At that moment, a white toad wearing a small silver wig hopped forward. In a deep, rumbling voice he spoke:
“Your Highnesses, we shall commence announcing the contestants now.”
Arris tried to wave his hand in what he hoped was a kingly fashion but only succeeded in knocking off one ofhis buttons. As he reached down to grab it, Yvlle made an odd sound.
“On second thought, perhaps you arriving without clothing might have saved you some time,” said Yvlle.
“What in the world are you talking about—oh.”
“Presenting Heka of the Glimmers to Your Majesties!”
The veil dropped and Heka of the Glimmers stepped onto the boat dressed in a sheathe of gold that left nothing to the imagination. Gold dust powdered her dusky limbs. Her lips were gold too.
“You’re drooling,” muttered his sister.
Arris quickly recovered.
“Welcome to Rathe—”
But before he could even finish the sentence, Heka grabbed his outstretched hand, pulled him close and whispered in his ear:
“Your Highness, if you choose me, I will change your meaning of ‘precious.’”
Yvlle gagged. Arris found this to be a very interesting start to the conversation, but Heka was quickly ushered to the feast and Orinthia of the Ulva Wylds entered. She wore a bulky coat stitched together from dozens of white pelts and pale animal hides. Arris was certain he spotted a couple of paws and beady eyes somewhere in the jumble of it.
“I look forward to getting to know you,” said Arris.
Orinthia purred in response.
The idea of a woman purring at him had always tickled Arris. But in practice, it was alarming and he ruined the whole thing by asking, twice, if she was choking.
After that, there was Flykra of the Aatos Mountains, who arrived in a loud dress of jangling icicles.
“I was born as ice, but when I heard you were looking for love, I thawed, my lord, and finally dreamt of life,” said Flykra breathlessly.
“That’s… very humbling,” said Arris in as diplomatic a tone as he could muster.
Tears shone in Flykra’s eyes. Arris handed her a handkerchief, but instead Flykra swiped a teardrop with her finger and held it out to him.
“Keep this, as a token of my love. If you choose me, I shall endeavor to never bring you tears,” she said.
Arris stared at her finger. “Er, how—”
The carpet of shooting stars spared him from answering. A moment later, it zoomed her forward, ushering her—a bit forcefully—onto the deck with the other contestants.
“MY TEAR!” she cried out.
After Flykra, there were Thalassa and Pearl, a pair of twins from the Famishing. They both had long, magenta hair and a crescent of pink scales that skittered from their temples to below their collarbones. When they smiled, they flashed their sharp teeth.
Thalassa spoke first: “You are positively—”
“—delicious,” finished Pearl, smacking her lips.
“A pleasure to meet you,” said Arris.
The twins blew him kisses and sauntered off.
Arris turned to Yvlle. “Thoughts?”
