Page 91 of A Forgery of Fate

Then, with a bow of his head, he left the kitchen.

Precisely an hour later, Elang knocked on my door.

It was a miracle I was ready. The instant I’d returned to my room, it’d been a whirlwind of Mailoh tearing apart my closet and making me try on every dress in sight. I votedfor a dusky pink robe with emerald accents, which Mailoh thought was too plain. But she grudgingly accepted the choice, so long as I pinned up my hair and accented my gills with little pearls.

“Yonsar’s fate rests upon the impression you make on Queen Haidi,” Mailoh had said dramatically. “You must look regal, Lady Saigas. Not too magnificent, but not too humble either.” She came forth with a plump sprig of greens. “How about this?”

“Is that moss?” I asked.

“It’s one of the few plants that have survived the storms,” she replied. “I know it’s not beautiful, but I thought it’d be a sign of…”

“Resilience,” I said, taking a sprig and setting it behind my ear. “I’ll wear all of it.”

Elang waited at my door, attired in a dark green robe with brocade fittings. He’d cleaned up nicely; his white hair was tied back, the dirt on his cheeks scrubbed away. Even his sickle-sharp nails had been trimmed.

I made a little twirl, holding up the ends of my skirt. “How do I look?” I asked him.

The question must have caught him off guard, for as his eyes swept over me, his lips parted. For an instant, he seemed to forget how to swim and actually floated up, just a little. Then he caught himself, straightening with a pained furrow in his brow.

“Is it that bad?” I asked. He seemed partially paralyzed, and I suddenly worried that the moss in my hair looked too silly to greet a merqueen. “Should I take out the—”

Elang found his voice, gruffer than usual. “It’ll do.”

He escorted me outside, where a clamshell carriage awaited,drawn by two giant seahorses. Kunkoi hovered along one side, his purple hair coiffed high.

“Ready?” said the merman. “You look nervous.”

“I’ve never met a queen before,” I replied, untwisting my hands. “Of course I’m nervous.”

“You’ve no need to be,” Elang said. “Do not forget, you are a lady of the first rank among dragons. That makes you equal to any queen, if not greater.”

Though his tone was austere, Elang seemed a little nervous himself. Every now and then, I caught him glancing sidelong at me. What was he looking at? The umbrella behind my shoulder, the moss in my hair? Or was it the white cloak he’d given me, which Mailoh had begged me not to wear because it ruined the elegance of my robes?

“Is it too long?” Elang asked, gesturing at how I’d bunched the cloak’s fabric in my hand.

“It’s toougly,” said Kunkoi before I could reply. “That cloak will show my queen what a wretched state we’re in.”

Before I could protest, Elang reached out, his fingertips landing gently on my arm.

Where he touched it, the cloak began to change. The plain white cloth melted into soft gold brocade with a viridescent trim that matched the moss in my hair, and tiny golden flowers embroidered the collar where a bronze clasp, of a phoenix, now held the cloak over my shoulders. It even had pockets!

I glanced up at Elang. In the reflection of his darker eye, I saw myself aglow.

“Better?” he asked, clearing his throat.

Honestly, I wanted to take it off and admire every thread, to spin it around and watch how its golden sheen caught thelight. But Elang wasn’t done. The umbrella at my side shrank into a pair of jade butterflies hanging on a dark red cord.

I touched the pendant. It was cool against my skin, the delicate wings a vibrant green, my favorite. I gave Elang a quizzical look.

“For luck,” he said. “Besides, you don’t need the umbrella’s help anymore.”

He said it matter-of-factly, not intended as a compliment. Still, something fluttered in my stomach. Jadewaslucky, but butterflies…butterflies were symbols of love. Something Kunkoi must have silently observed as well, for his eyes twinkled with mischief.

If Elang noticed, he made no sign of it. He had turned away, looking out to the sea. “They’re here.”

As he spoke, the merfolk arrived. They slipped out of an invisible seam in the sea, their shimmering hair bejeweling the gray water. Nine had come, guarding their queen, a mermaid with the longest hair I’d ever seen. It brewed an inky tempest behind her back, the ends of each strand sparking with light as she swam. From afar, she looked like a shootingstar.

Kunkoi approached her first, with a deep bow. “Your Majesty, the lord and lady of Yonsar are honored to welcome you to the Westerly Seas.”

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