Michael had pressed the skirt to absolute perfection. There wasn’t a single wrinkle or imperfection in the fabric. When he lay it in her hands, it was stiff to the touch. Perhaps, a little too much perfection.
He handed her a black camisole and gestured to a recently erected privacy screen nearby. Michael had been busy while she had been in the bath. “Put these on,” he instructed, “and then I can help you with the applique top. It’s…challenging.”
From behind the ornate screen, only her fresh, pink toes and the very top of her head were visible. Ana pulled the skirt high on her waist and zipped. A perfect fit. Michael must have an amazing eye, she thought. The camisole was small and snug, but it fit too.
When she came around the screen, Michael looked over every detail of the garment before nodding. “Hands up, please,” he requested.
Ana held her hands over her head, and Michael pulled on the applique top. It was stiff and inflexible but eye-catching. It looked like each piece of the black lace had been hand embroidered. Once it was on, Michael grabbed a needle and thread and stitched Ana into the garment.
“Well, are you ready to have a look?” he asked.
Ana nodded. He led her to a long mirror, and she gazed at her reflection. She had never been very into clothes, but she had to admit this outfit was unlike anything she had ever worn. It cut in sharply at her waist and fell to the floor in a dramatic wave of sunshine. She looked taller, older, more shapely. The crop top was black with golden wisps, accentuating the skirt and her fair skin. She looked like a sun goddess. She looked like she belonged on the street. Like she, too, could be a part of the wave of color now.
Michael fidgeted with a hanger. “Well? Do you like it?”
After a long moment, she asked, “Can I be buried in it?”
“Oh no, this would never be appropriate for a funeral,” he said, shaking his head. “Far too much color and…oh, you’re joking.”
“Yes,” she agreed with a laugh. “But I do love it.”
He beamed.
A moment later, Zora whisked her away to a makeup mirror and tall chair. “My turn at last,” she said with the hint of a smile at her lips. “Any requests?”
Ana thought for a minute. “How about smoky eyes? I’ve tried, but it never turns out for me.”
Zora cocked her head to the side. “Smoky eye?” she asked slowly. “What is this?”
“You know when you add bronze eyeshadow around the eye and make it look like, you know, smoke.”
“Oh, I thought you wanted to change the color of your eyes.”
“You can do that?!” Ana asked.
“We can do many things, but I think you have beautiful eyes as they are. Deep brown like the earth. A smoky eye, as you call it, would never work for your skin tone, but I think I know something you will like,” she said, inspiration dawning.
“Nothing too wild?” Ana asked.
Zora roared with laughter. “That is a promise I cannot make.” She spun Ana away from the mirror so that she could see only Zora’s smiling face and makeup brush after makeup brush stretching toward her.
As Zora worked, she spoke. “I believe in capturing people’s real beauty. Not the beauty on the surface, but the beauty within. I try to capture that with my brushes. For me, it is wild and bold. But for you, to me at least, it is as bright as the sun. Golden. Hopeful.”
Zora turned the chair on those final words, so that Ana could see herself. There were no wild, bold colors. She still looked like Ana—only her best self. Her skin glowed as if she had just returned from a weekend in the sun, not like she had been hiding on a spaceship for a week. Her best traits had been accentuated. The liner under her eyes was a rich brown, and it made her eyes stand out in a way that the charcoal black she applied never had. Her eyelid wasn’t smoky; it was pure amber and bronze. Her hair had been left in its short bob with two intricate braids creating a crown. Her dark hair shone next to the embroidery.
“What do you think?” Zora asked.
“It’s perfect. It’s—wait,” Ana said, hurrying back to the bathroom. She picked her bracelet out of the pile of her old clothes. It was golden and handcrafted in an unusual way, accentuated with little golden and green leaves. It was the only piece of jewelry she had ever known her mother to wear. Wearing it made her feel like she carried a tiny piece of her mother with her. She thought of the letter in her duffel, safely tucked under Samuel’s arm on the couch. Maybe she had more than just a tiny piece now.
