Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
The throne room belonged to more official things, and Karai used it so sparingly that it had about it the dusty stillness of a chamber more often admired than inhabited.
The throne itself sat at the far end of the room on a low rise and looked exactly like a burrow court throne ought to look – rich without apology.
Gemstones of every color were set through the back and arms in pockets of gold and silver and copper, all worked together with more confidence than restraint.
The cushion was fine silk, visibly padded, made for comfort under the weight of authority.
Ina stood looking at it and decided that she did not want it.
Not because it was ugly. It was magnificent in its way. But it was Karai’s chair, however rarely he sat in it, and she had no wish to install herself there for this purpose.
She looked back toward the open doors just as another page hurried by. Ina beckoned him close and whispered her request.
His eyes widened. Then he grinned despite himself, nodded hard, and disappeared.
A few minutes later he returned with three of his fellows, all four of them staggering under the burden of three leather chairs borrowed from the library, even with magic to aid them.
They were good chairs, deep and comfortable and worn enough to be loved rather than merely expensive.
The library would not miss them. It had twenty others much like them.
They set the chairs in a line before the throne.
Ina took the middle seat.
She had only just settled into it, comfortably, without any hint of struggle, when Karai came in.
He stopped in the doorway. His gaze went first to her, which she noticed and enjoyed, then to the three chairs where a throne ought to have been enough.
His expression shifted almost visibly between instinctive disapproval at the disruption of proper order and tradition, and a quieter amusement that won in the end.
Ina smiled at him.
And was struck anew, as she always was when she let herself really look, by how beautiful he was.
From the moment she had first seen him, she had thought him the most handsome fairy man she had ever known, and time had not altered the fact.
The robe he wore now only enhanced it. Black, worked with intricate silver designs that caught at the light without looking gaudy.
His silver crown, set with dark gemstones, pulled the jet-black waves of his hair back enough to clear his face.
His indigo eyes, always arresting, twinkled brightly enough to rival every star in the night sky.
He came farther in and said, dryly, “You made improvements.”
Before she could answer, Derran came in behind him.
He stopped dead, staring at the chairs.
Then he laughed.
Long and loud and with such honest delight that Ina could not help laughing too, her smile going broad enough to show her teeth. It was impossible not to answer Derran’s laughter when it came from the right place. He made joy feel like a practical skill.
She noticed his beauty too, because one did not have the sky court prince walk into a room in full formal dress and fail to notice it.
His robe was light blue, worked with gold thread in intricate sun-bright patterns that threw light up toward his face and made his eyes seem bluer still.
His crown was simpler than Karai’s, only gold, but it was fine work, layered and cut with a golden sun rising at its center.
It framed his yellow hair like a halo, brightening him so radiantly Ina might have called him a sun too.
When his laughter had gentled enough for speech, he said, “I rather like the look of royal comfort.”
“I thought we might need it before the journey ahead,” Ina said.
That turned both their attentions back to her in a more serious way. Questions began to form, but she held up a hand.
“I’ll explain in due time. Sit.”
Karai took the chair at her right. Derran took the one at her left, still smiling faintly. The arrangement pleased her more than it ought to have. It made the room feel less like court and more like something she might build for herself if left entirely alone with her own preferences.
By the time the cooks and household servants and pages began filing in, the three chairs had already made their point.
There was a murmur at first, then a settling. Curiosity. Surprise. A little amusement quickly hidden. Ina let them all arrive before she spoke.
Then, with as much gentle command as she could gather, she explained.
Not every detail. Not Zuri. Not knives and false princesses and hearts in diamonds. Only what mattered for this purpose. The cavern. The snakes. The bargain she had made in order to pass. The promise to return with food within three days.
There were a few expressions of mild surprise, though none of them looked truly shocked that this queen in particular had somehow ended up negotiating terms with a pit of giant snakes.
By now, Ina suspected, people had begun to accept that her rule would involve a slightly higher number of impossible conversations than tradition strictly recommended.
When she finished, she said, “So I ask you all now to make your best dishes for them. Show them that they don’t need the meat of animals or fairies. Show them they can satisfy their hunger and enjoy their meals without blood. I promised them food this once, and we will send them a feast.
If they are pleased, I’d like us to keep sending meals after that. It cannot hurt to have these creatures answer to us rather than fight against us.”
That won a murmur of general agreement. Not enthusiasm, exactly, but the strong practical approval of people who understood both kitchens and diplomacy well enough to see the use in feeding a possible enemy into being a possible ally.
The room began to move at once. Cooks whispering to one another. Servants already listing what stores could be gathered quickly. Pages waiting to be told what to carry and where.
Ina glanced sideways at the two princes and found both of them looking impressed despite themselves. That pleased her immensely.
She turned first to Derran and had only just started, “Will you – ”
He interrupted with a nod. “Pastries? Absolutely.”
Ina giggled.
He stood, took her hand, and kissed it once, then a second time for emphasis. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
Then he was gone, already heading for the sky court and its kitchens, no doubt to bully his cooks into producing hundreds of the sweet cloudberry pastries and honey crisps she loved best. If the snakes could be won over by pastry, Derran clearly intended to take no chances on moderation.
Now she looked at Karai.
“Transport will be a feat,” she said. “Any ideas?”
He rose more slowly, already thinking. “A few.”
He too bent and kissed her hand, though with Karai the gesture held less flourish and more quiet loyalty. “I’ll be ready in a few hours as well.”
Then he left to work out whatever complicated and effective scheme the burrow court would provide for getting a mountain of food into a monster cavern without losing half the carriers along the way.
Ina was left in the throne room with the bustle of servants around her and the three borrowed leather chairs still set before the untouched glittering throne.
She sat back in the middle one and smiled to herself, pleased with how well it had gone.