Odessa stands and pulls me up with her, interlocking our elbows. “You can ask me more questions on the way, but let me show you to your room so you can rest and come to terms with all this. I need to fill everyone in on your presence here.”
My nod is barely noticeable and doesn’t seem satisfactory enough for her.
“Unless you don’t want to be alone?” she asks.
Remembering she told the man from before, Julius, she’d be late to the council meeting, and that she is the Queen after all, I reply, “No, it’s fine, I’ll be okay to sort through this on my own for a bit.”
“Okay, good. I’ll be right back after the meeting, and we’ll get you a proper dinner. I’ll have someone bring up some refreshments in the meantime, though; there’s no telling how long this meeting will last.” She rolls her eyes as she finishes.
The action is so normal and endearing, I find myself leaning into her, hoping to absorb some of her strength.
We walk arm in arm into the Great Hall, the entire palace sparkling white marble from floor to ceiling. The place I materialized from is marked with a gold rune, consisting of a long main vertical line bisected by a short line at a slanted horizontal angle and a small triangle on its side at the beginning of the main line.
Odessa glides us over the rune that’s positioned in front of a large, glittering chair surrounded by peaks of glass. A pale-green light radiates from within the hazy, clear stone, which resembles quartz.
The chair is large enough to seat four grown men, and my jaw drops. She notices my stare and shocked expression and nods towards it.
“My throne.” She smirks.
But we keep walking across the room and down one of the open-air hallways.
“The Great Hall consists of a single throne room with four entrances, two on each side. The hallway we’re in now is on the north side of the Great Hall. It has two levels of sleeping quarters, bathrooms, private entertaining chambers, and a library. If we had taken the hallway to the right of this one, it would have led us to the dining hall, kitchen, and meeting chambers for councilors. The entrances on the south side of the Great Hall are the ones we just came from that connect to the gardens and the training ground. While the other passageway on the south side has a stairway that leads down to the capital,” Odessa explains as she leads me down the hall.
The soaring ceiling has large gaps throughout, allowing sunlight to shine through and reflect off the polished marble floors. Our feet echo as we continue walking past open stone doors. I catch glimpses of large rooms with couches in neat rows and floor pillows strewn about haphazardly, and they look cozy and inviting. There are smaller wooden doors along the hallway, each with intricate carvings of knots framing them. Most are shut, but the open ones reveal bedrooms with towering windows overlooking spectacular views, canopy beds covered in various rich earth-toned colors, and plush-looking rugs.
Idirhalla really is a paradise.
A question forms in my mind, and I clear my throat. “You said the magic was fading. How do you know?”
She tilts her head to the side, thinking. “It was a slow progression at first, but our powers began to decrease noticeably, and then our healing capabilities began to slow. There were several unfortunate accidents before we realized what was happening.” Sadness dims her eyes, and my stomach sinks, recognizing the grief that mirrors my own.
“Then the weather became volatile. Devastating windsripped through the city, damaging buildings and trees. The usually mild winter in the mountain regions has lasted three years now and decimated many crops. By the second year, we began relocating many farmers to the southern parts of the mountain so that it wouldn’t continue to impact our food supply.”
My mouth drops open. That sounds terrible.
She takes in my expression and pats my hand. “Not to worry, you’re here now, and it should all return to normal.”
I grimace at her assumption.I need to get back home.
We stop at a door at the very end of the hall. There’s a poppy carved into the wood parallel to my eye line. That’ll help me remember which room is mine. We passed more than a dozen rooms on our walk here, and I was so busy thinking everything through that I hadn’t even bothered to count the doors. She pushes open the door, and I’m speechless at the wondrous room in front of me.
Floor-to-ceiling windows make up the adjacent wall, but there’s no glass separating the room from the outside; only gauzy curtains fluttering in the breeze. The bed is like the others I glimpsed on the way here, a large carved wood four-poster with a white canopy stretched across the top. The mattress is draped in varying shades of white and cream, with plush-looking pillows. A circular rug depicting mountains, birds, flowers, and grassy hills lies beneath the bed and stretches out into the middle of the room.
Odessa walks to an armoire across from the bed and opens it up. “The climate stays mild here in the Capital, so you might want to change into something cooler.” She gestures to my jeans and ripped sweater. Then pulls out a long skirt and matching top, before placing them on the bed. “There’s also a bathing room attached if you need to use the toilet or splash water on your face.” She points to a doorway I hadn’t noticed on the other side of the armoire.
I’m frozen at the threshold, trying to keep up with her instructions.
Odessa walks to me but hesitates. “I’ll be right back, and I’ll have some refreshments sent up, okay?” I nod, and she gazes into my eyes as she cups my cheek. “I know you’re probably in shock, but I am really happy you’re here. Eat something, and I’ll return as soon as I can.”
She walks past me and pulls the door closed behind her, leaving me alone facing the room.
7
IDIRHALLA
My head tilts back while I attempt to take a deep breath, but it cuts off as a sob rips out of my chest. Sinking to the floor, I wrap my arms around my knees and bawl. The fear, shock, and anger pour out of me with each tear that falls. Lachlan must be terrified, and I’m sure he’s tried to tell Gran.
But who knows if she was even lucid enough to know who I am and the magnitude of what it means that I’m missing?
