Chapter Twenty One #2
The castle is dimly lit, sconces lining each wall as we pass quickly through them.
These are not the main halls but the ones used by staff and guards to move through the great structure.
We are led up narrow stairways and through wooden doors, a maze of tunnels, really.
We pass many guards and servants, all who bow or curtsy in varying degrees of severity.
We are addressed in whispers as “Trinity” or “Your Graces.” I do my best not to look shaken by the sheer number of greetings we receive as we make our way up.
If there was any hope of finding my way through here, it is lost long before we reach the double doors where Chiron nods at the men stationed there.
They step away from the entry, moving to the walls at either side of the entrance.
Chiron takes an ornate key from one of them and turns to Wren and me once more, giddy to show us whatever awaits us within.
With a sharp click, the doors unlock, and Chiron swings them wide.
The room within is almost as large as the grand Atheneum on Caelestis.
Windows line the far wall, diamond-paned and reaching from the bench underneath up to the ceiling.
On every wall in between, shelves of books and ornate doors do much the same.
Settees and fine high-backed chairs are scattered throughout the grand space.
Everywhere I look, I can find the spiral symbol of the Trinity carved into the dark wood furniture.
Did Chiron bring us to a library?
I look to Wren first, knowing what I will find there.
His face is…it is breathtaking in the light of the oil lamps.
He is cast in hues of orange and shadowed where hair has started to dapple his square jaw.
His eyes are wide and full of wonder, the blue a thin ring around the black pearl of his pupils.
They scan the room with great interest, unable to stop in any one place.
I imagine this room is where we will most often find Wren, and that makes me smile widely.
“This is our wing, our private quarters are just beyond those doors,” Chiron notes, pointing to the right side of the library. He walks to the door there, another expertly crafted entrance. He turns the silver handle there and looks back at us both behind him.
“Welcome home.”
The doorway unveils a room so spacious and beautiful that my breath catches in my chest. The windows from the main room continue into this one, but sheer curtains of deep purples fall over them like a gown.
To the right, a large fireplace takes up the middle of the wall.
The stone is a marbled grey and black, and a fire roars within it as if someone spotted our arrival and set the room ablaze for us.
Its heat is a welcome comfort, blissful after the many days we’ve spent in the elements of late.
In the center of the room sits a sprawling bed built of dark oak wood.
It is without a doubt the largest bed I have ever laid eyes on.
The headboard is ornate, and I move toward it to inspect its design.
I pass my fingers over the shining wood of the posts.
They are as thick as the trunk of a young tree, but smooth and stained to match its former bark.
At the head, there is yet another Trinity symbol, three spirals winding in the same direction.
The Land, the Sky, and the Sea.
The bed is stacked high with thick pillows of purple hue and rich quilts of both fabric and fur. It is not unlike the nest of our earthen cave from the Rite.
I walk to the side of the bed, where a large wardrobe is stationed.
I open its doors and see that gowns flow down from silver hooks within.
To the right, a familiar purple cloak hangs clean and comforting.
I gather the fabric into my hands and bring it to my face.
Sadness rises when the scents of the Isle and Vestera do not come to me.
This small piece of my home is with me, but no longer carries its notes with it.
I let the flowing cloak fall back into the wardrobe.
I spot a row of folded shifts on the shelf toward the bottom, and the whole of this experience washes over me with exhaustion. Sleep calls to me with urgency now.
Chiron shows us to the washroom, a small but equally lavish room with a fine metal tub and a mirror that spans the wall behind it. Chiron offers to summon Jessah for me, but I decline. It is late, and I wish only for rest this night. We will meet again tomorrow, I am sure.
We all discard our travel clothes and wash quickly with the pitcher of water that is expertly placed near the tub.
I do not even consider the mess my hair must be; I just find my way to the great bed and climb into it.
Wren and Chiron meet me swiftly there. The warmth of the room and the pleasure of my bonded nearby move me to comfort as we settle into the down mattress.
“What do you think? I know it’s overwhelming,” Chiron says, pulling me into his arms. Wren moves to curl in behind me, so I am locked between their two warm bodies.
I breathe deeply into my body. So many thoughts and emotions swim within me, I cannot untangle one from another.
“I think…I think I need to stay in this bed for a full cycle. With you both.” I say, pressing my face into his bare chest. Wren chuckles behind me, wrapping his lean arm around my middle and resting it on Chiron’s stomach.
“We have a night…but we have every night hereafter too,” Wren says behind me.
Chiron presses a gentle kiss to my brow, and I fall into a tranquil sleep…wrapped in the arms of my loves.