“It getsworse?” Matheo scrunched his face. “I don’t get why you call this place home.”
“It is not our home anymore,” Kiira reminded him. “But if you must know, I suggest you watch the sun rise over the dunes or the way the horizon wavers like an ocean at the peak of day. There is no beauty like that of the desert, because it is not given freely. It must be earned by those who wish to see it.”
Matheo muttered something unintelligible under his breath that sounded a lot like “stupid” and “never worth it.”
“All right.” Mariah corked her water skin, dropping it to the sands with a thud. “Enough lounging. Who’s ready to go next?”
Footsteps crunched down the path. Mariah turned, instincts flaring. A breathless Delaynie stepped into their small clearing, a guarded look in her blue eyes.
“We have company?—”
“Company that will not be left waiting, alone and unattended.” More footsteps crashed behind Delaynie. Six figures emerged from the shade of the acacias. They wore fine clothes, their hands and arms and hair adorned with silver and gold jewelry. Wealthy, obviously. Elites, definitely.
Just the sort of people Mariah loathed.
Matheo and Trefor sprung to their feet, still shirtless. Quentin padded to Mariah’s side, baldric slung across his bare chest. The group surveyed Mariah and her court with lifted brows, something like disdained shock wafting from them. A woman in the front tilted her imperious chin, the corners of her lips tilting up in a sneer.
“Apologies,” she said to Delaynie with a sniff. “I thought you were going to fetch the queen.”
“She did.” Mariah narrowed her eyes. Annoyance bubbled up in her chest. “Who are you?”
The woman smiled, but it was far from pleasant. “We are the Kreah Council of Elders, and we have come to demand an audience with the Queen of Onita.”
Fuck.
Mariah hadn’t met the Elders yet, but based on their abrupt appearance and cold expressions, she had a feeling this wasn’t good. Word had surely reached them about the arrival of the Onitans at the border.
Delaynie, bless her, crossed her arms and frowned at the Elders. “I told you to wait for the queen at theserekah.”
“And give her a chance to run away and hide, just like she did from her own country?” the Elder spat. “Not likely. So, where is she?”
“I’m right here, Elder.” Mariah’s annoyance blazed up into anger. Elder or not, she was sick of these people speaking down to her. “But unfortunately, I only speak to people with names and manners. So, we can either start from the beginning, where you show myself and my court the respect we deserve, or you can leave.”
If Sebastian were here, he would have passed out at Mariah’s tone.
But Sebastian wasn’t here, and Quentin and Delaynie simply smirked.
The Elder’s eyes narrowed. “I was warned you were a disrespectful brat. How the Onitan’s ever believed it a good idea to place a child on their throne is beyond me.”
“Natia,” one of the other Elder’s interrupted. She was shorter than Natia, with long braids twisted delicately atop her crown. She inclined her head to Mariah.
“You make a valid point, Your Majesty. My name is Odelle, and these are my fellow Elders: Zalam”—a wizened, stooped man with white hair nodded— “Imri”—an elderly woman with a dour expression sniffed— “and Miron,” Odelle finished, gesturing to a middle-aged man with red braids and green eyes that stood out against his umber skin.
“And this is Natia,” Odella said, standing beside the tall Elder. “Tensions are high, but please forgive her words. She did not mean them.”
“Do not presume to speak for me, Odelle,” Natia seethed. “I meant every word I said.”
Odelle sighed.
Mariah grinned.
“Pity,” Mariah said, folding her arms over her chest. She wore nothing but a thin tank and leggings, dagger sheathed comfortably at her thigh. “I guess you’ll have to take the qualification of thisdisrespectful bratup with the gods. I believe two of them will be back any moment, if you’d prefer to wait.”
“This matter does not concern the gods, Queen.” The aged man—Zalam—hobbled forward. Despite the sagging lines of his face, his eyes were bright and sharp. “This is a matter between neighboring rulers, and it will be settled as such.”
Mariah waved a hand. “Then, by all means,” she said. “Let’s settle it.”
Odelle glanced around the grove. “Perhaps we should return to theserekahand let the queen and her court clothe themselves in something more decent?—”
