6. Hevva communes with plants.
six
Hevva communes with plants.
“ I think you might like to explore the solar, my lady. Perhaps the grounds of the hall as well,” Aylin chatted as she styled the countess’s long wispy locks.
Hevva’s hair was the oddest shade of silver, not the translucent strands of someone who had gone gray with age, but a pure solid white. The trait was fairly uncommon in Selwas, but less so along the country’s border with Karova. It was thought to be a genetic holdout from a time long past when the two lands still interacted. At some point, thousands of years before, the mysterious country retreated, only allowing trade to occur between one designated tribe and two Selwassan families. Neither of the two favored families were members of the noble class, and while the Selwassan king was welcome to purchase imported goods along with the rest of the Selwassan people, he had no connection to Karova beyond that.
That must rankle him. I should ask his opinion , she thought, wondering how he might react to such a forward question, even from a member of the peerage. Would he draw together his thick dark brows? Glare at her from those mossy green eyes? Fold his well-muscled arms across his broad chest?
“Lady Hevva, have you heard a single thing I’ve said?” Aylin tugged at her elaborate braid.
Abashed, the countess met her maid’s eyes in the mirror and admitted, “I have not.”
While Hevva was helped into a day dress, a soft green gown that pleated across her bosom, making her look better endowed than she was, her maid repeated all that she’d said. Kas went into town with the Gulan family for the day, as planned at the breakfast Hevva slept through. They’d be looking after her brother so she might rest and recuperate from the nightmare at the Elk & Heron.
Hevva nodded mutely, drawn back into the oppressive heat and flames from the night before. Her pulse beat in her fingertips, and she shook out her hands in an attempt to relieve the crawling anxiety.
“The solar, my lady. I think you will quite enjoy it. Or the library perhaps? Best to keep yourself busy today if sleep isn’t on your mind.”
It wasn’t in the least. Sure, she was tired from draining her well of power the night before, but she needed to move, to distract herself from the near catastrophe. Her beloved maid tidied up a few things, winked at her, and slipped out of the room. Then Hevva headed off in search of the indoor gardens.
The multi-storied solarium off the rear of Hewran Hall was beautiful. And so, so well designed. Merely standing at the enormous glass entryway gave Hevva ideas of her own. She hoped there would be enough inspiration in this place to keep her mind busy all day with thoughts of future improvements to Kabuvirib and Stormhill. She dreamed big, because why dream at all, if not to make things extravagant? Her thoughts wandered to imagined solars off the back of her own homes, or even public buildings, or indoor gardens in the towns themselves. Wouldn’t that be a treat for the people? She imagined the villagers gallivanting around a space half as lovely as this. It would be wildly popular during the winter months.
Stepping into the balmy room, the countess closed the doors behind herself before beginning explorations. It was like standing in a jungle. Clearly the king, or perhaps a duke before him, had spared no expense on importing the most exotic plants from Domos, Gramenia, and even Karova from the look of the place. They sang to her, each fiber threaded with pulsing life that begged her magic to engage, to play. Aylin was right, the solarium was a fantastic decision.
She danced over to a tree—some sort of palm with a long narrow trunk that stretched to the ceiling. Up there, pressing against the panes, sprawled a mass of green fronds. With a flick of her finger, Hevva set them swaying, swishing rhythmically against the glass. Beside the tree, a huge plant with veiny heart-shaped leaves in all shades of green, white, and even pink, ballooned out from its enormous pot. She willed a few of the vibrant ones out of hiding, coaxing the rosy leaves onto full display. Hevva breathed deeply and beamed. Hewran Hall was perfect and would surely provide enough distractions to help her pass the day of rest.
She traveled the edges of the solarium before venturing deeper into its core. Whoever planned the space made sure it felt like an outdoor landscape dropped inside. From the stone paths to the way much of the foliage grew from spacious recessed planters that had been built into the floor itself, the effect was charming. Hevva picked her way through the center of the room, which housed a unique mix of indoor and outdoor furniture. A metal bench in one alcove sat surrounded by fragrant shrubs. A set of club chairs awaited beneath a flowering magnolia, and she couldn’t help but bend a branch down for a closer look and a deep whiff. She passed a wooden table with matching seats before following a winding path through a gathering of roses that gave way to impossibly tall decorative grasses. Hevva half expected some sort of wild cat to jump out at her, but she pressed through.
