“I don’t think so.”
“Obstacles course?”
“That’s not even a team race.”
“Oh, so we’re a team now?”
He chuckled and rumpled her hair, definitely not something Ehmet would do, but it felt right for Berim.
“Come on, please? This is our only night—”
The end of what she was saying was cut off by a shriek, a shout, and a flirtatious couple running past as the woman attempted to escape the man’s goosing. The fleeing woman wasn’t trying very hard. Ehmet watched as she stopped, spun to face her chaser, and planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth.
“All right, come along.”
“What?” Saka shouted up at him, not having heard his response, but he was already dragging her over to the registration table.
“Ho there, what can I do for you?” the administrator inquired, pocketing a handful of coins.
“Is this a successful enterprise then, sir?” Ehmet inquired, trying his best to talk like a commoner.
“Sure is, lad,” the older man replied. “I’m a baker by day, but running these games—we’ll have our new roof at the cottage in no time. It’s worth the extra hours these few days a year.”
“How much for two to play?”
“Depends on the game.” The man offered a list, scratched in chalk on a slab of smooth wood.
Ehmet perused the offerings and found that the two-legged race had already finished. He let Berim take over and make a selection at that point. When the administrator at the table eyed the pair with his brows pulled together, he handed over the agreed upon amount and lifted his companion’s hand in the air.
This drew Hevva’s attention back to him, for she’d been distracted by a one-man-band who’d come clomping and clanging past. “What race...?” Her question died on her lips when she saw her hand clasped in his, heldaloft as proof to the administrator that they were indeed a married couple.
The golden band he’d put there, with magic of course, shimmered in the streetlights.
Ehmet leaned down to speak to his false bride as she turned to whisper something to him. Their mouths nearly collided, which he wouldn’t really have minded at all. But he swallowed his words and offered his ear.
“This ring might be slightly too much for Berim’s stableboy salary.”
He laughed. “I came into some money from a merchant uncle. Poor man lost his life rounding the Horn of Gramenia.”
“Oh, how dreadful!” She pressed a hand dramatically to her chest.
Eventually he’d release the ring like anything else made from his magic. But it was a small item, and easy to hold in place, so he left it for a while. “Come on, our race is starting soon.”
He scooped her up again, purely to make better time across the packed square to the road where races were being held. Onlookers crowded the doorways and hung out of second story windows, sloshing mugs of ale in hand. At the starting line he set her down.
She glanced up and down the line of competitors. “What race is thi—BERIM!” She shrieked as he lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder.
“Wife carrying, my dear Saka!” he boomed. And they were off.
There were a few decent holds he could have chosen from, but Ehmet didn’t think she’d appreciate the one where she wrapped her legs around his shoulders and hung her head down near his arse while he ran. Hedidthink she would have preferred riding piggy-back, but then he wouldn’t have gotten the joy of her delectable round bottom popped over his shoulder, bouncing up and down near his face. He wasn’t in it to win; this was for the experience.
The first obstacle was easy: wooden hurdles moved up and down at irregular intervals, controlled by earthshapers on the sidelines. He cleared them and was surprised to find they were in third.
The second obstacle was also nothing to be afraid of. A pit of roaring fire sprung up from below street-level, several paces ahead. It stretched across the way. But he simply used his magic to lay down a path of stonesatop the flames and barreled through the thing.
Oops, should have warned her.He realized his error when Hevva screamed and clawed her fingers into his arse.
“WATER!” he bellowed as they neared the third and final obstacle. When had they gotten in second place? “I’ve got you, hold your breath!”
