Alinata can hardly believe this is the same young woman she lived with in Yonte Saire. The nose piercing is still there, and so is the kohl and black lip paint, but she’s not hiding her crimson dreadlocks beneath a veil anymore, and gone are the billowing Umadi robes and the breastplate that was practically glued to her chest. She’s actually showing skin now—her top looks like it’s a length of crimson silk wrapped creatively around her chest. Something else that hasn’t changed, Alinata notes with an inward smile. Ilapara always did love the color red.
