Ivy closed her eyes again and Anna swiped the bright purple pigment across her lid, waiting for Ivy to finish.
“I’ve loved him for as long as I can remember,” Ivy told her. “But I knew he wasn’t mine to keep.” She took a deep breath. “Even before you got here, if I’m honest with myself. I think that’s why I haven’t been the most welcoming. From the minute I saw him with you on the beach that night. You were like this little lost puppy he wanted to take care of,” Ivy scoffed. “It kind of made me sick.”
“Yeah, I could tell,” Anna said.
Ivy opened her violet-lidded eyes and let out a yelp of laughter. She clapped a hand over her mouth and Anna looked at her, one eyebrow raised. Ivy shook her head and laughed harder, and Anna, in her utter surprise and relief, found herself giggling too.
Ivy pulled herself together with a long sigh. “I guess I was a little chilly,” she said, another smile creeping across her face.
Anna snorted. “A little?”
“Don’t push it.” Ivy pointed her finger at Anna. “Now, where’s that dress? I want to blow them away.”
“Come on. It’s in Lara’s room.” Anna gathered up the little pots of makeup with Ivy’s help.
“Thanks for coming to get me.” Ivy handed Anna the last pot of face paint. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Anna shrugged. “I know a little something about feeling isolated.”
“I doubt that,” Ivy challenged.
“You have no idea.” Anna peered at Ivy. “I only ever dreamed of being as confident as you. Of being able to do all the things you can do. You make thriving here look easy.” Anna smiled at her. “And I know from some pretty messy attempts at swimming and riding that it really isn’t.”
Ivy flicked her hands at Anna. “Oh stop,” she said. “Let’s just get out there and see who turns James’s head first.”
Anna’s jaw dropped.
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding.” Ivy held up her hands. “This was a good talk, Anna, but we’re heading out of Ivy land into some really heavy territory. Too deep for me.” She grimaced.
Anna rolled her eyes, laughing, and let Ivy lead her out of the room.
Paper lanterns were strung on each side of the villa’s staircase, lighting the way as the girls floated down like a coterie of lunar creatures. Down on the beach, the boys gasped at the sight of them. The full Moon was high and round and the color of wheat, and the stars looked like powdered sugar sprinkled on the night sky.
As the girls walked down the steps toward the beach, arms linked, Anna noticed that the sea was glowing, as if it were lit from below by starlight.
“What is that?” Anna leaned into Terra, who was on her right, and pointed toward the water.
“It does that every now and then,” she answered. “Beautiful, right?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. The fish even look like they’re glowing.” Anna’s eyes swept over the whole scene in front of her. Open canvas tents had been set up on the beach, and a sumptuous, sprawling feast had been laid on a large, heavy-looking wood table that was flanked by lit torches. The boys all wore white, their tawny skin glowing in the moonlight.
Someone let out a loud whoop, and Anna smiled when she saw James running toward her. When the girls hit the bottom steps, they dispersed onto the beach and James grabbed her hand, twirling her around.
They sat down as a group to eat. The table was overflowing with food: roasted chickens, crispy and browned; warm rolls and guava jelly; plates of rice and beans; bright yellow plantains; and slices of pumpkin glistening with brown sugar. Bowls of crimson pomegranate seeds filled carved-out pineapple husks. Carafes of wine lined the length of the spread.
As Anna sat down next to James, Topper approached the table, sitting down across from them, next to Daniel and Lara. Anna helped pass around trays of each delicacy and watched as the wine traveled endlessly from person to person. Except the carafes never reached Topper, Anna noticed.
“He’s the guide tonight,” James whispered in her ear, his own eyes glossy from drinking.
“Guide?” Anna asked.
James pointed to his glass “This isn’t just wine tonight,” he proclaimed. His voice was becoming louder the more he drank, and he kept grabbing at Anna’s hand throughout dinner, squeezing it with vigorous affection.
Anna sensed her own body becoming warm, but there was something different than the feeling the regular wine had given her the night she and James had drunk at the cottage. She felt her thoughts slowing and her muscles loosening as everything around her seemed to take on a glowing sheen.
“Just don’t drink too much of it, since it’s your first time.” James leaned in and kissed her passionately. Anna found that all of her senses were heightened, and she gasped when the sound of rhythmic drumming filled the air and James finally pulled away.
He leapt up from the table and others followed suit. Anna scrambled out of her seat, clutching her wine goblet, as people began clearing the plates and food. Two tall, muscly boys Anna hadn’t met yet lifted both ends of the table and carried it around to the other side of the tent.
“Feeling well, little Anna?” Lara tiptoed up to her side, wearing the green dress Anna had made for her when she’d first arrived. Her hair looked almost like it was aflame, and her green eyes glittered behind the red makeup.
“You’re the most gorgeous person I have ever seen, Lara,” Anna said with admiration, the wine pushing her thoughts out from her lips.
“Be careful of that.” Lara nodded to Anna’s cup.
“James warned me.” Anna moved her eye in what she hoped was a wink.
“My beautiful Lara,” Daniel boomed as he ran toward the two girls. “Come dance with me.”
