Chapter Forty-Three Riela
Chapter Forty-Three
Riela
Vastien stepped us to a coldly beautiful sitting room with large windows overlooking an extensive forest. The walls were covered
with a delicate silver paper and the furniture was made of pale wood and light gray cushions. Even the rug was nearly white.
If I spilled tea in here, the stain would be horrific.
We crossed the room to a table by the window, and Vastien helped me into the chair that backed to the wall. He sat next to
me, then his magic rose sharply.
A moment later, a woman in a servant’s uniform stepped out of the ether and bowed. “How may I assist?”
“Please ask Lord Mar to join Lady Riela here for tea.”
The servant nodded, then vanished.
“Isn’t it kind of rude not to give him any notice?” I asked.
“It is,” Vastien agreed. “He will come anyway.”
A pair of servants arrived with the heavily laden tray Ciacho had prepared for us and began moving the dishes to the table.
They were not even halfway done when Lord Mar sauntered into the room without knocking. His eyes narrowed on Vastien for a
moment before moving to me. A pleased smile curled over his lips when he saw the flower in my hair.
“Lady Riela, I had intended to host you,” he chided playfully, “but I will never turn down an invitation from a beautiful
woman.”
Being the center of his attention felt like basking in sunlight. If I wasn’t careful, he would burn me, but I played along,
ducking my head demurely. “Lord Mar, you are too kind.”
“Please, call me Mar. After all, we both shine with spectacular sapphire magic in this colorless world.” He gestured pointedly at the surrounding room. “There’s no need for formality between us, is there?”
“You may call me Riela,” I said rather than agreeing directly. “And this is Lord Vastien.”
Mar inclined his head to Vastien, who returned the greeting just as coldly. As the two men sized each other up, the servants
finished with the setup and departed.
I gestured to the seat across from me. “Join us, won’t you?”
Mar moved straight past the chair I’d indicated and settled into the one on my right. He grinned across the table at Vastien,
though it looked more like a challenge than a smile. He glanced at me. “Shall I pour?”
“You will touch nothing,” Vastien growled. “Riela is under the king’s protection, and I am here to ensure her safety.” If
Mar’s smile had been a challenge, Vastien’s was pure menace.
If I didn’t put a stop to this immediately, then this meeting would be miserable.
“I am starving and short-tempered,” I said lightly, but both men caught the dangerous edge in my voice. I glared at Mar. “Lord
Vastien is my friend, which is more than I can say for you.” Vastien smirked until I turned my glare on him. “I invited Lord Mar to tea. Be civil or remain silent.”
The tension was suffocating. I picked up the teapot and poured myself a cup, glad that my hands weren’t shaking too badly.
I half expected Mar to storm from the room in a fury—if not attack me directly—but after another agonizing second, he burst
into genuine laughter.
“I knew I would like you,” he said. He nodded across the table at Vastien. “Peace, my lord?”
“Peace,” Vastien agreed, though there was still a warning in his tone.
I poured them each a cup of tea. I’d survived the first hurdle.
Vastien piled food on my plate. Most of it was familiar enough—little sandwiches and pastries that could be eaten in a bite
or two—but the exact ingredients were something of a mystery.
Mar took a sip of tea and made a low, pleased sound in the back of his throat that immediately brought to mind rumpled sheets and sweaty bodies. When I shifted minutely, his expression turned equal parts knowing and inviting. “You have questions about magic.”
“I do.”
He glanced at Vastien again. “Unfortunately, I don’t share my knowledge with just anyone. If you would like me to answer questions,
I will need to ensure Lord Vastien can’t hear us.”
“Absolutely not,” Vastien growled.
“I will swear a vow that I mean Riela no harm,” Mar said. “And I will not remove her from your sight. I merely wish to keep
our conversation private.”
Vastien’s glare didn’t lessen. “Not a chance.”
“Why not?” I asked. He slashed an incredulous stare at me, but I shrugged. “If he vows not to hurt me, and he can’t take me
anywhere”—I gave him a pointed look— “then why do you need to hear our conversation?”
“Not all harm involves fists. If I can’t hear what he’s saying, then I can’t protect you.”
It was a valid concern, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from hearing what Mar had to say. “Give me your hand.” Vastien tilted
his head in question, but he held out his hand. I interlaced our fingers. “I will squeeze your fingers if he hurts me.”
He stared at me for a long moment. “Are you set on this path?”
“I am.”
