The ship sat docked in a monstrously wide harbor, and for the first time, I drank in the view of a true seaport. One long stretch of wood after another, the docks resembled a maze floating on the water, jutting out over the waves like a mess of teeth. Straight, twisted, crooked—the under bite of a shark’s jaw. Boats and ships crowded over one another, hollowed wooden crates buoyed between the vessels so they didn’t touch.
Every corner of the harbor was alive with movement. Like Leihani, a market took up space on the pier, the merchant huts tall, fortified. Guards roamed the port. Wore the same Navy uniforms as those on the admiral’s ship, their clothes and hats cobalt blue, long swords swinging from their hips.
Ahead lay a cavalcade of bright houses. Structures of pink, green, orange, and blue, built into the hills of cobblestone, into each other. Everything looked like one giant, winding building, though roofs were pitched separately, some high, some low. Windows and balconies held processions of flowers, some with a table and chairs; others held mere railings across the front of a door.
I stood at the ship’s port-side railing, garbed in a dress Kye fitted over my tapa cloth. The corset dug into my ribs, its dropped waist like a knife in my hip bones.
They’d sent for a gown that buttoned all the way to my neck, hiding the dark bruises that scoured my flesh. Kye’s eyes had flickered over them as he finished the final ties.
I’d thought I’d combust when he’d pulled it out, gesturing for me to lift my hands over my head while he gathered it into a wide hole for me to climb through. His half-witted comment hadn’t helped either.
Suck it in, island witch. I’m skilled at taking these off, but I’ve never laced one up before.
Kye and Thaan spoke behind my back, their voices so low I couldn’t hear their words, though I was certain the subject was me. I didn’t care. Eventually, Kye came to stand beside me as I gazed out over the deck, his playful nature nowhere to be found.
“Ugly, isn’t it?” he muttered, staring at the happy little houses.
It was anything but ugly, but I didn’t argue. I didn’t even want to look at him.
He clicked his tongue. “Going to have to fix your hair before we enter the palace.”
“I’ll braid it.”
He scoffed. “I’ll do it. I don’t trust you not to shove a pin in my eye.”
I stared icily ahead, watching the people move. Somewhere behind us, I knew Thaan watched.
“That island was no good for you.”
“Don’t speak to me as if you care what’s good for me.”
He sighed, lacing his fingers together, leaning his forearms over the railing. “I don’t care what you say to me in private. But while we’re surrounded by royals, nobles, and palace servants, youwillbe respectful.”
My eyes batted against the wind as I ignored him.
“Or you’ll have more than my charm to answer to.”
“Fine.”
A carriage appeared in front of the gangway, and I shoved off the railing, knowing it was ours. Kye grabbed my hand, pulling me back to face him.
“Fine,Your Highness,” he said, his fingertips piercing into my wrist.
I flung my arm away, lifting my heavy skirts to descend the rope ladder without another look at him.
Our hired coach passed under an iron portcullis, and gradually, a shining structure came into view.
Laurier Palace. The City of Towers.
It looked nothing like the castles I'd constructed from sand. Built out of the cliffs, it hung over the Juile Sea, an unyielding fortress of stone and water. Trees grew all the way to the palace doors, thick and ponderous, surrounding the castle the way stars cradle the moon. The western red cliffs of Calder met the southern cliffs at a sharp corner, like an arrowhead pointing out of the earth, and it was easy to see why this place was chosen for the King to call home.
Towers rose from the cliffs, wild and tall like stalks of bamboo. There must have been a hundred of them, stretching into the sky as they inched closer. I tried to count and couldn’t keep track. It might’ve been easier to count the grains of sand in the sea. The vivid onyx stone of the palace shined over the cliffs below, clashing with the thicket of trees in the most decadent way, but it was the wide, sparkling windows I stared at. Glass covered every side, leaving Laurier Palace more crystal than castle.
As we neared, Kye began to fidget.
I watched him from the corner of my eye. Crossing and uncrossing a leg over his knee. Shifting his weight. Scratching his arm under his sleeve.
He finally pulled out a small wooden box of pins, winding my thick hair at my crown. I wasn’t sure where he’d managed to acquire a dress, hair pins, and the richly leathered, feminine boots he tossed into my lap. Likely at port, during the few hours we’d been anchored there before he’d unlocked my cell. I didn’t ask.
