Knight of Wands (A Steampunk Fantasy Adventure Novel) (Devices of War Book 2) (28 page)

She put the rice in the slot underneath the fire container. “I don’t know. Do you really think that this peace will work?”

I took in a deep breath, tipping my head. “I hope so.”

She ducked her head. “I want to stay on Asim City. I’ve really gotten to know the
lethara
and I really like what I’m doing there.”

I watched her flame-colored head. I didn’t know what was going on in my heart. I liked her. A lot. She’d been my first friend at Sky City. If it hadn’t been for her, I might very well have become Nix’s puppet. I was indebted to her, but she . . . she wasn’t the type of person who would use that against me. I swallowed. “What if you—”

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, look at what we have here.”

I straightened, closing my eyes for patience.

“The El’Asim is cooking in a kitchen like a woman,” someone said, thumping the counter.

I didn’t look up as I handed Keeley a peeled root so she could chop it and add it to the pan of frying vegetables. Maybe if I ignored him, he’d leave.

The man snorted. “I hear the air games will resume tomorrow.”

I glanced up and the smile slipped from my face. Iszak Dekklar. I clenched my jaw.

His slithery smile widened. “Are you afraid you’ll lose to me?”

I straightened, walking slowly to the counter. “I don’t have to compete again. I actually completed the mission. I don’t know if you heard.”

His lips twisted in disgust. “I don’t understand the world where you get to be a great leader.”

My fists clenched. “I don’t understand a world where a man thinks the only way he can win is by destroying the homes and lives of hundreds of others.”

He flinched with a smile that wasn’t quite real.

“What did you think you would gain? The respect of the world?”

He took a step back, an eyebrow raised, his hands open wide. “But I did. You all fear me now.”

I didn’t fear him. I wanted to kill him.

He shrugged. “That’s all I ever intended.” He disappeared into the crowd.

I ground my teeth. I was going to make that man pay for what he’d done.

I glanced at Keeley and relaxed. But not today.

CHAPTER 25

DANCING

I joined
the other men, taking down the tents, stashing everything away. We laughed good naturedly, ribbing one another, giving each other a hard time.

But under all of our good nature was a hint of sorrow. People were missing those who should have been there. Nothing was said outright, but I noticed.

A large drum beat three times.

Laughing, we all turned to the raised dais where my mother stood in her turquoise silk robes, a large, sapphire blue sash tied at her waist with a large bow at the back. She raised her hands for silence.

She took a microphone in her hand and spoke into it. There was no sound. She looked to her left.

People scrambled to fix the issue.

We all waited, laughing with one another.

A loud squawk filled the air.

Mother closed her eyes, bringing the microphone to her mouth again. “Let the taste testing begin.”

All of that for . . . I shook my head and headed toward the tables.

There were some obvious favorites. Women of such beauty and grace. I ignored them. They had enough men falling over them, tasting their food, giving them empty words.

The long bank of tables curved around most of the floor. Finally, I found the women I was after.

Keeley, Oki, and Zara were all together. Zara and Keeley talked to each other, the men basically leaving them alone.

Oki had a long string of men gathered around her small section of table.

She sent me a desperate look.

I chuckled and kept walking.

Zara leaned against the table. “Tell me you, at least, are not buying into this.”

I sniffed a roll from Zara’s platter, and put it back. “You’ll find someone, Zar. Someone who understands the benefit of having a wife who doesn’t cook.”

She took the roll and threw it at me.

I laughed and backed up.

A group of men walked up to us. They were respectful, their Adalic broken. Their Handish was pretty good. They tried Keeley’s food, and struck into conversation with her.

Zara leaned forward and said, “Brother, if you want her, you’re going to have to tell her.”

I opened my mouth, but couldn’t find words to say.

She pushed me away, calling the men over to her.

The problem was that I didn’t
want
her. I liked her. As a friend. I didn’t want any woman, not after Nix. Dear Sky, would I ever be done with that woman? I hated her.

Keeley’s eyes flared at me as they moved on. “Your cooking was too good.”

I grinned and picked at the vegetable-covered rice. “I just showed you how. You did the rest.”

She shook me off, looking around. “I’m not really interested in staying here to be ogled by men who have no idea who I am or why they
shouldn’t
marry me.”

I offered my arm. “Me either. So let’s go around and speculate on who should marry who.”

Her smile matched mine as she ducked under the table and took my arm. “Why is your mother pushing the marriage thing, anyway?”

I steered us past the throng of admirers around Oki. “The whole point of these games was to find Zara a husband. I’m the one who turned it into more than that. Typically, only the higher-ranking sons and proven warriors of the Seven Great Families would have been invited.”

“It’s . . . ” She shrugged. “It’s a good idea.”

A large group of men crowded around several of the women, applauding and hollering. I couldn’t tell what was going on. “I thought so.”

She pulled us toward the center of the arena where musicians tuned their instruments and the bonfires were being built. “So who do you have your sights on? The great El’Asim must have his eyes set on someone.”

I gave her a shove then pulled her back to the tables. The musicians weren’t ready, the bonfires hadn’t been lit and my stomach rumbled. “I’m just Synn and I don’t have my sights on anyone.”

“Why not?”

I found a portion of the table that had been abandoned by everyone. The food, however, was still there. “I don’t know. I . . . just haven’t thought of it.”

“At all?” She let go of my arm and picked at the food. Her expression warmed, and she grabbed a small plate sitting nearby, piling more onto it.

I followed her lead. “No. I’ve been a busy. Planning all this. And then with the air games. When have I had time?”

“Before?”

I snorted. “Before or after I was in the Hands’ custody?”

