Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Thea
Iwatched with something akin to detached amusement as Nessira wrapped her fingers around the onyx crown, her jaw dangling open and brows pinched together.
“This is…” Her voice trailed off as if she couldn’t quite find the words to articulate what she was thinking.
I didn’t blame her. One could describe the crown in many ways.
Heavy. Strange. Foreboding. Uncharacteristic.
Pointless.
Important.
It was a circlet of harsh steel, rising in jagged peaks across my brow. We’d just begun deciding what dress I would wear when a palace servant delivered it to my room with explicit instructions to wear it to dinner. He hadn’t bothered to sign the note, but I’d still recognized Caldrius’ hand.
“It’s ostentatious,” I agreed, my upper lip curling back in disgust as I glared at it. “But I need Hyrax and Caldrius to think that I’m coming around to the idea of this new reality, and, as much as I loathe to admit it, this will help.”
I waved a hand down the lines of my gown with a dismissive shrug of the shoulders. “This all will help.”
Nessira clicked her tongue before placing the crown atop my head. “Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but do you think a simple gown is enough to convince them of your loyalty?”
The deep obsidian fabric clung to my body like a second skin, hugging my torso before flaring into a sweeping skirt.
Embroidered with silver thread resembling vines, it caught the light as I moved.
It was just as over the top as the crown, and a long way off from the simpler pale gowns I typically preferred.
My face was just as unrecognizable, with dark kohl ringing my eyes and my lips painted a burgundy so dark that it was almost black.
“This isn’t the first time someone has dressed me up and asked me to play a role.” I suppressed the shiver that threatened to run down my spine.
“The Dragon was not a God,” she reminded me, stepping back to look me over appraisingly. “Somehow, I doubt Hyrax will be as easy to fool.”
There was a gentle tug against the roots of my hair as the crown slipped backwards and Nessira’s deft fingers latched onto it once more, pulling it back into place.
“At least let me clip it in,” she sighed unhappily.
Several pins later, when it finally sat snug atop my curls, I stepped back to look at myself in the looking glass.
“I hardly recognize you,” Nessira mused behind me, a worried line between her brows.
Truthfully, I didn't recognize myself.
I looked more like Hyrax’s heir than I ever had before.
My billowing skirt shuffled against the floorboards as I turned towards her, painted a reassuring smile on my face, and took her hand in my own.
“My first day here, you gave me advice. Do you remember what you said?”
She frowned, gaze lifting to the ceiling as she struggled to remember, until recognition lit in her eyes and she chuckled softly. Her fingers tightened on my own in a gentle squeeze. “I told you not to cry because strength is sometimes noticed, but weakness is not forgotten.”
Exactly.
The time for crying was over.
“When I eventually get my powers back, I’m going to make Hyrax pay for everything he has done to the Mortal Realm.”
It was a vow.
For the realm. For Clay. For myself.
And it was a vow I intended to keep.
A clear knock rang out as knuckles slammed down on the door to my suite. Caldrius.
I turned to answer, but Nessira’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back, her touch surprisingly icy for a fire wielder. Brown eyes bore into mine, so intense that I paused.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just that…” Nessira swallowed. “Well, I believe you are stronger than you realize, Thea, for more reasons than you think. Even so, you must remember that you don’t have your powers right now. You must be careful.”
She squeezed my wrist once, in a final silent plea as I nodded reassuringly. Of course, I would be careful.
I knew what I was doing.
I’d managed Camilla’s attacks.
I'd managed the Dragon’s persecution.
I could manage Hyrax and Caldrius too.
“How long are you going to stare at me?” I exhaled, my toes tapping impatiently against the floor.
We had been in this silent standoff for five minutes. When I had first opened the door, Caldrius had taken a single, long look at me, opened his mouth, and then slammed it shut, before tilting his head, giving me a second once-over, and sighing.
Even now, he only blinked in response, eyes sweeping over me from the top of the jagged crown to where the gown pooled at my feet. That was the third time he had given me such an appraisal.
“What. Are. You. Wearing?” He punctuated the sentence with a purposeful pause between each word.
I looked down at myself, ignoring the sound of Nessira’s snickering from where she lingered in my bedroom.
“It’s typically referred to as a gown.”
“Where did you get it?” he asked incredulously, his upper lip curling backwards as if my fashion choices offended him.
I peered up at him blankly. “From my closet, of course.”
He clicked his tongue, brows pinching together.
“Do you not like it?” I questioned with a lifted brow.
Caldrius continued staring, his eyes rapidly filtering over the fabric.
“It’s…” his voice trailed off, and he waved his hand in the air while he searched for the right words. “I like it perfectly fine. I suppose I’m just surprised that you like it.”
My stomach flipped uneasily, and I took a quick step forward, forcing him to back out of my parlor and into the hall. Nessira approached behind us, resting her hand against my wooden door and preparing to close it behind us.
“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you thought.”
“Maybe I know you exactly as well as I thought.”
He refused to back away any further, so we lingered in the doorway of my suite. Nessira stood at my back while the guards stood at his, a captivated audience to whatever we said to one another.
