Saros shrugged like that was about as threatening as a swarm of actual moths.“Give me until the equinox to lay all my moving parts to rest.Caelos is nearly finished and the Moths are still licking their wounds, so let us focus on this happy occasion for the short time we have before we must up and fight again.”
Kai gritted his teeth, wishing he was privy to these moving parts and other plans.Wondering if Etan and Nalu were.“I don’t think distracting everyone with bread and circuses is – ”
“Kai,” Saros broke in, his tone flattening, although his eyes were still bright.“Don’t fret, son.Soon we’ll all see the fruits of my labours.So wait, Kai.Wait and watch.”
Something in his voice unnerved him, made him sink back.Kai nodded, eyes on his untouched cup of tea.
Ione stirred, warm fingertips tapping the back of Kai’s hand beneath the table.“Excuse me,” she murmured, standing.
She glided away without further comment, the sting of her discontentment skittering through him.And even with all her supposed power bequeathed to him, all Kai could do was sit and beg and roll over while Saros prattled on about the good fortune of an autumn wedding.
Chapter Fifteen
Ione
The mirror clouded over, the breath Ione had been holding fogging up the glass.Restraining a frustrated groan, Ione wiped it clean, held her breath and squinted at her reflection, at the tiny brush dusted with gold.River had always done her makeup for her, his eyesight better and patience far deeper; after him, Lina, a steady hand holding Ione’s face still as she skilfully painted her lips and eyelids.
Loneliness carved out her stomach.And how funny it was, to feel so lonely on her wedding night.
Her attention caught on a flurry of movement behind her in the mirror.Cynthia sidled up beside her, her stable presence almost bringing tears to Ione’s eyes.
More so when Cynthia said, “Let me help.”
Ione released her breath, startled.“You don’t have to.”She glanced at herself in the mirror, muddled once more with fog, and sighed.“I’ve… got it.”
“You’ve been fogging and un-fogging that mirror for half an hour.”
“It’shard.”
Rather bravely, Cynthia pushed Ione to sit on the velvet stool and liberated the brush from her.Left without much choice, Ione closed her eyes and tilted her face to the light, letting Cynthia line her eyes with gold, darken her eyelashes, dust her cheekbones with pearl powder.
“Thank you,” Ione murmured as Cynthia painted a tiny golden moon between her brows.A waxing crescent, the symbol of a young bride.“I know you don’t exactly support this.”
Cynthia stepped back, surveyed her work.“But I understand it.And I won’t be an infant about it and let you go through this alone.”She washed the brushes and filed everything into their places at the vanity.“Anyway,” she added pragmatically, “marriages can be dissolved, and husbands can be poisoned.I’ve been reading about it.You know, in case.”
Ione bit back a smile, relatively certain she was joking.“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The outer door to her family’s suite opened; Ione listened, relaxing to hear the heavy saunter she had grown so accustomed to.“Come in, Kai,” she called before Kai could knock on her bedroom door.
“It’s creepy how you can tell who people are by their footsteps,” he said, letting himself in.
She pretended to still be preening before the mirror, although all she needed now was her veil.“And it’s bad luck for you to see me before the ceremony.”
“I don’t believe in that.”He stopped just behind her, calloused hands hot on her shoulders.“Can we have a moment?”he asked Cynthia.
“It’s all right, Cynthia,” Ione said when she hesitated.“He doesn’t believe in luck, which is one thing this union sorely needs.”
Cynthia peered up at him, sceptical.“Drink some water before you head downstairs,” she said to Kai, pausing to touch the back of Ione’s hand before she withdrew.
The door shut with a metallic click, reverberating in the twilit quiet of her bedroom.Ione sucked in a breath and stood, faced him.Studied him, let him study her.Wordlessly he reached behind her for her veil, a floor-length swathe of gossamer lined with crystals like beads of dew; with startling gentleness he pinned it to her hair and folded it behind her so it did not obscure her vision.
As always, he dressed well, tonight in a mix of northern and southern styles: a moon-white swallowtail coat with full sleeves gathered at his wrists.Ione traced the embroidered waves lining his lapel, the three earrings shaped like teardrops, the thin silver chain connecting one to a ring in his nose.
“Ah, that,” Kai said of the chain: “It’s something we wear for special occasions.I don’t, normally, but – ” He looked away, bashful.“ – for tonight, I thought it would… suit.”
This close, Ione registered why Cynthia had told him to drink some water.“You reek,” she chided him, and Kai laughed.
“That’s what every man likes to hear,” he retorted genially.“Nalu – my favourite brother, after all – gifted me a bottle of verdure for the occasion, which was shocking enough that it warranted testing for poison.”He shrugged.“So far so good.Guess he got over the last fight.”
