2. Two
Two whole days I”ve been traveling.
Two days stuck inside this little box of a cart, my only company the horses pulling it and the man directing them. He can speak to and understand them, and while that”s an incredible talent, it was startling when he got confused and whinnied at me.
I didn”t try to make any more conversation after that.
So I”ve spent two days reviewing what we”ll need to negotiate and what information we know about this king.
Early to mid-30”s
Never seen without his helm. The helm I”ve had several nightmares of over the last few nights, made from the bones of his previous victims and their mounts.
Antlers. A helm made of skulls and antlers.
That”s incredibly unsettling.
Necromancer. That”s even more so.
Killed the previous king, took the crown, and instated his own team of advisors and guards, adding the old ones to his undead army.
I”ve stared at this same page, flipping it front to back again and again, willing something more to appear so I”m not entirely out of my element with this stranger. But, of course, nothing happens. Not even a portrait of him. Just a drawing covered in blood droplets of a massive beast of a man, riding a black winged horse and wearing the cursed helm, a tattered red hood draped over it to conceal the terrifying face. Two holes on the top of the hood let the discolored antlers poke out to rise above his head, signaling that death is near.
When I”m not making myself go blind staring at thesamewords over and over or staring at the terrifying visage of The Horned King, I”m drawing his likeness on the edges of the page, little doodles just to keep myself busy. I”m no artist, but sleeping for the entire two-day journey isn”t an option, and I have no other hobbies to entertain myself with.
The cart rolls to a stop, and I wait for the footman to open my door. When he does and peeks his head in, he stares blankly at me for a moment, frustration filling his skin before he finally shakes it off and tells me, ”We”re an hour out. I had very strict instructions to stop an hour out and inform you to change into your proper clothing.”
”Oh, thank you.”
He nods, ”I”ll give you your privacy, Miss Aistin.”When he closes the door behind him, and the cart proceeds its motions, I take the clothing hanging from the ceiling and change into them. I was not willing to travel in this ensemble, but it”s the one I believe will make the best first impression and not be too hot in this humid climate.
Long, flowing white pants and a matching blouse. Simple, with clean lines, fine detailing, and clearly expertly made. The shoes are tan and flat, following the same rule of elegant simplicity.
I pored over my clothing for hours before leaving home, searching for the perfect thing to wear. Everything I do matters. Every moment is a part of the job, and I can never slip up.
Knowing we are much closer to the palace has me on edge.I”muncertain if the humidity is making me sweat or if it”s just my nerves— probably both.
If I weretrulyin danger, I would have already been attacked. We”ve been within Oksangui”s limits since yesterday evening, and if we were unwelcome, they would have made it known much sooner.
From outside, there”s a quiet whooshing sound as if it”s coming from far away, and distantly, I wonder what it could be.It”ssoothing and constant but has an ebb and flow unlike anything I”ve ever heard. Every few seconds, there”s a crash in the distance, a collision of something, but we continue on, so it must not be cause for alarm.
The angle of the cart changes, nearly throwing me backward. Within moments, the ground beneath me levels out and becomes so smoothit”sas if we”re gliding across it.
We must be getting close.
But we are not.
Twenty minutes pass. Thirty minutes.And still, wehaven”tstopped.My nerves have reached a level they rarely do, and the soft whoosh has transformed into a dull roar.
When the cart slows and comes to a complete standstill, I”m frozen with fear. I”m actually here at The Horned King”s castle. The door slowly opens, and the footman sticks his head inside again. ”We have arrived, Miss Aistin.”
I swallow the lump growing in my throat and thank Han. He reaches out a hand to help me from the cart, and I take it, feeling his growing fear and how it matches mine. ”Just call me Elva. There”s no need to be so proper.”
”Yes, Miss Elva.”
Close enough.
Exiting the cart, I nearly trip over my feet at the sight before me.I”veneverseenanythinglike it.
Blue as far as the eye can see. In the sky and on what should be the ground. It”s almost impossible to know where the water ends and the sky begins. It”s so beautiful. The scent of salt and something I can”t even name because it”s so unfamiliar fills me. I may never leave. That disturbing thought comes and goes so quickly that I”m unsure where it came from.
The sound I had heard was the movement of the ocean on the shore. The beautiful, violent crashing and retreating is something I could watch for hours. Rainbows dance across the surface where the sunlight hits the water.
Han whinnies beside me, and this time, I understand the sentiment completely. It”s otherworldly here. How can a place so beautiful be filled with such wickedness?
”It”s lovely, isn”t it?”a voice startles me from my reverie, and I spin to face them, fearing the man we”ve traveled all this way to see will catch me in this bewildered state.Thankfully, the person before medoesn”tseem to bethe king.”Avolire Castle is notorious for its beauty, but its likeness can never quite be captured on paper. You are Ambassador Aistin, yes?”He reaches out a hand, the colorful rings adorning his fingers contrasting the deep amber of his skin.
