Page 94 of Fate of the Sun King

“I come on behalf of the goddess,” Cloris said. “Here to demand an audience with the king.” It wasn’t entirely the truth. After the last time Zerra had rescued Cloris, she’d stopped speaking to her as further punishment for her failures. But she was trying to earn her way back into Zerra’s grace, and sometimes one had to massage the truth in support of a nobler cause.

The guard peered at the mark as he rubbed his chin, clearly lacking enough brain cells to assess the situation.

“I think we better let her in,” the other one said, obviously the more superstitious of the two.

“We can’t just let her in.” The first one again. “The king will have our heads. It’s the middle of the Trials.”

The second guard’s gaze shifted to Cloris. “She’s with the goddess.” Then his gaze flicked upward before it landed on Cloris again. “We should let her in.”

The first guard hesitated again. “I’m not sure.”

“Do you want to incur her wrath?”

“What about the king?” the first one said, and Cloris was ready to crack their heads together. But she reined in her temper and smiled pleasantly enough while these two tried to remember that one plus one added up to two.

“I’d be far more worried about angering the goddess than the king. You know, eternal damnation and all that. I heard the Lord of the Underworld burns off your skin, and you just have to walk around like that. All bleeding and muscly, screaming in agony.”

“Hmm,” the first one said, clearly skeptical about the other’s claims. “I suppose.”

He eyed Cloris up and down one more time, but she sensed victory at hand.

“Fine. Come with me,” he said. “But don’t touch anything.”

She nodded and dipped her head as the guard turned and gestured for her to follow. They wound through several resplendent corridors, passing rooms full of merry High Fae cavorting and drinking. She caught sight of a group of young women, all in gold dresses, huddling together at the end of a salon watching an acrobat twist through a golden suspended ring. She recalled what the guard had just said about the Trials and realized she had arrived in Aphelion just in time.

Another sign from Zerra that she was on the right track.

“Wait here,” the guard said to her as they came to a stop outside a set of massive golden doors. The guard went to confer with yet another pair of guards as they cast looks at her and then argued with each other. This was getting so very tiresome. There was a time when a High Priestess of Zerra would have been welcomed with open arms and bestowed with every luxury the kingdom could afford. Not treated like a common criminal here to abscond with the silverware stuffed down her shirt.

“Need I remind you that the mark of Zerra is to be respected and that it begs an immediate audience with any ruler in Ouranos? Surely you haven’t forgotten what the goddess does to those who disobey?”

They might fear the Lord’s wrath, but his would be a damp flickering match compared to what Zerra could invoke when tested.

One of the guards standing outside the king’s chamber finally nodded and disappeared inside. Well, at least this was progress.

They all waited in silence for several long minutes, the tension stretching into gossamer.

Finally, the guard returned.

“You may come.” The guard gestured her towards him. He ushered her into a study lined with pale yellow tiles and golden shelves filled with knickknacks and other curios. A large arched window at the end looked over onto the bright blue sea of Aphelion.

“Have a seat,” the guard said. “His Majesty will be here in a moment.”

She did as he asked, dropping into the shiny leather couch tufted with golden buttons, and waited.

And waited.

She lost track of the hours, but the sun started sinking over the horizon, and her stomach rumbled with hunger. How long was this king going to make her sit here? Perhaps this had all been a mistake. She lifted a hand to her forehead, feeling the twinges of a headache cresting at her temples. They’d plagued her ever since that fateful day in Heart, their intensity so fierce that sometimes her vision went blank. None of the usual remedies worked, and all she could do was lie in her bed for days with the curtains drawn, waiting for them to pass.

This was an insult. This was ridiculous. When she was about to get up and demand to see the king, the door finally swung open, and there he was.

He shot a beaming smile in her direction.

“Thank you for your patience,” said the Sun King. “It’s been a day.”

He strode into the room and walked over to the bar cart in the corner. “Can I get you a drink?”

“No,” she said, her tone clipped. “I’m fine.”