Chapter 3 Audryn
AUDRYN
Ihesitantly stepped inside; the entryway was massive.
Onyx jewels dripped from the chandelier, which perfectly complemented the black iron handrails of the staircase.
White marble walls with sprawling gray veins and silver flecks glittered in the candlelight.
I rubbed my hand across the cold, smooth surface as Grave disappeared into the distance.
“Come on.” Amalee motioned forward. “We’re late.” She continued on, boots clacking against the gray stone floor.
Fisher and I looked at one another before following her down the hall at a quick pace. Sporadic sconces with candles lit the area and flickered shadows across the walls. An occasional tapestry hung from an embedded hook, various themes depicted in each wall hanging.
One tapestry held the starry night sky, a full moon up high, and cliffs below.
Shades of black, silver, and white colored the woven fabric with striking contrast. Another had navy waves crashing against a dark, rocky cliff, while one more was abstract with trees, roots, and land.
Where Sutton Castle consistently held an ocean theme throughout, Grant Castle valued diversity.
Amalee held the door open and snapped at Fisher, “Hurry up. It’s bad enough I had to sit with you, but now I have to wait for you too?”
Fisher grumbled, grabbed the door, and held it open for me.
In the modest room, a single rectangular table stood with only six chairs around it. The table was crafted of wenge wood, primarily colored deep brown with black lines outstretched. The edges were smooth but followed a natural line that wasn’t quite straight.
“Audryn.” Grave’s voice drew my attention. He extended his hand to the woman sitting at the head of the table. “This is my mother, Athela.” She rose, and her welcoming amber eyes landed on me.
“Nice to meet you.” I offered a smile she returned, the skin around her almond eyes crinkling. Her features were softer than the sharp lines of Amalee and Grave.
“Please sit. I expected my son earlier this evening,” she said, shooting a look in his direction, “but I suppose I’ll excuse the tardiness and be glad for the visit.
Though, I hadn’t realized you were still away until I received the messenger hawk this morning.
And I hadn’t known to expect more than the three of you. ”
I looked around the table. “Visit?”
Amalee took the seat on her mother’s left while Grave took the seat on her right. He pulled out the chair next to him and gestured to me, but I walked around and sat next to his sister instead. Fisher took my intended seat, looking no happier about the arrangement than the king.
“Oh yes, only a visit. These days, my son is too busy to see his mother often,” Athela joked and pushed a rogue thick strand of chocolate hair behind her pointed ear. “What time did you get in?”
“We came straight here.” Amalee’s eyes widened as two attendants carried plates in their arms. “If I had to go another minute with my stomach in shambles, I might’ve found the nearest piece of flesh to bite into.
” She grinned at Fisher, her diamond teeth flickering against the candlelight.
The guard sneered, which she met with a chuckle.
Plates were placed in front of us, and I immediately sighed at what stared back.
Three purple roasted heirloom carrots, a scoop of rice, a minuscule serving of what looked to be beef—though I’d find out for sure after I’d eaten the two bites worth.
And to my disappointment, half a fillet of fish completed the meal.
Even a thousand miles away, I couldn’t escape the salty creature from haunting me.
“It seems my children forgot their manners and failed to introduce you,” Athela directed her attention to Fisher.
“Fisher, ma’am.” The guard dipped his chin.
She waved a hand. “We use first names around here, call me Athela.”
Grave stabbed his beef and forked it onto my plate before plucking my fish away. His mother and I eyed him.
“Would you rather have the fish?” His brow rose.
“I didn’t say that.” I blew out a breath. “But don’t you want your beef?” Not risking the juices from the fish touching it, I pulled the meat to the side of the plate.
“It’s venison, and I’m fine. Eat.” Grave poured wine into his mother’s glass before filling Amalee’s. He gestured to my cup, and I nodded. Carefully, he filled mine and then his own before setting the bottle next to Fisher’s plate.
Athela placed her portion of meat onto Grave’s plate and motioned her fork in my direction. He looked at his mother, but she narrowed her eyes at him and flicked her chin at me. He did as instructed and brought the portion to my dish.
“You don’t have to.” I gestured with a timid hand. “If I want more, I’ll ask.”
“You have only half a dozen bites there, take them, please.” Athela cut into her fillet. “Our resources are limited, and we have learned to adjust to the needs of those around us. There’s no need for you to walk away with a hungry belly.”
I looked over the bare table, realizing the absence of overflowing food-filled dishes. I’d assumed the meal was pre-plated for service rather than pre-portioned with all the food available. Fisher pushed his venison from his plate onto mine, and I put up a hand while I chewed a mouthful of rice.
“Call me selfish all you like, but I’m eating mine.” Amalee bit into a forkful of venison. “Unless you want to fight me for it.”
“Does your family eat fish?” Athela directed her question at me. “With such an accessible coast, I figured the entire kingdom consumed it as their primary source of food.”
