Chapter 12
The fire dance was nothing like folk festivals in Brisden.
Here, blue flames licked the sky, set in braziers atop marble pillars throughout the village square.
All around us, fire tattoos adorned everyone’s exposed right shoulder, varying from a few flames to large ones that covered a great deal of their arm.
“What do the tattoos symbolize?” I whispered to Zafir. “Are they all phoenix shifters?”
“No, only the royal line are shifters. The tattoos can symbolize several things. Age, accomplishments, status. Generally, the larger one’s tattoo is, the more well-respected they are. The Pyrenese are a proud people and like to flaunt their tattoos.”
“You don’t.” I eyed Zafir, the only one in the crowd with his arms covered. “Do you not have one?”
“I do, but my reputation speaks for itself.”
Women brushed past me, clad in long, flowing skirts covered in jingling discs that chimed merrily as they danced in circles, arms moving rhythmically in time with the music.
“There’s no way any man will notice me next to them,” I hissed at Zafir.
“Trust me. He’ll notice. Just look at him.”
I looked around the crowd, stomach coiled in knots. Being out in the open made me feel even more vulnerable and exposed. What if Rahil was here, waiting to finish what he’d started? I kept watching to see if any of the men had blue-tinted beards.
“I don’t even know which one Julian is,” I protested.
“He’s wearing gold robes and is the only one with a lemur on his shoulder. He’s talking to the woman in a pink dress whose hair is tied back into a braid.” Zafir kept his voice low and conversational. “Don’t look right now. Laugh and pretend I just told you a joke.”
That did make me laugh. “You, tell a real joke? Now that would be funny.”
“Just keep looking at me,” Zafir instructed calmly. “He already noticed you. Shake your hair back or do something feminine.”
“Something feminine? What precise instructions.” I tossed my head the same way I’d seen the dancing girls do and placed a hand on my side, tilting my hips in what I hoped was an attractive pose. “Is he still looking?”
“No. Try to make eye contact, and once he looks at you, start talking to me again.”
I obeyed, turning to hunt for the man he’d described in the crowd.
Just as Zafir had described, there was a handsome man in long, flowing golden robes that screamed wealth, a lemur perched on his shoulder that had a fire tattoo much larger than most other men.
Several women leaned in, trying to talk to him.
Zafir had been right. If I’d tried to get his attention as they were doing, I would simply be one of the masses.
Julian’s eyes landed on me, then on the chain, and finally on Zafir.
He immediately broke away from his conversation and made a beeline for me, but I turned back to Zafir. “So now what? Am I supposed to pretend to be in love with you to make him jealous? Was that your plan?”
“Hardly. Julian knows me too well to fall for something like that. But good work; he’s coming over.”
“Zafir, I didn’t expect to see you at a fire dance. You never attend.” Before Zafir could respond, Julian transferred his gaze to me. “And why are you keeping a beautiful woman on a chain? Really, Zafir, this is a new low for you.”
“It was necessary,” Zafir said.
Julian took my hand, then bent to brush his lips against my knuckles.
“I must beg your forgiveness on behalf of my father’s vizier.
When it comes to treating women well, Zafir’s hopeless.
I’m Julian.” He smiled and exposed two perfect rows of brilliantly white teeth.
At least Zafir was having me seduce someone who was attractive and well-mannered.
On Julian’s shoulder, his pet lemur chittered and bared its teeth in something akin to a smile as well.
“Pleased to meet you, Julian. And who’s this?” I asked, smiling at the lemur.
“This is Jax. Jax, say hello.”
The lemur pulled his hat off his head and hopped up and down on Julian’s shoulder, chattering in a high-pitched voice.
“He’s adorable,” I said with a smile, stretching out my fingers. “May I pet him?”
“Go ahead. You can even hold him if you’d like. He’s very friendly.” Julian pulled the lemur off his shoulder and transferred him to mine. Jax wound himself around my neck and his tail tickled my ear.
“Get that filthy animal off the duchess,” Zafir snapped, shooing Jax away.
Jax leapt back to Julian as both Julian and I stared at Zafir.
“Duchess?” Julian asked. Most thankfully, he was looking at Zafir and not me.
“Yes, Alia is a visiting duchess from Brisden.”
Great. Now I had to seduce Julian and pretend to be nobility.
“And you’re keeping a duchess chained? Zafir, what’s wrong with you? Did you clear this with Parliament?”
I cleared my throat. “It’s true. I’m a duchess in Brisden, but there was a misunderstanding when I arrived.
