Silver shook droplets of water from her hair and traded places with her cousin. As she waited outside, she thought about the next day’s plan. First thing tomorrow, they would go to the seawall.
She knew the most important thing was to find Kirja, but also … her chance to prove herself as a racer was here and now. If she signed up for one of the races and won, Sagittaria Wonder couldn’t ignore her. And, if she claimed Hiyyan as hers, he would be safe.
The trouble was, how could Silver sign up for a qualifying race without exposing Hiyyan to danger?
Silver shook her head. No, they had to focus on finding Arkilah first. Nebekker had told them that Arkilah could help them rescue Kirja from Sagittaria.
Silver paced up and down the alley. Her heart ached. She missed Jaspaton, just a little, and she really missed Hiyyan.
Hiyyan. Maybe he could help her figure out what to do. Silver closed her eyes and pictured the Aquinder in her mind. A feeling of peace swept over her.
She thought his name. Can you hear me from this far away? I have an idea, and I need your—
“What are you doing?”
Silver’s eyes flew open. Mele was standing in front of her, squinting curiously. She held a small package wrapped in cloth.
“Nothing,” Silver said. “Just waiting for Brajon to finish cleaning up.”
Mele stared at her. “You were thinking really hard.”
“There’s more than sand between my ears,” Silver said, and grinned.
Mele arched an eyebrow but didn’t press. “I brought you this.” She unwrapped the cloth and pulled the lid off a small ceramic pot.
“Persimmon pudding,” Silver exclaimed. Her mouth watered. “You didn’t have to do that. You’re very kind!”
Mele scowled and pushed the crockery at Silver. “It’s not kindness—just leftovers from one of the rich racers. Guess he found the taste too common.”
“It’s a good thing I’m more common than sand. His loss, my gain.”
For the first time, an almost-smile cracked Mele’s face. But as soon as it almost appeared, it vanished. “Well, you need it. You’re the skinniest girl I’ve ever seen.”
“We didn’t exactly have time to eat while fight—” Silver bit her tongue. Mele was right; it was easy to be loose-tongued around her. For all she knew, Mele could be one of Sagittaria’s spies. Silver feebly finished with: “while in the desert.”
“People who don’t understand the ways of the desert shouldn’t go into the desert,” Mele huffed.
Silver hid a smile. Imagine a Calidian girl talking to her about the desert!
Mele turned to go.
“Wait,” Silver said. She didn’t trust the cleaning girl, but her gut told her Mele knew some things Silver didn’t. “You know the desert, then? So you’re not from Calidia.”
“That’s none of your business.” Mele’s eyes darkened, and for the first time, Silver realized they were more green than brown.
“I was just wondering how you ended up here, cleaning up after people who don’t even like persimmon pudding.”
“You’re one to talk. You can’t even clean up after yourself. I earned this job, and this is a good position for a girl like me.”
Silver raised her eyebrows. “A girl with something to hide?”
“No!” Flustered, Mele clenched her fists. Her voice lowered. “This is the closest work I could find to the water dragons. I have to stay. I just have to.”
Mele’s eyes shone with tears, but before Silver could say anything more, Brajon opened the door, scrubbed clean of dirt. Mele took the opportunity to run around the corner. Silver let out a slow breath. Trying to get secrets out of Mele was harder than climbing dunes.
Silver pushed herself into the room and collapsed in exhaustion on the mat. She offered up the pudding to Brajon. “I’m going to share this with you even though you say horrible things to me.”
The cousins licked the bowl of every last morsel.
With the night bathing the room in inky darkness, Silver stretched out and closed her eyes for one last effort before sleep.
She pictured her beautiful Aquinder. His glorious blue-and-white coloring, the mane that was growing longer by the day, his bright eyes and quick, goofy grin. Are you all right? she asked him.
Silver’s belly filled with a lazy kind of warmth, and she smiled.
Sweet dreams, Hiyyan.
TWENTY-SIX
Despite the tiny size of the window, morning light soaked into Silver on the sleeping mat. She blinked a few times against the strength of the sun and rolled over with a smile. She knew exactly what she had to do to rescue Kirja.
Brajon lay on the floor, happily snoring away like a herd animal.
“Brajon, wake up!”
“No, thank you,” he mumbled.
Silver reached her foot over and nudged his side. Hard.
Brajon shot up. “Ow!” He rubbed his ribs. “What was that for?”
“Come on. I have a race to win!”
Brajon blinked at his cousin. “What? I thought we decided you weren’t racing. We have to find Arkilah and save Kirja.”
“We’re going to do both.” Silver gathered her things. She counted her coins and nodded, pleased enough with the amount of money they had left.
“There’s no way. Unless you’re planning to show a baby Aquinder to all of Calidia and put a target on his back!”
“He’s not a baby anymore.” Silver rubbed her thumb over her water dragon burn. “I have a plan. It’s safer for Hiyyan to be claimed. Look what happened to Kirja.”
“Nebekker had good reason to never race her,” Brajon said.
Silver raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ears, then lowered it when she realized there wasn’t much hair left. “She did what she thought was best for her bond with Kirja. I just think a different way is better.”
“Have you thought about how Calidia will react when Sagittaria rides in on Kirja? And then sees Hiyyan?”
“I don’t think Sagittaria is going to ride Kirja,” Silver said. “Not in the qualifiers.”
Queen Imea’s voice echoed in Silver’s head. It never does to show all our secrets right away, now does it? Oh, I love when the final card is played on the table.
“No,” Silver said slowly, “the queen is going to hold Kirja back until the very last race.”
“You meet Queen Imea one time, and now you know all her deepest secrets?” he said.
“I don’t. But just in case, we’ll head to the market first. Arkilah will help us find Kirja, and you’ll sneak her out of the city during the qualifiers. I won’t be far behind.”
“Not far behind? You mean you’ll be with us.”
Silver shook her head. “I have to race, Brajon.”
Brajon shuffled his feet. “I don’t know about this plan…”
“Do you have a better one?” Silver raised her eyebrows, but her cousin didn’t say anything else. “Right,” she said. “Because there isn’t another plan. Don’t worry—I’ll have Hiyyan, and he can fly, remember? There’s no way any of them can catch up to us.”
“And how will you race him in front of the biggest crowds in Calidia without revealing that he’s an Aquinder?”
“I’ll smear camouin on his wings,” Silver lifted her chin, prepared to defy Brajon. “There was enough from just brushing against that cave beast to cover my hands. We’ll go back and”—Silver wrinkled her nose—“harvest the rest.”
“You’re being reckless,” Brajon said, shaking his head. “Get caught with camouin and you could be put to death. And have you even asked Hiyyan if he wants to race?” At Silver’s silence, Brajon pushed on. “Plus, you haven’t resolved the biggest question of your plan.”