Using her magic to part the fanning grasses, she came upon a cozy sitting area plopped down in the center of an artful ode to the savanna. A long sofa stretched out ahead, greeting her with its high back as it faced two matching tan upholstered wingback chairs.
Approaching the seating, Lady Hevva looked up at the stunning ceiling and rested her hands upon the sofa back. It was getting unbearably hot in the solarium as the summer sun rose higher into the sky—a bit too similar to the Elk & Heron ablaze. But she’d come back in the evening to explore further.
A whisper of movement down and to her left drew Hevva’s attention. What she’d thought was an intricate sand-colored carving on one of the sofa’s arms shifted an inch, and she screamed.
Firm hands grasped her forearms and yanked her forward. She was bent forcibly over the back of the sofa, knocking the wind from her with an “Oomph!” She catapulted over the seat. Fabric tore. Her bottom and legs rushed up into the air and her head came down onto something firm.
“Oh! Ah! Oh!” a low voice, a man, intoned.
She shrieked as her legs completed their rotation, and she found herself upright again. This time she was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the sofa from where she’d been a moment before. One huge hairy arm braced across her chest and another grasped onto her shoulder. “Unhand me!” Hevva tore at the strange grip and wriggled away. Her dress had been hiked up and tangled around her legs as she scooted across the floor.
“Unhand you? Don’t sneak up on a man while he’s sleeping,” the voice behind her rumbled, familiar.
With a little burst of magic, she lifted her feet and spun her bottom on the stone, or spun the stone under her bottom. Either way, her dress was already dirty from the fall.
Her mouth parted into a little O as she came face to face with the king himself.
He moved into a sitting position as Hevva straightened her skirts and pushed herself to stand. She rejected the king’s offered hand. “I am perfectly capable, thank you very much.”
His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Really? Even after last night?”
She humphed and smoothed her dress.
“Are you all right?” He gestured with one of his enormous hands at the general area in which he’d flipped her over the sofa.
“Quite.” A nice common man. No nobles.
“Have a seat.” He nodded to the two chairs behind her.
Gingerly, she backed up a few paces and plopped down into a chair. It was fine, really, she’d come down slightly hard on her tailbone, and it just throbbed a bit. “I’m surpris—”
The king whipped out a small bell from thin air and gave it a loud jingle before it vanished with a pop . “Sorry, hungry. Did you make it to breakfast?”
“I did not.” She narrowed her eyes before continuing, “I’m surprised to find you home when all of your other guests have gone down to the symposium.”
“Ah.” He leaned back before languidly stretching out one muscular arm along the ridge of the sofa back as he crossed his legs at the knee. Dressed casually, he wore a loose linen shirt, no cravat, and finely made, though simple, suede trousers. There wasn’t a pair of shoes or boots in sight, and the strange monarch had his sleeves rolled up above the elbows, looking more like a fieldworker than a king.
For some unsettling reason she imagined snuggling in beside him, there, beneath his big arm, nestled against his chest. Snorting, she shoved away the image.
“I, too, was under the impression that all of my unexpected guests had returned to the city.”
She glowered at him. How rude. He’s just like other titled men. Pompous. Arrogant. Disarmingly handsome. Nope. No. Not that last one. “Well, so sorry to have rained on your parade. I’m surprised to find you lying about.” She eyed the spot where he’d been stretched out, asleep, moments before. “Don’t you have work to do? You are the king, after all.”
He scoffed. “Quite a lot in fact. But I am nothing if not a gracious host. Ah, there’s our meal now.” He tilted his head at her knowingly as a servant pushed through the intentionally overgrown grasses and into the small sitting area.
A tray heaped with fruits and cheeses along with a pitcher of iced lemonade were set out on a folding table before them.
“It’s a bit warm in here, do you agree?”
Why the king was asking her opinion, she wasn’t sure. But always happy to provide it, she nodded. It was oppressively hot and terribly scary, considering the night before.
“Open the vents,” the king commanded the servant, who scurried away.
“Well then, why are you in here, sleeping the day away?”
“I’m sorry?” He popped a piece of cheese into his mouth and eyed her curiously.