She nodded, shoveling a mouthful of noodles between her lips. “So i’ ‘as ‘ofing to do—” She chewed twice and stashed it in her cheek. “—with Nix.”

I laughed at her, working to decipher what she’d just said. There was a stray strand of hair caught at the corner of her mouth. I pulled it away and tucked it behind her ear. “No, but . . . ” I mashed my lips together, my eyes on Keeley. The last thing I wanted to talk about at that moment was Nix. “I think it’s mostly just been a matter of time.”

She chewed a bit more sedately, her eyes rising to mine.

My limbs filled with a nervous energy I’d never experienced before. I took in a shallow breath and said before I lost the courage, “Would you ever consider living on an airship?”

She swallowed and licked her lips. “I don’t—I mean, I’ve thought about it—”

Her blush set off a fire in my belly.

“But I don’t know. My Mark is healing. I think I’d be better suited for a
lethara
, don’t you?”

I watched those green eyes, her freckles dancing the light of the dying sun, blending one into the other. “Anyone would be lucky to have you, Keel. It wouldn’t matter what type of city it was.” I cupped her cheek and stepped closer. My heart pounded and my brain screamed,
What are you doing?
However, when my mouth opened, I said, “You’re amazing.”

She didn’t have anything to say about that, but she didn’t pull away either.

We’d been so close for so long. She’d been there through the worst parts of my life, but we’d never had a moment like this before.

The rest of the world slipped away. The noise of the people around us. Their banter and horse play. The smell of food. All I saw, heard, smelled, felt was Keeley.

She blinked, her eyes studying mine.

I really didn’t know what to do. I only knew what I wanted to do; to feel her lips against mine. Nothing more.

I didn’t know how or when it happened, but her lips were there, hesitantly touching mine. She tasted like mien noodles and fish sauce. I was starving.

I closed the gap between us, taking her plate and putting it down on the table, deepening the kiss.

Her teeth bumped mine.

We pulled apart with a laugh.

Her fingers went to her lips. “I’m sorry.”

I smiled and took a step back feeling awkward and a little gangly. The kiss hadn’t . . .

It hadn’t made me feel what Nix had. Disgust and self loathing wound their way around my heart. How could I prefer Nix over someone like Keeley?

She was blushing from the tips of her ears to the end of her nose, her freckles standing out in stark contrast.

I gathered food, glancing at her uncertainly.

Someone clapped me on the back, giving my shoulder a good shake.

I smashed my lips together and turned to Joshua, my plate in hand. “Yes?”

He glanced between the two of us, his grin wide. “I just wanted to le’ ye know both of yer sisters found beaus.”

I filled my mouth with noodles, trying to push the awkward moment from my mind. “How in the world did Zara find a beau?”

“She bloody well punched him in the eye for insultin’ her food.” Joshua howled with laughter. “It was a big brawl. Food went ever’where. Men were fightin’ each other. Fists everywhere an’ there were girl fights.” Joshua looked at his sister. “I love a good girl figh’.”

She punched him in the arm.

He rolled his eyes and disappeared the way we’d come.

There was quite a group of people around the area we’d vacated.

“Well, it looks like we left at a great time.”

Keeley nodded, shoveling food in her mouth . . . quite inelegantly, I have to say.

Why in all the sky couldn’t I be drawn to her?

Keeley and I finished eating in silence. Once we were done, she led me to the bonfire.

The musicians had already started playing. There were two bands on either end, both playing very different songs. Both suns had set long ago. Kel’Mar reigned in the sky, his red surface brightening with no suns to compete with.

However, the medusa of Ino City blocked all that. I knew the suns had set because the light shining through the outside was dark and tinted red. Looking up, there were no stars. No planet. No asteroids.

This was the main reason I detested living in a
lethara
. I loved my sky.

As the music paused and the dancers left the circle, a group of airmen stepped up. They stared in silence into the flame, pieces of fabric in their hands. The leader raised his chin, took in a deep breath and tossed his fabric into the fire, watching as it was devoured. The others with him followed suit.

The rest of us watched in quiet.

The leader tugged at his blue tunic, swiped angrily at his face and left.

The musicians played an upbeat tune, one that had the toes of nearly everyone there twitching.

Keeley and I watched other couples dance, sharing kisses, embraces, laughing, teasing, playing. She bounced on her toes. “I don’t know this dance.”

I forced a chuckle. I had a lot I needed to clear from my head. “It’s easy. Come on.”

Bathed in the light of the bonfire, her hair looked like tamed flame. There was a lot to like about her, a lot to respect.

“The steps?”

With a grin, I threw us into the dance, leaping, hopping, clapping, swirling around one another and the other dancers.

She was breathless, her cheeks rosy. She stumbled with the dance at first, but as soon as she got it, she followed me with great enthusiasm. It was almost as if she’d never danced before.

The song ended and the couples pulled apart.

Keeley stared up at me, a near permanent smile on her face.

The next song started up. It was a complex number, with a lot of steps.

I could do this with her all night. I bit my lips and offered my hand. “Willing to try another?”

She grinned.

But her hand wasn’t the one that filled mine. This one had long, red nails.

I felt a growl rise in my chest. “Nix.”

“It’s only a dance,” she purred. She put her other hand on my chest, leaning in close, as she turned to Keeley. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Keeley opened her mouth.

“Keel.”

She raised her hands and stepped out of the circle of dancers.

I clamped my lips together and glared down at the queen.

She smiled sweetly, looking up at me through full, dark lashes. “Have I interrupted something?”

I couldn’t keep the look of contempt from my face.

She shrugged and entered the dance, maintaining a grip on my hand as she walked through the first few steps on her own.