Zora looked at the bracelet and smiled. “A beautiful addition, though it is meant to be worn on the ankle. May I?” she asked.
Ana nodded.
She gently unclasped the bracelet, knelt down, and linked it around her bare ankle. “Much better. Now you look like a true princess of the island.”
“Thank you,” Ana said. She could tell from Zora’s tone this was a big compliment.
Zora turned to see if anyone was standing nearby. “Ana, this may not be my place, but how well do you know this Samuel?” she asked, jerking her head toward him.
Ana was taken aback. “Not that well, but he knew my mother.”
“Did he indeed?” Zora asked, a bright blue lip dripping into a snarl. She lowered her head to whisper something, but they were interrupted.
Madame Bali strode toward them. “We must be going if we are to be on time.” Ana had a feeling that Bali had never been late to anything in her life.
Zora stooped to adjust a tendril of hair and whispered in Ana’s ear, “Just be careful who you trust, little princess. There are many who would seek to see your line end and the island itself sunk deep into the sea.”
As Zora turned to follow Bali, Ana ran her fingers over the haunted spot where the bracelet had once been. She wished she knew who to trust. She wished her mother were here.
9
Welcome Parade
Ana and the others joined the crowds on the street. They moved together with Ana in the center and Madame Bali leading the way. As they reached the back of the parade lineup, the crowd thinned. Everyone wanted to see the parade, not stand behind it.
In the near distance, a towering gray animal stood in the street, as wide as a Hummer and nearly as tall as a lamp post. It bore some similarity to an elephant with its light gray coloring and long trunk, but that’s where the similarities stopped. It had a short, thin tail with a series of gray feathers at the end, and the insides of its ears were a delicate lilac. It stomped one foot on the ground and dragged it backward, as though scratching an itch.
Ana’s heart nearly stopped when she saw a large saddle on top of it.
“I may have forgotten to mention the tiniest detail of our parade lineup,” Samuel began.
“No,” Ana said quickly. “No way.”
“But Ana,” he wheedled. “Graybeasts are the most iconic and noble of creatures from the Southerly Province. It’s tradition for the namesake of the Halt family line to ride in on one.”
“All traditions have to die somewhere,” she said, pursing her lips.
Samuel gave her his best Puss in Boots eyes. “Please.”
She didn’t think she had ever heard him use that word before. “He’ll squash me like a bug,” she said, watching the beast as it ground its left foot again. She could swear he had loosened a cobblestone. One that had probably been there for thousands of years.
Zora rolled her eyes at Samuel and put a reassuring arm on Ana’s shoulder, leading her closer to the strange creature. “Ana, the graybeast is large, but he is gentle. He knows his people and is a great intuit of character. See,” she said, reaching out a hand to pet his flank.
To her surprise, the beast was calm and allowed Zora to stroke him.
“Do you want to try?” she asked.
Ana took a hesitant step forward and reached out a shaking hand to touch the graybeast’s flank. To her surprise, he wasn’t leathery at all. His hide was covered with a soft, nearly imperceptible down. Ever so slightly, the graybeast leaned into her touch.
And then a large black and white cat came sauntering toward them.
No, Petrie. No! Ana thought in horror.
She watched as he sat down directly in front of the graybeast and meowed pitifully. The graybeast raised its head from Ana’s embrace to look at the fat cat. Then Petrie did the unthinkable. He walked right under the graybeast’s front legs. Ana could hardly keep her eyes open. He would surely be flattened. Petrie pushed his back into the side of the graybeast’s enormous leg, circling and purring.
Just as Ana was sure the death blow was coming, the strangest thing happened. The graybeast began to purr back.
Zora threw her head back in laughter. “I told you the graybeast was a gentle creature, though I do not recognize this one,” she said, gesturing toward the cat. “Is he yours?”
