Seraiah tilted her head back to take in the massive entry to the Elven city. The gates, made from unadorned wood, stood open to allow traffic to pass in and out.

It wasn’t the gates themselves that had drawn Seraiah’s attention. No, it was the stone pillars carved to look like twin dragons, their flames arcing high over the opening to meet in the middle that had her mouth falling open. They were made from a pale gray-green stone that seemed lit from within.

She had never seen anything quite like it.

“I was instructed to bring you to the castle and draw as little attention as possible,” Eryx said. “Prince Kaimana said he would meet us in the stable yard with someone to show our guest to her rooms.”

“We are hiding her then,” Kestrel said.

It wasn’t a question, but Eryx answered anyway. “Seems that way. Now that I know the guest in question is a human, I can see why Kaimana would want to keep her hidden. You know Gavaran is going to be displeased.”

“And how long does Kai think he is going to be able to hide her? Eventually, someone is going to talk, and Gavaran finding out through court gossip is going to be worse than if Kai tells him himself.”

“My guess?” Eryx said, tilting his head back to look up at the sky. “I’d say he plans to introduce her tonight at Eostre.”

“What?” Kestrel yelped. “That’s tonight?”

Seraiah itched to ask what Eostre was, but she didn’t want to interrupt their conversation. They seemed to have completely forgotten she was present and listening to every word they spoke.

Eryx nodded. “You’ve been gone awhile. What were you doing all that time, anyway? Chasing a seer? I wasn’t aware we needed a new one.”

Interesting, Seraiah thought, it seemed no one knew Kai had been hunting for their lost queen.

Kestrel stayed silent, which all but confirmed Seraiah’s suspicions.

“Kes, what aren’t you telling me?” Eryx asked. “I can’t help if I don’t know.”

The way he was looking at Kestrel made Seraiah feel like she was intruding on a private moment. She cleared her throat to subtly remind them of her presence.

This seemed to snap Kestrel’s attention back to the matter at hand.

She kicked their horse forward, ignoring Eryx’s question. “We need to get moving. People are going to start staring the longer we sit here.”

Kestrel was right. Several people were already glancing curiously in their direction. Most of their eyes skipped over Kestrel and Eryx to land on her.

Seraiah avoided meeting anyone’s stare by keeping her gaze up, studying the buildings they were passing as they wound their way through the main street toward the castle. The houses here were nothing like they had back home. All of them were made with the same pale stone from which the pillars at the gate had been carved. There wasn’t a thatched roof in sight.

Even the streets were different. Instead of heavily rutted dirt and mud, these streets were paved with cobblestones and perfectly clean, as though someone swept them daily. There were no children running in and out of the traffic, and the noise of people going about their lives, that Seraiah had become accustomed to hearing, was absent.

Gradually, the houses gave way to an area of shops. None of the shopkeepers were outside, shouting their wares to draw customers in. Instead, hand-painted signs hung from the doorways depicting what sort of goods were offered at each.

“Do you not have a market here?” Seraiah asked Kestrel.

“No,” she answered. “Only these shops that you see here.”

“Then where would someone from outside Nyrene sell their items?”

“There is no one from outside Nyrene.”

“How can that be?”

“At one point in time, all the races who lived in our world would interact, but that time is long past,” Kestrel said. “Now, we mostly keep to ourselves.”

As they rounded the last corner, the castle loomed ahead of them. Instead of following the main road, Eryx turned off on a smaller side street. There were fewer elves here, and most didn’t bother to look up as the trio passed.

The street dumped them out into a busy stable yard. Seraiah’s eyes were immediately drawn to Kai, where he stood near the castle, speaking with someone dressed in a uniform like Eryx’s. She couldn’t help noticing how different he looked here. There was no mistaking he was a prince. From the simple golden circlet adorning his brow down to his polished leather boots, he looked every inch a royal.

“He cleans up nice, doesn’t he?” Kestrel whispered to her after they’d dismounted. She grinned and gave her a knowing look.

Seraiah’s cheeks heated at being caught staring. “Oh, I wasn’t—”

Kestrel winked. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell. He doesn’t need a bigger ego, anyway.”

