“Yes.”
Femi chuckled and shook his head. Then he regarded her with his green hooded eyes. “Like a dream you don’t want to wake from.”
Sita blinked, her cheeks hot.
Was he winning, or was she? Sita wasn’t sure she knew—or cared.
“Sitaaa!”her mother called.
“I-I must go,” Sita stammered.
“You must, indeed, my princess.” Femi bowed his head.
“Perhaps,” she said, moving toward the queen but still looking at Femi, “I’ll see you there?”
“Perhaps you will,” he replied. His head was still bowed, soshe couldn’t see his face, but Sita swore she could hear the smile in his voice.
She walked out of the walled garden, half-listening to her mother launch into another list of preparations. The fluttery feeling in her belly had returned. She’d overheard enough whispered conversations between the maidservants to know that Femi was a favorite among them. He’d enjoyed the occasional dalliance with several women, but he was honorable enough to keep the details to himself.
She’d started paying more attention to him after that, catching glimpses of him on duty, laughing with the other guards. One day, while she was walking from her bedchamber to meet her tutor, she caught him gazing at her with that familiar, hungry expression.
That was how the game started.
It wasn’t long after that she’d discovered his habit of bringing girls to the pleasure garden in the afternoons. In addition to the maidservant she’d just seen, there were two other girls Sita had witnessed enjoying Femi’s company—surprisingly the girls seemed to know this and were perfectly fine with the arrangement. Perhaps they had multiple partners themselves. It was a kind of freedom that a princess could never have, and Sita envied them for it. She too, wanted to drink from Femi’s cup, but for nearly a season, she hadn’t mustered the courage to make the next move.
Until today.
She giggled, and before stepping into the cool dimness of the palace, stole one last glance behind her. But Femi had already gone. The garden lay empty and yellow-bright. Left to their own devices, the two monkeys chased each other across the stone tiles while a falcon circled slowly above them in the cloudless blue sky.
***
“Be sure to keep your wits about you tonight,” Queen Bintanath said as she hurried Sita through the palace’s main hall toward the women’s quarters. Shafts of sunlight arced in through high square windows, illuminating the richly painted walls, columns, and broad-leafed palm trees planted in the center of the hall. Around them, servants and nobles went about their business, nodding respectfully as they passed.
One of the palace cats sauntered by, a black-striped one that reminded her of a female tabby she’d had as a baby. It couldn’t have been the same one, though—that was so long ago. The cat wore a jeweled collar and looked sleepy and well-fed. Like all the other cats, she was probably getting special treatment on Bast’s special day.
“People come from all over Khetara for the festival,” the queen went on, “And not all of them share our values. They’ll take you to the sea and bring you back thirsty if you let them—princess or no.”
“Uh-huh,” Sita said, noncommittal. The queen had many skills, the foremost of which was sucking the pleasure out of almost anything.
“I’ve tasked Mery with keeping an eye on you,” Queen Bintanath said. “He attended the last festival, so you should be fine if you remain together.”
Sita grumbled under her breath. She was still annoyed that her brother had been allowed to attend last year’s festival and she hadn’t, despite them being the exact same age. It wasn’t surprising, though—what with him being a boy and Mother’s favorite.
Mery the beautiful.
Mery the brilliant.
Mery the future king.
Still, she wasn’t going to let her brother’s watchful eye prevent her from having a good time.
“What about Kenna?” she asked.
The queen sighed. “Bakenamun wishes to spend the evening at the temple, alone with his scrolls.”
“Truly?” Sita couldn’t hide the note of disappointment in her voice. Her other brother had always been a studious, dour boy, but she still wished he would share in the celebrations. Studying with the Sem priests seemed to be the only thing he was interested in of late.
“I tried to convince him, but he claims to be ‘busy.’ Too busy to live, it seems!” The queen sucked her teeth. “Calling himself a ‘Man of Anubis.’ There are families suited to that”—she grimaced—“position… but ours isnotone of them! I’ll never understand why your father puts up with it.”
