Page 117 of A Forgery of Fate

I stared, taking the bottle into my hand. The color matchedNazayun’s scales exactly. “Elang extracted this from the waterbells?”

“Indeed.” Mailoh beamed. “You are pleased?”

I plucked a flower from the basket, twirling it by the stem in my fingers. “How many did he grow?”

“These, he planted by the Court of Celestial Harmony, but I’ll expect the rest to bloom under the light of the Luminous Hour. Which is quite apt, I’d say.”

“Apt? What do you mean?”

“It’s merfolk tradition to plant flowers for someone you love. They say if you present them during the Luminous Hour, your love is sure to be returned.”

It sounded like a scam my mother would’ve run in her old fortune house. “How romantic.”

“I think so too.” Mailoh shrewdly inserted a waterbell into one of my braids. “How apt, too, that Lord Elang should grow you an entire field of flowers.”

My eyes went wide. An entire field?

“He grew them all on his own,” Mailoh went on. “Last night, I might add. He wouldn’t let anyone help. Never have I seen a man more devoted.”

I must have looked stricken, for she chuckled. “No need to be so shy, Lady Saigas. I can see how the curse burdens you both.” She made a subtle nod in the direction of Elang’s separate chambers. “Once you break it, you can finally be together without hardship.”

A bloom of heat prickled my cheeks, which only served to encourage Mailoh. “Trust me, a love like yours is meant to last from one life to the next.”

I bit back a protest. It would have done no good anyway; Mailoh had a belief and she wasn’t going to change it.

Still,I thought as I twirled one of the waterbells from the basket,he could have chosen a different flower.

It was true, Elang reallyhadplanted an entire field of waterbells.

I surveyed them from the Court of Celestial Harmony, hovering just above the rooftop. Tiny blue buds covered the grounds, cascading down beyond the rubble from the last storm to the edge of the gate.

The sight was breathtaking. I was starting to reach into my pocket for my brush when I felt another shadow touch mine.

“Just wait until you see it under the light of the pearls.”

That was how Elang found me, precariously floating above the roof, my paintbrush slipping out of my sleeve. I didn’t see him and windmilled after it, expecting to float but quickly sinking instead. His arm wrapped around my wrist as he brought me safely onto the roof.

I whirled on him. “I wasn’t going to fall.”

“I wasn’t going to take the chance.”

My mouth went dry. Ever since I’d found out the truth about Gaari, Elang had abandoned some of his cold facade. It frustrated me, how difficult he was making it to dislike him. How much I’d missed my old friend.

He let me go, handing me back my brush as I shuffled to the side.

He was dressed finely tonight, silver platelets braided across his wide shoulders. His robes were white and black, with a rich purple lining that, to my embarrassment, matched the gown Mailoh had selected for me.

“I had a feeling I’d find you here,” he said. “You always knew how to find the best seats in the house, Saigas.”

“That was Gaari, not me.” I crossed my arms. “I just wanted to be alone.”

He settled at my side, landing soundlessly. “That’s why I used to come here too. I would watch the dawns every morning and wish I were on the other side of those crimson lights.”

“I thought you hated the human world.”

“I didn’t hate the sky or the stars, or the way the sun illuminates the secrets of the world after a dark and ruthless night. Or the noodles.”

I rolled my eyes. Intolerable dragon.

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