“Your presence has been requested.”
“By who?” Vi slowly tilted her head away from the bookcases, though she already suspected she knew.
“The queen.” The knight took a step away. “If you’ll please follow me.”
Book in hand—because Vi wasn’t about to risk a Lark taking it off the shelf again—Vi trailed behind the knight to ground floor. They walked through the same door the queen and her retinue had disappeared into, and across a tunneled walkway. The windows were laden with fragments of heavily tinted glass that distorted the world beyond.
From time to time, the knight glanced over her shoulder. Vi caught her odd looks. It wasn’t suspicion, and Vi didn’t get the sense the woman viewed her as a threat.
“Is something the matter?” she finally asked as the hallway split in two, absentmindedly scratching at the bandages around her wrists.
The knight paused, allowing Vi to catch up. They stood side by side before a staircase leading upward. “You look just like someone I once knew.” Her voice was filled with a longing that made Vi inexplicably sad. “A good friend that I lost.”
“I’m sorry,” Vi murmured. The knight shook her head, refusing Vi’s sympathies.
“Perhaps we will meet again someday, in a different place and time.” It was an optimistic world view—one Vi couldn’t share after seeing the end of the world. “I’m Deneya.” She raised a hand to the center of her forehead, pushing aside the dark brown, almost black fringe there to touch her skin before lowering it.
Vi did her best to replicate the greeting. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Deneya led her up the stairway and to a small landing. Another knight in identical armor was positioned by a door. He gave Deneya salute and opened the door.
“Please, come in.” A voice summoned them.
The long room was dominated by large windows that ran the length of both walls. Vi was distracted by the inner wall that overlooked a courtyard. She knew she should be bowing before the woman at the far end of the room, sitting poised in her endless folds of fabric on the edge of a plush chair. But for a moment, all of her regal training was forgotten.
“I know this place,” she whispered, horrified.
The last time she’d seen it, she’d been nothing more than a specter. She’d seen the carved gutters and tiled rooftops. She’d seen the covered stage where the queen would sit and before which her father would kneel. But that time, the square had been full. And now it was unnervingly empty.
She’d seen this moment long ago in a cave in the North.
“Do you?” The queen’s voice sounded nothing like Vi would expect. For all the flowing silks and chiffons she wore, the woman’s voice was low and sharp, every word enunciated in the thick accent Vi had come to associate with all of Meru.
“I saw it in a vision once,” Vi explained. Secrecy wouldn’t serve her now. Vi pulled herself from the window, crossing to the small sitting area where the queen waited. She dropped to one knee. “Forgive me for forgetting myself before you, your highness.”
“I thought the Solaris family saw themselves as rulers of the world entire. Is it common for you to kneel before other nobility?”
“I’ve found ‘the world’ a bit generous to describe our borders.” Vi lifted her gaze with a small smile. “And you are not even the first ruler I have knelt before since coming to Meru.” The one downside to all the fabrics covering the queen was that Vi could not read the woman’s facial expressions. She was left to judge her reactions from voice alone, and the length of pause she took to collect her thoughts.
“Please sit.” Lumeria slowly raised a jeweled hand. Vi would move slowly if she was forced to wear that much silver on her fingers.
Vi stood, sitting on the stool across from the queen’s chair. She very much felt like a child at her mother’s knee.
“I have summoned you because I would like a word with you before your father’s trial begins.”
“How may I be of service?” Vi asked cautiously.
“Merely speak with me. I ask nothing more of you.” Vi gave a tentative nod. She knew just speaking could be dangerous enough, especially when her father was about to stand trial before this woman. “Do you know what is happening with your father? Have they told you?”
“I believe the Faithful think he had some role in harming our world,” Vi answered delicately. She didn’t know how much Lumeria knew about the impending doom that awaited them all—or if keeping it a secret from the queen would be beneficial in some way. Proceeding with caution seemed the only choice.
“They believe he set free Raspian from the god’s tomb on the Dark Isle.” Lumeria paused for a brief moment. “This doesn’t surprise you? I didn’t think the War of Light was compulsory education on the Dark Isle.”
“It’s not. But I have had ample time to research and learn over the past year.” Vi looked to the window. Everything seemed too bright, too harsh. “My father is not guilty—not to the letter of for the accusations. The man who truly destroyed the Crystal Caverns and tried to harness their power was the Mad King Victor, and he is dead.”
“Do you think Ulvarth will care?” She could almost imagine Lumeria’s eyebrows rising underneath her veil.
“Hardly. He cares for little beyond himself. I think his sham of a holy crusade to undermine your power and work to put the real control of Meru in his own hands through brutal tactics is enough proof of that.” It would be plain speaking between them, then.How refreshing.