Anna and Lara giggled. “You’d better go,” Anna said, waving to Daniel.
“Come find me if you need me. And no swimming tonight.” She poked Anna’s arm lightly. “For anyone.”
Anna watched them disappear into the crowd of dancers that had gathered where the table had been. She turned around and saw that James had gone.
“Don’t you dance, Moon girl?” Ivy snuck up behind Anna and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the crowd. Anna spun around, feeling the pulsating beats in the sand. Everyone in the crowd was lost in their own worlds, moving their bodies in time with the beat. Ivy stood in front of Anna, her eyes shut, making small circles with her hips, completely absorbed in the music.
Anna started to sway, awkward and slow at first. She’d never really danced, but it didn’t take long for the thump of the drums and the heat of the wine to take over. She moved her shoulders and her chest from side to side, her head bobbing to the beat. Her hips swayed and her bare feet shuffled in the sand.
The drumbeats started to increase in both volume and tempo, and everyone screamed with joy. Anna found herself yelping along with them, adrenaline and exhilaration surging through her. She felt like she was underwater, the barriers between things and people softening into a dreamlike fuzziness. Even gravity bowed at the feet of the sea. It could have been minutes or hours. She felt suspended in time.
She was free.
Then, all of a sudden, there he was. The kind smile, the unruly chestnut hair.
“James!” Anna yelled as if she hadn’t seen him in a year. They grabbed each other and kissed passionately, Anna’s hands working their way under James’s white shirt. His body swayed beneath her touch, and they broke apart, shaking their heads and jumping up and down to the beat.
When Anna finally slowed down, she realized how thirsty she was. By then James had traveled into the middle of a small circle of dancers and was too far away for her to call his name. Anna stumbled away from the crowd and looked up, the Moon distracting her from her quest for water. She felt someone’s hand on her shoulder.
“Are you all right, Anna?”
Anna’s eyes st
ayed glued to the Moon. “That’s my father,” she announced.
“It feels like that sometimes, doesn’t it?”
Anna blinked slowly and turned to see who she was talking to. Topper looked down at her with gentle, sober eyes.
“But he really is,” she slurred.
Topper chuckled and creased his brow. “How about we get you some water?”
“That’s what I was on my way to do!”
Topper gestured to the largest canvas tent.
“I don’t need a break.” Anna waved her hands. “Just water.”
“Just water then.” Topper took Anna’s hand, and they squeezed through the throng of people, some dancing, others just standing and talking to one another. He towered over most of them, and his blond hair shone like a beacon. In that moment she could only think about how badly she wanted to weave him.
He led her to a tent that was closed, and opened the flap for her. It was lit by soft candlelight, and cushions littered the floor. Henry was there, handing out water and coconut milk. His face lit up when he saw her.
“Anna!”
“Henry.” Anna rushed up to him. “Don’t you want to dance?”
“I was! Right behind you.” He laughed. “But I needed a break, so I thought I’d come help out in here.”
Anna collapsed onto the fluffiest-looking cushion she could find and drank coconut milk straight from the shell. She set the coconut down on the floor with a clatter as the room spun around her. Topper and Henry both winced.
“Have some bread. It helps the stomach,” Topper said.
Anna ate the bread and drank more of the milk. As the room steadied, she found herself wishing that James were beside her. But perhaps she could rest here for a while and find him later, and they could dance together.
She watched as Topper crossed the room and picked up a guitar that was resting against the center tent pole. He sat down and started strumming a soft tune. Anna, her eyelids feeling heavy, curled up on the bed of cushions. She’d only close her eyes for a second.
* * *
She dreamed she was walking on the beach, but as she got closer to the sand, she felt something sharp cut her feet. When she looked down, she wasn’t standing on sand anymore, but a carpet of broken cups. They were scattered as far as the eye could see. Broken glass, porcelain, chunks of hot silver—broken cups everywhere.
Anna woke with her heart beating wildly, and when she sat up, she clutched an aching head. It took her a minute to figure out where she was. The room was still dark, but the lilac of dawn broke through the cracks of the tent. All around her, people were sprawled out on the cushions, sleeping soundly.
“Hey.” Topper was sitting up across from Anna, drinking a cup of something steaming. Anna smiled at the way his hair stuck up in the back.
“Hey,” she said, squinting. “Is this what it means to be the guide?”
“It does,” he whispered.
“Do you have any more of that?” She pointed to his cup. “I just had the weirdest dream.” She rubbed her hands over the cracked paint on her face and the mess of tangled hair that had come loose from her braids.
Topper handed her his cup. “Hot water,” he said.
* * *
When Topper pulled back the tent flap, the sun was rising over the ocean, and the beach was filled with people sleeping, James and Daniel among them.
“I think I need a bath,” Anna said. Topper lifted his chin to the sea in front of them, to which Anna wrinkled her nose. “I’ve only just learned to swim.”
“Really? That’s quite an accomplishment.”
Anna stared at him to gauge whether he was making fun of her, but his expression was sincere.
“You seem different from the others here,” Anna said without thinking.
