Page 95 of A Forgery of Fate

I grabbed him by the neck.

I’d never seen his eyes so wide.WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

I’m going to kiss you,I rushed out silently, a beat before I crushed my mouth against his.

It was strange at first, kissing a mouth with two sides. The dragon half was covered in scales that were smooth and cool to the touch, while his lips—hishumanlips—were warm.Softer than they looked. And it sounded crazy in my head, but I found I didn’t mind it.

With my free hand, I entwined my fingers with his. It was meant to look romantic, but I did it mostly so he couldn’t push me away.

He didn’t push me away. In fact, at first he seemed frozen, every muscle so stiff I wondered if I’d shocked the life out of him. Then the hard brackets around his mouth soothed away, and he took me by the waist, pressing me to him as he kissed me back, his lips molding to mine, surprisingly urgent in a way that I didn’t expect.

Heat pooled in my stomach, and damn my heart for the way it started to race. This was an act to convince the queen; I wasn’t supposed tofeelanything orbeanything other than curious about what it’d be like to kiss a dragon. My plan was to count to ten, then let go, but I’d long since lost track of the numbers, and instead of shunting him aside, I was pulling him closer.

I became aware of our hands. His were pressed firmly against the valley of my spine, and I could feel them caressing the ends of my hair as he tilted my head back. And mine? One had climbed up to the crook of his elbow, and the other was on his face, my fingers dancing along the hard scales on his cheek. The tips of our tongues were touching, just beginning to explore one another, and as I let out a soft sigh, I gathered the courage to move my hand up his arm to his chest. And there, for the most fleeting of moments, I was sure I felt the ghost of a heartbeat drumming inside.

Elang’s eyes went wide. With a jolt, he stepped back.

His hair had turned black, and his face was pale, contortedlike he was trying hard not to retch. I reached out to him, thinking it was his curse making him ill.

Then I realized it was me.

With a pang, the heat in my stomach vanished, and my face burned with humiliation. Sometime during our kiss, we had begun floating, and now I let myself sink, curling my toes into the orange sea flowers carpeting the ground.

Elang wouldn’t look at me. He remained at my side, intent on pretending I didn’t exist.

I wanted to kick him. After all this effort, the least he could do was go on with the act instead of showing Queen Haidi how much I repulsed him. Now there was no chance she would believe us.

Under the folds of my sleeve, I clenched at my skirt. Pride be damned, I would beg her if I had to. “Your Majesty—”

“Are you convinced?” Elang interrupted. “Your Majesty.”

Queen Haidi leaned back. She wore an inscrutable expression.

“It is late,” she said, after what felt an eternity. “Rest with us until morning. I will need the night to prepare some silk.”

I was stunned. “Does that mean…?”

“You may keep the protections until the Resonant Tide,” she confirmed. “The merfolk hold a tenuous peace with the dragons. This is all I dare give.”

“Thank you,” I breathed. “You don’t know what this means to us.”

I was so happy that I backed up into Elang, forgetting he was behind me. As my head tipped against him, I listened again for that faint pulse in his chest.

There was only silence.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We had supper with Haidi and her court, where a generous helping of every dish found its way into my bowl, leaving me fit to burst. The goblets were carved of aquamarine, the wine was briny and smooth. Braids of lotus dangled from the walls. After the meal, musicians sang and played lutes made out of shells, a concert of plaintive melodies that I sorely wished I could memorize as well as I learned faces. Then there was dancing. I’d never been gifted with rhythm or grace, but a mermaid thrust a ribboned fan in my hand, and soon I found myself somersaulting up to the ceilings, heady with laughter.

Every time I looked down, Kunkoi was flirting with someone new, and Elang…Elang sat in a corner the whole time, spectacles on, reading a book. He was the subject of many stares, and I was equally worried that someone might throw a knife at him as ask him to dance. Weeks with him now, and I still couldn’t guess which would invite the worse reaction.

Once or twice, I caught him watching me, lips twisted in a grimace. He’d look away immediately, but it was obvioushe was annoyed. I wasn’t looking forward to when we’d have to be alone.

At last the merfolk tired of revelry, and it was time for rest. Elang and I were shown down a long and winding hall, toourroom. My stomach twisted the entire way. After what’d happened during our trial earlier, I pictured we’d be given the traditional newlyweds’ chamber, an intimate space dressed in matrimonial red, with scrolls of romantic poetry hanging on every wall, and so many flowers that I’d sneeze. The very thought of Elang and me locked in such a place for the night made my cheeks burn.

Thank Amana our room was enormous. At least three times the size of my cave in Yonsar, with no canopy over the bed, no poetry on the walls, and only a simple bouquet of water lilies on the tables. I thanked our guide excessively before he swam away, thinking I’d had too much to drink.

Then Elang and I were alone.

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