29. Rahzlyn
Rahzlyn
The palace hallways were endless, winding, and as opulent as the queen’s chambers.
With towering stone walls adorned with rich, crimson tapestries and colossal chandeliers, I couldn’t help but marvel at its grandiosity.
I stumbled into Felaf every so often, unable to tear my gaze from the ornate columns, sconces, and intricately patterned fabrics.
Black rugs, banners, and flags swathed nearly every wall. Artwork—big and small—of Scorpio’s sacred creature, the scorpion, hung everywhere. It surprised me how comforting I found the dark, dramatic colors. “This palace is beautiful. And massive.”
“Indeed,” Felaf agreed. “A large staff is needed to keep everything running. The skyland itself is a mile long and wide, and nearly as deep. In a way, it’s like its own city.
It’s one of the last remaining palaces built during the time of the first Chosens.
Capricorn is the only other queendom with most of their original architecture still intact, or so Raithe says.
He reads a lot. All other territories have needed significant reconstruction over the years.
When we Scorpions build something, it stands the test of time. ”
“And the servants and the guards all live here?”
“Certainly. There’s an entire wing for the servants and for the guards. There’s a guest wing as well for when the barons and other courts visit. Though it’s been years since they’ve been here.”
“Are the servants and guards all compensated?”
“Fed and clothed. Only official members of the court receive monthly Tin.”
We passed guards and servants, all of whom bowed their heads before scanning me with wariness. No one seemed to know what to make of me, especially after today’s events.
Water trickled from the walls into rivulets along the floors, flowing in the direction we walked. “Isn’t Scorpio suffering from a massive drought?” I prompted Felaf.
Her attention followed the streams. “Yes, but there is still groundwater remaining deep in the reservoirs of this skyland. There is a system in place to ensure water is accessible in every part of the palace, which is essential for a water queen.”
“What will happen when the reservoir dries up?”
“Our alchemists claim we have several years’ worth of water to sustain the palace, and similarly for the reservoirs of the larger cities throughout the queendom. Thanks to Maryn’s strict laws, of course.”
“What are her laws?”
“Only certain parts of the city have access to the largest reservoirs, with limited and rotating distribution practices. The alchemists believe this has helped slow down the rate of consumption, sustaining parts of the queendom until the curse is finally broken.” We reached a door that led to a cramped, spiral staircase.
“Hopefully, we never find out what will happen once the reservoirs are completely gone.”
Down and down a spiral staircase we went, leading to a small, dimly lit corridor. A damp chill ran through me. We approached another door. When Felaf opened it, I stopped her.
“I was actually hoping to speak to him alone,” I said a bit awkwardly. “I’m sure you’ll hear everything anyway, but it would help create a semblance of privacy if you remained out here.”
Felaf didn’t object, despite the curious gleam in her eyes. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
The door groaned open, eliminating any chance of a discreet entrance. Though Raithe would have already heard me coming. I spotted him at the far end of the windowless infirmary with only sconces for lighting, containing six rows of narrow cots on either side of the aisle.
He sat upright with his legs dangling over the far side of the bed. He was bare from the waist up, a sheet tangled around his twisting torso.
I halted. Felaf assured he’d be fine by morning, but seeing his wounds in the flesh made my stomach sour.
The long lacerations embedded into his pale skin looked like a Hippogriff had gone rabid on him.
The intensity of a single whip from Felaf rang in my ears, and all at once, I was reminded of her power.
Their power. When I’d stepped between him and Felaf, I was too focused on Maryn to truly get a look at the aftermath of what Felaf had done.
There had been blood. A lot of it.
I was still healing myself, my entire skin uncomfortably taut as I stared in horror.
Ignoring my presence, Raithe attempted to slather a thick paste messily onto his back with a comical amount of difficulty.
I stepped forward. “Is that yarrow?”
He craned his neck to catch my eyes as I neared him.
I should have been less intimidated by his presence now that I stood taller than him, with his dark head of cropped curls only reaching my chest. He was practically naked with nothing but a linen bed sheet draped over his toned legs.
I frowned at his pale, defined torso covered in freckles and glyphs with a sprinkle of chest hair.
Felaf had only whipped his back, but he had remnants of lashings along the planes of his chest and down his muscled torso.
Stars, how many did he have?
“These aren’t from Felaf,” he grunted.
