sorcery and science 04.5 - masquerade (11 page)

“It’s not been that long,” Ariella muttered.

“Your father and I understand, dear. You are young, and you yearn for adventure. It’s nice you have made such wonderful friends. How are you, Isis?” Queen Crystal asked Isis, though her eyes were still locked on Davin.

“I’m well. Busy, but well.”

King Fathom remained seated on the bench, watching them all with great amusement. Especially his wife.

“What time is your interview?” Queen Crystal asked Ariella.

“How did you know it was today?”

“You wrote that you were going to apply for the position, and all the interviews are taking place today. Everyone knows that, dear.”

Until a few minutes ago, Davin hadn’t known. Then again, no one had ever accused him of being ‘everyone’.

“You will do splendidly,” Queen Crystal continued. “Just remember to go there in clean clothes. And brush your hair. And tie up your shoes properly too. You don’t want to trip over your own laces and fall flat on your face in front of the high king of Elitia.”

“Mother!”

“I’ve brought something for you.” She set a platinum and amethyst band on Ariella’s head. “Perfect.” She smiled. “Just perfect.”

“I can’t wear this. Bringing up my connection to you in an interview is cheating.”

Queen Crystal caught Ariella’s hand as it moved to remove the headband. “Wear it. The other candidates will be pushing their every advantage. So should you.”

“How about you and Father just come with me into the interview,” Ariella muttered.

“If it helps.”

“I was kidding.”

“Ariella, you need to think about this strategically,” King Fathom said from his spot on the bench. “You can’t just walk in like you’re fresh off the battlefield. King River is looking for an aide, not a bodyguard. He needs someone he can bring with him wherever he goes. Your presentation is everything. Listen to your mother. She knows all about turning heads.”

Ariella buried her hands in her face, nearly tipping the platinum band off her head. Davin set his hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. Based on the look she gave him, she seemed to appreciate the gesture.

“Well, then. We’ll see you again at the graduation ceremony next week.” Queen Crystal kissed her on the forehead, then she and her husband walked down the path that would lead them to the temple.

~ 5 ~

525AX April 24, Rosewater

WHEN HER PARENTS were out of sight, Ariella trudged over to the bench and plopped onto it. Isis set the picnic basket down against the building, then sat beside her. There was just enough space for Davin to squeeze in between them, and he did so, wrapping an arm around each.

“How mortifying,” said Ariella. “They always have to interfere.”

“I actually thought they were acting really sweet.” Isis smiled. “And very subtle.”

Ariella pushed out her lower lip. “Subtle? They were strategizing ways to manipulate my interview.”

“Well, remember last summer when we spent a week at Sundrop Loop? They sent us on this wild scavenger hunt that took us all across the kingdom. Then we ended up on the beach and ran into that young man…” Isis’s eyes darted to Davin, then quickly back. “In any case,
that
was interfering. This here was just being good parents. They care about you, Ariella. They know you want to get the job, and they’re trying to help in the best way they know how.”

“Their ideas were sound,” Davin added. “All the applicants are good fighters. That won’t be the deciding factor. Your presentation will be.”

“I know. I know.”

“I’ll be done with my exam well before your interview. Let me help you get ready,” Isis said.

It was a good offer. Isis loved dressing people up in pretty things, and she had a good eye for fitting an ensemble to an occasion. In fact, she would have been the perfect choice to be Father’s aide. She claimed she wasn’t applying because she didn’t care to spend so much time in Orion, but Davin had a feeling she didn’t want to compete for a job Ariella really wanted. From what he’d seen, Isis had no problem dealing with the Selpes or their technology.

“I could use your help too,” Davin told her.

Isis had the nerve to laugh right in his face. “Sorry,” she said once the last tremors had stopped shaking her body. “It’s just…well, Davin, you don’t need any help dressing up.”

“Not with that.” He slid his fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. “With Jade.”

“Wait.” Isis cupped her hands around her face. “We’ve been here before.”

“Or was it a foresight?” Ariella asked, mimicking the gesture.

