Chapter Forty Riela
Chapter Forty
Riela
We reappeared in a massive library, at least three times as large as the one in the castle in Edea and even more beautiful.
Enormous stone shelves inlaid with silver looked like they had grown directly from the floor, and the decorative carvings
on the stone walls were covered with silver and gems so the whole room sparkled in the glowing magical light.
Garrick squeezed my hand. His magic had yet to fully settle, and it roiled in a moonlit cloud around us. I slanted a fondly
exasperated glance at him. “You know Vastien was just trying to rile you, right? You played right into his hands.”
“I know,” he admitted gruffly. Then a grin broke across his face, chasing away the last of his annoyance. “But I still wanted
to see your face when you saw the library for the first time. The court has survived this long without me. Another few minutes
won’t matter.”
I looked back at the towering library. The balconies above were wide enough for additional wooden shelves that sat perpendicular
to the walls, quadrupling the storage capacity. Everything was wood and stone and intricate, detailed carving. It was breathtakingly
beautiful.
I moved closer to the nearest shelf. The neatly packed books were bound in leather, their spines stamped with gilded titles
in a looping script I couldn’t read. In Edea, Garrick had been individually translating books for me, but I needed a different
solution since he was planning to spend the day with his court. “Will a translation charm work on text as well?”
“A good one will, though it will probably give you a headache if you try to read too much.”
Someone emerged from the stacks carrying a thick book, and after a moment, I recognized Noble Taima. They were wearing a bright, sky-blue tunic and had a pair of delicate silver spectacles balancing on their nose.
They saw us and bowed slightly while snatching the glasses away. “Your Highness, Lady Riela.”
“Taima, you know I’ve seen you with your spectacles countless times,” Garrick said, amusement threading his voice. He grinned
at me. “They like to pretend it’s a secret, but it’s the worst kept secret in the castle.”
Noble Taima sniffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Stoneguard.”
“I thought the spectacles looked nice,” I offered, then quickly added, “I mean, they would’ve looked nice, if they existed. Which they don’t, obviously.”
Taima grinned at me. “I like her. Make sure you keep her happy, hmm?”
“I plan to,” Garrick murmured.
Taima nodded, then bowed again before moving around us toward the exit. Once they were out of sight, Garrick softly said,
“Taima was ancient when I was a child. They are one of the few people in the court who might have a chance at challenging
me and winning, but they have no interest in the crown, just the library.”
I blinked at him. Taima hadn’t looked ancient. There had been a certain weight in their gaze, but they’d barely had any wrinkles. If they were human, I’d guess
they were maybe forty or fifty. What would it be like to live so long? I looked at the library again. Had they read every
book?
Could they point me to the best ones?
Garrick urged me forward, until we were surrounded by the smell of leather and paper. I took a deep breath and blew it out
with a happy sigh. The room was filled with the soft sound of pages rustling, which meant there had to be several people nearby,
but they were hidden by the shelves and balconies.
I was lost in admiring the delicate silver inlay in the nearest shelf when Garrick stiffened beside me.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” an unfamiliar masculine voice asked.
I hummed in agreement and glanced up only to be frozen in place by eyes that were the startling blue of a glacial river, set
against a familiar backdrop of silvery blue skin and dark blue hair.
Lord Mar had a face that would make Saint Pima—the saint of beauty—weep with adoration. His eyes alone were a work of art,
but paired with sharp cheekbones, a straight nose, and a chiseled jaw, he was almost uncannily handsome. I stared at him.
I couldn’t help it. It was like looking at a masterpiece—I might not want it for myself, but I could acknowledge that it was
stunning.
After I managed to drag my gaze away from his face, I saw he was wearing a long formal robe that fell to the ground in shimmering
sapphire waves. It looked exactly like something a fairy-tale mage would wear—and extremely comfortable, too. I wondered if
my closet would make me something similar if I asked nicely.
Mar smiled and bowed with an elegant flourish. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Lord Mar, the diplomatic envoy from the Sapphire
Court.” He nodded at Garrick almost as an afterthought, and it was so smoothly done, I wasn’t sure if the slight was intentional
or not. “King Stoneguard.”
“Mar,” Garrick replied, his voice a dangerous rumble.
“I’m Riela,” I said before Garrick could send him away.
“Lady Riela,” Garrick corrected with icy authority.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Riela,” Mar murmured, his voice an intimate caress that sent a tiny shiver dancing over
my skin. “It’s always a delight to find a mage with sapphire magic when visiting a foreign court.”
I very carefully did not look at Garrick. “My magic has only recently manifested, my lord. Perhaps, since we share the same
type of magic, you would be willing to point me to any books you found particularly helpful when you were learning to control
your own power?”
Garrick’s hand tightened on my arm. He had warned me not to make any bargains, but this was a simple request posed as a question. Surely that couldn’t get me into trouble, could it?
Mar’s gaze sharpened in interest, and he studied my face more carefully. I would bet all of my nonexistent money that a cunning
mind hid behind his dazzling beauty. “How long ago did your magic manifest?”
“We are expected elsewhere,” Garrick abruptly interrupted. “Please excuse us.”
