Chapter 5 #2
“And I’m so looking forward to it, but for the moment, I’d suggest reining in that temper before your mommy yells at you again.
” Honey dripped from every word, sickly sweet and condescending, but accurate.
When Syrus turned to look, Queen Delia’s withering gaze had whatever retort Syrus planned dying before it left his lips.
He settled for shooting a nasty glare at Eiri, then ignoring him.
“Eiri…”
“I can’t help it. He’s absolutely infuriating.”
That answer just had Kien shaking his head again. “Just finish eating so we can get out of here and finally get some rest, alright?”
“I’ll do my best. I won’t start anything, but I can’t promise I won’t finish it if he can’t restrain himself.”
“I suppose I will work with what I can get. Just eat.”
That was an easy enough task, and Eiri set himself to finishing the lingering crumbs on his plate. The feast was drawing to an end, thankfully, and soon he would be away from his new husband and could finally let down his guard.
“You can’t be serious?”
Eiri froze in the doorway, taking in his new accommodations. The servant beside him, an older Vaetrean man with a too-serious face, paused and raised an eyebrow.
“Your Grace?”
He shuddered at the title, his skin crawling with the weight of it. “I thought I was to have a room for myself and my companion?” He gestured to Kien, who was doing a better job hiding his surprise than Eiri was.
“Your servant’s room is down the hall. Marla will show him there once you’re settled.
” The man gestured to the servant beside him, a young woman who looked to be Akari’s age.
“Your belongings have already been brought up, though we can’t spare anyone to unpack them at the moment. I assume your man will be capable?”
“Of course,” Kien said before Eiri could respond to the blatant insult. “However, we were under the assumption that my lord and Prince Syrus would have separate quarters?”
“The queen herself instructed me to bring you here. Should you have any complaints about your rooms, I suggest you take it to her,” the man sniffed. “I will leave you to get situated.”
The uptight man strode out of the room, leaving the girl standing alone with them.
“Would you like to see your room, ambassador?” she asked softly. Unlike the older man, there was no hostility on Marla’s face. If anything, she looked uncomfortable with what had just happened, her hands twisting the hem of her apron.
“Perhaps you could tell me which it is, instead? I don’t want to keep you from your work.”
“I don’t mind, sir. Your room is three doors down on the left once you step out of this room. It has a dark green door.”
“Thank you. I’m sure I’ll be able to find it,” Kien assured her in the most polite tone Eiri had ever heard him give a Vaetrean.
Marla hesitated a moment, glancing back at the door the other man had disappeared through. “I… I have no other duties tonight. I can help you both get settled, if you’d like?”
She meant it, too. Eiri watched her closely, but this was the first person he’d encountered in all of Lodie who didn’t seem to regard him as trash. The surprising kindness doused a bit of the fiery anger burning within him.
“I appreciate the offer, but we don’t have much,” he said with what he hoped was a friendly smile. “Thank you for your help, though.”
“My pleasure.” Marla’s answering smile was shy and hesitant, but genuine, and she gave them a proper curtsy before retreating.
The moment the door closed behind her, Eiri cursed, long and loud, releasing the lingering fury from that disastrous dinner.
“Are you finished?” Kien asked when Eiri paused to catch his breath.
“This is ridiculous! Why would they put me in his room? He’ll kill me before the night is through!
” Fury burned through his veins as Eiri took in the spacious room.
Decorated in dark greens and golds, the furniture a beautiful dark wood, he would have been quite pleased with the room if it didn’t clearly belong to Syrus Vardor.
The man’s armor stood in a far corner on a stand, and his belongings were scattered throughout.
“I highly doubt that is what they’re planning,” Kien said. “I don’t like this, though. I assure you, I was told the two of you would have separate bedrooms.”
“How am I supposed to sleep, knowing my new husband will probably slit my throat the moment I close my eyes?” So much for being able to let his guard down.
“Syrus is known to be temperamental, but we can’t forget that he is also a prince.
Anything he does will reflect on the queen and right now, she needs you alive,” Kien reminded him.
“This early in the marriage, the deal will fall apart if you die. The Vaetrans will keep you safe until they receive the goods promised in the marriage contract.”
“If that was your attempt at comforting me, it’s wasn’t successful,” Eiri muttered.
“It was the truth. I won’t coddle you with a false sense of security. I need you to swear to me that you will do everything you can to rein yourself in and not respond to anything he says. It goes against your nature to stand down, but in this case, you must if you want to survive.”
“You and I both know that I can’t do that forever, Kien.”
“You won’t need to do it forever. Just until we find allies.”
Eiri snorted. “Allies? Where do you expect two former raiders from Canjir to find allies in Vaetreas, the target of nearly all our raids?”
“There are always outliers in every country, even Vaetreas.”
“Outliers?” Eiri raised a brow.
“Have you already forgotten the girl we just met?”
He reluctantly conceded Kien that point. He hadn’t expected kindness from a single soul here in Lodie, but Marla had surprised him.
“No matter how peaceful or prosperous a country may be, there will be some who are dissatisfied or feel wronged by the rulers,” Kien went on. “I’m sure that’s particularly true here, of all places. We simply need to find those people and win them over to our side.”
“For what purpose, though?”
“If all goes well, we will never need to call on them. If, however, things do badly, having friends in a city full of enemies will be invaluable.”
Politics. It always came back to politics.
Eiri had no stomach for such games. He never had.
