They sat back on their heels, eyes downcast, and Lilette gestured for them to rise. “Please, I would like a tunic and trousers to wear to the celebration tonight.”
The man rose to his feet. “I’m not sure I have the quality you require, Empress. Our silk is plain.”
Lilette sighed. “But it is silk.”
The man motioned for her to step behind the curtain. Amid the bolts of dyed silk, already-made tunics and trousers were draped across forms. There were three women’s sets—one in yellow, one green, and one a deep turquoise the color of the sky at dusk. Lilette fingers slipped across the silk. She had no more calluses on her palms to catch the fabric. “This one.”
She stepped into a changing room and dropped her tunic over her head. The silk whispered over her skin before settling around her curves. The woman helped her wrap a pleated belt around her waist. Lilette pulled out the ruby brooch from her jewels and let it hang from its delicate chain. She hoped the sight of it would please Han.
She came out of the room and knelt on a mat that had been placed out for her. The man came with a clay pot of tea. He poured hot water over the cups to warm them while the woman worked on Lilette’s hair.
The man placed the tea before her. Lilette lifted the fragrant cup to her nose and inhaled long and deep. She nodded in thanks and sipped her tea while the woman fixed her hair.
By then, the man had returned with a bamboo bowl of rice and vegetables with brown sauce and ginger. Lilette ate eagerly, her whole body sighing in relief at the familiar food.
The woman held up a mirror and waited while Lilette examined her hair. It was much simpler than what her eunuch had managed, but she liked it better. She pulled the comb Salfe had given her from her pouch and slid it in next to her scalp.
The woman prepared a pot of kohl and vermillion red. With a soft brush, she painted Lilette’s lips and darkened her nearly translucent eyebrows and lashes. When she was finished, Lilette found herself looking at a version of herself somewhere between a fisherman’s daughter and the empress she had been.
Doranna smiled approvingly. “You’re more at home like this.”
Lilette nodded. “I didn’t realize it before now, but Harshen is my home, despite all its faults.”
The other woman nodded sagely. “We feel the same way.”
“I too know what that is like,” Doranna said. She paid the couple while Lilette stepped into the twilight and inhaled deeply the delicate honey scent on the air.
Dropping coins into her pouch, Doranna stepped up beside her. “It won’t be long before Merlay begins the feast.”
They joined the throng of people flowing uphill like a backward stream into the inner courts.
“Do you know what Merlay has in store for me?” Lilette asked.
Doranna wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I have an idea, but it’s best not to speculate. Just enjoy one night of being a witch and let tomorrow take care of itself.”
As soon as Lilette passed the barbed bushes, she started searching for Han. As evening descended, the small, white, bell-shaped buds of the climbing vines eased open, their stamens glowing golden. “What are they?” Lilette asked.
“Chesli,” Doranna replied. “It only blooms once a year on a moonless night. The pollen extends the life of a potion indefinitely.”
Amid the gaiety and laughter, strains of ethereal music were carried on a gentle breeze. The wastrels bent their backs to the harvest. Their glowing, pollen-speckled robes made them look like ghosts in the dim light.
Lilette paused to watch them, an unnamed discontent squatting on her tongue. Then the crowd pressed in on her and she glanced around, realizing she’d lost Doranna. Lilette searched as she was jostled to and fro, pressed in on from all sides. She was trapped. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Ever since she’d been trapped in a barrel for an entire night, she could not abide tight spaces.
She spotted Doranna through the crowd. Lilette called to her, tried to make her way closer, but the crowd kept pushing her back. Just when she’d truly started to panic, Pescal appeared at her side, that adorable patch of hair sticking up. “You look like you could use some help.”
She pointed to Doranna. “My friend is over there.”
His brow furrowed before he shook his head. “We won’t make it through that. Come on.”
Relieved, Lilette allowed him to take her elbow. “Doranna will worry.” She had to shout to be heard over the din.
He glanced back at her. “She’ll be all right. Come on.” He pushed his way expertly through. In no time, they’d reached the pavilion, which was laden with tables of food. The Heads stood at the top of the steps, looking down on the crowd.