Would I ever be worthy of their adoration and praise? I hoped so.
“Kaleah, wave.” Cassie nudged me with her shoulder, breaking me from my reverie.
I plastered on a smile and returned to the task at hand, waving at several excited bystanders. “It’s beautiful.” I nodded at the display of colors surrounding us.
“Of course it is,” Cassie said, enthusiastically waving to our people as we continued our slow procession through the city. “I keep telling you to get out more.”
I fought the grimace pulling at my lips. I had a part to play and dipped my head in the direction of an older couple who rewarded me with a pair of brilliant smiles. “It’s too dangerous.” The familiar words were stale in my mouth.
“I know, I know. Skies forbid you fall and break a nail.” Cassie’s words were like knives under my skin, but I did my best to brush them off. She didn’t understand and that was okay, though it wouldn’t change the fact that everything I did, everything I sacrificed, was for her. Well, her andthem. The people of Empyria.
I tried to ignore the whisper in my mind and the dread in the pit of my stomach—the small resistance within me that I’d never quite overcome in my almost seventeen years of life. The part of me that didn’t want to die.
No! I slammed a mental door on my foolish insecurities and lifted my chin, focusing on the surrounding celebration. We’d reached the end of the procession at the base of the temple. More lanterns and lights lined the peaked, multi-tiered roofs that blocked out the night sky. Temporary booths crowded the courtyard, teeming with spectacular wares, intermingled with food stands and game tables stretched as far as I could see. Laughter and shouts mingled with joyous voices, the air coated with heavenly scents of sweet fried foods that made my mouth water.
Perusing down the aisles that crisscrossed the cobblestones, we passed sellers with bright clothes, rugs, and one even sold jewelry that changed color to match a customer's apparel. Another stand displayed unbreakable pottery, the glaze shimmering beneath the moonlight. A few vendors offered exotic animals, and I gasped in delight when a winged monkey darted over the crowd to land on my shoulder.
He chittered in my ear, brushing his tiny fingers through the gold lace woven into my hair. “Well, aren’t you a friendly little fellow?” I scratched under his chin and jumped when a guard yanked the monkey away.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” the monkey’s owner apologized, retrieving the now screeching creature from the guard.
“Not at all. He’s sweet.” I offered the man a smile then scowled at my guard who blatantly ignored me. “He wasn’t hurting anything.”
“Just leave it,” Cassie said, already pulling me toward the next stall. “Aren’t these beautiful?” She pointed to the displays of paints and dyes that swirled under the lantern lights.
“Do you want some?” Alex asked, moving closer to my sister’s side.
She continued to gush over the pretty colors, but I tuned her out, my attention caught by the vendor across the way. Miniature clay figures covered the display, decked out with jewels and feathers and tiny weapons to accompany them. Mesmerized, I shuffled forward, peering over the tiny toy golems. The details were meticulous, with sparkling beads for eyes and hand crafted and plated metal for their armor. Someone had obviously put much love and care into creating them, even if they weren’t real like the ones looming behind me.
“Princess?” A small girl peeked between two of my guards, her round, innocent eyes staring up at me. A blush smudged her sallow cheeks, her threadbare purple dress clinging to her bony frame.
“Let her approach,” I said and the guards parted. The girl slipped through the narrow space, eyeing the men nervously before darting to my side.
“Do you like them?” she asked, her tiny voice almost carried away by the noise as she gestured to the clay statues.
“Very much so.”
A smile spread across her pale face. “My parents created them.”
“They’re beautiful.”
The little girl ducked around the corner of the stand before reappearing a moment later. “For you, Princess.” She lifted her clasped hands, revealing a small golem. A bright purple feather stuck out of the top of his helmet, and a silver sword rested in its grasp. Its black beaded eyes glared at me from his gray stone face. “This is Calculus.”
I crouched next to her. “Did you help make him?”
The young girl rocked back and forth, ducking her head with a shy smile. “Mommy helped me.”
“He’s so cute.”
“Shh.” Her eyes widened. “Don’t let him hear you call him that. He’ll get offended.”
I held back a chuckle, trying to look serious. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”
She nodded, her tiny lips pursed.
“What’s your name, little one?”
“Dawn.”