“Would you prefer to swim?”
“Well, this seems a little… romantic.”
Noctis chuckled deeply, his chest rattling my shoulder.
“Would this be better?”
He launched me into the air. For a breathless moment, I was weightless right before I began to fall, the ocean’s surface drawing closer with terrifying speed. Noctis caught me by both hands at the last instant, and I hung suspended beneath him as he carried on through the sky.
“It’s not better!” I screamed over the rushing wind, gripping tightly to his hands. If my fingernails had fully grown back by then, they would have been digging into his flesh.
“Wonderful,” Noctis yelled back. He drew me upward by both hands, lifting me out of the open air and folding me into his arms as he steadied me back against him. “Because I much prefer to hold you like this.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to mask my fear and rapidly beating heart, but he only laughed.
“Prick,” I mumbled.
Noctis flinched, the laugh falling immediately.
“What is it?” It was clear I’d hit a nerve without meaning to.
Noctis shook his head but kept his eyes trained on the approaching island.
“I brought you something to wear,” he responded, changing the subject.
“Are my clothes not good enough?”
I looked down at my off-white tunic and brown trousers. They were as clean as I could get them before we left, but it was the cleanest they’d been in weeks.
“There’s a uniform for our excursion. Or else we will not be allowed into the festival.”
My interest piqued when he mentioned the festival earlier. It was a life I’d never gotten to live in my childhood, so I wanted to relish in it as an adult. I wondered if Noctis knew that I often thought about how I was raised in rooms full of screams while the world danced around me.
We landed swiftly on the ground overlooking a bustling nighttime market. Horse drawn carts hurried down the sandy paths, kicking up dust. Eyes immediately caught onto us—primarily Noctis’s wings that gave him away as a celestial god. Agape mouths twisted to watch as him and I walked through the people.
Noctis’s hand rested on my lower back, gently guiding me. He stopped at a nearby stall and picked out an array of breads, fruit, and freshly cooked meat, stowing them away in a woven basket gifted by the owner. He chuckled and nodded in appreciation when the awestruck cashier didn’t charge him for the goods.
“For you darling.” He outstretched a separate satchel.
“My uniform?” I asked skeptically.
“It’s a symbolic piece. The festival is a yearly ritual that I believe you will quite appreciate.”
“What makes you believe I will?”
“Because it’s a ritual inmyhonor.” He gestured behind him to the waiting man who bore a pleased smile. “The shopkeeper said you can use his stall to change clothes.”
I stepped into the stall and drew the hinged door closed behind me, shutting out the noise beyond. From the satchel, I pulled a cerulean robe of satin. The fabric spilled through my hands like liquid light. It caught the faint glow around me as I slipped it over my shoulders, the cool silk settling against my skin. The robe fell in smooth, flowing lines, skimming my form before pooling softly at my feet, its hem whispering against the floor with every small movement. It fit close through the waist and hips, then loosened just enough to move with me, the fabric shifting like water. Golden buttons fastened it at the center, each one delicately etched with fine, looping symbols that caught and held the light. A hood draped down my back, its weight gentle, the lace along its edge soft and intricate. It brushed faintly with each breath as if the garment itself were alive.
When I exited, Noctis wore the same-colored robe, except his outfit lacked the lace details. He froze, a slight lilt across his lips.
“Your beauty is well beyond what you wear, but… wow…” Noctis had never been speechless in the weeks we’d traveled together, but he seemed to struggle for the words.
My cheeks heated, and I walked past him, allowing him to lead me to the Mirrored Sky Festival. We cleared the markets quickly, the pier offering only a small number of shops along its coast. The end of the streets opened to a dark lake as far as my eye could see in the moon’s light.
Noctis stopped inches from the water and laid out a flat blanket. He motioned for me to sit. His market bag floated before us with his powers and emptied. Two bottles of wine, food, glasses, and two pillar candles.
“We have only a few minutes before it begins,” he mentioned, watching the water before us both closely.
