Holding a hand over my mouth, I held the giggling at bay. Here we were in the worst situations. It was so absurd, I had to laugh to keep from breaking. “I have to play nice. I need to think through some things. Make some decisions and prepare.”
I looped my arms around his neck standing on my tippy toes, so I was closer to his gaze.
A warm feeling ran through me as Tallis held me. When we were young, I used to fantasize of us marrying, but it was a foolish dream,for royal guards did not marry nobles.
With his gaze firmly on my mouth, he nodded. “Do not speak to anyone. The next time we speak, it must be outside of these walls. If you’re in danger or afraid, send Anna to me and I’ll get you out of here. The blade dancers will stay stationed outside your door.”
“I will,” I said, pulling him into a hug, absorbing his muscular frame and how safe it made me feel.
His arms stayed straight at his side until he gently grasped my waist and pulled me off. “Take the day, stay busy. Do not do anything to put yourself in trouble’s way. We will figure this out together.”
I nodded, unable to form the words, my gratitude overflowing.
He took my hand and raised it to his mouth, where he kissed my knuckles. The touch sent a thrill through me, my emotions bordering between desire and confusion. I wasn’t thinking clearly and maybe I did need some rest like everyone had been forcing me to do.
Tallis gazed down at me, the green in his blue eyes sparkling.
“Your majesty,” he said in farewell, his voice gruff, then he slipped back into the secret passageway before I could ask him to stay.
Chapter Eight
Tallis
The pathway wound throughthe gardens, past the fae made ponds and gazebos strung with lanterns. Queen Moira and King Kyros walked ahead of me, both holding large flaming candles. My men carried the princess, covered and wrapped in perfumed silk, on a wooden slab, surrounded with heady flowers.
Large braziers lit the garden path out of the palace and deep into the surrounding wood. Caste Castle was unlike any other castle in Saol. The stone keep itself was built on top of two enormous golems able to raise the structure at a moment’s notice and cut off entry access by land. The surrounding land full of thick wooded forests and rolling green mountains made the castle both majestic and haunting, especially when the fog rolled in and surrounded the entire keep in a blanket of white. Out here where a fae could overlook the lands, far on top of the mountains, it was easy to forget that we didn’t actually live among the clouds.
For centuries, the fae and woodland creatures had cultivated the area into a mystical forest, making it seem impossible that such beauty could live on such a treacherous mountain range.
Throughout the area, the rest of the guard, both seen and unseen, surrounded the grieving royals. Priests and priestesses walked alongside us,humming a low melody, somber and dreadfully beautiful. The full moon watched over the dead princess, its bright light illuminating only her still form.
As we marched to the burial site, I watched the queen. Dressed in a flowing black gown and veil, even dressed in death, she was a vision of beauty. I had not seen the queen in two days. The pixies had kept me informed of the queen’s activities, which consisted of visiting the aviary once to see her birds and reading in the court library.
She had not called for me.
In two days, nothing had changed. The king was notified of the death priest’s findings and that was the end of the investigation. Though Olivia still insisted it was poisoning, I began to doubt her claims, thinking three deaths of our loved ones had clouded our judgment.
Sage burned around us and the hazy atmosphere added to the somber mood. Sniffles of the servants and the court fae that lived within the castle created a melancholy ambiance. All manner of fae danced toward the hill and valley where we laid our dead to rest. The movements were slow, opposite of the joyous dances our kind were used to. The sending dance was our final farewell, a stomping of feet and hands in both defiance and resignation to the loss.
Near the valley before the land swooped down was an area surrounded by a stone circle. The open dome held a stone slab, an altar to burn the dead. The priests took hold of the wooden bed and placed it on top of the slab, laying the princess to rest for the final time.
Wildflowers arrayed the altar and roses covered the ground, adding a floral scent to the sage permeating the air.
The king and queen walked up as the priests sang, their somber song cutting into the hearts of any who listened. Queen Moira cried and to my surprise, the king rested his hand on her shoulder, pulling her to his side. Had the two reconciled after what transpired in the queen’s chambers? Did the queen still believe he killed the princess or had she finally accepted the truth that Laoise choked?
As the song slowed to a stop, the queen held out her flame and lit the kindling,then placed the candle in one of the candelabra holders. The king did the same and then pulled her back as the two watched the fire devour the last princess. Once cremated, her ashes would be collected and put in an urn that would be stored below the castle in the catacombs where all the royal family rested after death.
The queen turned around, pushing away from the king and heading back down the stone path alone, holding her cloak tight. She glanced at me and the pain in those sapphire eyes nearly brought me to my knees.
I could not respond to her, nor reach out and wipe each of those tears off her delicate cheeks. Stepping out of the way, I let her pass. She was so close and yet more distant than ever.
The king spoke to one of the priests and I decided to follow the queen back to the castle. As we neared the large gazebo closest to the castle, three figures came into view.
The king's human mistresses, the witches.
I picked up my pace to get ahead of Queen Moira, but it was too late.
She had seen them.