“You told me to come to dinner,” I reminded him. Another step forward. “You told me to wear the crown. So here I am—dressed for dinner and wearing the crown. What else would you like from me at this juncture?”
His own crown, a matching one to that on my head, rested easily above his tousled dark hair.
It was the only part of him that looked like the consort of a Crown Princess, though.
His clothing resembled the garments that he had favored in the Underworld.
Thick trousers appropriate for riding and a simple buttoned black shirt under a thick jacket.
Caldrius’ eyes scanned over me again for the fourth time, and I could practically see the thoughts whirling about his head.
He would not make this easy, and my patience was as thin as a wire.
“Fine. You’re right,” I sighed, rounding my shoulders and forcing a show of sounding defeated. “This isn’t the kind of gown I would normally wear.”
His eyes narrowed, dark lips pushing forward into a doubtful pout.
“But my circumstances are different now. I am the Crown Princess. Whether or not I like it, the people of this nation are going to look to me with certain expectations. I had thought this might be more appropriate for my new station.”
“You thought this gown would be more appropriate for the heir?” he echoed my words, though more to himself than to me.
I fought the urge to snap at him, to hiss that we were going to be late if he continued standing here questioning my outfit choice. “Shouldn’t we get going?”
With a quick sidestep, I brushed past him into the hall. Nessira caught my fleeting glance and shut the door in a rush, forcing Caldrius over the threshold. He followed me with hurried steps.
“Wait,” he called from behind me, reaching out to grab my fingertips. “I have something for you.”
I lifted my brows, noting how the guards seemed to back away twenty paces as he gave them a nod of his head.
They were told to watch me closely but would leave if Caldrius dismissed them. Interesting.
Ignoring the sting of irritation that little fact caused, I tucked it away for future consideration and watched as he reached into his jacket, pulling out a large, rectangular velveteen box.
“What’s this?”
“A gift. Open it,” he instructed, passing it to me with a twitch of his lips.
Tension coiled in my gut as I took the box. It sat heavily in my fingertips, a weight that seemed strange given its size. He nodded at it in silent instruction, and I grasped the lid, pulling it open with a small creak.
My breath locked in my chest as I fought to keep my expression neutral.
This was some gift.
The sparkling stones of the large necklace caught every bit of torchlight, sending fractals of light reflecting all around us. It was absolutely huge, with several large iridescent stones surrounded by an unimaginable number of shining diamonds.
“Caldrius,” I breathed, my voice betraying the skepticism I needed to keep private. “This has to be worth a fortune.”
I met his gaze, unsurprised to find a smirk there.
“Oh, it was.” He chuckled, leaning sideways against the wall and crossing his arms tightly over his chest. The movement made his biceps tug against the fabric of his sleeves. “There’s over four hundred diamonds in that necklace.”
My fingers tightened on the box even as my stomach fell out from under me. Why in all of creation was he gifting me this?
“I’m not simply giving you expensive jewelry for no reason, though.
” Caldrius took a step towards me, pointing towards some of the large pearly stones.
They shifted colors under the light, rotating from hues of soft pink, lilac, and pale yellow.
“These stones are incredibly rare and difficult to find.”
“I don’t want this,” I protested, moving to push it back towards him.
He grasped my hands, his skin separated from mine by the barrier of my iron marriage bands.
“You, darling, are the only one who is ever worthy of wearing this. Do you know what those stones are?”
Numbly, I shook my head, my voice nowhere to be found.
“They’re Veilstones,” he explained. “Formed in underground caverns when the Veil between the realms is the thinnest. As you know, when the monster Eckna died, Hyrax used the power in its bones to create you.
Miners extracted these stones decades ago from the very cavern where the monster eventually died.
Air felt tight in my chest as I glanced down at the necklace again. Tiny specks of gold seemed to catch in the light, reminding me of the shimmering golden portals I had once created.
“Anyway.” He shrugged, scratching at the back of his neck. “I found them in the palace jewels, and I suppose they reminded me of you. I thought you might humor me by accepting a gift from the man you consider to be your enemy.”
He reached into the box, grasping the necklace and holding it up in front of me. His desire for me to turn was clear, but I couldn’t bring my feet to move, so Caldrius shifted behind me and laid the stones around my neck. I flinched at the icy contact.
“These are the kinds of jewels the Goddess of the Veil should always wear,” he mused, his fingertips brushing over my skin while he fastened the necklace.
Its weight was uncomfortably heavy.
Feeling like I was wading through deep water, I turned to meet his gaze, feeling his eyes dancing across the gaudy necklace now locked around my neck, and he nodded approvingly before extending his elbow for me.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered.
My throat tightened, awkwardness and uncertainty choking me and stiffening my muscles. I was a statue under his stare.
“Well then.” He grinned, a twinkle dancing in his eyes. “Let’s not be late.”
He offered me an elbow, looking down at me expectantly. Swallowing my fear, I ignored the heaviness in my heart and took his arm.
“I’m glad you decided to come to dinner,” he mused as we began walking down the hall. “I was beginning to worry you would never come out of our room.”
Our room.
The room we shared as husband and wife.
“You were right, Caldrius.” I let myself lean into him. “I couldn’t stay in our room forever.”