“A moment,” Mar requested. His magic flashed, then he held out a blue dahlia that was perfectly in bloom, every petal flawless.
Garrick’s magic rose in warning, but he didn’t stop me from taking the flower from Mar’s hand. Up close, it was even more
beautiful, and I gasped in delight. Lord Mar grinned. “Have tea with me later, and I will answer all of your questions about
magic.”
Garrick tried to guide me away, but I planted my feet and eyed Mar warily. “What do you want in return?”
He bowed with a hand to his chest and a smile so devastatingly charming it made my stomach clench. “Merely the pleasure of
your company, my lady.”
I blinked away the dangerous lure of his smile and held up the flower. “I didn’t think the Sapphire Court could create plants
with magic.”
“We can’t. Come to tea, and I will explain how I did it. Bring the flower.” With that, he winked at me, nodded to Garrick,
and then vanished around the end of the shelf as quickly as he’d appeared.
Garrick’s magic rose and swept over the flower—and me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked softly.
“Not here,” he growled. He turned and pulled me along beside him, his steps quick with either impatience or temper. He guided
me to a small alcove with stone shelves built into the three inner walls. It wasn’t a very wide space, and he tugged me closer,
until we were completely hidden.
Even though I was worried, my pulse picked up at his nearness, but I firmly reminded myself that he hadn’t talked to Bria yet.
There would be absolutely no kissing, no matter how perfect the locale.
Garrick’s expression softened for a moment, then his gaze shifted to the flower in my hand, and his jaw clenched. He silently
turned and pressed on the wall of shelves at the back of the alcove. It swung open with a pulse of magic, revealing another
room.
Delight sparkled through me. A secret room. I crossed the threshold with Garrick and magic prickled over my skin. The secret
door wasn’t the only thing guarding this room.
Magical lights glowed, revealing a space that was tall and narrow—and absolutely filled with books, scrolls, and other artifacts. The entire room hummed with magic and I shivered. “What is this?” I whispered.
“Welcome to the Silver Court’s restricted library. Only Silver Court sovereigns and their most trusted advisers are allowed
inside. And none of the books or artifacts may leave this room. Grim, Bria, or I will need to escort you in and out until
I can modify the protections to allow you entrance.”
The simple statement shouldn’t have felt like a gift, since Garrick or Vastien would have to escort me anyway, at least until
we fixed the door, but it did. Warmth blossomed in my chest, and I beamed up at him.
Garrick stilled and ran his fingertips over my jaw. “You are pleased.”
“I’m in a secret library. Of course I’m pleased. But you’re not. Why are you angry with me?”
His hand fell away from my face as his body went taut with tension. His voice came out deep and rough, and he scowled at the
flower Lord Mar had given me. “You shouldn’t accept gifts from strangers.”
“Why not? It’s beautiful, and he didn’t ask for anything in return.”
“It could’ve been poisoned or cursed or otherwise deadly.”
I considered that for a moment, then tipped my head to the side. “Was it?”
Garrick’s jaw tightened. “No.”
“So it’s just a pretty flower, exactly as I assumed?”
“This time,” he growled. He glared at me, as if he could make me accept his next words with the power of his gaze alone. “You
are not meeting him for tea.”
I straightened and lifted my chin, glaring right back. It seemed like we were going to have that fight after all. “I am.”
“Mar is dangerous.”
“So are you. So is Vastien. So is nearly everyone in Lohka. If I’m going to protect myself, I need to know how to use my magic.
Mar’s magic is the closest to my own. Maybe he’ll be able to teach me how to control my power.”
“And what will you give him in return?”
“He only asked for my company.”
Garrick barked out a harsh laugh. “I doubt that’s all he wants.”
“Maybe, but it’s what he agreed to,” I replied with a shrug. “Perhaps he decided to help me because he finds it amusing.”
“He finds it something,” Garrick muttered darkly.
“I will take Vastien with me for protection—and because I have to—but I’m going.”
Garrick’s expression hardened into implacable lines. “I forbid it.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “You forbid it?” My temper rose, but I held on to it—barely. “I would reconsider that stance if I were you,” I warned quietly. “Only one of us can open the door, and it’s not you. I
will go alone if I have to, but I would rather not.”
He crowded into my space until we were nose to nose, and moonlit magic roared around us. “Try it, Riela. See what happens.”
My temper broke free. “Don’t you have a court to cosset, Your Highness?” I snapped, furious. “You take care of your problems,
and I’ll take care of mine.”
“Your problems are my problems,” he snarled.
I flinched. Surely he hadn’t meant that the way it’d sounded.
But he continued, angry and oblivious to the wound he’d just inflicted. “I vowed to protect you, but I can’t very well do that when you naively agree to sit down and have tea with danger itself!”
I swallowed the hurt and the furious need to defend myself, blinking to ensure my eyes stayed dry. Neither of us was in a
good place to continue this conversation. I took a step back, conceding the ground but not the point. “I would like to return
to Vastien now, please.”
Garrick’s magic disappeared from the air and a stony mask settled on his features like a door slamming closed. The Silver
King stared down at me, as cold and distant as the Protectress herself.
He turned and led me deeper into the room without a single word.