“You said you have a lot of work to get done.” Hevva shrugged saucily, bending forward over the low table to take up the pitcher and pour a glassful for each of them. Then, she leaned across to hand him his drink.
He growled, a low sound that reverberated through her and, for some odd reason, had her clenching her thighs. “Is there something wrong with your memory? Have you forgotten to recall the disastrous fire from...” He feigned looking at a pocket watch that he wasn’t carrying. “Less than eight hours ago? The one during which you insisted on putting your life in peril?”
With a sip she replied, “No.” A whispering breeze swept through the room coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. The staff had opened the vents, and someone was moving air with their magic to quench the sweltering heat. Feeling moderately relaxed, she settled her braid over her shoulder so the air could reach the back of her neck.
“Speaking of, what were you planning to do if I hadn’t shown up when I did?”
She sucked her teeth. Hevva set to selecting a smattering of fruits and her favorite types of cheese, the sharp ones, plucking them one by one and placing them daintily on a small plate. Finally, she sat back with unhurried languor and began to peruse the assorted bites.
The king growled again. Clearly, she wasn’t going to get off the hook without replying to his question.
“Thank you,” Hevva ground out, not wanting to admit she wasn't sure. She supposed she could have jumped. She couldn't have lifted the earth or produced stairs at that point, as drained as she'd been.
“For?” he prodded.
She balled her skirts in her free hand. “Thank you. For helping me. At the very tail end of rescuing the children from the fire at the inn. At which point I didn’t really need assistance anyway.”
The king’s face contorted as he attempted to bite back a smile but failed, and a grin burst free.
Hevva almost smiled back, almost . She softened for a moment, then concern ruffled her features when she remembered the poor terrified babies. Pausing with a grape halfway to her mouth, she asked, “How are they? The children. They are staying here, right?”
“They are. That’s why I’m here in fact. Didn’t want to leave them alone.”
“Don’t trust your guests enough to leave them alone?” She couldn’t resist making the sharp remark.
His eyes flashed as he chewed on a piece of melon. “I can see you’re dead set on believing the worst of me. Bet you’re glad I repealed those sedition laws, huh?”
“What are you going to do, now that you can’t imprison me? Shout at me?” She shrugged a shoulder, and it was the king’s turn to suck his teeth, though his lips quivered with mirth.
“You know, I don’t owe you any sort of explanation. I’m the king.”
“I know.” She sipped her lemonade and awaited his explanation.
He huffed. “I figured the children would be shaken up after their horrible night. Their parents are busy running the inn and having them here was the least I could do to help.”
“Smart.” Thoughtful.
“How do you feel after last night?”
“I’m quite well. Coughed a bit, but I’m fine now.”
“How do you feel after last night?”
“You already asked me that.”
“Different emphasis.” He sipped his drink.
“I feel fine.” Were those vents not open, she may have had to beg off their impromptu meeting, but with air flowing freely, she was all right.
“You’re fine ? You rushed into a burning building, multiple times—and you’re not a watercourser. You literally saved lives, putting yours on the line in the process, and you’re fine ?”
She shrugged.
The king considered her face for a moment, gaze dropping from her eyes to her mouth and back up again. “I’m not fine.”
“Oh?” Her heart pattered the weirdest jig at his words. So open.
“I thought the fucking sun had risen, only to learn the inn was ablaze. I was consumed with fear that there would be casualties and couldn’t sleep a wink until after the sun was actually up. Why do you think I awoke in such a frenzy and flipped you over, Lady Hevva? Because I’m not fine. I’m quite shaken up, in fact.” He cocked a brow and tilted his head to the side in a silent, “Your turn.”
“I let my feelings out straight away with a good cry right there in the yard. Did you not see me?”
“I did.”
When he said nothing else, she continued, “I did not sleep much either. When I did, I dreamt the stairs burned away before I could reach them, and my power ran dry, so I couldn’t make my way to the upper floor. I dreamt of the screaming children.”
“I am sorry, Lady Hevva.” The genuine nature of the statement, the softness in his green eyes, shocked her.
“I don’t feel quite right staying here all day.”
“You’d like to go to the symposium?”
“No. I’m wondering if I can’t be of help at the inn.”
“You cannot.”
She eyed him incredulously.
