3
I woke up the next morning alone in bed, but considering how high the sun was in the sky, that wasn’t too much of a surprise.
I lay there, comfortable and loath to move, for several minutes.
Rarely in my life had I felt so at peace.
Normally, I was wary of my environment due to various conflicts in the household, as arguments were a nonstop thing between my mother and her husband, and peace was a very precious commodity.
I normally worked hard from sunup to sundown, for that matter, and lazing about in bed would have been unheard of.
Lying here, tempting as it was, didn’t give me any answers.
The urge to create my own place in this land, so different from my own, eventually forced me out of the cocoon of blankets.
I rose, and I swear, the second I was up maids appeared from nowhere.
They were all nice, introduced themselves and everything, but I was very quickly hustled into a side bathroom where I was shaved, given a haircut, wounds treated, and generally cleaned up.
Mack had been right: The maids didn’t really understand what ‘no’ meant, but it was hard to argue with them when they were trying to help.
An hour after rising, I was dressed in loose, sky blue robes that belted at the waist—apparently the standard outfit in this place—and I truly liked the color, it was beautiful, but it also rather rang alarm bells.
Blue was the color of royalty.
That was standard for anywhere in this world.
It was part of why my king—former king?—so desperately wanted trade rights with Tennoa.
They had not one, but two sources of blue dye.
One was lapis lazuli, a highly rare gem in Orleansa, but apparently Tennoa boasted several hearty mines of it over here.
They’d also figured out how to somehow make what they called cobalt blue, a rare and rich color artisans around the world desperately wanted their hands on.
In some places, just getting a shipment of cobalt blue dye took three years.
Frankly, no other country in the world could supply blue on demand except the Tennoans.
And this crazy teddy bear of a man had put me in clothing my own king couldn’t readily lay hands on.
I was…speechless.
I heard the scuff of a foot near the door and turned.
Prince Donovan stood framed just in the bedroom doorway, in pure black robes with a thick brown belt, a sword hanging off of it, and sandals.
His eyes raked me from head to toe, his lines sparking with approval, interest, and the sexual desire that never seemed to ever wane.
He mostly looked relieved, though, interestingly enough? Had I been worrying him?
“You look stunning in blue,” Prince Donovan said approvingly, coming in closer. “I knew it would be the right color on you.”
“You just put me in a prince’s outfit,” I accused him, although I smiled to show I wasn’t upset, just absolutely flabbergasted.
Prince Donovan wasn’t even remotely apologetic. “I did. I won’t pretend otherwise. Now, come, we’ve multiple things to do today.”
Truly, I was relieved, as I didn’t know where to start. I accepted the hand he offered me, and wasn’t surprised when he chose to hold hands with me. He was not subtle, not at all.
“To start, every person who was brought here unwillingly has been given options. Everyone chose to stay. They are going to start either with vocational training, or they’re being matched with other psychics.
Mostly so they can learn more about their own abilities, and how they can use them in this society.
Sadly, we don’t know of a Reader with eyes like yours, so I can’t easily put you with a mentor. ”
“You have a registry with all of the psychics, then?”
“We do. Mainly so we can lay hands on an expert when we need one, but also because anyone who is psychic works for the community, so they’re on payroll.”
“Oh, makes sense.” I pointed to myself, stealing a glance up at him, even though I was mostly paying attention to hallways. It would behoove me to learn the palace layout since apparently I’d live here. At least for now. “So, um, I’ll be hired as well?”
“That’s one of the first things we’ll do this morning.” Prince Donovan looked warmly at me, gaze full of pure adoration, which went straight to my ego. “We’ll register you so that you may have your own status in society, your own money. It does mean registering you as a citizen as well.”
“That’s perfectly fine with me.” Better to be a citizen here anyway—this country was much nicer.
“Then, of course, the council wants to meet with you. You’re the last psychic to meet them, in fact, and they’ve got more than a few questions for you.”
“I’m sure they do.” Hopefully I could supply answers they’d like to hear. Otherwise that’d be problematic very quickly.
