“No way! It’s your present.”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“I would.” Silver’s father came up behind them. “You know Silver’s not allowed to ride dune boards. I don’t want her hurting herself right before…” Rami shifted his gaze. “Well, it’s a secret.”
Silver looked up at her father in surprise. A secret?
“Aw, Uncle Rami. It’s easy enough. And if you fall, the sand is soft.”
“Silver would find a way to break a finger. A jeweler’s hands are her most precious tools.”
Silver’s face burned, any curiosity about the secret lost in her embarrassment. “Can I at least go out to the dunes and watch Brajon ride?”
“I see no harm in letting her go,” Nebekker said. She had crept up to Silver’s side. “She’s a clever desert fox, after all.”
She nodded to Brajon as she set her empty glass on a table and turned to leave. “May your year be as sweet as desert-bloom jellies.”
Rami Batal huffed at the old woman’s retreating back, then turned to his daughter. “No point in standing around while everyone else is riding,” he said as he walked away to sample treats from the tables groaning with food.
Silver let out a long sigh. Dune boards were traditional thirteenth-birthday presents. The wood was precious, brought all the way from Calidia. The dragons painted on them were supposed to represent the recipient. The Decodro on Brajon’s had most likely been chosen because of his love for finding and reaching for all the shiny things in the mines. But for Silver’s thirteenth birthday?
A jeweler’s kit.
Brajon gave Silver’s shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. She forced a smile and joined in as Aunt Yidla led the crowd in the traditional birthday song: “… years of health, friendship, and joy…”
When they got to the part about success and wealth, everyone put up their hands like they were throwing gold coins at Brajon. During the next lines about staying humble and grounded, everyone flipped their wrists so their palms seemed to press against the floor.
Everyone except Silver.
She let her hands float at her waist. She didn’t want to stay grounded. She wanted to soar.
AS THE WINDS died down, the party picked up. Etched copper platters of glistening meats in rich sauces were devoured and refilled. Glasses were topped off with cordial and wines. Towers of sparkling fruit jellies and custard-filled cakes iced in pastel colors slowly disappeared. The older family members broke out into traditional folk songs, at the tops of their voices, while the younger people danced, spilling out into the streets with merriment.
It was too much for Silver. Her head ached from the noise and the berry cordial, but mostly she was anxious to return to Nebekker and her racing suit. Would anyone notice if she left? Silver looked around at all the familiar faces celebrating her cousin, many of whom hadn’t bothered coming to her thirteenth-birthday celebration half a year earlier. Of course they wouldn’t notice the ele-jeweler slipping away.
Ducking her head, she pushed her way through the crowds and into the cool desert night. Without looking back, she quickly went up the first flight of stone steps to the Jaspaton midlevels.
It was Brajon’s voice that stopped her.
“Hey, cousin! Where are you … Wait, what’s wrong? You look as sad as a beetle lost in a sandstorm. Aren’t you enjoying yourself?”
Silver tucked loose strands of hair behind her ears. “The party is wonderful. All those people, and all that delicious food, but I just don’t belong here.”
“Silver…” Brajon tucked his dune board under his arm.
“I’m sorry I left.” Silver took a deep breath. “I didn’t think you’d notice I was gone.”
“Sure, I noticed. I don’t want you to go.” Brajon’s voice went low, and Silver knew that he wasn’t just talking about the party.
In her mind, her reply was clear: What if I’m already gone?
But those weren’t words she could say to her cousin. He was her best friend, but even he would never understand.
“Listen,” he said. “There’s a bunch of us going to the dunes. Come with us. Let’s take my board out for its first ride.”
“I can’t, Brajon! My father’s already suspicious after Nebekker’s today. I need him to bring me along to meet Sagittaria Wonder, and he won’t do that if I get in more trouble.”
“He’ll say yes. Who could refuse this adorable desert-fox face?” Brajon reached out to pinch Silver’s cheek, but she swatted his hand away with a laugh. “What you need,” he said, “is to clear your head. Come on, cousin. Come race with me.”
“Are you sure he won’t find out?” Silver’s stomach fluttered.
Brajon pushed his face close to hers. “Dune racing is our version of water dragon racing, and you know that’s the real reason Uncle Rami won’t ever let you do it. I say, do it this once. Show him what you’re capable of. You never know—he might pack your bags for Calidia himself once he sees your talent.”
Silver nibbled on her bottom lip. Brajon grinned, knowing he’d convinced her. Her laughter bubbled over.
“Run, Silver,” Brajon said.
And they ran, darting down stairs and beneath stone archways. They picked up even more speed as soon as they left the city borders, where loose ground and stunted, gnarled trees created a line between civilization and the desert wilds.
Silver’s heart beat so fast she thought it might fly away into the fading twilight. But then she tripped over her own feet and went rolling in the sandy gravel and sage of the lower desert. She lay on her back, laughing up at the ink-blue sky.
Brajon came back and helped her up. “Don’t break something before we even start racing!”
They were off again, sprinting to catch up to another group of kids. The farther they went down the trail to the vast deserts, the more barren the landscape became.
Brajon paused. Before them, the smooth caramel-colored dunes rose into the sky.
“Race you up!”
Silver started several paces ahead of Brajon, but her party slippers sank into the sand. In no time her legs were burning with the strain of climbing the dune. She gasped for breath and used her hands to help her up to the top.
“How … do you do this … over and over … again?” she asked Brajon, who panted beside her.
He laughed and flexed his biceps. “You get strong!”
Silver rolled her eyes and pushed herself with another burst of energy. Soon enough she reached the summit where several kids were waiting for them. They took a moment to compare the dragon breeds painted on their boards, then lined up as though it were a real race.
Brajon set his dune board on the sand and arranged the tip of it to face straight down the dune. “Climb on,” he told Silver.
A tiny squeal stopped her from getting on the dune board. She looked over her shoulder. One of the kids—a boy Brajon knew from the mines—had somehow grabbed a desert fox by the ruff and was swinging it in a circle.
“Stop that,” Silver said, sprinting over to him. “Let the fox go.”
“They’re rodents,” the boy said. He dangled the little animal away from his body as it yelped.
Silver didn’t stop to think. She dove at the boy.
As the boy kicked, one of his legs caught her across the chest. Silver grunted and fell to the sand. The fox, dropped in the tussle, paused to sniff her once, then ran and disappeared into the desert.
“See?” the boy said. “The rodent couldn’t even chirp a thanks for saving its life.”
Silver got to her hands and knees and caught her breath. Brajon came over and shoved the boy in the chest.