Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1)(6)

The next ring, the Bow, however, was a ring where nobles lived just beyond the Brim. The adobe brick barrier had gated entry points where guards stood sentry to keep out the riffraff. Past the Bow was the final ring of the city—the Crown. Beyond its towering walls, the verdant palace grounds sprawled and rolled, a cocoon of greenery surrounding the palace of colored glass where the royal family lived their lavish lives. Finn sucked her teeth at the thought of those pampered rulers with their silk parasols. She’d much rather be here in the Brim where all the action was.

Finn walked on, passing a stall of jewel-toned gowns and skirts. She watched a woman tug a dress over her clothes. When she twirled, it changed from bloodred to a rich blue.

“For that price you get three colors, you want more the price doubles!” the vendor said.

Finn grimaced as happy shoppers stumbled in and out of her path, making it difficult to move through the market as easily as usual. It was a bit too crowded and jolly tonight, with the air of a festival. Earlier she’d even seen water charmer performers dancing in the streets, winding ribbons of dyed water through the air like bolts of colored silk. Something was going on.

When she saw a vendor handing out free flowers to every passerby, she was done guessing. What kind of fool would hand out for free what you could sell for pesos?

“What the hell is going on tonight? Why are you giving out freebies?” she asked, coming to a stop before his stall.

The old man only smiled before pressing a white moon blossom into her hand. As soon as the white bud emerged from the cloth parasol canopying his stall, it bloomed to drink in the moonlight.

“Haven’t you heard?” he asked, his eyes alight.

Finn squinted at the useless flower in her hand, but the man’s excitement made her think twice about letting it fall to the ground. “No. Clearly.”

“The prince!” he said. “The prince has finally returned!”

Finn gave a snort at that. “The dead prince?”

The old man’s eyes widened. He blinked twice before answering. “No . . .”

“Then it’s not that interesting of a story, is it? Keep your flowers and your sanity, old man.”

When she tried to hand him back the flower, he waved her off with a smile, his mood irritatingly undampened. With the blossom in hand, Finn turned on her heel and followed the throng. That was the annoying thing about the capital city. People here were obsessed with the royal family. The prince coming home wasn’t going to fill their bellies or get them somewhere warm to sleep, yet the whole city was aflutter. So what if some pampered pretty boy came home? It wasn’t as if a prince could survive out in the real world for long. Of course he’d come running back home to his mamá.

“Stupid, maldito prince,” Finn cursed.

And wasn’t this the prince without a future? No usual announcement when the prince turned five of “The diviner has spoken. He will make a fine leader blah blah blah” nonsense like the other royals. The diviner hadn’t seen a maldito thing about this boy. So if these pendejos thought this prince was anything to celebrate, they were out of their minds.

As she moved through the marketplace, her stomach gave a persistent growl. The pouch of pesos she’d given that little girl surely could have bought her a meal or two.

“Shut up,” she said to her cramping belly, as if admitting the mistake would appease it. But it only ached more. “I know it was stupid of me.”

But then again, she preferred going into a job on an empty stomach. It made her sharper. She’d been spending too many pesos lately. But once she pulled off tonight’s thieving and sold the goods, she’d be set for another month or two.

So long as she pulled it off.

She dropped those nervous thoughts in the well inside her where she kept her fears, her anxieties—all the things she couldn’t afford to feel if she wanted to survive.

“Focus,” she mumbled to herself. Worrying was for people who weren’t as good at this as she was. She would nail it tonight, like she always did.

Her mind abuzz with doubt, she let herself get distracted by two kids, flame casters, blowing streams of fire from their mouths, trying to see who could keep it going the longest. After a long moment, the taller one bent over, his hands on his knees as he gasped, sweat rolling down his face. Finn couldn’t help but smile as they bickered about who was better, the losing boy arguing that he’d skipped lunch so he didn’t have the energy to properly compete.

Overhead, the two-faced clock chimed from its tower, a sonorous reminder to every child that they ought to be tucked into bed by now. Finn glanced up at the great timepiece, its hands ticking in an endless procession of time lost and time to be gained. The stone tower held two clocks, one above the other. The scarlet clock face spoke of time in hours and minutes, its hands a glimmering gold. The one of blue-tinted glass charted the movement of the sun and the moon, its silver hands ticking ever closer to the upcoming equinox when night and day would share time equally, like a pair of lovers would share dessert.

The Equinox Festival was the most celebrated holiday of the year. Finn could hardly wait. Ever since she was a child she’d wanted to experience the wonder of it in the capital city. She’d heard tales of fireworks that flew through the air in the shape of great birds spreading flaming wings, each spark manipulated by the finest flame casters in the kingdom. There would be music booming through the rings, bachatas and merengues that made it impossible to stand still. The bakeries would overflow with every manner of pastry she’d ever wanted to taste. It was why she’d decided to stay in the city for this past month instead of just passing through as she always did. She wanted to witness the spectacle, just this once.