25. Beatriz
Chapter 25
Beatriz
Servants lined the arched passageway to the dining room. The exquisite paintings depicted Aracibel’s royal families from the first age to the current. One of my great-great-uncles had married a princess of Aracibel and solidified the alliance long ago. For years, we’d relied on that connection, but not anymore. I looped my arm through Laude’s, inching forward. Her face mirrored the twisted emotions marching through my veins. Was this a set up? What secret message would Monserrat share?
Zichri and Jaime followed in tow. Zichri had assured me that Cosme had gone ahead to scope the dinner arrangements. I glanced again at Zichri who met my gaze with a comforting wink. A blush crept up my neck. I wished he was the one clinging to my arm, but Cosme thought it prudent to not give away Zichri’s identity.
Upon crossing through the double doors, I swallowed every last detail as I had been instructed. Chandelier light poured over long tables set up in a square around an expansive open space. A guiterna strummed from somewhere to the right. Cosme stood at the end of the table chatting with Lucas. I stopped, waiting for the signal to proceed.
King Sebastian, Queen Tatiana, and Princess Monserrat sat high on a podium across the large space. Two wily children smacked toy swords in front of the high tables—the young princes of Aracibel.
“Princess Beatriz, follow me,” the haughty male servant from earlier said.
I waved at Cosme to try and catch his attention, and Laude joined my efforts to no avail.
“Princess Beatriz, would you like me to seat you beside your brother?” the male servant asked. The ends of his lips twisted upward, but a condescending air made him anything but inviting.
“Yes, thank you.” Only a spattering of aristocracy remained in their seats while the others moseyed around, unconcerned about our presence. Their demeanors gave no reason for alarm. A tingle of energy grazed beneath my skin, as if asking to check my surroundings, and I let energy roam. All easy spirits and nothing to cause concern. I stopped the flow and pressed my fingernails into my palms.
The servant’s slender face slackened into a frown. “Are you searching for someone besides Prince Cosme?”
“No, yes, sorry, I would love to sit beside my brother.” I pursed my lips, feigning confidence, and the servant guided me around the periphery of the room. I stayed an arm span behind the man.
The servant pulled out a wooden chair across from Cosme and left without acknowledging Laude. Zichri nudged my side. An easy grin slid along my lips. Clanking pewter mugs, laughter, and murmurs sounded, but my focus remained on his dimpled grin as he pulled out a chair a couple spaces away. He waved for Laude to take a seat and filled the gap with himself. My stomach buzzed to life in response. I straightened my spine to counteract his effect. But the gentle way his cropped hair touched the tops of his ears and his rapt attention stirred my insides like a spoon in honey.
Laude waggled her brows at me and bit her bottom lip. She had a bad habit of daydreaming about romantic notions. Even though she didn’t share her thoughts, I could read her perky cheeks better than I understood our current predicament.
Cosme placed his palms on the table and hunched over. “Fermín destroyed the original map. Our tongues are free from their cages.”
I peeked over at Laude who couldn’t have smiled wider.
She whispered, “The map. The Black Knight’s map. It worked.” She squealed with delight.
My brother leaned back and shifted his jaw. More of the aristocracy entered and filled the tables. Fermín’s slender figure breached the hall entrance with Minerva close to his side. As they walked in, Cosme straightened into a more regal posture. He waved for the last of our company to join us.
I cast my gaze to the high table where the king and queen cheered for their sons in their mock battle.
Princess Monserrat sipped from her glass and turned her attention to Cosme. A difficult to read emotion flickered along her pinched lips and trickled into every feature. What were her feelings about my brother? She might be dangerous if they turned bitter.
“What did she hand you?” Zichri asked in hushed tones.
“Ahh … you saw. Always one to attend to details.” A muscle tightened in my cheek.
“Do all the royal families have an inquisition upon arrival?” he asked.
A servant filled my glass with magenta colored liquid.
“What is this?” I asked the servant.
“Wine.”
“Would you get me a glass of hibiscus water?” I peeked at Zichri, searching for any hint of annoyance at my extra request.
“Could I get a glass of hibiscus water too?” Zichri asked.
The servant departed.
Zichri leaned over my shoulder. “Good thinking. We can’t be sluggish on the job.” His full lips set in a playful pout.
We laughed together. The deep sound of his voice pleased my ears and took some tension off my shoulders.
Once we’d settled, I had to ask, “How did you and my brother unite?”
His expression sobered. “Minerva.”
I stilled, trying to control my lackluster feelings about Minerva. Though she was nice and courteous, her relationship with Cosme baffled me. She had all his respect and confidence while I couldn’t steal a peanut-sized chunk of his regard.
“You made the face,” Zichri whispered with a playful lilt.
“What face?” I tugged on my collar, suddenly self-conscious.
“The one where you suck in your cheeks and pout. The look suits you well. I take it she hasn’t won you over.”
“She certainly has not.” I veiled my mouth with a hand and pitched my voice low. “She flirts with my brother all day long. How did they meet? Who is she? Who are her parents?”
He chuckled.
I smacked his bicep. “How is this funny to you?”
“You've avoided Minerva the entire trip thus far, besides when you nearly pushed her off La Lavia .”
