I turned to find a stranger standing in the doorway. “Oh gods,” I whispered to myself. He was a young man, a few years older than me at most, and as his gaze swept over my body, I became even more painfully aware of my sodden clothing. Our eyes met for one humiliating moment before I lowered mine to the puddle slowly forming at my feet.

“Nor, what are you doing?” Elidi hurried forward and ushered me back out the front door, past the stranger. “Where is your family?”

“They’re preparing for dinner. I only came to speak to Sami.”

“We have a visitor.”

As if I hadn’t noticed. “Who is he?”

“My husband will explain everything. Go home and clean yourself up. And please, when you return, come in the boat.”

I nodded and scrambled back down the ladder, wishing I’d listened to Mother for once. As I swam back to our house, I tried to puzzle out who the young man could be. Judging by his strange dress and the even stranger behavior of Sami and his family, it was clear to me that he wasn’t from our village, and I knew for a fact that no man in Varenia had ever looked at me before the way he had. I’d only had a moment to take in his appearance, but I blushed at the memory of his gaze, lingering in places Sami’s never had.

“Where have you been?” Zadie asked when I popped back through the trapdoor.

“Nowhere.”

“You’d better change quickly. Mother’s almost ready.”

Mother was arranging her hair in front of her mirror, still humming to herself. Did she know about the stranger, too? Was that what this was all about? I rinsed myself quickly with fresh water and slipped into my red gown while Zadie tried to fix my hair. Hers was perfectly plaited, as usual, and her skin glowed against the soft pink of her dress. I felt garish next to her, and I wondered if Mother had planned it that way on purpose.

“Come, girls,” Father said, helping us all down into the boat. I dropped gracelessly onto the bench, my arms folded across my chest. I should have set the oars adrift on the current to delay the inevitable. As it was, Father’s powerful arms brought us to the governor’s house far too quickly. I volunteered to tie up the boat, fretting over the knot as long as possible. Perhaps I could slip away and skip this dinner altogether...

“Hurry up, Nor,” Mother called as if she could read my wicked thoughts.

I scowled and climbed the ladder. Father and Governor Kristos shook hands while Elidi showed Mother, Zadie, and me into the communal room. A large wooden table—a proper one, not fashioned out of driftwood like ours—was set with more than half a dozen dishes: fresh grapes in glistening piles; cubes of melon and sliced figs; delicate white fish sautéed in broth; bowls of olives in black, green, and purple. It was more food than I’d seen in years, and most of it from land. The governor must have spent a fortune on this meal.

I watched Governor Kristos slap Father affectionately on the back while Mother and Elidi embraced. “After all these years, we’re going to be brothers, Pax,” Kristos said in his deep, booming voice, one that seemed made for giving speeches.

I felt Zadie stiffen at my side. “What’s he talking about?” she whispered.

I was caught like a fish in a net, the sides closing in on me no matter which way I turned. But before I could answer, the stranger appeared again, and everyone around me dropped into a bow or curtsy, as if they were all in on a secret I’d been left out of.

“Who is it?” I hissed at Zadie as I dropped into an awkward curtsy next to her.

The governor answered for her. “My dear friends, this gentleman is our esteemed guest for the evening, an emissary from Ilara sent by the king himself.”

The young man stepped toward Zadie and bowed again, and now I recognized the Ilarean crest embroidered on his black doublet: the profile of a young woman inside a heart, with two daggers crossed behind it. He took Zadie’s hand and kissed it.

“My name is Talin,” he said. “And you must be Zadie.”

“Yes, my lord.” I could hear the faint tremor in her voice. “And this is my sister, N—”

“Nor,” he said before she could finish. He glanced at me with eyes the color of sea glass and smirked. “I believe we’ve already met.”

      5

I could feel Mother’s gaze burning into me along with the stranger’s. What did you do? she demanded silently. But there was no time to explain. The governor gestured for us all to sit, and I found myself seated between Sami and Zadie, directly across from Talin. A million thoughts buzzed in my head. Did the Ilareans always send an emissary after the ceremony? Was he here to make sure Zadie really was the most beautiful girl in Varenia? And who exactly was he to the king, anyway?