As a fisherman and a raider, he’d done his best to stay away from the cesspool that was Canjiri politics, despite his mother’s attempts to drag him in.
She thrived on the intrigue, manipulating the undercurrents of discourse with disturbing ease.
“I’ll trust you on this. I don’t even know where I would begin finding those people, let alone how to make allies of them.”
“That is why your mother chose me to accompany you. I will do whatever I must to ensure the safety of Canjir.”
Eiri’s fury slipped away like the tides and exhaustion swept in, weighing him down more and more with every passing second.
“I hate this,” he admitted, barely more than a whisper. He couldn’t meet Kien’s eyes.
“I know.” A warm hand settled on his shoulder, steady and comforting. “Would you like me to stay until after the prince arrives?”
As tempting as it was, Eiri shook his head. “It would only make it worse if he came in and we were both here. I’ll shout if it looks like he’s about to kill me, though.”
“If he tries to kill you, you would do well to respond in kind,” Kien said, and if Eiri wasn’t already getting to know the man so well, he would have missed the hint of humor in his words.
“So, try to kill him right back?”
Kien’s lips twitched into a smirk, there and gone again in the blink of an eye. “You had better do more than just try. I know your skills. I do hope they are not needed tonight, though.”
“Me, too.” Eiri dredged up a confident smile. “I’ll be fine. Thank you, Kien.”
“Good night, Eiri, and good luck.”
Eiri’s smile dropped the moment Kien walked out the door, leaving him alone.
The suite of rooms really was quite spacious, but he could feel the walls closing in around him as he stood there, lost and exhausted.
His bags and one large trunk sat near the window, haphazardly shoved against the wall out of the way.
He may not care for politics, but he wasn’t so na?ve that he didn’t recognize an insult when he saw one.
Legally, he was now a prince consort of Vaetreas and stood on nearly equal footing with Syrus.
For him to be treated as an unwelcome guest by the royal family was a slap in the face.
For that behavior to carry down the ranks spoke of their utter disdain for him.
While he was more than capable of unpacking his own belongings and preferred to do it, the palace staff should have at least tried.
Marla had offered, yes, but only after the older man had left, which told him just how welcome he and Kien were here.
Nothing to do about it now, though. With any luck, he wouldn’t be stuck in this room for long. Surely, after the official wedding night passed, he would be allowed to move to a different room.
The high collar of his wedding robe rubbed against his skin, itching where a thread had come loose.
Eager to be rid of it, he dug into his trunk and found a pair of soft linen pants, creamy white with delicate floral patterns picked out in pale pink threads that shimmered when he moved.
He changed swiftly, exchanging his wedding robe for a long-sleeved linen tunic in the same pale pink shade as the threading in his pants.
Much as he despised what it represented, he did love the crimson robe and soft, deep black pants inherited from his father and took the time to carefully store them away in the box they’d come in.
He debated pulling on his boots or even a pair of soft slippers, but left them off for now.
He could fight just as easily barefoot if needed.
Probably better, actually, considering the rugs scattered across the floor.
Syrus still hadn’t returned by the time he’d changed, leaving Eiri at loose ends. He certainly wasn’t going to sleep, not when he didn’t know his enemy’s location. Even had Syrus been in the room, though, he wouldn’t be sleeping, considering there was only one bed in the suite.
Wide windows broke up the stone walls, all of them covered with curtains at this hour. Curiosity wriggled through the tired fog creeping up on him, and he pulled one of the heavy drapes aside.
Below him, the city of Lodie spread out from the base of the royal palace.
Magelights held back the darkness, though the further one got from the palace, the darker and tighter the streets became.
There, simple fires and lanterns did their best to battle back the encroaching twilight, but it was a losing fight.
Eiri could only assume the slums must lie in those shadows.
He had yet to encounter a Vaetrean city where the outcasts and paupers weren’t pushed to the very edge, out of sight and out of mind of those with the wealth and power to help them.
He couldn’t deny there was a certain beauty to the city, despite the clear divide.
He could just make out what appeared to be some sort of park just beyond the palace gates.
A sparkling lake reflected the pale moonlight, glittering diamond stars sprinkled across the calm surface.
Dozens of people wandered through despite the late hour.
Magelights illuminated their clothing and Eiri recognized several of them as wedding guests, those not quite wealthy enough to warrant a personal carriage to convey them a quarter of a mile to their homes.
These people had openly mocked him, sneering and looking down their noses the entire evening as though he was flotsam washed in on the morning tide.
Away from the palace, though, they were simply people.
Men loosened the ties and cravats at their throats and several women let their hair down from the tight, restrictive styles popular in the country.
Vaetrean clothing was far too conservative and boring for Eiri’s taste, too strictly bound up in outdated gender roles, but their garments were well made, the fabrics clearly expensive.
So long as he never had to wear them, he could admit they held a subtle beauty.
Watching the city he was now trapped in quickly became excruciating and he let the curtains fall shut again.
With nothing better to do, Eiri went back to his bags.
Tucked into the bottom of his personal belongings was a slender book, tattered and worn.
A comfortable-looking plush chair sat near the window facing the door and Eiri made himself comfortable there, tucking his bare feet beneath him.
He didn’t know when Syrus would return and he couldn’t let himself relax, but at least he could keep his mind awake.
Keeping one eye on the door, he carefully opened the book and let himself get lost in the words.