“How so?” Topper’s expression was open, curious. This time Anna chose her words more carefully.
“Well, you didn’t drink the wine last night, and you didn’t wake up looking like this”—she pointed to herself—“for one thing.”
Topper laughed.
“You travel, and you just have a more thoughtful . . . Is that the right word?” Anna’s head felt cloudy with sleep and the aftermath of the wine. “You just seem more calm, more grown-up.”
“Ah.” Topper shoved his hands in the pockets of his white linen pants. “Well, I might say you seem quite thoughtful yourself, at least from what I’ve gathered in our few encounters.”
Anna grinned. As they approached the water, she knelt down, scrubbing her makeup off in the water. She wiped her face on the hem of her dress and looked up at Topper.
“James said you keep a library,” Anna suddenly said. “But no one has mentioned it since. Where is it?”
Topper nodded. “I can show you.”
Anna followed as Topper led her to the beach where she had entered Cups. She’d meant to return there, but she’d never worked up the courage. It felt like it might change everything, and she wasn’t ready for the possibility of giving up life in Cups. Her heart caught in her chest and she stopped abruptly.
“Are you all right?” Topper asked her. It was the first words they’d spoken since they starting walking. Anna had been too nervous to say anything, sensing from the focused look on his face that Topper could go hours without speaking.
“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “Just a little unsteady from the wine.” If she said what she was thinking, it would open a door to a conversation she didn’t want to have. Couldn’t have.
Topper nodded his chin up the beach. “It’s just up there, but we don’t have to go farther if you don’t want to,” he assured her.
Anna studied him. He indeed seemed perfectly happy to turn back. “Let’s keep going,” she said.
They walked up the beach to a trail that led into the mountains, stopping at a small cave set into the cliffside.
It was fairly small, but there was a clear view of the sea through the arched entrance, giving the space an airy feel. Just inside, the rough black rock gave way to a smoother, sanded surface where a handful of stone shelves lined with books stood out from the walls. There was a table set up in the very back of the cave with two chairs and a large candle melted halfway down.
“Why keep the books here?” Anna asked, looking around. “You could have built a larger structure closer to the villa, no?” Topper pulled a chair out from the table and turned it around, offering it to her. Anna declined and he took the seat instead, resting one impossibly long leg across the other.
“I didn’t build this, Anna. I found it.”
Anna looked at him, puzzled. “Just like this? With the books inside?”
“Just like this,” Topper repeated.
She fingered the spines of the books, reading each title. As she circled the room, she felt her stomach tighten. This library contained every book she’d ever read, books the advisors had brought her, and no others.
Anna whipped around to face Topper. “Why are you the only one who has ever left Cups?” She narrowed her eyes, observing him.
Topper sighed and leaned his elbows on his knees. “I’m searching for something. Daniel and Lara have always encouraged people to pursue their passions, and since this was my chosen focus, they let me go. Not right away. They said no plenty of times. But this last time they finally relented.”
“What are you searching for?” Anna asked.
“It’s complicated.” Topper sat up again, studying her face.
“I can handle complicated.” Anna thought of the King, Marco, and the legend of the Moon. She knew she was prying, but she had to know how, or if, she was connected to this place.
Topper eyed her, brows knitted. “We have no history here.”
“Here in Cups?” Anna asked, cocking her head to the side.
Topper rose from the chair and joined Anna next to the shelves of boo
ks. As he moved closer, he brought with him the smell of lime and sandalwood. Despite being tall herself, Anna had to tilt her head back to look up at him.
“Yes, here.” Topper paused. “No one knows where we came from as a people, and no one knows where they came from as individuals. As you know, in Pentacles, there are parents and children and family lineage,” he explained.
Without thinking, Anna grabbed Topper’s arm. They both blinked down at her hand, and she quickly removed it. “I asked Lara about it,” she said, recovering. “But she doesn’t seem to know much either.”
Topper cleared his throat and moved toward the entrance of the cave.
Anna watched him as he stared out at the sea.
“I need to know why we are here, where we came from,” he said, leaning against the arch. His long, lithe figure was silhouetted against the sun shining in from the cave’s mouth. “This library, for instance. The collection is seemingly random. I’ve studied it for as long as I can remember, but it has no real pattern. It’s like someone lived here for a while, someone from another land, and then just left it all behind.”
Anna wanted to tell him about her education, about why her advisors had chosen these particular books. Perhaps if they worked together, they could unravel this mystery. She thought of the book at James’s cottage, how he said he’d taken it from this library.
“What about the books in Pentacles?” Anna pressed.
“That’s what is so strange.” Topper shook his head. “They are the same as these. I thought there would be other books in other lands—it would seem so, right?” he asked Anna. “But then, I have hardly explored all of Pentacles. I’m sure there are manors with great libraries.”
Anna felt her breathing quicken. She hadn’t seen them herself, but she knew other books existed—books her advisors had read, studied, and then talked to her about.
“Another thing about Pentacles,” Topper continued. “They measure time in years, and a physician there calculated that I have lived eighteen of them.”
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