He sighed, then spent the next ten minutes arguing with Mar about the exact wording of the vow not to harm. I nibbled on my
tiny sandwiches, drank my tea, and remained quiet. I’d already pushed my luck as far as I was willing to today.
Finally, Mar made his vow and Vastien squeezed my fingers. He unhooked his foot from around my ankle. “If anything happens,
and I don’t notice, let go of me.”
I nodded in understanding, then Mar’s magic rose in a sapphire wave and enclosed the two of us in a transparent bubble.
Mar gave me a slow, seductive smile that made my stomach tighten with nerves. He purred, “Now that you have me, what will you do with me?”
“Question you,” I replied drily. “How did you create the flower?”
“I grew it.” He glanced at my necklace. “Did you accept that pendant voluntarily?”
I nodded warily. “How did you grow the flower?”
A faint smile curved his lips. “The usual way, I suppose. Did Stoneguard tell you what it does?”
“So not with magic?”
He waited silently, and I rolled my eyes. “It’s a translation charm and a protection charm. It also marks me as under the
king’s protection.”
A tiny bit of his tension released, and Mar’s expression turned sly. “I didn’t say that.”
It took me a moment to realize he was answering my question about growing the flowers without magic. I turned my next question
into a statement. “You claimed the Sapphire Court couldn’t create plants with magic.”
“I did.”
He hadn’t asked me a question in response, but the urge to clench my hands in frustration was nearly irresistible. However,
if I did, then Vastien would think Mar was torturing me and do something heroic and unnecessary. I sighed. “Is our entire
conversation going to be me asking questions and you avoiding answering them?”
“Tell me about your mother.”
I flinched at the abrupt subject change, and Vastien squeezed my hand in question. I shook my head at him.
Mar was watching me with unsettling intensity. I stared back. “My mother is dead.”
He hummed an acknowledgment but didn’t bother trying to comfort me.
“Etheri of the Sapphire Court may not be able to coax a plant from the ether like some other courts, but anyone can grow a garden with seeds, soil, and patience—and I have an excess of all three. I merely pulled that bloom to me from my glasshouse.”
“And the magic?”
The tea in his cup rose up and formed a decent replica of the flower in my hair. “I do have quite an affinity to water.”
When I frowned at him in confusion, he gave me a conspiratorial grin that invited me to figure it out. What did water have
to do . . . oh. “Plants absorb water.” I reached for the flower in my hair. “Is it dangerous?”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Not to you.” The tea returned to his cup without a single splash. “How long ago did your
mother die?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why the sudden interest in my mother?”
“Curiosity, mostly.”
“Will you teach me how to use my magic?” When he just stared at me, waiting, I sighed again. “My mother died when I was born.”
“How long ago was that? I’m rubbish at judging human age.”
It was my turn to stare silently, and he chuckled. “Fair enough. I can’t teach you how to use your magic until it is unsealed.”
I stilled. It had taken Garrick much longer and a lot more magic to realize my power was sealed. I hadn’t felt Mar’s magic
at all, but I had a flower in my hair that he’d just admitted had been nourished by magically infused water. I perched on
the edge of flight, aware that staying might be inviting more danger than I was ready for.
Mar’s expression softened the tiniest bit. “I do not mean you any harm, Riela. That was true even before the vow. You will
always find safe harbor with me.” His eyes flickered to Vastien’s grip on my fingers, then he gave me a significant look.
“From anyone.”
“Why?”
“You have ties to the Sapphire Court. Your magic proves that. And we look after our own.”
“‘The Sapphire Queen in her house of winter, will not release those who dared enter,’” I quoted.
“And there’s nowhere safer than the Sapphire Court itself,” he said with a bright, cunning smile before his expression turned serious.
“However, I would help you even if you decided not to visit the court afterward.” He met my eyes.
“I’ve been where you are, alone in a foreign court without a single ally. ”
I tilted my head toward Vastien. “What is he, then?”
“Is he guarding you for your benefit or for Stoneguard’s?” Mar asked quietly. “Because I know where his loyalty lies.”
I sucked in a breath as the words punched straight through me. Rather than pressing his advantage, Mar’s expression turned
gently sympathetic, and he purposefully turned his attention to his tea.
Vastien squeezed my fingers, then squeezed them again when I didn’t respond. His magic started to rise, so I gave him a wobbly
smile and shook my head.
I picked up my own cup and took a sip without tasting it. Vastien was my friend, wasn’t he? I didn’t like the doubts invading my thoughts, so I set the problem aside to focus on the bigger issue.
“I’m twenty-eight,” I told Mar. “Can you unseal my magic?”