“Wow,” Callie said breathlessly. “Who needs to spend thousands of dollars on a designer dress when you have Rekosh.”
“And who cares that it’s silk from a spider’s ass,” Lacey said, admiring her own green dress. Hers was also a halter top, but the skirt was straight, with a long slit down each thigh.
“Well, yours aren’t made withhisbutt silk. Only I get to wear that,” Ahmya laughed. “I helped sketch out the ideas for the designs, but he’s literally the master weaver.”
Ivy chuckled. “I’ll be sure not to tell Ketahn you said that.” She brushed her fingers over the embroidered flower patterns on the gorgeous, sheer red dress Ahmya wore. “But I agree.”
Lacey pressed her fingers to her mouth, eyes going wide. “Ohhhh.”
Callie swept her gaze over Ivy, who was the only one wearing something made by Ketahn. Her white, opalescent dress glittered in the light of Rekosh’s den, almost like it was threaded with silver. Glowing blue crystals were embroidered along the waist, flowing up the bodice and the single shoulder strap.
“I don’t know,” Callie said. “Looks like Ketahn is still a contender for the title.”
“Their competitiveness is never ending,” Ahmya said.
Lacey grinned and gestured at her dress. “Yeah, but we’re benefiting from it.”
Callie laughed. “Damn right, we are.”
“Oh!” Ahmya stepped away, moving to a nearby table. “I have one more thing for you guys.”
She returned carrying an armful of flower crowns. She reached up and settled one atop Lacey’s head, followed by Ivy’s, Callie’s, and then her own. Each wreath was made with unique flowers laced with silk ribbons that matched their dresses.
“Oh my gosh, did you make these?” Ivy asked, running her fingers along the white ribbons dangling over her shoulder.
Ahmya clasped her hands at her middle and smiled, her cheeks flushing. “I did.”
“They’re beautiful.” Lacey reached up to adjust her crown and smiled in return. “Thank you.”
Callie pulled Ahmya into a tight hug. “You’re so damn sweet. I love you to pieces.”
Ahmya chuckled, voice muffled from her face being squished against Callie’s arm. “Love you all too.”
“Alright ladies…” Lacey walked to the door and held aside the silk curtain. “Shall we join the festivities?”
Together, they left Rekosh and Ahmya’s den, slipping on the pretty shoes he’d made for them. In the time since the womenhad gathered to prepare for the celebration, the sun had set, and the real party had begun below Kaldarak’s platforms. The air had cooled, caressing Callie’s skin soothingly, and she could feel the beat of drums pounding an infectious rhythm down on the ground.
Kaldarak itself had been transformed by nightfall. The work Urkot and the other delvers had done was on full display, with hundreds upon hundreds of glowing blue crystals dotting the wooden platforms and rope bridges.
“It’s gorgeous,” Ivy said.
“It is,” Callie breathed. “It’s like a real-life fairy village.”
“Now just picture the vrix flitting around with fairy wings,” Lacey said.
Ahmya laughed and gave the woman a gentle shove. “Stop!”
“What? I think they’d look pretty badass with wings.”
As they trotted down the large, spiraling stairway leading to the ground, the music grew louder. The drums were accompanied by the twang of string instruments and the clacking of wood, blending together in a joyous, upbeat song. Callie had heard music being played in the village, but this was the first time she’d heard anything this lively from the vrix.
A huge bonfire burned in a meadow, away from the trees, surrounded by a ring of stones. The fire set everything alight in orange, and where that light failed, the blue glow of crystals held back the shadows.
A large, wooden effigy stood nearby—a female vrix with her arms raised, her body covered in flowers, vines, and bits of colorful silk. Her hair was a cascade of grass and leaves dotted with little buds and blooms. The Rootsinger, who the vrix believed had provided all the jungle’s plant life.
There were baskets and baskets filled with fruit and vegetables, the bounty that the vrix had harvested to celebrate the end of the flood season. Raw meat had been laid out on hugeleaves, but there was a hint of the savory scent of cooking meat on the air. It touched Callie that the thornskulls had thought of the humans.
Thornskulls of all colors were chatting, dancing, and playing games, all of them swept up in good cheer. Callie spotted Diego and Will dancing together and laughing with the thornskulls. This was just another way that vrix and humans were similar—both species loved a good party.
