Chapter 3 #2
Mayté’s stomach flip-flopped. According to legend, las grandes familias had come into power after one of their predecessors won Fortune’s Kiss.
The details were foggy from years and years of embellishments.
No one knew for sure from which family the lucky one had come, but the result was as clear as day.
More whispers floated around about nobles plotting to send their sons to gamble in Fortune’s Kiss.
What was there to lose? If they returned home a bit depressed, they still had their own wealth to fall back on.
What if Lo’s suitors were planning on entering? Everywhere Mayté looked, there was potential competition. Anyone could easily take her and Lo’s spot in the game.
“So, is it all true?” Lo asked, clearly bored of the Montoyas. “Has Fortune’s Kiss really returned?” She was a master at feigning ignorance. Her performances were always flawless.
“Yes, it has.” Juan Felipe Garcia swooped in to answer. He was tall and handsome with a narrow face, square jaw, and deep brown skin. His long, thin frame reminded Mayté of a cactus. “Can you see the gambling salon from here?” He put his arm around Lo as he pointed it out.
Mayté bit back a scoff both at the domineering gesture and his words. Yes, because Lo hadn’t thought to look for herself.
“Oh, my! It’s so beautiful—and probably even more wonderful inside,” Lo cooed. “Are you going to gamble?”
“Why should I? I already have everything I need.” Juan Felipe laughed, showing his teeth, perfectly straight with slightly pointy canines. None of the other suitors spoke up. Good. All these boys had more money and power than they knew what to do with. Let them stay home.
“Mm. I wonder how many people they let gamble at once,” Lo mused.
“They’re choosing ten entrants, my lady,” Ernesto Alvarez proudly blurted.
He was much shorter than Juan Felipe but made up for it with his muscular build.
His full lips twisted into a grin, and he ran a hand through his luscious brown waves when Lo turned to him.
“Might I add that you look even more beautiful than that silly tent? The crowd here should be gathered for you and you alone.”
“Only ten?” Lo asked, ignoring that last bit.
Ten. Mayté scanned the crowd. There had to be hundreds of people here. Not the best odds.
Lo tapped her cheek. “I wonder when they’ll choose these ten people.”
“Doors open tomorrow at dusk! Everyone is to form a line and they will make a selection,” Juan Felipe exclaimed. “That’s what some workers at the salon said. They were quite eager to tell me. They must be hoping I’ll gamble.”
That soon? Mayté’s pulse quickened, but her mind raced even faster. Tomorrow. That was when everything would change.
“You spoke with them? People from inside Fortune’s Kiss?” Lo whirled around to face him. “How interesting.”
Ernesto huffed and tugged at his suit coat.
Mayté rolled her eyes.
“Yes.” Juan Felipe smiled, smoothly pulling Lo closer. “I’m sure it’ll be an even bigger spectacle than today. If you want to watch it all unfold, perhaps I can escort y—”
“Did they say how exactly they are choosing the ten?” Lo interrupted. “Is it first come, first served? Is there a price for entry?”
Juan Felipe fell silent. Ernesto’s eyes darted.
“You didn’t think to ask?” Lo frowned.
Juan Felipe slowly shook his head.
Lo bit her lip. “Ay, I would have really liked to know. That’s going to bother me until I find out. Mayté, maybe we should find someone who knows.”
One by one, the suitors’ eyes widened. Their shoulders sagged in despair.
“Uh, yeah. Let’s go,” Mayté said, stilted and awkward. Putting on a show was not her forte. They had only taken a step when—
“Hello there!” Dominic Castro jogged over. A servant followed closely, walking four Xolo dogs on leashes. “Are you here to gawk at Fortune’s Kiss too?”
Mayté’s chest tightened for a multitude of reasons. Her patron, Senora Castro, was Dominic’s mother.
Not only that: as an heir to Las Cuatro, Dominic had once been her potential suitor.
She would be lying if she said he hadn’t been her favorite, with his long eyelashes and strong jawline, his dark eyes shining like the starlit sky.
His cheeks were always a bit flushed and the skin under his eyes always puffed up when he smiled.
To most it was a flaw, but Mayté found it quite charming.
Just a look from him used to make her heart jump. Maybe it still did.
“Isn’t this an exciting time?” He sounded breathless. “I just overheard someone say that a woman from a far-off land won and used her wish to heal her dying mother of an incurable disease. Isn’t that amazing? Anything can happen!”
“Senor, please slow down.” The servant rushed after Dominic.