Before Seraiah could protest again, Kestrel sauntered off and disappeared into the castle, leaving her standing in the stable yard alone.

Eryx had gone to greet Kai and when their conversation finished, Kai’s attention turned to her. He gestured for her to come closer.

She approached slowly, unsure if she was supposed to curtsy. She’d seen the other elves bow to him, but she wasn’t an elf. Would it be rude if she didn’t?

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Before she could decide what to do, a young girl appeared at Kai’s elbow.

“This is Wisteria,” Kai informed her. “She will show you to your rooms and help you with anything you may require.” He sounded so formal, as if they hadn’t spent weeks together in close quarters.

The girl curtsied to her. “This way, miss,” Wisteria said, moving soundlessly toward the door Seraiah had seen Kestrel use.

“One more thing.” Kai stopped her as she moved to follow Wisteria. “Don’t go wandering. It’s better if you stay in your rooms. The fewer people who know of your presence, the better.”

Seraiah nodded she understood and let the girl escort her inside.

The castle was a maze of corridors and staircases. Seraiah tried to keep track of all the turns they took and stairs they climbed, but it didn’t take long for her to lose count. By her guess, they had to be reaching the top of the pointed towers she had seen as they approached the city.

Perhaps Kai was afraid of her running away, and that’s why he’d arranged for her rooms to be as far as possible from the ground. It would be highly unlikely for her to find her way out of here on her own.

Huffing and puffing, Seraiah climbed the last few steps and was relieved to see Wisteria waiting for her at a single door.

“Here we are, miss,” Wisteria said, unlocking the door and holding it open for her. Seraiah noted the other girl wasn’t even winded.

“Thank you,” she said breathlessly. “You can call me Seraiah if you would like.” She smiled in what she hoped was a friendly way. She had a feeling Wisteria was the only person she might have contact with for a while.

“Of course, miss.” Wisteria curtsied again, keeping her eyes downcast.

The girl reminded Seraiah a bit of Sterling. She had to be around the same age, and her pale blond hair was pulled back in a similar braided style that her sister had always favored.

“Is something the matter, miss?” Wisteria asked.

“What? Oh, um—no.” She shook her head, embarrassed to be caught staring for the second time that day. “You reminded me of someone, that’s all.”

Wisteria smiled but made no move to walk inside the room. After a moment of standing there awkwardly, Seraiah realized Wisteria was waiting for her to enter first.

Hastily, Seraiah stepped inside the entrance hall. She caught a glimpse of a sitting room off to the left of the hallway that looked to be filled with books.

“If you will follow me, I will show you where you can bathe,” Wisteria told her, starting off down the hallway.

Seraiah sneaked a peek at the sitting room as they passed by, and she saw the walls were indeed lined with bookshelves. Two plush looking chairs and a settee completed the room. It was the perfect spot for reading.

The hallway brought them to another living area, complete with an intricately carved dining table. Floor to ceiling windows gave her an uninterrupted view of the sea crashing on the beach below. Seraiah stopped and stared for a moment, entranced by the view, before realizing Wisteria had disappeared through another doorway.

She hurried to catch up and found herself in a bedchamber. An enormous bed that looked large enough to hold four people sat against the opposite wall, bracketed by two more beautifully carved tables. She looked around for Wisteria, but the girl was nowhere in sight.

Just when Seraiah was about to call out to her, Wisteria popped her head out of yet another doorway she hadn’t noticed.

“This way, miss.”

Seraiah joined Wisteria in the bathing room, which held a steaming pool of water the size of a small pond.

Her new rooms were larger than her entire house in Ratha. They might even be bigger than two of her houses.

“I will leave you to bathe. Leave your dirty things, and I’ll lay out something for you to wear on the bed. Is there anything else you require?”

“No, thank you.” The words had barely left her lips before Wisteria bobbed another curtsy and withdrew.

Seraiah sat on the lip of the pool and pulled off her boots.