I blushed. “I didn’t mean to stare. How did—”
“Guardians don’t scar after being Chosen. Any mutilations to our body before then stay with us forever.”
Mutilations. His body, now carved with stealth and strength, had endured more than I wanted to fathom. “Yarrow must be massaged into the wound,” I recited. “Where is Gertah?”
“Went to get more of this useless gunk.”
I dipped my fingers into the bowl and scooped up a chunk of the aromatic balm. “Well, no surprise you’re doing a poor job of applying it. May I?”
Raithe peered at me quizzically, not objecting. I brought it to my nose and inhaled deeply. Slightly sweet, but not as strong as the oil version Nahn concocted.
I smeared the yarrow into his lesions. He tensed. “Sorry,” I said, gripping his left shoulder to steady my strokes. “The yarrow should help to numb the pain.”
“I know. It doesn’t hurt.”
“This looks incredibly painful. I imagine as a guardian you still feel things.”
“You imagine a lot.”
Men always acted so tough to their own detriment. With a sigh, I focused on the task at hand and pushed aside my body’s protest for sleep.
“Why did you do it?”
I looked up to meet his hard and unyielding stare. The question was abrupt, yet it was the most obvious thing suspended between us. I rubbed more yarrow into his open skin. “Because it was wrong.”
“As if you know the difference between right and wrong.”
I gaped at his boldness. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“I’m guessing you want something. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
I huffed a reluctant breath. So much for gratitude and getting on his good side.
“I wanted to make sure you were alright, but yes. I do have a proposition for you. Clearly, you don’t trust Maryn with the truth about what’s happened to Gregorios’s Sight.
I have to wonder, what would happen if I revealed all of that to your queen regent? ”
His ungloved hand flexed against the bedding. “If you try anything to get Gregorios in trouble, I’ll—”
“What, kill me? Tell Maryn about my apostate brand and have her do that for you? You’ve threatened me plenty already.
” I placed my fists on my hips to indicate I meant business.
“I’m offering a deal. I won’t reveal what I know to Maryn if you promise to keep my grandparents safe.
Help me convince Gregorios to lie and say I have no living family members to sacrifice.
The Treaty requires all known blood relatives to be sacrificed during a trial, right?
So, we lie and say I have none. Then take my grandparents somewhere no one will discover and…
” I inhaled shakily. “Forget about my brother. For now.”
If finding Basil meant he, too, would be sacrificed, I could only hope he was able to get out of the apostai’s clutches on his own.
Raithe’s eyes roamed my face. “You must be joking.”
“I’m completely serious.”
“I don’t understand why Scorpio Chose you.” Despite his bored expression, his eyes simmered with contempt. “You have no regard for everything we Chosens stand for.”
I couldn’t argue his words—much as they stung—because he was right. “What’s it going to be, Raithe?”
“What you are suggesting is treason, as is blackmailing a guardian. You’re not very good at this leverage concept you seem so proud of.”
I tapped my foot this time. I was desperate and had nothing else to offer. “Please.”
“The Treaty is the law and the law is the Treaty.”
“I don’t care about the Treaty. My family—”
“You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to sacrifice family for the good of the realm,” he said. “I can’t believe I am having to explain this to a princess. It’s like talking to a child.”
I reared back. “I’m not a child.”
“Then stop acting like one.”
His harsh words resembled my grandmother’s. Humiliation kept me from speaking, and an uncomfortable silence followed. I didn’t know what else to do except continue with the paste still smeared over my hands.
They’re wrong. For some reason I needed to stay and prove that to him.
Raithe tensed, either from pain or surprise that I chose to continue after his cruel tongue. Even if he wasn’t going to help me, my character deserved defending.
“Regardless of what you think of me, you should know,” I said, “that I would have intervened for anyone. And not just to get something in return from you. That’s not who I am.”
It wasn’t who I wanted to be, anyway.
“For someone you know, maybe,” he said. “Not to a stranger you detest.”
He didn’t understand why I did what I did, and I didn’t understand why he put himself in such a position to begin with. “Is it so hard to believe that someone could put aside personal animosities to help another?”
He cocked his head up at me. From this proximity, I could make out the definitions of his face, sharp and unyielding, with light freckles smattering over a noticeable crook in his nose, broken at the bridge. Strangely, it suited him.
“Well?” I pressed a bit breathlessly. “Is it?”