“Perritos!” Lo squealed and dropped to her knees, letting Dominic’s skinny gray dogs flop all over her and give her licks. Each one of those sorry excuses for canines only reminded Mayté of the hours she toiled getting their odd proportions right.
Lo kissed the dog’s pointed muzzles one by one. “Did you happen to hear what the price of entry is?” she asked Dominic.
“Not exactly.” He flashed a lopsided grin. “No one knows for sure, but there are rumors and theories. Some say since the prize is so wonderful, the cost must be huge! Like a large sum in golden coins. Others claim they’ll only accept your most prized treasure. One of them might be right, no?”
“Maybe.” Lo grinned, but Mayté felt sick. Golden coins? Her most prized treasure? She hadn’t thought there might be a price for entry. How was someone who couldn’t even afford a measly jar of paint going to get in?
“Well, I’ve heard that the payment is blood,” Ernesto yelled as Juan Felipe shoved him out of the way.
“Yes, yes, but noble blood is worth more. Someone like María Teresa would likely get bled dry before she could pay the price.” He smirked and the other suitors snickered.
Mayté’s cheeks flushed with warmth. She caught Dominic staring and looked away. Of course, now the boys would notice her.
“Enough,” Lo said, voice suddenly firm. “If you think that about my best friend, then you should find someone else to court.”
Juan Felipe jolted as if Lo had kicked him in the stomach. He probably had never heard her speak like that. The other suitors looked just as shocked.
Dominic burst out laughing at his rival. He laughed so hard, it turned into a coughing fit. One of the dogs whined and the servant looked panic-stricken, but Dominic waved him off. “Sorry. That was … rude of me.” He gasped for air, a wide grin still plastered on his face.
Mayté pressed her lips together. At least someone else was being laughed at for a change.
Lo turned away. The hunger and curiosity in her eyes had faded. Clearly, she had gotten everything she needed. “Oh, my, I think I’ve lost track of the time. I should go before my father gets worried.”
“Wait!” Juan Felipe snatched her arm. His huge smile clashed with the growl in his voice. “I can escort you—”
The way he grabbed at her as if she were his possession. Mayté’s blood boiled.
Lo made a strange face as she looked down at her arm and back up again at Juan Felipe.
“No, I can,” Ernesto interrupted. “Let me walk you, my beautiful lady.”
“I need to take the dogs home,” Dominic said, hitching his thumb back. “It’s on the way if you want to talk more about Fortune’s Kiss.”
Lo shook free from Juan Felipe and before any of those idiotas could get any closer, Mayté hooked arms with her.
“Sorry.” Lo shrugged. “Let’s talk more next time, okay?”
Mayté grinned. If the two of them played their cards right, there wouldn’t be a next time. Ever.
Somewhere, somehow, people got it into their heads that home was where the heart was. But if Mayté had to choose, her heart’s true home would be at the Fountain Garden.
Tucked away from the city’s bustle, bathed in mist from myriad waterspouts, and guarded by cacti of all shapes and sizes, sat her and Lo’s secret garden. Maybe secret wasn’t the right word. Overlooked? Underappreciated? Not many people walked through here, and they were missing out.
Abuelita had introduced her and Lo to this magical place.
It was her refuge from her husband and children, and it became the same for Mayté.
Whenever her mother was too nagging, or her brothers too loud and brutish, or her father’s absence too overwhelming to handle, she came here for peace and quiet.
As children, Mayté and Lo had spent many an afternoon splashing around in the fountains, bestowing names on the different cacti. Stuff like Verde and Flor. To this day, Senor Conejito was her favorite. Short and round, it sprouted two heads that looked like rabbit’s ears.
“Good day to you, senor.” Lo sat at the base of the fountain next to the bunny cactus. She took off her shoes and dipped her toes in the fountain’s water. Some things never changed. “Do you think any of your brothers would be interested in Fortune’s Kiss?”
“Hmm.” Mayté plopped next to her and thought about it.
The twins, Benito and Pablito, were still toddlers.
Manuel had just turned nine, but Mateo was fifteen.
Still, he was much too consumed with girls to care about wealth.
Carlos was eighteen, but, according to their mother, his duty was to marry a respectable woman, winning the favor and support that would come from such a match.
He didn’t need Fortune’s Kiss. Not like Mayté did.
“None of them have the drive. Anyway, you only ask about my brothers when you can’t think of what else to say. ”
“Ay, you caught me. It’s just …” Lo swirled her toe through the water, fracturing the reflection like mosaic glass. “I wasn’t expecting the doors to open so soon, you know? Tomorrow night is going to be here before we know it. And they’re only accepting ten entrants!”