The palace was very large—sprawling might be the better way to put it—with multiple courtyards and fountains.
It felt cool and refreshing as we walked through them, and it wasn’t until we’d reached the very front of the building that I realized it wasn’t so much a place to live as it was to conduct business.
Which made me wonder in turn where Prince Donovan’s house was, or did he live here?
I saw the influence of both in his lines.
Perhaps he had a more permanent home and treated this more like a working apartment? Ah, yes, that made sense of the lines.
“Jon?”
I blinked up at him, a little startled. “I’m sorry, did I miss something?”
“We’re here,” he informed me, amused. But also a little worried; I could see flashes like a pulse. “Do you normally get distracted like that?”
“Er…I try not to?” It was an honest answer, at least.
Dismay swamped him for a moment. “That’s dangerous, though.”
“Trust me, I know. There’s a reason why my shins are covered in bruises. I walk into things a lot.”
He didn’t like that answer either, even though I was partially joking, and gave a heavy sigh. “Registration first, for sure.”
Well, he’d figure it out soon enough. The only real danger happened when I opened my mouth.
The registration office was indeed right there, and in fact seemed to be two buildings, both of them flanking the outside of the palace’s gates. I saw many people roaming around, either casually chatting, or clearly there on business. Most of them wore blue?
Holy shit, they were all psychics of some level or type.
Even as we breached the doorway, I frantically whispered to Donovan, “Is it standard for psychics to wear blue?”
“Of course,” he answered in a low tone, the arm around my waist guiding me towards the left.
“For two reasons. One, you’re highly ranked, of course you can afford to wear blue.
For another, wearing it gives other people a…
how to put this…a trust? You must be highly ranked, you must have psychic ability or leadership, if you’re wearing blue.
So if something happens in public and someone needs help, they know a person wearing blue is the right place to start. ”
“Oh, so I’m like a first responder?”
“That’s not the wrong way to put it, as you are, although that’s not your main function.”
A woman of average height with soft blonde hair and pale skin approached me, all smiles.
She seemed average enough except she was somehow energetically tied to the woman next to her, a brunette with similar—oh, they were sisters!
The brunette had a sort of reading ability, although very different from mine, as she seemed to use tools to focus her craft?
The brunette came right up to me, staring at me with a sort of wonder. “My god, are you like this all the time?”
“Sorry.” I winced a little and gave a shrug. “I am.”
Prince Donovan stirred at my side. “What’s this?”
“His energy is insane.” The brunette answered without taking eyes off me. “It’s like he’s a raging bonfire walking around. You must be incredibly powerful. A Reader, am I right?”
I gave a hesitant nod. “Right. I can see you’re uncomfortable. Should I leave—”
She threw up a hand to stop me. “You’re a bit intense, but I can manage. You’re here to register, clearly, as Prince Donovan brought you. I’m Carol, this is my sister and anchor, Sharon.”
“Hello, I’m Jon.”
“Come, Jon, come sit at my desk.”
Her desk was quite nice, in fact, and mostly open. There was a map on it, then two trays that lined either side with a variety of gems, crystals, decks of cards, and other things I couldn’t readily discern at a glance.
Sharon had a very large and well-used book in hand, and she flipped to a new page as I watched, settling down at a flanking desk so she could write comfortably.
Really, as large as the room was, it only had enough space for those two desks, chairs for visitors, and a sideboard that held plates of fruits and decanters of water and tea.
Well, that and the shelving unit and dresser that took up the entire right wall. It was crammed to the gills too.
Prince Donovan took up a spot near the door, standing well out of the way, and simply watched as Carol did several readings on me.
I could see her ability interact as she used it and almost tried to be helpful, but then realized I probably shouldn’t.
I already made her energetically uncomfortable as it was.
After three readings, she sat back with a huff, little dots of sweat on her forehead. Then she lifted her head and spoke to Prince Donovan directly. “Descendant.”
Prince Donovan let out a low whistle, and I thought he actually stumbled in place for a second, his shock was so great.
I, of course, had no idea what she meant by that. “I’m sorry?”