11. The Request

The peacock dress was itchy and frankly, too small. Citrus was tired of checking the hem in the back, which always felt like it was riding up too high. She wore her dark red hair braided over one shoulder. With the incorporation of white thread and glass beads, the braid looked lazy and half finished when in fact it took the stylists hours to pull off.

Though her cocktail dress was almost constructed entirely of feathers, it seemed modest compared to the grander feathered ensembles worn by the majority of Master's guests.

Citrus had begged him to let her skip the party.

Not this time, was his reply. I've pardoned you from too many events. You are my student and frankly, you need to start acting like it.

Then he had further punished her by making her wear this impractical garment.

Citrus sneezed. She had never been around so many Encantados at once. Their collective scents pressed in on her and projected a claustrophobic atmosphere onto an otherwise spacious and exalted ballroom. She looked at the domed ceiling and wished she could float up into it, away from all of the mestres and the bohemians and the foreign dignitaries.

This was Master's party, yet Citrus didn't see him anywhere. Not that it mattered. She wasn't trying to look for him. If anything, she strived to go the entire night unnoticed.

"Found you! Maria, where have you been?"

The crowd parted like a wave.

Apparently Master had sent the Professor to retrieve her so he could show her off to his more notable party guests. Citrus didn't like disappointing the Professor, but she had no intentions of taking his hand and following him into that feathery congestion of intoxication and blissful euphoria.

Instead, she briefly started towards him, and when he turned his back to guide her to the Master, she took advantage of the opportunity and bolted.

Citrus pushed past half-naked dancers and dauntless fire-eaters. She didn't care that parts of the transparent ceiling filtered milky, ethereal light. It all came from the great celestial rock that weighed over the palace like low-hanging fruit. Each clan referred to it as Mother Moon, and did so with unified reverence. But Citrus thought it of less as a mother and more of an overseer. Watching her every move. Reading her every thought.

She had to get away.

~

Amancio stared at the unconscious girl lying beside the riverbank. No matter how many times he swallowed, his throat still felt swollen and full of fuzz.

"What do you want me to do again?"

    Julio made a noise that signaled he was at the end of his patience.

"I want you to court her, Amancio. And since hypnosis won't work, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

Amancio took in Sofia's long, tanned legs and followed them up her body. His gaze rested on the mole near her eye. Her lips pouted in slumber. She was beautiful, sure, but . . .

"Master, I don't know if I can force feelings that aren't there."

Julio swore. "You ungrateful little brat. Did you forget how you spent the last twenty years whining nonstop? Master," he mocked, "I'm all alone. Master, I have no one to talk to. No one to play with. Now you finally have a playmate. So play."

Amancio tore his eyes away from the girl. "What, like pretend?

Julio dropped the taunt. "Yes, exactly like pretend. Do you think you can do that? For me?"

When Master looked at him like that, Amancio questioned whether he was just as susceptible to hypnosis as the humans. All he wanted to do was please his mentor. Being confined to this river, he couldn't help feeling like he had been nothing but a disappointment.

Amancio nodded. "I can try, Master. But I might need some help. I don't know a lot about girls."

Julio rolled his eyes. "Well, for one, you need to apologize for nearly killing her. What the hell were you thinking anyway?"

Amancio had asked himself that every day since the incident. It hurt his head if he concentrated too hard on trying to bring that old blur of events into some kind of focus.

"Everything was happening so fast. I think I just wanted to scare her –"

"Forget about that." Julio waved him off. "She's curious about the river, but she's scared. You should take her for a swim. And write a real song for her. No spells this time."

Amancio thought of talking to a girl without his hypnosis and it made his insides clench.

"Master, will I have to kiss her?"

"Only if she wants you to. Trust me, you'll know when she's ready."

This advice wasn't helping. "But how do I...?"

Julio's hand came down on his shoulder. "Let her lead. All you have to do is follow."

Amancio shrugged at the contact. "You make it all sound so easy. What if I can't do this?"

Julio sighed. "Sofia couldn't save her father in the past. She can't save her mother now. Give her something to save, Amancio, and you'll have her right where you want her."