Your vizier treated me very poorly, and I told him that he needed to be my servant for a few weeks to make up for it.
He’s here as my attendant, and the chain is to make sure he doesn’t evade his duties. ”
Julian threw back his head and hooted with laughter as Zafir threw me a very ugly expression. I gave him a coy smile.
“Well, well, well, what a delightful turn of events,” Julian said, rubbing his hands together. “A duchess in our midst? I had no idea. My father mustn’t have known or he would have issued an invitation by now.”
I lifted my shoulder, angling for modesty. “I’m still a far cry from royalty, and nowhere near as important as you are, I’m sure. But at least it’ll be nice to have someone wait on me, hand and foot again.” I raised an eyebrow at Zafir, who had made a noise like he was swallowing broken glass.
“I’d love to see that,” Julian told me. “Zafir never takes care of anyone but himself.”
I couldn’t help pressing my advantage and turned to snap my fingers at Zafir. “Oh, servant?” He looked as though he might erupt into flames. “Would you get me a drink?”
Without shifting his eyes off me, he reached out and picked up a thin glass from a servant passing with a tray. But before I could even touch it, the glass slipped from Zafir’s hand. It hit the ground in a crisp, musical shatter, scattering shards all over our sandals.
I jumped back with a slight shriek of surprise. “Watch it!”
Zafir’s voice was more snake-like than ever. “My apologies, Duchess. I must have forgotten how to use my hands properly. Servants are so clumsy, aren’t they?”
Julian roared with laughter again. “I think your attendant needs more training.”
“He does. It’s a shame this chain is still on.
Otherwise I’d ask for a tour of your city.
If you take me while I still have this on, Zafir would be forced to come along,” I told Julian.
Was I supposed to flutter my eyelashes or speak in a sultry tone?
I was no good at the art of seduction. “But it might be good for him to see how a man should treat a woman so he can get that training you were talking about.”
He laughed aloud. “That sounds like an excellent idea. Doesn’t it, Zafir?”
“No,” Zafir intoned dully. “And I still need to dust and alphabetize my books tonight. You must excuse us, Julian.” His hand closed firmly around my wrist.
“Depriving her of a party so she can watch you dust books?” Julian took hold of my other hand. “You really need to lighten up; you just got here. Pretty duchesses like Alia deserve to be treated well.”
“You’ll have to come talk to me soon,” I told Julian. “Zafir isn’t much of a conversationalist. He has so much he could learn from you.”
A cheer went up from the surrounding crowd watching the dancers as Zafir pulled on my arm so hard that Julian was forced to release me. “We’re leaving,” Zafir said gruffly.
“Please excuse us,” I told Julian sweetly, aware that he was watching us closely. “My servant seems to be forgetting his place.”
Zafir gave a thin, cold smile. “On the contrary, Your Grace, I’m fulfilling it. I’m escorting you safely home. Surely you wouldn’t deny me that duty?”
Julian opened his mouth to protest, but Zafir’s look silenced him. “Don’t worry,” Zafir said. “I’ll make sure Her Grace is cared for exactly as she deserves.”
I barely managed to wave at Julian before Zafir all but hauled me away from the firelit square. I made sure to stumble against several people along the way. I wasn’t going to leave my fate entirely up to Zafir.
“What was that?” I hissed the moment we were out of sight. “What’s with all the duchess nonsense?”
“I had to do something to make you seem more appealing.”
“But I don’t know anything about court protocol and he and I were getting along just fine. Now he will expect… you know… duchess things.”
“I told you I’d handle the talking. I handled it.”
“You handled it poorly. Now he’s going to expect me to act like nobility.”
“Then lie. I expect you’re good at that.”
“That’s a big lie to tell. No one will believe it. How do you expect me to pull that off?”
Zafir stopped short and his black eyes stared right through me. “Turn out your pockets,” he said coldly.
I flinched away. “Why?”
“You know why.”
Slowly, I withdrew a few of the coins I’d lifted from people when I’d stumbled into them leaving the square, but then tucked them away again before Zafir could confiscate any.
“Alia,” he growled, running his hand down his face. “Why?”
“Because seducing a rich man is far from a foolproof plan,” I spat. “This is my insurance.”
Zafir stomped down the alleyway. “It would take you years to steal enough to get back to Brisden. My plan is better. There’s no need to steal a few coins when you can be handed a fortune.”
“But I have no idea how to pretend to be a duchess. I can’t pretend to be anything other than a thief.”
“I’ll teach you. If he thinks you’re titled, Julian will be interested. Anytime a woman with any sort of station comes to town, Julian puts forth a lot of effort to court her. He’s well known for it.”
