.
As soon as Reina walked through the doorway, she had the incredible urge to turn it down. The bedroom was too big for her, with a plush bed made for two, lavish decorations, walls of terracotta red, and verdant upholstery. It was a room for someone important. Surely not for a grunt under Do?a Ursulina’s employ.
The maiden gestured to the dress sprawled across the bed, then to the wardrobe to the left.
“A dress for your daytime enjoyment,” she said, her words laced with Don Samón’s same flowing accent. “You’ll find your dinner clothes in the wardrobe. If you’d like, you’re welcome to try them on before the evening. Don Samón’s tailor has orders to fix it to your exact measurements.”
Reina watched her speechlessly.
The girl lingered at the door a second longer and said, “Don Samón likes it when his guests indulge in the refreshments of his beach. Please do visit. And enjoy.” Then she bowed and left.
Reina stood there like a fool for many more minutes, fully expecting someone to barge through those doors and, with violence, announce that this was a mistake and none of it was for her. But… silence was all she received.
So she buried her face in her hands and indulged in an ear-to-ear grin of pure, unadulterated joy.
35
Tierra’e Sol Amapolas
The alcove breeze stopped with the closing of the door. Reina was left in the stillness of paradise, her ears perking to a faraway birdsong. Beyond the alcove was another garden, then descending cobbled steps lined in palm trees leading to a beach.
From her vantage, the beach looked empty. Clean and untouched, the waters were a crystalline aqua. The pool seduced her with the promise of its refreshments. What had she done to deserve such a good turn of luck? Of course, she saw it for what it was: life tempting her with relaxation, right as the last of her iridio was on the verge of running out, wooing her to docility so she could die on the beach with a smile on her face.
A wicked part of her wondered if such a fate was really all that bad.
She left the room. Celeste welcomed her into hers after a few knocks. She had a coy smile as she showed Reina the dress she had changed into. It was of white linen, like the dress Reina had been lent, sleeveless. The hems of the neck and ends of the skirt were adorned with wide ruffles in the color of fuchsia and goldenrod. The fabric fit her like a second skin, molding around the curves of her breasts, leaving little to the imagination.
“They didn’t leave you clothes?” Celeste asked, reaching up to undo her ponytail. Her hair cascaded down her back, all black silk and waves.
“A dress.”
“Put it on.”
Reina made a joking cringing face.
“You’ll melt in those clothes. I’m thinking of going to the beach. It’s wonderful, it really is.”
“It looks it.” Reina approached Celeste’s alcove, which was connected to a path descending to the beach. From there they had a view of the servants setting up a tent over the gypsum-white sand. Under the shade they sprawled out a mat of woven leaves and a tray of fruit.
She glanced at Celeste and realized she had been staring at her back. “Your shirt is all bloodstained,” Celeste said in a small concerned voice.
“Sometimes my cuts reopen,” Reina said lamely. Her injuries weren’t healing fast enough, and the sweat didn’t help with keeping the stain from her shirt. She came to the sad conclusion that it was her body struggling from the lack of iridio.
“Does it hurt?”
Reina tried not to get hung up on her concern. After all, Celeste was no stranger to the injuries of battle.
She shrugged and said, “You know when something hurts for so long you stop acknowledging it’s there?”
Celeste’s cracked lips stretched in a smile. “I know exactly what you mean. Honestly, Javier is such a prick. He should have just healed us instead of having that human do it.”
“Maior,” Reina corrected her.
“She means well, I can tell, but she’s still got a long way to go to be useful in battle as a healer.”
Reina wrung her hands and noticed her nails were filthy. She made fists to hide them. “Hopefully we’ll never have a need for a master healer.”
Celeste considered her, but her mirth fell after a while. “Then we’d be too lucky.” She looked down and gave breath to the words Reina had been too afraid to acknowledge, “Do you think this is a trap?”
She mistook Reina’s rippling jaw for her agreeing.
“Like they want us to strip off our armor and our weapons and our rings so we can get drunk and stupid on Cow Sea water and pineapples?”
Reina nodded and added, “Like a lechón for a New Year’s Eve butchering.”
Celeste seemed to deflate. “Is it bad that I want to play right into the trap? I’m so tired of running and being angry. I just want to rest.”
Reina’s heart did a little pirouette then. The truth almost spilled from her lips because she wanted to say it. She wanted to come clean and be welcomed in Celeste’s embrace, hear the sound of Celeste’s heartbeats as she confided the horrible conflict of this path they all took, how everything would have been so much easier if they hadn’t decided to pursue Rahmagut’s favor. If Reina had had the courage or the strength to stand up to the caudillo once the first of the babies had started dying. Well, now she didn’t have a working heart, and her grandmother had found the other seven damas. She would be a fool if she didn’t at least attempt the solution they all knew Rahmagut could grant her.
A new heart.
Do?a Laurel’s return.
Her grandmother’s fulfillment.
A brand-new life.
She took a heavy gulp and decided to keep the truth clutched to her chest for just a few more moments. First, she needed to see if Do?a Ursulina was somewhere on the island, despite the Liberator’s heightened security.
“Just keep your rings and wits about you,” Reina added. “I’ll keep you safe… you know I will.” And something rushed to Reina’s belly, because she meant it more than anything.
“Oh—Reina,” Celeste moaned, then gave her a half embrace, probably to avoid hurting her wounds. “I’m so glad you’re here with me. Come to think of it, you have always been there…” She trailed off, and they both marveled at how lucky it was that Reina had fallen into this life where Celeste needed her friendship so desperately. And where Reina needed this belonging.