Page 13 of Vistaria Has Fallen
Calli followed Minnie down the steps to the road and the walk back to the shopping area, as mental weight dropped from her shoulders.She was learning, making connections, figuring out the lay of the land.
It was clear to her that she must stay in Vistaria. Josh’s stress and everything she had learned since arriving told her she was needed. If she must stay, learning everything she could about this strange place would reduce the fish-out-of-water sensation that bothered her.
Perhaps Minnie was right. Perhaps being pushed outof her comfort zone for a while would be good for her.
With her new knowledge came a reassurance that she would never seehimagain. No one who worked to keep his identity a secret would move freely around the city, out in the public.
“Can we findmea dress, too?” she complained to Minnie as she strode to catch up with her cousin.
* * * * *
Five hours later, Calli realized that allowing Minnieto help with clothes shopping meant buying something she wouldn’t have considered if she had been on her own. However, her lack of wardrobe forced her to wear the aquamarine gown.
She had been happy with the dress in the store. Minnie had pounced on it where it hung and insisted it would be perfect for Calli. As usual, Minnie had been right. It fit well, the color intensified the green of hereyes and the layers of chiffon gave the whole outfit a delicate appearance that offset her height. She had liked the effect in the store mirror.
That had been before they reachedel Hotel Imperial.
Duardo waited in the cavernous foyer with its white stone walls, gorgeous Persian carpets and heavy mahogany furniture. He wore what Calli assumed was the formal dress uniform of the Vistarian army—darkgreen pants, a white dress shirt and waist-length jacket. The cut reminded her of the black costumes the men had been wearing last evening. She had seen hundreds more of them on their way to the hotel. At his neck Duardo wore a green and red ribbon in a flat, formalized knot, with a gold pin through the middle. The breast of his jacket held a row of medals and ribbons. Black stripes on thesleeves of the jacket replicated the red ones he had been wearing when Calli met him.
He walked toward them and Minnie sighed, coming to a halt. “Now isn’t that the sexiest man alive?”
Duardo smiled at them both. “My pleasure it is to see you again this evening.” He came to formal attention in front of them and bowed from the waist in greeting to Calli. He did the same to Minnie, then reachedinto his jacket and withdrew a single blood-red carnation and presented it to her.
“Oh, how lovely!” she declared.
He lifted a finger toward her hair. “For your hair.”
She laughed and ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s not long enough to hold a flower.”
He laughed, too. “I forgot. I only remember your eyes and that red is your color.”
“Never mind,” she said. “I know just where to putit.” She broke off all but an inch of stem and pushed the flower into her cleavage, so it nestled between her breasts and the low vee of her gown. The flower matched the color of the swirls on her dress.
“Perfection,” Duardo declared, studying the effect with close attention.
Calli hid her smile and surveyed the hotel. It was an older building. It was well-maintained and reeked of money. Thefew women in the foyer glittered with jewels and costly dresses. Every man there, except for hotel staff, wore military dress. There was not a single civilian male in sight.
“What is the party for?” Calli asked Duardo.
“Tonight is the birthday party for our beloved General Maxim Blanco Alonso,” Duardo answered with pride.
“Nothing to do with the fiesta then?”
“Most certainly not. General Blancois very...correct. Very...” He tugged on the bottom of his jacket. “Un perfecto caballero.”
Calli got the sense of his meaning from the tug of his jacket and the squaring of his shoulders. Upright, dignified. Proper. A gentleman. “Best bibs and tuckers and all that?” she asked with a mock English accent.
“Qué?” Duardo asked.
“Nothing,” she assured him. “Forget it. I’m teasing.” Calli was glad,now, Minnie had insisted on buying the gown she wore. Minnie had assured her Vistarians were formal in the evenings. Calli hadn’t understood what she meant. Now she did.
“Shall we?” Duardo asked, holding out his arms to them.
Calli let her fingers rest inside his elbow. They walked around the islands of low, heavy furniture in the center of the foyer toward a grand archway framing a stone staircase.Many more people ascended the stairs ahead of them. Most of them wore uniforms and seemed to know each other.
They climbed the staircase a step at a time, for progress at the top was slow. Duardo and Minnie chatted in low voices, laughing and taking no notice of their surroundings. Duardo had his hand on Minnie’s waist. Calli looked behind her when they paused for a longer moment, halfway upthe flight. The stairs were thick with dark-haired, olive-skinned men and a few Vistarian women. Calli glanced at Minnie. Despite her dark hair and petite stature, Minnie was a sharp contrast to everyone else. Her skin was pale and her pixie-like features and huge eyes with their pale brown coloring marked her as foreign. A stranger and the only non-Vistarian standing on the staircase except for Calliherself.
Calli considered the effect of her own gown and coloring. Straw-blonde hair, white skin, green eyes and a gown that added to the effect of insubstantial lightness. She pressed her lips together, her heart fluttering. She must stand out like sore thumb amongst these people.