I quickened my pace to match Zafir’s. “What if you’re found out for lying? You could lose your job.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Then I’d tell them you falsely informed me and I was merely repeating what you told me. After all, I’m just your humble servant.”
I glowered. “I can’t stand you.”
One of his eyebrows rose. “The feeling is mutual.”
“For being the only chance in your entire life for finding a genie, you aren’t treating me well.”
A vein throbbed in his neck, barely visible in the dark alleyway. “We’ll start duchess lessons in the morning. I hope you’re a fast learner.”
“As long as you’re better at teaching than you are at being friendly, I’m sure I’ll manage just fine.”
Within a few minutes, we reached his suite and went through his study. “I hope I don’t regret this plan,” he grumbled.
“I intend to make you regret it very much,” I shot back, then looked around. “Where am I supposed to sleep?”
Zafir pushed open the door to his bedroom, where I hadn’t paid attention to anything other than the wardrobe before. There was only one bed.
“Looks like you get the floor,” Zafir told me, much too smugly. “You’re the one who insisted on being chained to me, and I don’t share well.”
“You could take the floor.”
“I could also throw myself out the window.”
“I’d like to watch that,” I answered sweetly.
He rolled his eyes. “Enjoy the floor.”
“I will. I wouldn’t want to sleep next to you anyway. I’ll bet you snore.”
“I’ll bet you kick in your sleep.”
I crossed my arms. “You probably pass horrific amounts of gas.”
“I’ll bet I do!” Zafir shot back. “And you’ll be the one who has to deal with it. Still want to keep this on?” Zafir jangled the chain. “You can still go if you don’t want to be here with me and pretend to be a duchess.”
“Ah, so that’s your plan, is it? You think that you can make it too difficult for me to want to stay? Guess again. Because as terrible as you are, I’m even worse. I’m not locked up with you; you’re locked in here with me. Maybe I’ll go for a midnight stroll and force you to come along.”
Zafir let out a long, controlled breath and closed his eyes. “And Julian wonders why I have no interest in courtship or marriage,” he said under his breath. “I’m not surprised your husband tried to kill you.”
I lifted my chin. “And you can’t kill me, so ha. You’re stuck with me.”
“Here, take this.” He shoved a pillow and blanket into my arms. “I don’t want to hear you complain about being cold tonight.”
“It’s impossible for anything to get cold here,” I said, but accepted the bedding anyway and found a comfortable spot on the plush rug on his bedroom floor to settle down.
Even with all my experience sleeping on the streets, I couldn’t get comfortable sleeping on the floor. Anytime I would start to settle down, Rahil’s face would flash into my mind and I’d have a spasm of fear again. Sleep felt impossible, and it seemed that I wasn’t the only one struggling.
Zafir continued to toss and turn long after he should’ve fallen asleep. Candles still burned in dishes suspended all around his sleeping quarters, bathing everything in a warm, dim light.
Zafir kicked aside some of his blankets and rolled around again, releasing an irritated huff as he did so.
I sat up. “What’s wrong?” I asked grumpily.
“I usually sleep without a shirt. It’s too hot.”
“Then take it off. It’s not like I’m going to fall in love with you if you don’t have a shirt on. You’ll still be repulsive to me.”
“Fine.” He stripped off his shirt, but the sleeve got caught on the chain, so he ripped the fabric and threw it onto the small pile of clothing heaped up in the hamper positioned in the corner. He stretched, and in the candlelight, I saw his back muscles flex.
I had been unequivocally wrong.
Zafir was extremely attractive without a shirt on. His flame tattoo had to be just as large as Julian’s, covering his entire shoulder from the nape of his neck down most of his bicep.
“Were you looking?”
“No.” I turned away. The last thing I needed was for Zafir to see me blush and make fun of me for getting worked up over something as simple as a man’s bare chest and arms. “I don’t care what you wear or don’t wear.”
His mattress groaned as he flopped back down with a sigh of relief. Cicadas creaked their odd chirping noises to the moon outside the window, and the candlelight cast a warm glow around the room, growing dimmer and dimmer the longer I watched.
“Thank you for saving my life and annulling my marriage,” I told the still night air. “I do appreciate it.”
“Oh, so you do have blood flowing through your veins and not just acid?”
“I have both. And the correct response would have been, ‘You’re welcome’ after I tried to thank you, you jerk.”
There was a pause. “You’re welcome. No woman should fear her husband the way you did. Now stop talking and go to sleep.”