I take his hand in my gloved one to shake. ”Hi, yes, please call me Elva. And you are?”
He gifts me a warm smile, his golden brown irises nearly glowing red with the bright sun reflecting in them. Certainly not the king. He seems far too pleasant.
”I am Shan, advisor to His Royal Majesty.”He drops my hand and gestures for me to follow him. ”I apologize that he is not available to greet you, but I”m sure you know running a nation is very time-consuming.”
Walking side by side, I nod. ”Yes, I understand. In our letters, I was made aware that I would not be seeing much of the king in my time here. Only during our scheduled meetings.”My gratitude for that fact does not need to be said aloud.
He begins telling me what to expect while I”m visiting. Where I can tour, who will accompany me, and when I should be ready to meet the king. I take it all in while staring wordlessly at the dominating structure before me.
Avolire is enormous, with countless spires twirling up as if trying to dance with the clouds above. The gray of the walls is given warmth from the sun and the sand around it, turning what should be a terrifying fortress into a stunning array of colors. The glass on each window has been transformed into artwork depicting the sun, the moon, and the stars.
Back home, everything is created to be more functional than beautiful. This tapestry of a building would never be allowed to be built. Far too superfluous. But I cannot deny its allure. Powerful, intimidating, and yet so inviting. The castle itself feels like a Syren”s song, calling travelers to enter with no hope of ever returning.
”I”ve never seen anything like this,”I say aloud to no one in particular.
With a chuckle, Shan nods, ”Yes, it”s quite the sight. Took decades for the Zalig of yesteryear to create. There are theories that even the Fae assisted them.”
I barely manage to hold in a gasp, staring wide-eyed at the thing before us.
”The Fae? Really?”
From the corner of my eye, I see his head nod, marveling at the castle, too. ”There are books in the king”s private library that suggest it, though no one would say it outright for fear of the Fae coming back to claim it as their own.”
At a second glance, I believe him. There”s almost no way something so beautiful could have been created by human hands alone, even with magic. It”s too ethereal, too magnificent.
He allows me to marvel at the wonder before me, standing in silence with Han and me. I can only imagine the view of the ocean from those windows.
Just then, the large steel doors swing open, and a towering, incredibly muscular man storms through them. Dressed in black fighting leathers and boots, he has a team of no less than seven armed guards behind him in similar attire. Seeing us at the bottom of the stairway, he pauses, and his eyes meet mine.
Eyes so steely silver they reflect in the light and nearly blend into the whites.
The longest eyelashes I”ve ever seen on a man.
Full lips curled into a smirk on one side, almost hidden beneath a jet-black, immaculately groomed beard.
One of his black slashes of a brow with a scar running through it is lifted in what might be humor, though it”s impossible to tell with the flatness of his eyes.
He”s beautiful. Too beautiful. Dangerously beautiful.
He takes the stairs two at a time before standing before me, his guards a semi-circle behind him, stopping in perfect time. His skin reflects the sun”s rays, the proof of long days under its light evident in his deeply tanned olive skin.
”You”re early. And you”re at the wrong entrance.”Before I have a chance to clarify, he continues speaking, though clearly it”s directed at the man beside me. ”She”s much prettier than the ones the Ordinance usually sends. I might actually try this one.”His eyes slowly traverse my frame, and Ihave toclench every muscle in my body to not flinch at his perusal. What the fuck is happening right now? Who is this man? ”Though her clothes are terrible. Take her around to the servants” entrance and find her something more... tantalizing. Let”s see what”s hidden beneath these shapeless drapes.”He gestures toward my clothing with disdain.
He thinks I”m a whore. I might laugh if the idea wasn”t so ludicrous. Sex workers are professionals at seduction, utterly sure in the way they walk and command attention. If I wasn”t so shocked, I might be flattered at the idea that he thinks I could be skilled at being sensual. Though I doubt I look the part right now with my mouth hanging agape, unable toso much asbreathe, lest I choke on it.
Shan coughs out, ”Your majesty, you misunderstand. She”s not... from the Ordinance.” Your Majesty? You”ve got to be fucking kidding me.
”Then who is she?”
”She is standing right here.”The words escape my gritted teeth before I can stop them, sealing my fate. ”So why don”t you ask her who she is.”
One corner of his lips lifts in an almost smile as his gaze reaches mine again. ”Go ahead, then. Who are you?”
I clench my fists at my sides, ”I am Elva Aistin.”
”And?”
”And I”m here as an ambassador for Rhyma,”I speak slowly, ending the statement like it”s a questionsohe understandsjusthow unimpressed I am with his unpreparedness.
He chuckles, a cruel sound with no mirth. ”So you”re not a whore. But you are a liar.”
”Excuse me?”