“My parents tried to make me eat it for years—made me try all different kinds, and though some weren’t as bad as others, I just couldn’t get past the taste,” I admitted before taking another bite.
“Do you live with your parents?” Grave’s mother pressed. “Or are you on your own?”
“I live with my father in the capital.” I smiled and filled my mouth, hoping to dodge further questions.
“Until you’re married.” Grave huffed.
Athela’s eyes shot to the large ring on my finger and then to her son; he only shrugged and kept eating. “And your mother? Do you see her often?” Her thin fingers set the fork down on an already-empty plate.
Drawing in a deep breath, I contemplated just how much I wanted to share. It wasn’t hard to say she was dead; it was navigating the questions that always followed that was difficult. I hated lying, but admitting how she died would be worse.
Grave watched me for a breath and then stood. “I want to take you on a tour if you’re done eating.”
Staying would only force me into a conversation I wasn’t ready to have. Though being alone with him wasn’t ideal either.
“Just so you can get to know your surroundings.” Grave shifted on his feet.
I glanced at my plate, stuffed the last heaping forkful of rice into my still-chewing mouth, and offered his mother a tight smile. I pushed back my chair and set my cloth napkin on the table.
“No,” Fisher said, standing, “not without me.”
“If I wanted to invite you, I would have pulled out your chair, sweetie,” Grave mocked.
“I’m fine.” I placed a hand over my mouth and moved around the table. “Stay. I won’t be long.”
Grave smirked. “She’ll return in one piece.”
“Tell me about you, Fisher,” Athela started as I followed Grave through the dining room.
The corridors were unusually quiet. The number of guards wandering the halls was only a fraction of what Sutton Castle held. Each greeted me with a smile as we passed, none stopping to stand at attention as their king strode by.
Swirling silver ran across the decorative molding of the hallway ceiling, with small pops of glittering stones embedded throughout.
Several corridors shot off from the main one, some without a flame to illuminate the way.
The castle was cold, but more inviting than the sterile environment of Rivale’s.
Books sat abandoned on small side tables, narrow rugs were periodically placed on our path, and an occasional painting hung from the wall.
We passed through two doors that led into a large outdoor atrium in the middle of the castle. Dozens of potted plants sat around the courtyard. Miniature lemon trees, vines of tomatoes, and various fruits and vegetables grew in containers.
“This is where we grow our food for the castle and staff.” Grave’s mouth drew into a tight line.
“Do you not use a garden? This can’t be enough for everyone.”
He shook his head. “It’s not much, but we do what we can with what we have.”
“No flowers?”
“Limited resources.” He slid his hands into the leather pockets of his pants and scanned the room.
My hand roamed over the vines of the small raspberry bush, with nearly all the fruit plucked from its canes. I looked at the blueberry bush sitting to its right. The green leaves were vibrant, but the round fruit was nowhere to be found. Plant after plant was near bare or entirely naked.
“Why not use an outdoor garden?” I bent down and grazed my hand over a small ripe tomato.
“Our soil is inhospitable, so we import soil from Shalebridge and use containers to grow our produce.”
I turned to face him. “How do you feed your animals?”
He gazed at the sky contemplatively. “We provide what we can. There are flowerbeds where we grow grass for the animals that need it, and import fish for the others. It’s why Kuroden depends so heavily on imports.”
Carefully, I bent down and closed my eyes, reaching into the soil and placing a few drops of magic into the tomato plant. The dirt buzzed, and the vines rejoiced with delight. Dozens of tiny tomatoes bloomed.
“I wasn’t showing you because I expected you to fix them,” he breathed. “I was trying to get you away from my mother. She tends to ask a lot of questions—and, well, you looked uncomfortable.”
I looked up at him.
“We’ll be leaving soon.”
“You don’t live here?” I studied his face.
He shook his head. “I live in a townhouse in the main area of the capital.”
“But you’re the king.” My face scrunched. “Shouldn’t you be residing in the castle?”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he strode over, plucked a tomato from the vine, and plopped it into his mouth. He smiled as he glided his finger over the other blossoming red fruits.
“Where’s your father?” I stood and looked in his direction, not understanding the dynamics of his family. The book from the Sutton library had abruptly stopped soon after his parents wed. Even those details were murky and incomplete.
“Dead,” he said matter-of-factly. He stood and held my gaze.
I scanned his face but couldn’t read him. I dropped back down and dug my fingertips into the soil of the raspberries and blueberries, feeling the shrub and bramble hum. Working my way around the courtyard, I replenished the produce in dozens of pots.
“Aunts? Uncles?” If I were going to be stuck in Kuroden, I needed to know my captor.
“Somewhere in the Oras.” He shadowed me around the area. “I don’t speak with any of them and my mother was an only child.”
“You’re so open about everything.” I shifted on my feet. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Can’t always keep people at arm’s length. My family’s past is not my own, and eventually you have to learn to let people in.” He blew out a breath. “Sometimes count on them for help, even when you don’t want to.”