Smoke and Shadow: The Fireweaver, Book 1

Chapter 21. FESTIVAL

CHAPTER 21. FESTIVAL

"I told you he'd find you." Mona trimmed Dimarrah's hair so that it was even all around, then wrapped it in an indigo silk scarf, pinning it in place. "He broke my damn door the morning you left." She came around to face Dimarrah with her keen, emerald cat eyes.

"He almost took my door off the hinges at the Stayhouse."

"He likes to do that. Make an entrance."

And an exit, Dimarrah thought, vividly recalling the pyrotechnics and plume of destruction they'd left behind at the prison compound.

Mona rummaged through a leather satchel and pulled out a few smaller things. Rubbed something on her cheeks, her lips. Soft touches on her eyelids. 

"He didn't want you getting caught, you know."

"I'm under no illusions of his concern for me," Dimarrah snapped without hesitation. She was his device into the Vault. He would get her into the Labs. She preferred it that way. A business transaction. Nothing more, nothing less.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Mona replied, casting her gaze quickly aside. "He never pounded through doors for me."

Was there the slightest catch of wistfulness to her voice?

"You two aren't—" Dimarrah let the question hang in the air.

"Together? No. Not like that." Again, there was something there, maybe even a touch of regret. "He's all yours if you really want the brute."

"I don't want him." But her hands began to tingle, and heat stirred, like a leaf on a breeze. She shut it down, heart pounding. The walls of the estate prevented it from seeping out, but could she do it herself outside? In the palace, surrounded by Uruques?

"Remember. Deep breaths," Mona reminded her. "Count to ten. Breathe. Count to ten again."

She wished her Anomaly hadn't come back at all. A snarling beast she couldn't tame. But a couple hours of Mona's gentle instruction had helped her contain it. She'd never met someone else who was like her. Who knew what it felt like. Who could talk to her about it.

"You're lucky, you know," Mona twisted something else into her hair.

"Lucky?" It wasn't a word she would choose.

"You're alive. And you're healing." She looked back down to Dimarrah's hands. "What I wouldn't give to have my gift back."

"A gift," Dimarrah scoffed. "It's a curse."

Mona lifted her chin lightly. "Don't forget the power you have in it."

She picked up a brush, dusted something over Dimarrah's cheeks and nose, then handed her the case, which had a small mirror in it. She barely recognized the woman staring back, eyes heavily kohl-lined, cheekbones shimmering with flecks of gold. A single white starlet flower curled at her temple, twined into her blue scarf, as was the fashion for Beneiahs and gypsies.

Mona took the small mirror out of her hand. "Come with me," she said, taking Dimarrah to a smaller adjoining room, which was packed to the brim with clothes. A full-length mirror stood in the corner. "Take a better look."

The dress was iridescent pearl, with the subtlest shimmer of coral. Like the inside of a seashell. The fabric was like nothing she'd ever worn, flowing over her skin like water, softer than silk. The cut of it was...not what she would usually wear. The compass sat glittering and unseen on its oversized chain, low on her chest, along with the pendant that Mona had given her.