“What does King Rylo want to see me for?” Avery asked, hair dripping on the cold stone floor. Seeing him. Facing that man made her stomach clench.
“I am not subject to King Rylo’s thought. I am only the messenger,” Selene commented. “Now, let’s get you dressed properly. I know in the Middens the folk dress very casually. Or scandalously showing off their skin. That is not how we do things here in Nephel. Here, you are expected to look put together. Polished.”
Selene beckoned Edet to bring the dress over. The dress was shockingly ornate. In a dark burgundy color, the fabric was made of silk covered in beadwork and golden stitching. The top of the dress seemed to be reinforced, making it stand stiffly.
The woman slid the underlayers to the dress over Avery’s squeaky clean skin. As she fastened the underlayers, Avery realized she would have to wear a corset. The woman pulled the ribbons tighter andtighter until Avery's breath escaped her. “Please, not so tight,” she whined as she sucked in her breath. But the woman didn’t even acknowledge Avery’s complaint.
Edet and Selene worked together to slide the elaborate gown over Avery. The weight of the gown made Avery sway forward. She didn’t want to look weak in front of these fae, so she stood up straighter and held her head high. If this was the game that they wanted her to play, so be it. Meanwhile, she tugged on her increasing power. The magic dug deeper into the well of power that pooled deep within her soul. She would find a way out of this place. She would make it back to Savine.
Selene gave an assessing glance at Avery’s form in the dress. “Nearly acceptable,” Selene muttered as she added ruby earrings and a large ruby necklace to Avery’s neck. The ruby on the golden necklace was as large as a robin’s egg. The gem sat nestled between Avery’s small breasts, which were forcefully pushed up from the tight corset. Edet powdered her face with shimmery makeup and brushed her hair before she stepped back for Selene to give her an appraising look.
“Edet, measure her feet. I would like to get her in some taller shoes. The dress is not tailored for such a short person,” Selene spoke to Edet as if Avery wasn’t in the room. Avery rolled her eyes at the quip about her height yet again. These folk could never accept that some people weren’t the size of giants.
Edet returned carrying gold embellished six-inch heels. Avery’s eyes widened at the shoes. They were the most beautiful shoes she’d seen, but impossibly high. She never chose shoes this high. As she stepped into the golden heels, she teetered for a moment. Adjusting to the heavy weight of the dress and the sheer height of the heels took Avery a moment.
“You are nearly the height of our shortest Nepheli now. I suppose this will have to do.” Selene glared at her with an assessing gaze. “Yes,this will have to do. No slumping. Stand straight. Very few of our women are so honored to be adorned in such a way.” Her dark wings flared slightly as she said to herself, “I do not understand Rylo’s motives in honoring a human with such a gift.”
“While it’s beautiful, if this outfit has some sort of strings attached, I’d rather not be wearing it,” Avery muttered.
Selene pursed her lips at Avery’s insolent comment. Clearly, she was not used to someone questioning Rylo’s many whims.
“Come. Do not speak to anyone as we walk.” Selene walked toward the heavy oak door and opened it swiftly before walking down a curving hall without even a glance back at Avery.
Despite the temptation to shut the door behind her, Avery stepped out the door and into the winding hallway. On her left was a series of other doors. Her right revealed ornately carved windows exposing the stunning view from the tower. At the end of the hallway, she saw a carved staircase that seemed to twist and turn up higher and higher. Each side of the staircase was open air, with passages into similar hallways on each level. Some levels seemed much taller and grander than the last, with multiple sets of stairs between levels.
The cool crispness of the autumn wind blew against her face as she climbed a tall staircase with glassless windows on both sides. Could she stop and get a better view of her location? If so, maybe she could form a plan for how she would escape this place. As she slowed her pace, she saw two armed Nepheli guards behind her.
“Can I get a peek out the window? It’s the first time I’ve been here,” Avery whispered as she came to a standstill. Looking out the window, Avery took in the view of at least a hundred flying fae moving from one towering building to another. Huge balconies acted as doors to what must be homes for the residents of Nephel.
