A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)(31)

I shiver, giggling breathlessly. “Ack! That tickles!”

With a strained chuckle, he untangles my limbs and sets me back on my feet, standing protectively over me. I can’t help smiling up at him. He’s such a contradiction. So arrogant and yet so reasonable.

“The sword’s really for me?” I ask.

His hands linger on my waist, his splayed fingers pressing lightly into my sides. “You said you wanted one.”

My smile widens. “In that case, I want two! One for each hip.” I can already imagine my swagger.

He laughs, his expression a disconcerting mix of humor and indulgence. “Let’s start with one,” he says, pulling me a shade closer.

I gaze up at him. My brain is fuzzy, my limbs are light, and no one has ever looked at me the way he does. The undisguised heat in his quicksilver eyes makes it hard to breathe.

Beta Sinta pays for the sword. It’s short, about two and a half feet long, with a rounded guard shaped like a loosely woven basket of laurel leaves.

“Can I have it?” I ask, bouncing next to him. “Can I? Can I, please?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You can have it when I can trust you.”

That sounds logical. “Okay.”

“Okay?” He arches dark eyebrows. “That’s it?”

“What’s it?” There’s a bee buzzing in my ear. I swat at it, laughing. It turns into a Centaur and gallops away. “Did you see that?” I cry.

“See what?”

“The bee. The Centaur bee. The pink one.”

Beta Sinta rolls his eyes—something I never thought he’d do—grabs my hand, and drags me through the market. Colors, sounds, and spicy scents swirl through the fog in my brain. I float through them. I have to dance. I dance and skip like the child I was never allowed to be. I’m happy. I fear nothing. I don’t have to watch my back. There’s a giant butterfly doing that.

It lands on my shoulder, flaps powdery wings, and whispers, “I’ll take care of you.”

I look up, beaming. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Beta Sinta says.

“Not you.”

He frowns, and I laugh, dancing some more. When I fall, Carver helps me up. I smile and give him my best curtsy. It’s really well done. There isn’t a princess in the three realms that could do better.

Carver bows back, and it’s awful. I laugh until I snort. Mother would not approve.

Beta Sinta lightly tugs my hand, and I stumble to the right, landing in a sea of drying cloths. They hang and flap, rainbow sails in the afternoon breeze. I jump, trying to touch the highest one while he plows through the stock on the table, looking for something in that efficient manner of his.

“This one,” he tells the merchant. It’s mid-sized and a disgusting shade of yellow.

“Is that for me?”

He nods, and I scrunch up my nose.

“Not that one. It looks like Cerberus threw up on it.” I look around. “I want that one!” It’s bright red and three times too big. I love it!

He throws the yellow cloth back on the table and buys the red.

Done with the market, he tows me back toward the inn again. Suddenly light-headed, I plop down in the middle of the cobbled street, hearing Beta Sinta’s grunt when the rope cuts into his hips.

I squint up at him. “Serves you right. You could just untie me. Or let me go.”

He smirks. “And miss all this fun?”

I burst out laughing. A second later, he grins back. His smile is broad and makes my heart thump an irregular beat. His nose is a bit hooked, but that makes his face different, interesting. So does the scar. I can’t remember why I don’t like him. In fact, I—

My head snaps around. I felt something. I want it. I jump up, my feet flying.

“Where are you going?” Beta Sinta falls into stride next to me. Carver is on my other side, easily keeping pace.

I don’t answer because I don’t know, not until we turn a corner and race up the steps of a bathhouse. I barrel through the front doors, startling a couple on their way out. Their white robes are cinched with matching hammered-gold belts. Shiny!

I reach for the woman’s belt. She slides away from me, and I let her go. There’s something more important here.

There’s a side for women and a side for men. I don’t care which is which, and I don’t stop to find out. I turn right and run down the marble hallway. There are waves under my feet. Cool foam curls between my toes. I shriek with laughter as a Satyr chases me, trying to pinch my cheeks.

A tall, heavy door stops me in my tracks. I reach for the latch, but for some reason, I keep missing it.

“I get the feeling you’ve never been high before,” Beta Sinta says, leaning around me to open the door.

“Have you?” I ask.

He shakes his head. His eyes dance with silver streaks. They glitter like far-off galaxies in the deep of night. I stare into the scatter of stars, falling, falling…

“Looks like fun,” Carver says, pulling me out of space.

I turn to the wiry swordsman. “Want some? It’s fabulous!”

“No thanks.” Carver grins. “Offering anything else?”

I giggle and blush. Then my smile turns into a pout. “Don’t flirt.”