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“Formidable, is it not?" the duke asks over the constant hum of engines outside.
Dozens of crafts are in line to land and pass through security. We were rushed through it, but everyone else is waiting high in the air. There must be a hierarchy to the order of arrivals.
"That's not the word I would have used," I try to say, but when I speak, my teeth chatter so much I'm not sure he can comprehend me.
My body’s not recovered from its first encounter with the Ravelyn air.
The duke, like the servants, and even the common attaché, seems perfectly comfortable. "Yes, it's cold, ugly, and miserable," he sums up accurately. "But it's also safe. We moved the royal court here after the last king was killed."
Everyone knows the Devar family was massacred fifteen years ago. I was only four at the time, but even I remember the stunned horror that filled the world at the news.
My memories of the event were remote and vague, as it happened when I was so young, but after all of my research this week, I know the king, his four wives and the seven women in his harem were killed, then piled up and burned. The children hadn't been spared, leaving only one survivor: Zale.
I can’t imagine the trauma, but I hate him all the same. I’m not about to compare my ordeals to his, but I had a shitty childhood, and I don’t use it as an excuse to be a tyrant.
We cross the clear courtyard and progress through black, sculpted doors, entering a great hall of silver walls, supported by onyx column so high I hurt my neck when I tilt my head back to try to see the vaulted painted ceiling.
Blissful warmth engulfs me and I sigh in contentment.
Now I'm no longer at risk for frostbite, I can admit that the inside of the castle is beautiful, in a frosty, forbidding way. Quite perfect for its king.
"The court used to be in held in the Black Keep. It's farther north, where the temperatures are so extreme only coldbloods can survive."
I can't imagine a place colder than this. I don't think I could survive for a full minute out of doors here without my coat.
"And commons live in this country?” I muse, baffled, though I know the answer: the population is half common, half demi, which makes Ravelyn the realm with the highest percentage of magik users. Now I know why.
The duke leads us through halls so tall and vast I wonder if this place was built for men or giants. We do come across courtiers and servants, many of them pale, blond, and long-limbed. They bolt out of the way, with nods and curtsies we don't return.
"Where are we going?"
"I have apartments here—several rooms, close to the heart of the palace, so it'll be a short walk to the throne room, where we're expected in about an hour. You ladies can refresh and I can catch up on some paperwork."
I let him lead the way, relieved I didn't attempt to venture here alone.
Though I can hardly trust a man who chose to marry my mother, or Neleda herself, I’m glad of their company today.
This place is a beautiful, austere nightmare, and I can’t imagine venturing here alone.
CHAPTERTWENTY
A TASTE OF TORMENT
The floor vibrates under the ruckus of the blithe dances, and the air is thick with the stench of wine. This feast alone should be enough to sate the growing need inside me, but I barely hear, smell and see any of the merriments.
The beast I harbor is waiting for one specific delicacy. I’ll take her pain and misery over the decadence of the Whyte Fort.
Helyn is late, disrespectful vixen that she is, and I’m delighted by it. Every second she makes me wait for her is a moment I'll make her pay for.
Adelaid rushes up the seven steps leading to my dais and without so much as a curtsy or a word of greeting, grasps both of my hands in hers, pouting. "Why won't you join me for a spin?”
I excuse her blatant discourtesy only because it is Lughnasadh, a day of sin. And she does have cause for such presumption. I have celebrated many a festival with her, and her sister, and her cousin, and each of her friends. The young ladies and gentlemen of this court have made themselves available to their king, and I've tasted almost every one of them in turn.
I'll taste more, just as soon as I've enjoyed the main entertainment of the night: a lesson in humiliation.
I'm jonesing to see Helyn break under the trial I’ve planned for her.
"Later," I tell the enthusiastic beauty, withdrawing my grasp.
