36. Adelina #3
“No,” Rhaegar says. “You should hear this.”
That makes the room colder.
Whatever this is, it involves the attack.
Or Dravaryn.
Or both.
Kaedryn’s gaze meets mine for one brief second across the table. There is something there beneath the distance, but I cannot name it before he looks away.
“Princess,” he says.
Formal farewell.
Formal wall.
I incline my head. “Your Highness.”
Something flickers across his face. Then he leaves with the king, Sylas, Soren, Rowan, and Merritt.
Kellan remains near the door, clearly unhappy about being left behind but too disciplined to argue with a king.
Maelin stays as well, though she gives the queen a small nod, the two of them deciding something without words.
The room feels quieter after the men leave.
Queen Elowyn sets her napkin beside her plate. “Well. That rather ruined the dessert.”
I blink. Kellan is trying very hard not to react.
The queen sighs, then turns to me. “I imagine you are tired.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Then I will take you back to your rooms.”
I stand because she does. She offers her arm. I hesitate only a fraction too long.
Her gaze gentles, but her arm remains where it is, patient and undemanding. Slowly, I place my hand on it.
She walks with me through the corridors herself. No grand escort. No performance. Only the queen, Maelin a few steps behind, and Kellan trailing at a respectful distance because apparently he has decided no doorway in this castle will exist unguarded if I am near it.
For a while, the queen says nothing. The quiet is not empty like Kaedryn’s.
It is restful, almost. When we reach my rooms, she enters only after I do.
The fire has been tended. My satchel remains exactly where I left it.
A tray of tea waits near the sitting room window, along with a small covered plate of something sweet.
Queen Elowyn notices my glance. “Honey cakes. Sylas believes they solve most troubles. He is wrong, but they do help with some.”
A faint breath escapes me, almost a laugh.
Her expression warms. She does not comment.
Instead, she moves toward the balcony doors and looks out over the darkened gardens. “Whatever you need while you are here, we will get it for you. Clothing, books, food you prefer, different attendants, time alone, company. You may tell me directly, or Maelin, or Linnea or Mirelle.”
I stand near the chair where my satchel rests. “That is very kind.”
“It’s practical.” She turns back to me. “A woman cannot settle in a place that gives her nothing of herself.”
I look down. The satchel waits beside me, full of the only pieces of myself I still possess that mean anything.
Queen Elowyn follows my gaze, then looks away politely. “You may arrange your rooms however you like. The shelves are yours. The desk is yours. The balcony is yours. The eastern garden is just below, and if you wish, you may go there with an escort tomorrow.”
My heart lifts before I can stop it.
The garden.
She sees it. A flicker of something must show on my face, because her own brightens.
“You like gardens,” she says.
My fingers touch the satchel strap. “Yes.”
“I heard you can grow ice orchids.”
The world stills around me.
She does not say who told her. Perhaps Sylas. Perhaps Kaedryn. Perhaps one of them heard more than I thought and passed the smallest, safest piece of me into this place before I arrived.
“I had them in Dravaryn,” I say.
“Had?” she repeats gently.
I swallow. “I brought seeds.”
Queen Elowyn’s smile becomes something almost delighted. “Then we must see if southern soil can be taught northern stubbornness.”
The image is so unexpected that I stare at her. She continues. “There is a shaded section near the upper water stairs. Cooler. Mist from the falls reaches it in the mornings. I have been trying to grow moon-pale flowers there for years, but they refuse to respect me.”
I can’t help it. A tiny smile slips free.
The queen sees it. This time, she does not look away. “I would love for you to add to the garden,” she says. “If you wish.”
I should be careful. A queen asking for something can sound like an invitation and still become a command once accepted. If I plant my seeds here, I place one of the last things I brought from Dravaryn into Elyrion soil. Into Kaedryn’s kingdom. Into a life I do not yet know how to survive.
But the thought of touching earth again, of placing a seed somewhere and waiting to see if life answers, hurts in a way that is almost hope.
“I would like that,” I say, barely above a breath.
Queen Elowyn’s face warms like sunlight reaching water. “Good. Then in a few days, after you are rested and if you are well enough, I will show you my favorite blooms, and you may tell me where your ice orchids would like to live.”
I look down before the queen can read the rest of it. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“You are welcome, Adelina.”
My name in her voice does not sound like a command.
It sounds like a beginning.
And though I know better than to trust beginnings too quickly, I stand in the soft light of my new chamber, with the gardens waiting below and my seeds tucked safely in my satchel, and for one fragile, foolish moment, I let myself want tomorrow.