Ana scooped Petrie up. This cat would be the death of her. But then again, she wasn’t nervous anymore. She reached out and stroked the graybeast, listening to its strange purr. This was something she could do.
“Are you ready?” Samuel asked, locking his intense amber eyes on hers.
According to Samuel and Zora, this was her birthright. Her family might have been picked off one by one, but they hadn’t gotten her. Not yet. She would do this. She would join their world. And there would be hell to pay.
She clenched her jaw and nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Madame Bali nodded approvingly. “Good. Now, Anabella, as this is a last-minute affair, you will be largely on your own. In years past, you would have been surrounded by people and creatures from the island. But you need not fear. Zora, Keia, Leilani, and I will follow behind you. If you need us, we will be right here.”
Samuel and Michael hoisted Ana into the air, and Zora gave her the extra push she needed to scramble into a sitting position. Her feet dangled just above their heads.
From below, Madame Bali was still speaking, though her voice was like a buzzing gnat. “All you need to do is sit up straight, smile, and wave to the crowd.”
Ana frowned. “What?!”
Madame Bali mimed a straight back, smiling face, and pageant-girl wave. Ana fought the urge to roll her eyes.
Just ahead, at the end of the parade, dozens of people were dressed in matching metallic jumpsuits. They looked tall and limber, like thin baked potatoes ready to go in the oven. The only differentiator was the bright poufs of hair ejecting from the tops of their heads like treasure trolls.
In the center of the people was a large, perfectly round black metallic object. Neon green lights on the top of the object glowed, and a speaker rumbled to life, vibrating the cobblestone street. Soon, music began to pour from the device. The lights changed color and moved around. The parade started forward.
Madame Bali tapped the back of the graybeast’s legs, and he took an enormous step forward. The few people this far back hurried out of the street. Soon Ana was close to the metallic people and speaker.
* * *
EDM beats poured from the sphere, and the potato people danced with the calculated movements of a K-pop band. The combination was hypnotic, mesmerizing even. The crowd stood frozen on the sides of the street, taking in the scene. The lights from the sphere bathed the dancers in a reflective pool of color.
The music reached a crescendo and dropped. It was then Ana realized she hadn’t waved in quite some time. She raised her hand to do so intensely—to make up for lost time. The crowd paid her little attention. Their eyes were still fixed on the dancing light show ahead. All except for a few men in green and gold military uniforms.
They turned to eye Ana and the graybeast. A beefy man with a sun-weathered face tightened his jaw and looked ready to approach, but the parade surged forward. Samuel’s timing had been impeccable.
Ana kept her eyes firmly ahead. Just as Samuel had suggested, she did not look at the ground. Her graybeast moved forward, and she allowed herself to drift side to side in time with the beast’s natural rhythm. This wasn’t so scary after all. It was actually kind of fun.
The parade slowed to a standstill. Ahead, Ana could see the town square. The metallic people marched in around the sphere, bass barely audible now. For a moment, the dancers were still. Then the bass began to hammer once more. The lights from the sphere pointed like lasers this time, forming intricate patterns. The only thing Ana recognized was a series of fractals, the natural patterns found in seashells she had once studied in math class. The patterns ignited their metallic costumes in colorful changing light.
The sphere cracked open from the top, and it peeled open like an orange. A glowing light rose up. Metallic spiders crawled out and filled the street. Ana thought they looked sharp and monstrous, but the people screamed in delight, picking them up.
Ana prayed they wouldn’t come too close to her and the graybeast. The music was one thing, but these seemed like too much for the graybeast to withstand.
Luckily, they seemed to be programmed to head directly into the crowd. Ana saw one crack open in a child’s hand revealing candy. The spiders were filled with treats. How mad.
The music built, the colors and sounds became blurred and difficult to follow. If they hadn’t cured seizures here, someone was bound to have one. Ana felt the graybeast shift underneath her. She patted his back soothingly. For a moment, she wanted to close her eyes. She was going to be sick. And then bang the speaker detonated in a plume of smoke. The dancers faded in and out like a poor TV signal. They bowed to the crowd and vanished.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Ana stared in disbelief. Where did they go? Did they teleport out? Do they even have teleportation here? Maybe they had never been here at all.
