“I thought the king’s bedroom was back that way,” I question with a thumb over my shoulder, remembering the room Kai entered that was near my own.
Jahlee’s eyes sparkle with mischievous delight as she spins on her toes and looks at me. “How do you know which room is Kai’s?”
I level a flat stare at her. “Because I saw him enter the room while standingfirmlyin front of my own.”
Her laugh is bright and, once again, entirely too loud as she rotates back around. “So defensive,” she chides. “And Kai chooses to stay in the room that would be delegated for a prince, were he to have offspring. I’m assumingyouare in the room meant for a princess.”
I bite down on my tongue to avoid responding to that. Not many shifters seem to be bustling about as we walk, and the ones that are make sure to glare at us as we pass. Much like how I felt when Kai and I were in the heart of Molsi, it makes me curious to know the reasons why everyone seems to dislike this family so much. Do they really blame them for the magical blight? Or is it something more? My initial opinions of Kai aside, he doesn’t appear to be a cruel ruler. More aloof than anything else. And for all her quirkiness, Jahlee doesn’t seem to be deserving of the glances she’s getting either.
Rugs of dark blue quiet our steps on the hardwood floors as I glance over the art decorating the wall. Most are depictions of scenery—beaches and jungles. As if seeing such sights outside wasn’t enough, they had to bring the vision inside as well. We pass arched windows and balcony doors that line one side of the hall, the sunlight so abundant that the golden-framed pictures on the walls flare brightly. The jungle outside the palace is vibrantly green—tall trees and large plants in varying heights ripple in the wind like their very own ocean. We reach the end of the hallway where the library is, its door made of glass and framed by dark wood that stretches up nearly to the ceiling.
My curiosity gets the best of me, and I ask, “Wouldn’t that have been his room? As hewasthe prince?”
Jahlee hums as she guides us past the guards and through the library entrance. “Kai didn’t grow up in the palace.”
“What?” My voice carries loudly, garnering a few looks from the people that are dispersed throughout. I roll my lips together, my interest in Kai unfortunately renewed once more.
The library is airy and whimsical, its composition one more likely to be found in the Mage Kingdom than this one. A large twisting tree grows in the center of the space, its white and black wood swirling together and going up its massive trunk. Shelves have been carved into the tree, books stacked deeply into it. The top of it fans out over the ceiling, each branch reaching for the edges of the room like there might be more sunlight just beyond it.
While the perimeter of the library holds traditional-looking bookcases and shelves mounted to the walls, dug into the center of the floor is a long rectangular pool of crystal blue water filled with lily pads, orange fish, and tiny floating flowers.
“Odd to have waterinsideof a room filled with books, don’t you think?” I ask Jahlee under my breath. She lets out a laugh, quieter than her previous ones at least, as she rounds the long pool and takes us to a section titledHistory in the Shifter Realm.When we are hidden between rows of books, I ask her to explain more on Kai. “So, if you didn’t live in the palace, where did you grow up? Wouldn’t your father have wanted his heirs—”
“The king wasn’t my father,” she interjects. The expression on her face is cool, a talent she shares with her brother, but her hands curl into fists at her sides, giving away her unease.
“You don’t share the same father?” If Kai’s father was the king, then Jahlee not being of his bloodline would mean that she isn’t technically royal. The stares I’ve observed her receive make marginally more sense. She reaches for a random book on the shelf, the red leather crinkling softly when she opens it and pretends to sift through it.
“No. Kai and I had the same mother.”
“Hadthe same mother?”
Jahlee’s demeanor changes. It’s nothing more than the quick rounding of her shoulders, but the air is heavy around her for a fraction of a second before she moves to another aisle, seeminglyunable to stay still. “Yes. She died after she gave birth to me,” she answers quietly. “When Kai’s father murdered her and my birth father.”
My eyes widen as I watch her. Admittedly, there wasn’t much information to be gleaned back home about the former shifter king. The Spell had already separated the kingdoms by the time he took his rule, making most of our history books with information on the shifter island obsolete within a few decades. Particularly as Kai’s father, according to my own, had never reached out to talk other than trade deals and schedules for boats to arrive at the docks in the Mage Kingdom.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
Jahlee clasps her hands behind her as she nods her head and moves on light feet to the next aisle. “It was a long time ago, and Kai’s father is dead now, so all is right with the world. Well,” she pauses, turning to face me, “except the whole magic thing.”
I huff out a laugh, meeting her gaze. “And the fact that your people don’t exactly seem very happy that Kai istheir king.”
“That’s because they are all idiots. These people don’t have any idea how lucky they are to have Kai as a ruler. Especially considering who they almost got as the alternative.”
“Who?” I ask, watching as she drags her fingers along the spines of the books packed tightly together.
“Kane. He was supposed to be next in line for the throne.”
Chapter Thirty-One: Rhea
The library in thepalace is absolutely breathtaking. Deep brown wooden bookcases line the walls from floor to ceiling, only broken up by three large arched windows, their points decorated by blooming flowers of different sizes and colors. Vines grow on the wall around them and work up to the corners where they meet the ceiling, some even stretching across to the other side of the massive space. On the right, passageways between the bookshelves lead to a maze of different aisles. Small wooden signs with cursive script identify the different genresand subjects, and ladders attached to metal rods aid in seeing the books on the top shelves. With the living vines and bobbing glass balls of spelled flame that float in the air, it is the kind of library that feels like it should exist only in a fairytale.
The scent here is familiar, like leather and old paper, though there’s also something unique mixed in—woodsy and fragrant. A small pang of yearning hits me for my library in the tower, the only place from that prison worth missing.
When Nox told me this morning we would be venturing to the library, I was hesitant to leave the comfort and safety of his room. Especially after learning from him that not only had the council of advisors been summoning Nox since we arrived from the Mortal Kingdom, but also that he had been ignoring their calls. His father had come to speak with Nox briefly about it while I had been washing in the shower. He told me they were currently occupied in a meeting with the king, so we didn’t have to worry about them finding us here.
My eyes are still wide with wonder as Nox leads me around a corner and between the aisles, the signs identifying these bookcases as ones filled with works of nonfiction. I wrinkle my nose, something he notices and chuckles at.
“Don’t worry, Sunshine. I think we’re heading to the romance section, but I’ve never actually ventured to that part of the library before,” he says quietly. My smile widens, and I lean into him, kissing his arm. “Tomorrow, we should meet with my parents. If only to discuss what we should do with the council.”