With a feigned, weary sigh, he continues, his colossal frame fillingupalmost my entire line of sight. ”If you had done any research before this sad attempt at infiltrating my palace, you”d know that the nation of Rhyma elects their representatives. And they”re all old bats because they have to go through years of education before they are even eligible for a position.”
Old bats?I twirl the ring on my finger, already adding it to the list of my nervous habits. The king notes the motion, his eyes flickingdownto my hand and then back up.
”Your majesty,”Shan repeats more emphatically. ”She is who she says. She was only recently elected, and we have been in communication during these last few weeks.”
I blink several times, the truthbecoming clear at last. I turn to Shan, unable to keep the accusation from my tone,”You”ve been corresponding with me.”
”Yes,”he replies, looking guiltily at the king from the corner of his eye. ”The King was-”
The arrogant manin questioninterrupts, drawing my attention back to him, ”The king had better things to do than write letters back and forth with a nation that disrespected him.”
This genuinely shocks me. ”Disrespected? How did we disrespect you? You sent back four of our messengers as shriveled corpses.”I can feel the rageinside mefilling my cheeks with heat, and I try to tamp it down. I can generally deal with people irritating me and even outright angering me without triggering such a response, but thisman is already toying with my last nerve, and my mouth seems to run on its own.
”Perhaps we should discuss this inside?”Shan suggests. ”Your Majesty, you never know when someone might be listening.”
The king”s gaze traverses my face, searchingfor a moment, ”I was actually just on my way out.”His condescension washes over me, fueling the fire inside my chest.
”By all means, please go.”Once again, the blasted words escape unbidden. I gesture for him to keep walking, stepping out of his way. ”Don”t let something as trivial as international relations get in the way of whatever you had planned for today.”
Both ofhis brows travel nearly up to his hairline before shrugging, ”Well, if you insist.”
As he eases around me without another look, his small army following shortly behind him, the scent of something utterly delicious and sinful fills my head.Lavender, the scent of freshly washed leather, and something both sweet and bitter that I”ve never smelled before.The scent remains until long after they disappear around a corner of the palace.
After I pick my jaw up off the floor, I smooth down the front of my pants and turn to Shan.Now that the dismissive, insufferable king is gone,perhapsI cangain a little bit of my dignity back.But my rage still hasn”t dissipated, and I stare again at the spot where he vanished, seething. ”That”s the king? That”s His Royal Majesty, feared far and wide as The Horned King, Kairon Laichnek?
Shan”s genuine distress softens my anger, though only marginally. ”My deepest apologies, Miss Aistin. I had planned to explain everything to you once we were inside. I had certainly not planned for you two to meet this way.”
He urges me up the stairs and into the opulent entrance, which is even more grand than it appears outside. The windows turn everything into a mural of blues, greens, and oranges, surrounding me with more color than I”ve ever seen in one place.
As much as I”d like to sit and soak in the beauty surrounding me, I”m here to work, and based on that interaction,it”sgoing tobe far more difficult than I expected. I follow Shan through several hallways until it opensupto a small room with a dining table in the middle.Shan explains that this room is used for serving whenthere”sno guests for the king to entertain so we can speak more freely here.
He pulls out a chair and allows me to sit before sitting in one across from me.
”Let me explain,”he starts. ”King Laichnek was willing to meet with you. That was never a lie.”
”Okay,” I say slowly, waiting for more of an explanation.
He taps his fingers on the table rhythmically. ”He just... didn”t care very much one way or the other. If you were willing to travel here, fine. If not, he wasn”t going to lose sleep over it.”
”So you wrote to me behind his back?”
With a shake of his head, he corrects me, ”No, he knew I was writing. He simply didn”t care to know what was being said. After the... less than ideal way you just met, you can see how he isn”t great with communication.”
That”s an understatement.
”And the supposed disrespect?”I ask.
He shrugs. ”That I know nothing about. Obviously, I knew he disposed of some of your men who were carrying messages, but he never told me their contents. He only relented when a letter suggested sending a representative.”
”Disposed of?”I scoff. ”Is that how you all talk about people? As if they”re disposable?”
A breath whooshes between his teeth. ”Things are... different here than they are in Rhyma. Killing is as natural as breathing to anyone who has power here. It has to be.”
I raise a brow in question. ”Including you?”
”Yes, including me.”When I say nothing, he sighs. ”Only the killers survive in my world, Miss Aistin. So let me ask you a question. Are you a killer?”
”No.”
He looks at me with pity in his eyes. ”Well, that”s going to have to change if you want to survive your time here.”
”I”m here less than two weeks.”I blink a few times in misunderstanding before adding, ”What could possibly happen in a few days” time that I might need to kill over?”
With another heavy sigh, he shrugs. ”You”re in Oksangui now, Miss Aistin. Only the villains make it out alive.”