Davin stared down the two comedians. “This is serious.”

“Do you need some advice on how to ward off her advances?” Isis asked.

She was trying to contain the laughter. At least Davin thought she was. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it, though. Her lips buzzed and her shoulders shook.

“No.” Davin frowned at her, hoping that would stifle her chuckles. It didn’t work. “She isn’t making any advances.”

“And you want her to?”

“No. Damn it, Isis! This isn’t funny.”

“Sorry.” She swallowed a final laugh and turned to him with a face so serious and reserved that he knew it was fake. “What’s the problem?”

“She’s stopped giving me pained looks. But then I started noticing her humming and dolling herself up just like last time. I think she’s fallen in love with someone else.”

“Sounds like a solution, not a problem.”

“Not when she disappears into the woods for hours on end,” he said. “What if she was so distraught over what happened between us that she’s fallen in with a rogue crowd?”

“Because she spends time in the forest?” Isis asked. “Davin, I spend a lot of time in the forest. That doesn’t mean I’m going to run off with a band of rogues.”

“Or assassins,” Ariella snickered.

“Raven would like that.”

Davin shook his head. There wasn’t much else to do once those two got started.

“If you’re really concerned, then why don’t you just have her followed?” Ariella asked him.

“I tried,” he said. “She managed to lose her tail in under five minutes. She knows those woods too well.”

“The woods outside Laelia? You should know them better,” said Isis.

“Except she’s not wandering in those woods. She takes the portal to somewhere in southern Pegasus and loses them there.”

Isis chewed on her lip in silence. Maybe she was finally taking him seriously enough to realize how suspicious this all looked.

“Most of those who know the forests of Pegasus well went rogue long ago,” he said. “There’s a very short list of other people who also know those forests, and Jade is on it. Obviously, I can’t ask her. And I’m not going to bring in someone else to help me. If I’m wrong, I’ll never hear the end of it from Father. But you.” He looked at Isis. “You not only know the forests of Pegasus, you know nearly every corner of Elitia, probably better than anyone else alive.”

“As I said, I spend a lot of time in the woods.”

Davin waited for her to say more, but when she left it at that, he tried something more direct. “Will you help me?”

She looked up at the clock on the front side of the dormitory house. “Davin, I wish I could, but I have to get to my test.” She took the two chocolate boxes from Ariella. “But Ariella also knows the back trails of the Wilderness. If you’re nice to her, she might just help you.”

Then Isis disappeared into the building, leaving Davin alone with Ariella. He stared at the door for a few seconds before turning to her.

“What do you say? Care to help me?”

She set her hands on her hips and smiled. “Have you been nice to me?”

“I brought you chocolate.”

“Ok. I suppose that qualifies.”

~ 6 ~

525AX April 24, Laelia

THEY FOLLOWED JADE around Laelia—from the gym, to the library, to her desk, to the kitchen for a snack of oranges and bananas. Two hours later, Davin was bored out of his mind, and Jade still hadn’t done anything interesting. That’s when he decided that spying on people sounded a whole lot more exciting than it actually was. He’d remember that next time he crossed paths with a boasting agent of the Selpe Intelligence Network.

Davin and Ariella passed most of the time in silence, punctuated by his occasional line of advice for her interview. He didn’t feel guilty about that. She was his friend, and if she wanted the job, he was going to help her get it. Even if it meant helping her manipulate his father. Ariella had balked at her parents’ interference, but she didn’t seem to mind his.

The afternoon passed, the trees’ shadows grew longer, and Jade hadn’t done anything more incriminating than tracking her muddy shoes through the palace. Ariella was sitting cross-legged on the grass, weaving together a crown of flowers. When it was done, she set it on his head and leaned back to look at him.

“Enchanting, Prince Halo,” she said, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Davin slid his fingers across the crown’s smooth petals and grinned at her. “You need one too, Princess Destiny.”

Half an hour later, Jade was still sitting at her desk, but Ariella had a flower crown on her head. Davin had woven it together from three different kinds of purple flowers, and the combination of the colors really brought out the violet in her eyes. He was about to tell her so, when she stood up.

