Chapter 16
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KATALENA
Erryn took me back to the small room, but not before a tour. Or as much of a tour as she could give of a place so large. It was hard to pay attention when my mind was filled with the meeting I just had, but I tried.
My legs ached painfully when we were through and I sank onto the bed, the door no longer locked. She wasn’t quite finished. “Since the Heirs have asked you to dine, I’ll send you someone to help you with a dress.”
I looked at her, and Varí nuzzled my cheek. “I need something different to dine?” That wasn’t uncommon in the human world, but so far what I’d seen of the dragon city had been decidedly more casual.
Erryn smiled politely. She was kind enough, but not overly. Nor did I expect her to be, given who and what I was. But she was open and honest, which was all I could ask for. “It is not required. But the clothes you were given are utilitarian. I thought you might prefer something closer to what you’re used to.”
“Oh.” I reached up and scratched behind Varí’s neck. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful.”
She nodded. “They shall come for you when it is time to get ready.”
As Erryn closed the door behind her, I slumped down onto the bed. Varí leapt from my shoulder to the blankets beside me. “I thought I had more strength than this,” I admitted softly. “Turns out Rensara didn’t have nearly as many stairs as I thought.”
He turned around in a circle before settling down beside me and closing his eyes. Like he was tired too. I didn’t doubt it. It had already been a long day. But the idea of dining with them…
I didn’t want to miss it.
The heat of Endre’s hands on my skin still lived in my memory. The feral whispers and darkness that called to me like shadows I couldn’t resist. How Sirrus gathered me up like I was something precious, even though he didn’t understand why. Zovai staring at me like he could set me afire with nothing but his eyes.
This was playing with fire. Literally and figuratively.
However, slowly, I was ceasing to care. What did I have to lose? Nothing truly remained for me in the life I left behind, and my friends would agree with me.
If I was going to die, I might as well live to the fullest before I did.
Turning, I curled on my side toward Varí and closed my eyes. A knock on the door had me bolting upright. The angle of the sun was different. I’d fallen asleep waiting for whoever Erryn sent.
Varí blinked sleepily, not bothered at all by the interruption of his nap. I stood, wincing on my still-sore legs, and opened the door. A female dragon stood there, dressed far more formally than I’d seen so far. The shimmering green fell around her in waves. If this was what the dragons wore formally, I was grateful Erryn had mentioned it.
Dark hair and yellow eyes met mine. The dragon was stunningly beautiful. Long moments passed before I realized I was staring at her. “Hello.”
“Hello. My name is Soza. I’ve come to help you with something for dinner.”
“Yes, Erryn told me.” I glanced back at the bed. “Varí?”
He pointedly snuggled closer into the pillows, and I laughed. “All right. Stay here.”
Soza looked at him, frowning briefly before gesturing to the hallway. I closed the door soundly behind me, leaving Varí to sleep before I followed her. She was quiet, leading me a few levels down. Thankfully, it wasn’t more than that. But the room we entered wasn’t what I expected.
A warm, bright salon filled with women, but also filled with fabric. Jewels. Threads of every kind. It was like a dragon hoard for all things a woman of court could dream about.
Silence fell as we entered the room, all eyes landing on me. Soza smiled and waved me forward. “This is Katalena. The human from Rensara. She’ll be dining with the Heirs tonight and needs to be dressed appropriately.”
Chatters and smiles appeared again, and a few of them came forward to introduce themselves. The names were a blur because there were too many. But a blonde dragon with green eyes took my hand and smiled. “I’ve never met a human before.”
I laughed. “I’m happy to be the first?”
“Hopefully not the last.”
An older woman laughed from where she lounged on the biggest pillow I’d ever seen in my life. “Don’t let her talk your ear off, human. Belleo has wanted to visit the human world for longer than you’ve been alive. She’ll turn you into a specimen if you allow her. Now get me up, girl. The bath won’t wait.”
The dragon who had my hand glared at the older woman, and smoke came out of her nose. “I shall not talk her ear off.” Then she looked at me. “But it is true I am curious about your world. I would love to speak to you about it sometime.”
“I don’t know how long I’ll be here,” I told her honestly. “But I wouldn’t mind that.”
Her eyes lit up. “Thank you. I wish I could stay to help you, but I’m needed elsewhere.”
I laughed. “Well, given I’m the only human here, I don’t think I’ll be too hard to find.”
“No.” She touched my shoulder gently. “I don’t imagine so.”