Julio must have read Amancio's lack of confidence because he took him by the shoulders and turned him so that they were facing each other.

"Like this."

The dark-haired Encantado softened his gaze and folded a lock of hair behind Amancio's ear. Amancio made to ask what he was doing, but he didn't want his mentor's gentle expression to give way to a scowl. So he held back the protest and let Julio's hands travel.

"Good, Amancio. You're learning."

Julio continued to tenderly massage behind and under Amancio's ears. His fingers felt like warm whispers against his neck.

Amancio fought to keep his eyes open. "Master, what is this?"

Julio's eyes were distant with concentration. "A gift reserved only for members of the Gold Clan."

Why didn't it surprise Amancio that Julio had somehow gotten a hold of it?

Amancio wanted to curl up and lie down, but Julio held him upright.

"There, see? Try that with Sofia next time."

Amancio rubbed his eyes. "But what if she tries to run again?"

"Do not chase her. Do not fight her." Julio's voice was gentler than before. Amancio liked when he spoke to him this way.

"Let her come to you."

It made it so much easier to listen.

~

Sofi came out of the dream with no memory of it. She rolled over into something warm and prickly. A leg? She looked up and could have sworn her heart forgot to beat.

    "I never meant to hurt you."

    It was Amancio. He sat close to her with knees drawn to his chin. His amber gaze was half-lidded and elsewhere.

    "I was afraid you would never come back here. That I would never get a chance to ask you."

    Sofi sat up, her muscles tense. Which Amancio was she talking to? The charmer? Or the berserker?

    She swallowed before replying, "Ask me what?"

    At last he looked at her with eyes like soaked oranges. His scent felt like a punch.

    "For your help."

    Sofi blinked. "Help? Help with what?"

     "Finding my memories."

    A strange silence stretched between them. Amancio's request made it fairly easy to disengage his beckoning scent.

    "Your memories?" Sofi repeated. Before Amancio could explain, Sofi added, "You're a real piece of work, you know that? I'm not going to help you find a damn thing until I know you're not going to try anything crazy like last time!"

She stood up.

What the hell was I thinking? Falling asleep out here in the forest –

Amancio stood up too. "Sofia, please." Those damn eyes. "I wasn't always like this. I don't have any memories of who I was before the change. All I know is that I don't want to be this way anymore."

Sofi spat, "And you think that remembering what it was like to be human will change you back?"

"I know it won't." Amancio admitted. "But it's a first step. The only one that I can think of. It's better than not knowing and wasting the days away at this river."

Sofi turned her back on him. "You have paradise."

It was surprising to hear such a dark laugh come from him.

"I have rules I have to follow."

Sofi hesitated. "You can't leave this river, can you?"

The silence was enough. When Sofi turned, Amancio's back was facing her. His head was down.

"I've been waiting for someone to help me – to free me from this curse. I've been waiting . . . for someone like you."

Sofi looked at her hands. "What even makes you think I'm capable of helping you with something like that?"

Everyone I touch gets hurt.

"You don't get hypnotized," said Amancio. "At least not for very long."

Sofi hugged herself to keep from shaking. This was all becoming too much.

"So will you help me? I don't want to be alone anymore," Amancio whispered. He sounded almost like a child. 

He turned around and his pleading orange eyes found hers. He never aged, Sofi realized. He would be forever trapped here. A boy frozen in time. Unless she did something to set him free.

And if she failed? What would it look like for Amancio to suffer? Would he suffer as pai had? Like Arturo? Toni? Paola?

Would he suffer like her mãe?

Amancio took a step forward and reached for her. His fingers brushed her forehead as he moved some hair out of her eyes. She felt the callouses acquired from his guitar strings. The rough skin dragging along her jawline felt oddly comforting.

Sofi shook her head. "Stop." She couldn't just fall for this again. She needed a place where she could think.

"I can't do this." She put more distance between them. "I'm sorry, Amancio, but I can't help you."

As she ran from the Encantado, she wondered why he had not followed.