“I’m sorry, Davin. I have to go now. Isis promised to help me get ready for my interview. I can’t see the high king of Elitia looking like this.” She brushed blades of grass off her black pants.

She was right, so Davin didn’t try to argue. Even though he wished she would wait with him while he watched Jade. It was much more fun than sitting alone.

“Ok, go. And good luck. Maybe you’ll join me again after you’re done?”

She turned her eyes on him, staring in silence for a long time. It was so long that Davin started to wonder if he’d somehow inadvertently enchanted her.

“I will,” she said, then ran back toward the Gateway.

~ 7 ~

525AX April 24, Laelia

ARIELLA CAME OUT of the palace just as the sun was setting, bathing the cherry blossom gardens of Laelia in a veil of crimson-orange. Davin hadn’t seen her enter the palace—he’d followed Jade to the water garden, where she’d fed pink petals to the fish beneath the bridge—and he was unprepared for the sight of her now. Isis had done a good job. Ariella wore an eggplant-purple top with a diamond neckline and capped sleeves. Her balloon pants were a few shades lighter, as was the chiffon skirt over them that flowed in long, fluid strips like the petals of a flower. Her neck and wrists sparkled with blue, purple, and pink jewels. So did her head. Her silver hair was drawn up into a high ponytail behind the Zephyr crown.

“You look amazing,” Davin told her as she stopped before him.

Her eyes sparkled at least as brightly as the jewels she wore, and her cheeks flushed pink. The brush of color on her pale skin was as effective as any makeup.

“How did it go?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I was really nervous.”

“There’s nothing to be nervous about around my father.” The high king was only mean to his own son.

“He looks just like you,” Ariella blurted out. “Well, there are differences here and there, but it’s really remarkable. I’d heard you two look alike, but I didn’t expect you to look
so
alike. Like twins.”

“And looking into a familiar face didn’t calm your nerves?”

“Just the opposite actually. I kept thinking…” Ariella’s pink cheeks reddened further. “I’d forgotten how much you hate people talking about this. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, hugging her to him. “It’s not your fault we look alike.”

Ariella leaned her head against his shoulder, the faint, sweet aroma whiffing up from her. Davin lowered his nose to her hair, inhaling deeply. Isis was right. Ariella did smell like violets and vanilla. He chuckled.

She turned her head to look up at him. “What?”

“Nothing.”

She didn’t press him further. Instead, she resettled her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Davin felt his enchantment slowly sink into her. It wasn’t bouncing off like it usually did. Slowly, he allowed tranquil vibes to seep out of him, wrapping them around her like a warm blanket. She sighed, finally relaxed.

“Ariella.”

Her head snapped up and she stumbled back, the relaxed blanket shattering in an instant. She looked down the path, where her parents had stopped just steps from the palace door.

“Mother. Father.” She stood taller, trying to cover her obvious embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”

“We have a meeting with King River,” Queen Crystal said. “But I’m glad we ran into you.” Her aquamarine eyes glowed with pride as she scanned her daughter from head to toe. “You look beautiful.”

King Fathom nodded. “The most beautiful girl King River interviewed for sure.”

Ariella was lucky. Her parents showered her with compliments. Father showered him with complaints.

“So, how did it go?” Queen Crystal asked.

“Ok, I guess. I hope.”

“I’m sure you did very well, Ariella. And look at how supportive your friends are, being here with you.”

There was something about Queen Crystal’s gaze that made Davin nervous, but he wasn’t sure what it was. It was almost as though she were cataloging his attributes. That didn’t make much sense. Davin decided that maybe she just looked at everyone like that. Whether or not that was actually true, it made him feel not nearly as self-conscious.

“Well, we can’t keep King River waiting,” King Fathom said, holding out his arm.

Queen Crystal set her arm in his, and with a farewell smile, she walked with him into the palace. With the sun down, it was getting dark fast. The perpetually falling petals glowed faintly, but they were outshone by the electric lights flashing on all around the palace.