It was the same older woman who she went to, helping her up and out of the room. Some others left too, but there were still a few female dragons here, and I had no idea what to do. I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry. I know nothing of your fashions or what to ask for. I wish I did.”
Soza just smiled. “That’s all right. Between all of us, we’ll come up with something. I actually think there’s a dress we might alter. I’ll be right back.”
A female dragon who sewed the hem of a sparkling black gown looked at me curiously. “Why do the Heirs call for you to dine?”
My mouth opened, and I hesitated. What did I say? That something strange and intangible bound us together and I assumed they wanted to know more? That they looked at me the no other male had, and I hoped they would take me to bed, if only to save my life? If only so I could know what it was like to feel loved before I died?
“I couldn’t tell you,” I told her honestly. “But I am in no position to refuse.”
Another one stood and shook her hair over her shoulders. “Because they find her beautiful.”
Heat rose through me, and a warning pulsed in my gut. I had no claim to those dragons, despite my mind and body disagreeing. “I hardly think that’s true.”
“Oh?” The dragon crossed her arms and smirked. “The runners talk of how Endre stormed away from the prison cells last night and left Skalisméra, only to return and wear himself down in a training room. Then overheard speaking about you. Something about falling into lust.”
There were four dragons in the room with me. Five, if you counted Soza, wherever she’d disappeared to. I didn’t know if how I came to be here was widely known, but I didn’t want to risk speaking it. If they needed to speak to the Elders about me, I was sure it was better kept quiet.
At home, if the King were considering something as dire as this, despite our closeness, I would not have shared it with Helena, and I considered her nearly my sister.
I shrugged. “I know not what was spoken, only that I was ordered to appear. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Here it is!” Soza sang, carrying a pile of gold fabric back into the room. “It shall look excellent on you. Let’s try it on and see how much work we have to do.”
Looking around for privacy, I found none. The dragon who’d declared the Heirs wanted me just smiled. “No need to be modest. We’ve all seen everything more than we want to, given what we are.”
My face flushed again. I guess that answered my question about whether their shifted forms kept on their clothes. I couldn’t imagine that. Everything was so locked down and careful in my life, and not simply because I was royalty. The human body was often a source of tension and fear in my world.
How strange to find myself standing outside of it.
“Forgive me,” I said. “I’m… not quite ready for that.”
Soza just pointed to the room she’d exited. “You can change in there, though I doubt it will make much difference.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I took the pile of shimmering fabric from her and retreated into the room. It was some kind of store room, the walls lined with bundles of cloth in more colors and textures than I knew existed. Dresses on forms, again in styles and colors I’d never seen. Similar to ones from the human realm but more daring, and more revealing.
The dress Soza gave me was no exception.
Golden fabric gathered at the waist and fell down in a wave of pleats. The soft material felt good, and the style of the seams that ran along my hips gave the dress movement I already knew would look beautiful.
But that’s where the familiarity ended. The bodice over my stomach was thin and sheer, the straps thin and beaded, leaving my arms and shoulders entirely bare. Not necessarily scandalous, if you didn’t include the way it barely covered my breasts. The neckline dipped in a low scoop, baring more of me than it hid.
A mirror stood against one wall. I stared at myself.
The dress was unquestionably beautiful. Without a doubt. Yet I couldn’t quite look at myself without blushing, or thinking about what I’d just denied in the other room. The Heirs finding me beautiful.
Here, alone, I could hope it was true. But even through that hope, this dress was a lot. Back home it might be something you wore after marriage, for the mysterious activities I was supposed to know nothing about.
My skin was on display through the bodice, my chest and shoulders and neck. None of the other dresses in the room with me revealed so much, but they also looked like works in progress. Perhaps they would appear more like this once they were finished?
It was a little loose in the hips and straps, but it fit well.
At least now I understood why Soza had said it wouldn’t make a difference. They were all going to see a lot of me in this dress.
I walked slowly back into the room, and they all gasped. “That looks lovely on you,” Soza said with a bright smile.
“Thank you. It is beautiful, though… more revealing than I have experience with.”
A dragon who hadn’t spoken before did. Her hair was dark with a sheen of violet. Her eyes too, were closer to purple than blue. “Such is the latest fashion in Doro Eche. If you’re unsure of the Heirs’ thoughts about you, this will show you. Here. Take these as well.” She approached with jewels. Gold bracelets that slid all the way up my arms. Earrings that dangled from my ears and brushed my shoulders. A necklace.
“Oh. I’ll keep this.” I touched my grandmother’s necklace.