“I did not.”
“Perhaps if you got to know her, you’d come to like her.” Zichri kept his round, brown eyes trained on me.
Seconds passed before I finally looked away and met Monserrat’s stare from the high table. She tilted her head behind her toward the balcony.
“I’ll be right back.” I stood even though a question pinched on Zichri’s forehead. “Don’t worry. I’ll be out on the balcony.” A glimpse at Laude, pointing at the entertainers filed at the entrance, stopped me from asking her to accompany me.
My boots raced along the marble floors as I made my way to the arched openings behind the royal table. I glanced around. A middle-aged lady with long black curls strode to the center of the room in a crimson gown. Her hands shone with golden light. I stopped, curious.
The lady lifted her arms, and a legion of stars tumbled from her person and flung to the ceiling. A gasp caught in my throat. She was a skilled illusionist, making Minerva’s exhibition seem pitiable. The dome above our heads had the appearance of a clear night sky, stars swarming overhead.
“Once, long ago, deep in the pits of a dying land,” the lady’s raspy voice boomed, “the seven royal children were led by a whyzer through a portal to a new world.” She parted her curved fingers, forming a rippled pool of light behind her. The lady’s thin silhouette paced to the edge of the light. “They entered the Agata Sea world with the relics to protect against the forces of evil that chased them.”
Silhouettes of children rushed across the light. Black smoke curled at the ceiling and grew into dark clouds, covering the illusion of the night sky.
Monserrat grabbed my wrist and yanked me outside. “You might catch a horde of gnats with your mouth hanging open like a fish.”
I snapped my mouth shut and let myself be dragged out onto an enormous balcony. Monserrat strode to the center and placed her palms on the balustrade, somehow maintaining impeccable posture. Her gossamer white skirt fluttered with the sea breeze. I stood by her side, watching her sorrowful profile. Waves smacked rocks beneath us and slurped as the water returned to the sea. The noise masked our words and kept me leaning in close to Monserrat.
The flow of energy poured through my veins and lit the vines along my skin. My fingers instinctively curled into fists. The temptation to prod Monserrat’s emotions trickled into my mind like chocolate drizzled on fruit.
Princess Monserrat cocked her head closer to me. “Did you truly kill Prince Lux? I always thought you were particularly fond of him.”
The muscles in my neck tightened. How I longed to understand her motives and read every last thought connected to them, but I clenched my jaw.
“Prince Lux never gained my favor, and I couldn’t see why he had yours.” Monserrat sighed. “I called you out here because the palace has many prying eyes and ears. The illusionist steals our audience’s attention.” She returned her gaze out to sea. The light of a full moon reflected off a single tear.
“Is all well, Monserrat?”
She blinked rapidly. “I understand why you told Cosme before I left. I don’t blame you for telling your family.”
A pent-up breath released from my lungs. “Does your papá know about your separation from Cosme?”
“No. He believes your papá was fickle about the date.” She wiped her nose. “Why did your brother come? He claims it’s to reestablish a betrothal. Pray tell me, what should I make of his vast attentions?” The sarcasm she layered onto the word vast grew an ache inside my heart for her.
I swallowed hard. “Why didn’t you tell your family?”
Tears raced along her cheek. “It’s embarrassing for one, and Cosme is much safer if Papá’s associates believe you are ignorant.”
Her statement echoed Cosme’s about my ignorance being my protection. I would never agree with the statement, but I could understand the sentiment. Perhaps I should forgive him and stop prodding as if my life depended on the next dollop of information.
She fingered under her sleeve and shoved a worn leather pouch at me. “Take this. Promise me you’ll fight these wicked men and pardon my family at the end of this.”
With a nod, I took the soft material into my hands. It was just longer than the length of my hand and flat with a slit on one side. I stuffed it up my sleeve along my forearm. A crunching noise sounded from the paper within Monserrat’s pouch. The extra bulk couldn’t be seen through the velvet and the tightness of my sleeve end would make it difficult for the large object to escape its confines.
“I ran across more interesting documents on Papá’s desk. This couldn’t possibly be the will of the Ancient One. The Black Knight is evil. This palace has eyes in the walls and some who politically detest Giddel.” Monserrat lifted an eyebrow. “Open it somewhere private and out of the palace walls.”
“Monserrat, you scare me.” I tried to laugh, to add some levity to the seriousness.
“You should be scared. I’ve watched our illusionist perform her story about our history several times. What keeps me trembling is the thought of terrible men attaining powers and twisting them for evil. We might end up like the old world.”
“But those are just stories.”
A shadow slid over her features. “And we have the same giftings of old, the same whyzers, and the same relics. The warning in the stories is that anyone could take what is given from the Ancient One and twist it for wicked gain. Isn’t that why only innocent children escaped?”
“Is it so bad to have both giftings and relics? Is it wrong to want to use the powers given?” The chain around my neck grew heavier by the second.
“I don’t know. But should I ever come across one of the relics, I’d toss it in the sea or build a monument around it. My heart longs for their abilities far more than I’d like to admit. But I know that longing can destroy everything in its path.”
The pocket watch beneath my gown pulsed in warning, the ever-ticking cogs counting down the end of everything I held dear.