“There’s nothing to be done.”
“You have to help them!”
“I sent a band of staff down to clean the debris last night. They traded out with fresh mages at dawn who went down to finish the job. I arranged the construction repairs as well. And I remained at the hall today specifically to spend time with those children. These are my people. Of course I have helped them.”
“Oh,” Hevva murmured, taken aback. The revelation struck a chord, fizzling away some of the resentment she held toward him. These are not the actions of a power-hungry king.
They reached for the same strawberry at the same time, but the king gave up his claim. Hevva popped it into her mouth and bit into it boastfully. I win. A bit of juice dribbled down her bottom lip and her tongue darted out to catch it.
He stared at her.
She stared at him. It was a negotiation tactic she’d learned from her father. “Never show your discomfort in uncomfortable silence,” the duke’s words rolled through her mind.
The king topped up his lemonade and took a lengthy sip. “Now, as you’ve brought up so many times, I do have work to do.” He didn’t stand, merely looked at her pointedly.
Hevva realized she was being dismissed. She held back a petulant huff. Instead, she finished the last of her drink, helped herself to one final bite of cheese, then spun to walk away.
“Countess?”
Hevva decided to pretend she hadn’t heard him as she let her magic loudly swish the decorative reeds.
“Lady Hevva.”
Again, she ignored him.
“Hevva! Stop,” he all but shouted.
She froze. The command in his voice turned her back around, just as she did not want to do. “Yes, Your Majesty?” Lady Hevva asked demurely, as if she hadn’t been actively ignoring him.
He pushed through the barrier of grasses that grew between them and stared at her with the strangest look on his face. “I think it would be best if I escort you to your chamber.”
She popped a hip. “And why is that?”
His eyes sparkled, and she had the most horrible suspicion this was about to become an “I told you so” sort of moment.
“Well, my lady, it appears as though your gown has split clean down the back.”
Hevva’s mouth dropped open as heat flooded her already warm face. A pat of her hands against her rear confirmed the king was telling the truth, though why he might lie about something so outrageous to begin with, she wasn’t sure. How had she not felt this? She thanked the gods her silken shift hadn’t been damaged too, or she’d be giving him quite the show.
“Oh my,” she breathed, feeling contrite.
He waggled his brow, and she couldn’t help but give the man a playful shove on the shoulder.
“Turn around.”
“Why? Want another look?”
“Yes.”
She sputtered .
“ And I’ll use my magic to make a temporary panel.”
She narrowed her eyes at him before acquiescing. A feeling like a fizzle of static prickled down her back, over her bottom, and down to her ankles as the king worked.
“All right,” he announced eventually. “It’s not perfect but will get you upstairs.”
She ran her hands over the swell of her own arse where a makeshift panel of linen melded in with the torn edges of the real dress. He sucked in a breath. A glance over her shoulder showed that King Hethtar had matched the shade to perfection, and that he was presently eyeing his handiwork.
“Do you mind?” She raised a brow.
His eyes, a deep forest green, swung up to meet her own. “Not at all. You’re very welcome.”
She groaned.
A little smile played across his face as he offered his arm, which she accepted with an eyeroll. “I’ll escort you to your rooms and then perhaps, if you’re interested, we could visit the children?”
She looked at him from the corner of her eye, certain he was teasing. Had he really figured out one of her weak spots that easily? But the way he eyed her, almost expectantly awaiting a response, had the word “yes” sliding out of her mouth before she could pull it back in.
The king’s responding nod held an air of formal restraint that only a royal could effectively execute.
He held Hevva’s door open for her as she darted inside to change, then indicated he’d nip off to find a pair of boots and freshen up but would return shortly.
The second the door clicked shut behind her, she heard a pop and reached back to confirm that the magical illusion of her dress panel had gone away.
Curiosity got the better of her and Hevva found herself craning over her own shoulder to get a look at the back of her dress in the mirror. How bad could it really be?
Very bad. The answer was very, very bad.
The thin silken shift left very little to the imagination. She mimed walking for a moment, and nearly passed out from mortification. Each globe of her bottom was perfectly visible, bouncing independent of the other when she moved. Oh, gods, kill me now.
In frustration she tore loose the rest of the gown, sending buttons flying across her chamber.