“It’s a little dark for the dress.”
Shaking my head, I smiled. “It stays with me.”
She frowned, but didn’t protest further. It was the last thing I had of both my grandmother and my previous life. I wouldn’t part with it.
Soza circled me, assessing with a sharp eye. “I’m going to adjust it. Do not be alarmed.”
I didn’t have a chance to thank her for the warning. The dress shrank around my hips where it was loose, and the straps tightened. They fit better, but also managed to show off more of me as they lifted my breasts skyward.
“If you’re sure they won’t be scandalized.”
Laughter surrounded me, and the violet-eyed female pulled me closer to the window where the sun was setting and turning the peaks of the Bowl as gold as the dress I wore. “I think they’d be more scandalized if you were to wear the dress you were wearing before. Here.”
She ran her hands over the skin of my arms and hands. Magic tingled against my skin. Almost like the sensation of walking through a warm mist. As it touched me, swirling gold lines appeared on the backs of my fingers and circled my wrists before crawling and growing in their filigree design up to my elbows. So similar to the bridal markings I recently wore. Was this where the humans had taken the tradition from? Dragon fashion?
My arms appeared covered in gloves without wearing them.
“Humans have a similar custom for marriage,” I said, holding out my arms.
“Is that so?” she asked. “Interesting.”
It didn’t sound like she was actually interested.
“It shall take you some time to climb the stairs,” Soza winced. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to get you sooner.”
I looked around and found them all smiling. Smiling back, I asked. “Is there something I might wear from here to there? Like a cloak?”
“Why?” Soza asked, frowning.
I went to speak and changed my mind. I didn’t want to offend them. I was here in their territory. These were their customs. I needed to follow them. It might be the only time they met me, and I didn’t want to sway their opinions on humans.
“It’s nothing,” I finally said. “Thank you for helping me.”
“You’ll return to where you met them earlier,” she said.
“Thank you.”
There, at least, I could get to. All the way to the top. My legs groaned at the thought, but I would make it. There were worse things. And if climbing the stairs in an admittedly beautiful dress kept me alive a bit longer, I was all for it.
Their eyes were on me as I left. I’d only ever showed this much skin to Helena. Even last night when Endre had me pinned against the wall, the shift hadn’t been quite this revealing. It revealed my arms and shoulders, but it wasn’t sheer. It didn’t display me.
I began walking up the stairs, needing to gather the skirt in my hands so I did not trip over it.
As I walked, others stared at me. They stopped as I passed, watching me until they could crane their necks no further. Some of them turned to watch me still, and I did my best to ignore them and the shock which was so clearly on their faces.
As a princess, I had a lot practice pretending to ignore people. But I couldn’t say I’d ever had to do it while wondering which part of my body the onlookers were staring at.
For a brief moment I thought about stopping to get Varí, but he was exhausted. I would let him sleep. How much sleep did dragons need? The tales were unclear. Some said that dragons did not sleep, and even when their eyes were closed they could see through their lids to make sure no one robbed their hoards. Some said they slept in seasons, fading into deep slumber for months or years at a time before rising.
If I were to guess, I would say that neither was the truth.
Three spirals from the top, I stopped to catch my breath. What I wouldn’t give to have wings right now. I had yet to see any dragons in that form inside the city, but that didn’t mean much. I wasn’t allowed everywhere. There very well might be places in Skalisméra exclusive to dragon forms.
Still, being able to fly at a moment’s notice sounded like a blessing.
The barest sheen of sweat covered my skin when I reached the top and approached their doors. At least with all the shining and glittering gold I wore, my skin shining wouldn’t be out of place.
I knocked, and a pulse ran through me. Magic, and an unspoken command to enter. So that was what Erryn had felt earlier this afternoon.
The door swung open easily under my hands. The couches around the fire were empty now, and that same invisible command guided me deeper into their apartments. To the right and down a long, open hallway. At the end I spied a room with a long, formal table, bathed in the orange light of sunset from the windows.
I stepped into the room to a cloud of thick silence. The Heirs stood around the table, with a fourth dragon I did not recognize. Each of their gazes landed on me, heavy. Tangible. So much more than it had been earlier.
Longing swirled through me. Stars, whatever this was, I needed it to take action or stop completely.
Sinking into a curtsey, I kept my eyes on the ground. “My lords.”
Nothing but silence was returned. After what felt like an eternity, I dared to lift my gaze. Endre stared at me, leaning on the table, chest heaving, eyes filled with endless rage.