“You are a Siren. Those objections are moot.”
“Hmm.” Many a civil war had broken out over disputed royal successions. And as they’d been sailing down the crowd-lined canalways, Gabriella thought she’d seen more than a few native Calbernans who didn’t appear quite as enthusiastically welcoming as the rest.
“Dilys is correct,” Calivan said. “The families who wanted Dilys to wed animlani lianawill hold their silence now. Tradition demands it.”
People holding their tongues was a far cry from people embracing her in welcome, but she was no stranger to court politics. She’d won over diplomats from enemy kingdoms and garnered support for her father’s initiatives on more than one occasion. She’d make a place for herself here, too. This was a land where women led. She was more used to being a subtle power behind the throne, but she’d been trained to be a queen who would do any kingdom proud. She’d do Dilys and House Merimydion proud, too.
“Then I will do everything in my power to serve House Merimydion well and prove worthy of the support and acceptance of Calberna’s esteemed families,” she said.
For the first time, Calivan smiled with genuine warmth. “Well spoken, Gabriella.”
Dilys settled back in his cushioned bench, his arm still curled around her shoulders, one hand gently stroking the side of her throat. She liked his touch. It soothed her, that closeness, the tender intimacy, the knowledge that if she was near, he hungered for physical contact as much as she did.
Symbiosis, indeed. Since they’d wed, she couldn’t go more than a minute or two without wanting to touch him. If Dilys’s parents had shared a similarly deep bonding experience, she wasn’t sure howMyerialAlysaldria had managed to survive all these years without her husband. Now that Gabriella claimed Dilys as her own, and been claimed in return, the idea of living life without him was anathema. She wouldn’t linger on for years as her father had done, consumed by loss until love turned to madness. She would find a way to follow him.
The boat turned left at another curved intersection, and the rows of houses and grassy banks opened up to a spectacular final approach to the palace. Larger-than-life statues of muscled Calbernan males with flowing ropes of hair, their massive fists clutching tridents of pure gold, lined both sides of the canal, and arcs of water shot from the points of their tridents. The watercoach sailed beneath the canopy of jetted water into the cool, darkness of the tunnel. On the other side of the mountain, another formation of statuary greeted them, but these stony Calbernans were female, slender and shapely, with graceful arms lifted overhead, holding large conch shells from which spouted another crisscrossed canopy of glittering, sun-drenched water.
Beyond them, the canal opened to an enormous, crystal-blue lagoon ringed on all sides by steep, lushly-greened cliffs.
“How stunning,” she breathed. “Is this—? Was this—?”
“A volcano?” Dilys supplied. “Tey.All the Calbernan Isles are. But this is the oldest and greatest of them all. Long since dormant, of course. Now home to the children of Numahao.”
“It’s magnificent.” The water-filled crater of the volcano had been transformed into a massive, naturally-walled city, its only navigable entrance through that tunnel. At the center of the great lagoon rose the pink, gold, and ivory beauty of Cali Va’Lua, Calberna’s royal palace.
The canal boat docked, and Dilys led Gabriella through the immaculate palace gardens into Cali Va’Lua’s stunning coral and crystal foyer.
From the foyer, they passed through a wide gallery lined with paintings and statuary of the great queens of Calberna, then down a wide marble stair to a magnificent room that Dilys called the Hall of Waters. On either side of a wide marble walkway, clear sheets of water poured from pearl-encrusted fountainheads into the large pools. Abundant clusters of fragrant lilies covered the surface of the pools. Beneath their wide green leaf pads and trailing roots, bright orange, white, and purple fish swam in leisurely circles, while beyond the Hall’s thick glass walls and reinforced glass roof, brightly colored tropical fish of the wild variety swam among vibrant coral reefs.
At the end of the Hall, a curving spill of stairs led to the throne room below.
“Wait,” she said when the guards flanking the throne room doors started to open them.
Dilys regarded her in concern. “Gabriella?”
“I just need a moment.” She took a breath. She was surprised at the nerves fluttering inside her. She’d spent her whole life at court, first her father’s, then Wynter’s. But it wasn’t really the introduction to a new court that was making her nervous. “Are you sure your mother’s going to like me?”
Dilys’s expression softened. “My mother will love you. How could she not?”
There was such sincerity and assurance in his voice, such love beaming from his eyes. For her. She clamped down on her nerves and summoned a smile that only trembled slightly.Courage, Summer. This is only the first impression that will affect the rest of your life.
“All right,” she said a moment later. “All right, let’s do this.”
Dilys nodded, and the guards opened the massive, gilded doors.
Everyone—and there were hundreds assembled within—turned to face the doors as they opened. There were so many golden eyes and burnished bronze faces in this room. Not a foreign face in the lot. Except for hers.
“These are theDonimari,” Dilys whispered. “The heads of all Calbernan Houses, along with theirakuas.”
Gabriella’s fingers tightened around Dilys’s hand. His fingers squeezed back. The heat deep inside her lurched, pressure building. But before fear could rouse the volcano, Dilys’s thumb stroked the inside of her palm. And in that instant, her fear fell away. Oh, it wasn’t completely gone. She could still feel the fluttering jumps in her belly. But Dilys was beside her, and she realized he would always stand beside her, no matter what. And with him at her side, she no longer needed to fear the violent power that lived inside her. Her chin lifted.
She pasted a serene expression on her face, and with Dilys at her side, sailed forth into the unfamiliar sea.
TheDonimarimoved aside as Dilys and Gabriella approached, clearing a path from the door to the throne, and Gabriella had her first glimpse ofMyerialAlysaldria I, Queen of Calberna. Gabriella’s new mother-in-law.
She was a tiny woman. Small boned, delicately formed. Perhaps the massive throne she sat upon made her appear smaller, but Summer didn’t think so. Thrones tended to increase one’s appearance of grandeur, not decrease it. The closer she and Dilys approached, the more apparent it became that Alysaldria was, indeed, a small woman. Probably several inches shorter than Summer herself. Yet she’d birthed a son who stood seven feet tall. Astonishing.
She was beautiful, too. Truly, enchantingly beautiful. As dark as her son, with huge, black-lashed golden eyes in a fine-boned face of delicate, ethereal beauty. Long skeins of silky black hair were piled atop her head. To a man, Calbernan males wore their hair in scores of long ropes. Not because they fixed it that way, but because that was the way it grew. The women, however, did not. What ropes there were had been put there, braided or curled. The rest was a silky mass of lustrous black strands. If Alysaldria brushed out her hair, it would probably spill down to her ankles.