She dipped her blistered toes in the water and sighed in pleasure. The temperature was perfect. Not scalding hot, but not lukewarm either, like most of the baths she had experienced in her life. She glanced over her shoulder, checking to make sure Wisteria hadn’t come back before slipping out of her clothes and immersing herself.

This was something she could get used to.

----------------------------------------

Seraiah stayed in the bathing pool long past the time she needed to clean herself, and her skin turned wrinkly. The growl of her stomach was the only reason she finally forced herself to leave the heavenly water.

She donned the dress Wisteria had left for her and peeked out of the bedroom into the living area. Wisteria was waiting for her next to the dining table, which Seraiah could see was set with a tray of food.

There was also a very familiar satchel sitting there.

“Prince Kaimana asked me to give this to you,” Wisteria said, noticing her stare. “I can brush out your hair for you while you eat.”

“Thank you,” Seraiah said. She wanted to open the satchel and make sure Sterling’s book was still there, but the smell of the food was calling to her. Pieces of what appeared to be seasoned chicken rested on a bed of greens, and was that—was that cake?

Eagerly, she pulled a chair from the table and sat down. It took all her willpower not to immediately stuff the little cake in her mouth. Instead, Seraiah forced herself to eat the chicken and greens while Wisteria brushed out the knots in her hair.

“Do you mind if I braid it?” Wisteria asked.

“You can do whatever you like,” Seraiah told her, setting her fork down and preparing to devour the cake. It was yellow, with white icing, in the shape of little flowers decorating the top. The yellow made her think it was likely to be lemon flavored.

“Oh!” Wisteria exclaimed. She had lifted the top of Seraiah’s hair to start braiding. Her fingers brushed the smooth, round curve of Seraiah’s ear. “You aren’t one of us.”

“Kai didn’t tell you?” Seraiah asked, surprised.

“No, and he told me not to ask you questions, but—”

Seraiah already knew what Wisteria wanted to ask. “I’m human,” she told her, saving her the trouble.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and as Wisteria went to answer it, Seraiah took her first bite of cake. The sourness hit her tongue first, making her pucker her cheeks. This was a lemon cake, all right. The sourness faded quickly, replaced by sugary sweetness as the small bite melted on her tongue.

“Mmm,” Seraiah sighed happily as Wisteria returned with Kestrel in tow.

“Interesting choice of rooms,” Kestrel commented, strolling up to the table and pulling out a chair.

“How so?”

“These were the Queen’s rooms. The best in the castle. Though I suppose,” Kestrel mused as Wisteria returned to arranging Seraiah’s hair, “it would be the least likely place for anyone to come snooping.”

“Shouldn’t Kai have these rooms?” Seraiah asked, taking another bite of cake.

Kestrel laughed. “Kai has very simple tastes. He would hate it up here. No,” she shook her head, “even my rooms are nicer than where Kai chooses to call home. Between you and me, I think he made that choice to annoy the council. Where did you get that cake?” Kestrel eyed the dessert in her hand. “I thought those were for Eostre.”

“I snuck one out,” Wisteria confessed as she tied off Seraiah’s braid and stepped back. “I thought she might like it.”

“And I do,” Seraiah hurried to reassure her. “Thank you.”

“Think you could snag one for me, too?” Kestrel asked.

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

“What is Eostre?” Seraiah asked Kestrel after Wisteria had left.

“It’s a celebration of the vernal equinox.” At Seraiah’s blank look, she continued, “You know, spring?”

“Oh.” Seraiah nodded in understanding. They used to have a similar celebration in Ratha.

“That’s what I came to talk to you about, actually. Kai wasn’t planning to have you attend the court celebration, but I convinced him it would be a good idea.” Kestrel smirked. “I also can’t wait to see the look on Gavaran’s face when he sees you, and since it will be in front of the entire court, he wouldn’t dare throw a fit.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Seraiah asked uncertainly. The more she heard about this Gavaran person, the less she wanted to meet him.

“Very good,” Kestrel confirmed. “Now, I suggest you get some rest before tonight. These things tend to go on late into the evening.” She stood, pushing her chair back into place. “I’m off to see about that lemon cake and find a suitable outfit. I’ll see you tonight.”