With the family in front of her gone, she could now see a military platoon in the distance. They marched in formation. The gentle movement of the steady graybeast underneath her reminded her that the parade was not over. As she moved closer to the square, the crowd grew quiet. They noticed her now. The grand finale had not been the finale after all. The air of jubilation and amazement gave way to a sinister disquiet.
Whispers carried across the crowd. Ana held her back straight and waved regally at the crowd. She felt ridiculous. She had no music. No candy. No light show. She was just a girl.
Finally, an angry voice cried out. “Impostor!” A fruit flew from the crowd and landed at the feet of the graybeast. He looked over but continued on. A small fruit was nothing to him. Just an annoyance.
Ana tried to keep her smile in place, but it was forced. She worried about Leilani and Keia below. The parade continued forward, and Ana was beginning to get very sore and very tired of waving to the disbelieving crowd.
She had barely blinked when she saw it. A dark green and gold flag fell from its steel holding, hurtling toward them. The graybeast quaked beneath her, and Ana guessed what was about to happen. She tightened her grip just in time as the graybeast raised its front legs into the air and trumpeted. This was no purr; it was a loud, primal sound that echoed along the narrow street. Screams, no longer of joy but of terror, erupted from the crowd as they shrunk closer to the buildings, trying to escape the inevitable stampede of the graybeast.
For a moment, her brain was a fog of panic, but it lifted. She stroked the graybeast’s neck and shhed him. Then she began to sing the first song that popped into her head. A lullaby that her mother used to sing when she was little.
The moons in the sky and night not far behind.
Rest, rest, rest, little one.
Blessed be you. Greatest of gifts.
The love of a child. So sweet to my eyes.
Rest, rest, rest, little one.
The graybeast was soothed by the melody and dropped back onto all fours with an astounding thud. The cobblestones on the street shuddered and clinked like keys of an old piano. The crowd fell silent, and all eyes were on Ana. A few brave souls hurried into the street to remove the fallen flag.
“She has returned!” an old woman trumpeted from somewhere in the crowd, breaking the tense silence.
“The Halts are back among
us!”
More shouts came. Some of the crowd began to kneel. Ana was so shocked that she barely felt the graybeast move as the procession continued on. The whispers of the people followed her all the way to the guarded gates of the academy and to what awaited her inside.
10
Swords & Ivy
The parade came to a standstill as participants waited to be granted entry through the golden filigreed gate of the academy. The iron reached far into the sky, ending in beautiful flourishes. On each side of the gate stood three sentinels in full regalia: dark green uniforms with ivory accents and golden paracord. It was as though their uniforms had been designed solely to accentuate the magnificent ivory stoned structure beyond. More palace than school.
She was now very near to the platoon in front of her. They entered the gates with a salute from the guards. Once inside, they came to an abrupt halt. In rapid succession, they raised their rifles, thrust them across their chests, tapped the butt twice, and lowered their weapons.
A man in the front faced the platoon. “Bellaton,” he barked.
“Loyal always,” they returned in unison.
“Attention.”
The men and women in uniform stood stock-still and saluted. The man in front surveyed the group with a critical eye. No one moved. After a long pause, he barked, “Dismissed.”
They dropped a salute in unison. Then the platoon erupted in movement, voices, and laughter, joining the crowd.
Finally, it was Ana’s turn to pass through the gate. To her surprise, she was granted immediate entry. She and her new friend, the graybeast, strode into the plush green parade grounds looking elegant. The lawn was perfectly flat and surrounded by manicured shrubberies and, closer to the academy, gardens.
The excitement from the street followed her in but with a distinct change. The clothes were finer, the voices more dignified.
Seven Crowns (Bellaton Book 1) Page 7