“I see the Latians didn’t teach you to listen to orders. No surprise there when they’re ruled by a rebellious, tarnished man,” Selene said as she frowned, causing her angelically perfect face to take on a tight, sour look. A look that, no doubt, she’d been making out of disgust and disapproval for centuries.
Avery ignored the quip and continued to look out the window. “It’s an incredible view. We have nothing like this on Earth. How were these towers constructed?” Avery replied, hoping to appease the other woman with flattery. Selene wrinkled her nose at Avery as she turned and continued walking. So much for flattery. Avery had to speed walk in the heels to keep up with Selene. She heard the fae guards behind her, and she thought of the magic coursing through her veins.
Could she use enough of it to overpower these guards and run? Could she conjure her own wings and fly? She wished she knew the limits of her own magic.
As she climbed higher and higher up the tower, she noticed how empty the place felt, despite all the doors she had seen on her own floor and all the levels she’d encountered as she climbed. Her feet already ached in the towering heels, and the weight of the dress was like wearing stones around her body. Despite trying to keep up, she was feeling winded by the climb and the restraining corset around her waist.
She was about to comment on the blister that was forming on her ankle when Selene turned off the staircase and through an enormous carved rock door. Similar to the doors in Bayberry, this door seemed to be carved with a story. Avery glanced at images of winged fae battling other fae on the panels before she passed through. There was no time to take in the carvings at Selene’s breakneck pace.
She quickly forgot all about the door when she walked into the massive room behind the doors. The golden carved columns holding the roof up above the room reminded her of Greek columns. Theornately carved caps depicted different images of the sky. One was obviously a night sky, with stars and a moon carved into the cap. Another showed a sunset, and Avery could almost feel the warmth of the last light in the image, the glow casting out of the shadows of the room.
The room was filled with magnificently dressed Nepheli men and women. Most of the women wore dresses similar to Avery’s. All the Nepheli seemed to have impeccable taste for what went well with their unique wing color. But no one looked as striking as Rylo on his throne. Wearing a black coat embroidered with gold and black pants, he looked elegant and regal as he sat relaxed on his throne. His assessing eye caught Avery’s. Rylo gave her the slightest nod that Selene must have seen, too. Before Avery could take in the rest of the room, Selene took her arm and walked beside her, leading her toward the front of the room.
“Do not speak until you are spoken to. Do not make eye contact with any of King Rylo’s subjects. If you fail to listen to instructions, I will personally make you regret it,” Selene’s voice hissed, barely audible even to Avery.
Of course, she didn’t want any of the fae hearing her instructions. Avery was almost tempted to yell, just to see these fae grimace with their sensitive hearing.
The fae they passed stared at Avery. Some scowled at her, while others looked at her like they would like to make a meal out of her. A few looked oddly sympathetic. She tried to keep her attention directed in front of her—and not trip on her teetering heels.
Selene curtsied low in front of Rylo, but Avery didn’t follow suit. She stood there, staring into the golden eyes of her captor. Avery heard the growls and hisses of the disapproving fae behind her. She didn’tdare turn to acknowledge them. Rylo smirked a half smile, only lifting one side of his face.
Chapter forty-eight
Savine
Savine didn’t bother moving the antlers as they pressed into his back while he rode Jari through the damp forest. He wanted that stab of his father’s antlers pressing into his back. Savine never planned to spend the last twenty-five years in open rebellion. If he was honest with himself, he’d spent so many years hoping the weight of the crown of Latiah would somehow pass to Kyla. As a lonely young child, he wished for an older sibling to take the burden from him. Perhaps then, his childhood could have been filled with something other than fear and pain. Unfortunately, he was the heir, and his father never once showed him anything but malice and resentment because of the powers he’d inherited from his grandfather.
Thanks to their encounter today, his father may now have a healthy sense of fear for what Savine was capable of. But it would make no difference without a way to end the Latian King.
