27. Idrilia
IDRILIA
“A bloodline is a gift.
A family is earned with love, loyalty, and sacrifice.”
—Elurian proverb
"Your sister is here, Your Highness," Ursa said from behind me. "I told her I'd see if you can receive her."
Cardilia never came to my suite of rooms unannounced or even announced for that matter.
If she wanted to see me outside of the obligatory family dinners our mother insisted on, she sent me an invitation with her maid, and that didn't happen often either.
My poor sister was forced to spend her days in court with our mother, learning how to be the future Queen of Tarina.
Even my brother had to attend for at least several hours a week because he was Cardilia's stand-in.
I was lucky to be the third child who could get away with doing whatever I wanted, more or less.
I turned around to tell Ursa that I would see my sister in a minute, just as Cardilia walked out into the garden, shielding her eyes with her hand against the glaring sun.
"I thought I would come over and see what all the fuss was about," she said.
My sister had never shown any interest in my work beyond the absolute minimum necessary to show that she knew what I was doing with my life, and it was usually done over dinner.
The flower was a pretext, but I didn't know for what. It wasn't as if we shared secrets or gossip or she needed my advice about anything.
Perhaps Mother had sent her?
That was possible. Maybe our mother thought that sensible Cardilia could talk some sense into her eccentric sister.
She crossed the distance, unconcerned about her beautiful gown dragging over the garden soil.
As always, it was a shade of blue, the color of a winter morning, and edged with silver embroidery, our house colors.
There was no need to wear those colors outside official duties but, given that my sister had to spend hours in court daily, which required formal attire, it made sense for her entire wardrobe to be made of varying shades of silver and blue.
"Is that the flower?" She crouched next to me and gazed at the Silver Princess, who sat behind her glass under the steady hum of the chiller.
"Yes," I said. "The most expensive nightlight in Tarina."
Cardilia tilted her head. "It's very dim. Unhealthy looking."
It was true, but I was nevertheless offended on the Silver Princess's behalf.
"She's recovering. I wish you could have seen her in her native soil.
When I found her, the petals blazed like captured starlight.
" I smoothed my hand over the glass, as if I could caress the delicate flower.
"She nearly died on the way down the mountain, and for two weeks I thought she was beyond saving, but the chiller holds the cold steady, and she is slowly healing.
Do you see this root?" I pointed. "It's new.
Thread-thin, but it's reaching down into the substrate instead of groping at the air, which means she's not just surviving, she's actually establishing, or trying to.
The trouble is the magnetism. She evolved on a mineral-veined slope, where the field strength is enormous, and she feeds on it.
I can chill her perfectly, but I cannot give her that, so she may never bloom again, and she certainly won't set seed, which means I can't propagate her.
I need to study her right where she grows, but the problem is finding her in the first place.
She's extremely rare. The best place to look is on Elucia's side of the border, but I promised... "
I trailed off.
Cardilia's eyes had gone glassy and fixed, her polite smile frozen in place, and she was nodding at intervals that bore no relationship to anything I was saying.
I laughed. "Oh, Cardi. I'm boring you."
"No, no," she protested. "I'm listening."
"You stopped listening at 'recovering.'" I took her by the elbow and steered her away from the glass. "And you're sweating." I pointed at her upper lip where she was glistening. "Don't let Mother see you like that or she will demote you and announce Lotian as the crown prince."
She winced and wiped the sweat off with her finger. "Not funny, Idri. Not funny at all." She actually looked worried.
I frowned. "Did I just hit a nerve? Did you have a fight with Mother?"
"No, nothing of the sort." She let me lead her into my sitting room.
It was cooler inside, the shutters half drawn against the afternoon sun.
Ursa followed us into the room, her hands clasped in front of her in that demure manner that was a total lie because there was nothing demure about her. Then she added a little curtsy. "Would you like me to serve tea, Your Highness?"
"Yes, please. Iced tea would be best, and some cut fruit."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Cardilia shifted on the padded chair and arranged the folds of her dress over her knees. "So, how is Gavon doing?"
"Still limping, but I think he's making it look worse than it is to get out of things he doesn't want to do."
She arched a brow, and a corner of her mouth lifted in a conspiratorial smile. "And what are those duties he neglects, if I may ask?"
I wasn't a prude, but I had a vivid imagination, and her very deliberate question reminded me of said duties and how well Gavon had performed them last night. I felt my cheeks heating up.
"If Mother only knew what a twisted mind you are hiding under that prim and proper facade of yours."
Her lips curved into a full smile. "There is nothing twisted about my question. I'm just asking if Gavon is fulfilling his obligations to your satisfaction."
"He is, even though he's compromised now, and we have to be inventive."
The smile slid off her face. "Do you love him?"
"I don't know," I answered honestly. "He's entertaining, and he does fulfill those particular duties exceptionally well, but he's not a great conversationalist, and his areas of interest are limited. I crave company that is intellectually stimulating."
"I know what you mean." She sighed. "It's difficult to find people of that caliber.
I'm fortunate to be spending a lot of time with Mother, and even though she is a lot to handle, she's knowledgeable in many subjects, and if she needs to explore something new, she brings scholars to the palace to explain.
I don't lack for stimulation in that regard. "
"How about the other kind of stimulation? Anyone new?"
Cardilia's former paramour had been retired to the countryside when she'd caught him making improper advances to her maid, and she hadn't selected anyone new since.
She shook her head. "I'm too busy. Mother is driving me hard as if she's planning to retire next year and needs me ready to take over as soon as possible."
I snorted. "Mother is never going to retire. She'll be running Tarina from her deathbed, and given how stubborn she is, she will not surrender to death until she's well over a hundred."
Our maternal great-grandmother was still alive and over a hundred years old, so that was not far-fetched.
Cardilia laughed. "I don't know about that. She keeps talking about wanting grandchildren and stepping down so she can spend time with them."
"It's just talk." I waved a dismissive hand. "She'll never do that."
Ursa came with the tray, set the pitcher with the iced tea and the sliced peaches between us, and began pouring the tea into two tall glasses.
"That's lovely, thank you," Cardilia said.
"Will Your Highnesses require anything else?" Ursa asked.
"No, thank you." Cardilia smiled at her. "That will be all."
It was not quite a dismissal, but it was close. Cardilia would never be so direct as to actually order my attendant from my own room, but it was very clear from her tone that she wanted Ursa to go away.
"I'll ring if we need anything," I said.
Ursa inclined her head, withdrew, and the door clicked shut behind her.
Cardilia didn't speak right away. She took a long sip of the iced tea, popped a slice of peach into her mouth, then drank some more tea.
"Okay, out with it," I said. "I know you didn't come here to admire the Silver Princess."
"No." She put her glass down, sat back, and folded her hands in her lap. "You need to promise me that this stays between us. I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but I'm going to burst if I don't talk with someone about this. I mean someone other than Mother."
I put my hand over my chest, three fingers folded and two pointing toward my heart. "You know you can trust me with your secrets. I vow never to disclose them without your explicit permission."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I'm betrothed," she said.