Releasing my hand, he left me to face his father. Haemon waited in the doorway for me. We stepped into the hall where we found Oliver slumped over on the floor, snoring softly.
“I’ll take you to your rooms, Your Highness,” Haemon offered.
I looked at Oliver and then at the long hallway. The crown felt heavy in my hands. “What happens if I try to run?”
Haemon’s lips twitched. “Then I show you to your rooms and lock you inside.”
I sighed. “Very well. Lead the way.”
18
The entire kingdom of Soravale ran along the Great Cliffs of the Crystal Sea. The country extended from the palace in Desmondin in either direction. Ancient dragons were rumored to sleep in the deep crevices of the cliffs, guarding their vast treasures. Soravale was rich with fish and shipping but mining the gems closer to the surface of the cliffs was what made it wealthy.
Soravale had always been Elysia’s strongest ally. When the sovereigns of the Nine Kingdoms got together, the kings of Elysia and Soravale ruled the conversation.
That said, Soravale and Elysia had never been united through marriage. It had been my father’s and Hugo’s hope that, after all these ages, my marriage would permanently unite the kingdoms once and for all.
But tragedy had interrupted our fathers’ best laid plans.
I was now on a different path, fated to go back home to Elysia, a country that, under original circumstances, I would have left in the pursuit of allegiance and marriage.
I didn’t know how I felt about that. I had grown to feel something for a man I thought was called Arrick, but knowing Arrick’s position as a rebel commander, I hadn’t let myself consider a future with him. Now that I knew that same man was Taelon…
There was relief that I hadn’t fallen for a true rebel. But there was also something else. Something like grief. I couldn’t explain it. And honestly, I didn’t even want to try. I simply wanted to take a bath, go to sleep, and pretend that my problems didn’t exist.
The servants, a tall man and a short, squat woman, led us up silver-carpeted staircases and down corridors with more sapphire chandeliers and seastone candelabra. At last, we came to a set of doors that led to apartments.
Of course, Oliver and I would be separated. That only made sense. Especially since he was a common male and I was a royal female.
But it had been two months that we’d slept side by side. We’d kept watch over each other at night and pressed against each other in the cold. He had protected me. And I had protected him. And before we ever set out on this journey we had only been a wall away from each other.
When the woman opened the door to my chambers, my heart thumped in protest. I couldn’t be separated from Oliver. He was the only thing I knew for certain. He was my only friend. My only real ally.
I turned to him as he crossed the hallway. “This is strange, Oliver the Silent.”
He rubbed his eyes and fought through a yawn. “But, my dear Tessana, in this too, we shall prevail.” Then he stuck his tongue out at me.
Apparently, I was the only one that felt any sentimentality toward our quest.
Crossing the threshold into my own rooms, I felt a little of what Oliver must have felt. The guest chambers were as stylish as the rest of the palace. In the center of one room sat an enormous four-poster bed. The bedding was of the finest silk, embroidered in Soravale’s colors. The furniture was crafted from the gleaming black cedars just across the border.
A massive seastone fireplace took up one wall. A fire had already been started and made the room warm and inviting.
The main room opened up to a balcony that overlooked the Crystal Sea. The Soravalian palace was built directly into the cliffs so that the balcony reached out over the water itself. And the sparkling salted mist danced across the horizon, making it shimmer, making it seem like I was looking into the reflection of the sea and not the sea itself.
“A hot bath is waiting for you, Your Majesty,” the servant said with a stiff bob of a curtsy while she started forward to help me undress.
“No, thank you. I am quite capable of bathing myself.” She did not look convinced, but I didn’t need to convince her. Maybe if I’d had the luxurious life of a royal I would need help, but there had been no one to bathe me at the Temple. Or dress me. Or coddle me in any way. “Are there clothes?”
She bobbed again and opened the door to a wardrobe where nightclothes and undergarments hung. “The seamstress was called in as soon as the messenger arrived. These are what she had in her stores, but there will be more tomorrow. His Highness has spared no expense.”
I turned away. “That is very kind of him.” I hated charity. And I hated even more that Hugo’s charity had to stretch to my undergarments. I would have to pacify myself with paying him back. With interest.
I looked at the wardrobe. What exactly was the interest on brassieres?
“Will you be needing anything else, my lady?”
I turned to the plump woman, wondering how to respond like a royal. “I don’t think so.” I told her. She stared at me without moving. I nibbled on my bottom lip before I came up with, “That will be all. Thank you.”
