Bri’s voice dropped an octave. “Perhaps.”

“Maybe you should come back tonight to see if it was a fluke,” Lina suggested, making Bri’s mouth drop open. “Just to sleep.” Lina narrowed her sharp eyes.

“An interesting experiment.” Bri flashed her foxlike grin. “I’m in.”

“Fine.” Lina folded her arms. “I’ll see you at the front entryway in an hour.”

“You’re not going to try to escape from me this time?” Bri taunted.

“I’m sure Delta will be monitoring the royal procession from her window.” Lina huffed. “This is a formal visit into town by the Princess, not Airev. Your presence will be expected and it would look poorly if I tried to evade you with so many people watching.”

Bri nodded, struggling to contain another smile. She wasn’t sure if she’d smiled this much in her entire life. Something about Lina made her lose control of herself, this odd giddiness building in her every time Lina was near. This was not who she was. Bri cleared her throat, cursing herself.

She gave Lina a half-bow. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

They walked in the middle of the royal procession, guards in front and behind, as they wended their way through Swifthill. Lina held a parasol over her head, her mauve gown billowing in the breeze. Elaborately beaded necklaces hung over her bare shoulders and draped down her chest toward her scooped neckline. Her hooped earrings ended in golden tassels that matched the gold bands snaking up her arms. To top it all off she wore a thick leather belt with an ornate golden buckle, the amethyst dagger Bri had gifted her resting on her hip. It took every ounce of Bri’s effort to keep her gaze fixed on the crowd and not the gossamer fabric that whispered from Lina’s figure.

The crowd oohed and aahed at her extravagant outfit, but it was clear to Bri that Lina’s choice of garments was both to delight and to distract. Gods, was it working. People would spend more time talking about her attire than the tumultuous lead-up to her coronation. The glorious sight of her would fuel their gossip with something sweeter than the morbid mutterings of her mother’s assassination.

In the far distance, children splashed in a magnificent bronzed stone fountain. Thin waterfalls spilled from high spigots in the walls above, cascading down a sculpture of the Moon Goddess and into the basin. The children’s delighted squeals carried over the clamor of the pressing crowd. Vendors walked up and down through the crowds, holding aloft trays of boiled candy sweets, salted green mangoes, and skewered sticks of spiced pineapple.