I cleared my throat to chase away the thoughts. “Would you like to accompany me to Naharu? We could go and get Shazeera from the pasture first if you’d like.”
Her smile was blinding. “I would love that. Just a moment, and I’ll get my shoes. You’re welcome to come in and wait.”
I stepped into the entry of her room, noticing the warm cinnamon-vanilla smell that seemed to follow her. She disappeared into one of the antechambers that held her clothing.
“I’d offer you something to drink,” she said from the other room, “but Raven hasn’t returned this morning from the kitchen.”
“It’s no problem,” I said.
She reappeared, wearing knee-high boots and a warm-looking cloak. “You have truly saved me today. I thought I would lose my mind if I had to stay in this room any longer.”
When we walked out into the hallway, Baz and Zamir saluted again. “I’ll need you both to accompany us to Naharu,” I said.
“Yes, Commander,” they responded.
Zara gave me a curious look, so I said, “I want to make sure you have a full guard when we go to the city.”
“All right, though it can’t be any more dangerous than it is here,” she said with a scoff.
We made our way to the pasture, where Sergeant Kestrel stood guard while Shazeera grazed. She looked up at us, eyes bright.
Sergeant Kestrel saluted us before relaxing into an easy grin. “Are we going on a trip, or what?”
“We are, actually,” Zara said.
“To Naharu,” I clarified when he looked surprised. “After the recent attack on the First Daughter, we can’t be too careful. I’d like you to accompany us, too.”
“Be happy to,” Kestrel said. “It’ll be a lot more fun than standing around this pasture all day.” Shazeera turned her head toward him at that. “Not that I don’t enjoy the peace and quiet,” he added hastily.
Ignoring his commentary, I turned to Zara. “Are you ready now, First Daughter?”
“Yes, let’s go,” she said, grinning at Shazeera prancing in place beside her. “Shazeera is just as eager to leave this boring pasture as you are, Sergeant,” she tossed over her shoulder at Kestrel, who immediately looked chagrined.
Baz, Zamir, and Kestrel fell into a V-shaped formation behind Zara and Shazeera, while I stayed by their side as we walked to Naharu.
The city was as it ever was, loud, crowded, and overstimulating in every way. But seeing it through Zara’s eyes was like experiencing it for the first time. When we first set foot in the city, in the market district, she came to a stop, one hand on her mare’s neck and eyes wide. Her silken outfit and fur-trimmed cloak that had so captivated me when I first saw it fluttered gently in the breeze that seemed to be ever present with her, billowing out her hair and making her look like some regal ancient goddess. I feltno such breeze, but only the cold and the permanent state of fatigue I always felt while staying at the palace. I looked again at the city, trying to see it from her perspective. In contrast to the somber shades of the palace, the marketplace was an explosion of color. Brightly colored tents provided shelter for the merchants’ wares. There were bolts of silk from Rhythos, fur from Angora Mountain trappers, feather headdresses and coats, jewels and precious metals mined from deep within the rock, leather goods, and farther down, tents containing a variety of food, hot and steaming. These were from only a few of the closest tents; there were at least one hundred altogether, wrapping around the broad face of the mountain.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“It’s so much more colorful than the palace,” she said, her eyes darting from one shop to another. “Less intimidating.”
As I looked around, I could see what she meant. Everyone had stopped to stare, but it wasn’t with that undertone of hostility like it had been in the palace. For one thing, she’d covered her beautiful outfit—the one that had revealed more skin than the court had ever seen—with a finely knit wool cloak. And for another, these were people who were used to seeing other cultures and customs in their travels for goods. Word had spread of the peace treaty and the emperor’s intent to marry a Daughter of Earth, so people here were naturally curious and eager to get a glimpse of the future empress. Still, I couldn’t be too careful. With a subtle nod at my three Eagle Riders, I beckoned them a little closer.
“I’ve always been more comfortable here, too,” I told her. “The palace can be cold and austere, which makes sense considering the nobles compete with each other for who can emulate the Holy Austerity of the Lord of the Skies the most.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “The Holy…what?”
“It’s a book. A tome, really, of how to achieve godliness like the Lord of the Skies.”
“A dead boring book,” Kestrel said. “Puts you to sleep in an instant.”
Zamir elbowed him in the side and shook her head at him, but she also hid a smile. He wasn’t wrong, after all.
“Hmm,” Zara said. “And austerity is godliness to you?”
“I am not a noble, but we Eagle Riders do believe in mastery over our emotions.”
“That explains a lot,” she said with a grin. “My cousin and I said all of you look like statues walking around with no expressions on your faces.”