I stole glances of him as discreetly as I could, though I should have kept my eyes demurely downcast, like Zadie. He was tall, his skin tanned to a shade similar to mine. His brown hair was threaded through with the kind of sun-gilded streaks Mother abhorred, but I doubted even she could find fault in his strong, even features and muscular build. His eyes were a startling blue-green, and while they should have been fixed on Governor Kristos, who sat to his left, or Father, who sat to his right, or at the very least on Zadie, more than once I found them studying me.

Mother and Elidi sat quietly through most of the meal, letting the men do the talking between courses. The food was fresh and delicious, but I was too anxious to eat. Mother couldn’t still be planning to announce my engagement now, could she?

“Do the Ilareans always send someone to approve the elders’ choice?” Father asked. I leaned forward a little too eagerly, and Zadie laid a warning finger on my leg.

Talin set his fork down and turned to my father. “I don’t believe so, though this is obviously my first experience with the process. I can imagine it must be very strange for all of you, to have an Ilarean in your presence for the first time.”

“No stranger than it is for you, I’m sure,” Mother said, her lips curved in a gracious smile. This was as close as she’d ever come to royalty, and she was thoroughly enjoying herself. “And what do you think of our dear Zadie? Have the elders chosen wisely?”

She just couldn’t resist the chance to show off. Talin smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Something told me he saw right through my mother, and I liked him for it.

“She is the most beautiful Varenian girl I have ever seen,” he said.

Mother beamed, until she began to process his words. He’d only seen Zadie and me. Despite the implied slight to me, I almost giggled as her smile faltered.

“Prince Ceren is a lucky man,” Talin added, and I felt Sami stiffen beside me. “I cannot imagine anyone more lovely.”

But as he said it, his eyes drifted from Zadie to me. I glanced away, my scar burning as the blood rushed to my face, but the conversation resumed as though no one else had noticed.

“You eat very well,” Talin said. “This food is delicious.”

I cast a sharp look at Sami, willing him to stay quiet, but if he saw me, it wasn’t enough to stop him. “This is a very special occasion, my lord. I assure you that we don’t eat like this every day. Particularly not the average villager.”

Sami’s father leveled him with a gaze that accomplished what mine could not. Despite Sami’s feigned bravado, I couldn’t imagine him ever standing up to his father.

Talin cleared his throat to break the tension. “What is the population of Varenia?” he asked.

“Roughly five hundred,” Father answered. He helped keep track of our numbers for Governor Kristos. “We were nearly six hundred at one point, but the last few generations have seen our population shrinking.”

Talin’s brow furrowed. “Why is that?”

Father glanced at Kristos, as did Sami. They both knew the truth: that families were having fewer children because they couldn’t afford to feed them.

The governor bared his teeth in a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Our guest does not wish to hear about such things tonight. We are here to celebrate.” He reached for a pitcher of wine and filled the glasses, including Zadie’s and mine, then lifted his own and gestured for the rest of us to do the same. “Not only is our lovely Zadie to join you in Ilara soon, but our families have another reason to rejoice.”

The raised cup in my hand tipped dangerously as I realized what was happening.

Kristos turned to Sami and me. “To Nor and Samiel. Your coming union fills my heart with gladness. Now our two families will become one, as I’ve always dreamed. Thalos has blessed us all.” He raised his cup to his lips and drank, as did Mother, Father, Elidi, and Sami. But Zadie had turned to look at me, and I found myself paralyzed under her gaze.

Sami elbowed me gently. “Drink.”

“I—”

I gasped when Zadie’s eyes rolled back in her head and she listed over like a sack of grain. Everyone else moved to help her, but I remained frozen with shock until Sami reached for my hand.

I wriggled free of his grasp. “Not now,” I whispered.

Father helped Zadie onto her back, where she blinked up at the ceiling, her face drained of color.

“Is she all right?” Elidi asked as she looked around helplessly. “She’s not upset, is she?”