The pink diamond was resting on my wrist once more as a bracelet, and exquisitely beaded sandals hid beneath the flowing fabric of the skirt.
Kai swept my hair up in a stunning crisscrossing cornet made of various braids.
She fussed with my eyelashes, put a light-pink gloss on my lips, then stepped away, assessing. Cocking her head to the side, she looked around her, then stepped out of the bathroom, coming back with delicate white and pink flowers, and wove them into my hair, accentuating the braids beautifully.
“Finished,” she declared with pride in her voice.
“That’s it?”
She scowled.
“Sorry. That’s not what I meant. Normally, I’m plastered in makeup, but it barely looks like I’m wearing any.”
“This is a lunch, not a formal dinner. Besides, I think it suits you more, no?”
I took in my reflection, smiling softly at the generous compliment she’d given me, whether she realized it or not.
“I do,” I said, then spun around and embraced her. “Thank you, Kai. For everything,” I whispered, realizing that this might be our final goodbye.
After a heartbeat, she wrapped her gangly arms around me.
A knock at the door had her releasing me and turning away. I followed her back through the suite, finding Artton at the threshold.
“Are you ready, Nyleeria?” he asked.
I looked toward Kai, and she nodded inconfirmation.
“Be well, Kai,” I said.
Her features softened, and she offered me a small smile. “And you, Nyleeria.”
I trailed Artton into the hallway, where he held out a hand to me.
“We’re valenning?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t we just do it from the suite?”
A tug of a smile. “It’s warded from such things, as a form of protection.”
“Oh.”
Artton valenned us atop the clearest water I’d ever seen—which was the only detail I registered before I began to fall, a scream leaving me. It took me a heartbeat to realize that I wasn’t actually falling, but standing safe and sound. There was…not ground beneath us, but some sort of invisible surface, like glass on top of the water.
Artton gave me a wry smile, then vanished. Caius chuckled from behind me, and I turned to face him, still wary of my footing.
In the distance, I could see the sandy beach that Endymion and I had visited the previous evening.
The water’s clarity, combined with the stark white sand several feet below, allowed the sunlight to dance across it in contorted square-like patterns, as if relishing its new form. Our presence didn’t appear to disturb the surface; in fact, only our shadows gave us away.
Looking around, I noted the water’s never-ending expanse, which looked as if it fell off the horizon.
“This isn’t a lake.”
“It’s not,” Caius confirmed.
“What is it?”
