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Caz walks around me, immediately marching up the stairs. As he does, a large man with deeply tan skin steps beside the woman. He’s even buffer than Killian, with long black hair braided down to the center of his back. Brown ink embellishesthe majority of his visible skin, and he wears leather pants and a very thin, sleeveless white shirt.
“Is that Alora?” I ask when Juniper steps to my side.
“That’s her,” Juniper responds. “Queen of Vanora herself.”
I swallow hard, following everyone up the staircase. Caz reaches the top first and gives Alora a quick bow, to which she smiles, delighted.
When I reach the top of the stairs, nearly out of breath, my legs aching and on fire, I notice Alora is barefoot, but there is brown ink lining the edges of her feet, her ankles wrapped in diamonds.
“Willow Austin.” Her voice is light, sweet. She smiles at me, and I’m taken aback by her beauty. She’s gorgeous up close, her tan skin flawless—not a blemish in sight. Her glossy black hair is parted at the crown, in a half-up, half-down style. “My word, are you a lovely sight.”
“You know my name?” I ask as her hazel eyes lock on mine.
“I do.”
I want to ask how, but I don’t, and she smiles, turning her eyes to Caz.
“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Caspian.” He sighs, and I hear him internally grumble something about not liking to be called by that name. “How may I be of service?”
Eighteen
WILLOW
Alora is a welcoming queen.I can see why she’s…well, aqueen. She’s patient and calm, even with Caz and his temperament. Any question she asks him, he answers as if annoyed, but she doesn’t react. She simply takes the answers in stride while walking through her castle—ruler of all, beneath no one.
I’m too awe-struck to think much about how rude he’s being. The palace is something out of a movie. I’ve traveled to a lot of cities and have seenmanyplaces, but this tops every single one. She guides us through several corridors, passing a dining hall, the kitchen, and even the regal room, where a throne is on an altar.
“I don’t like the throne much,” she confesses. “In fact, I only use it when I want everyone to take me seriously, or if I have an important announcement.” She smiles at me, and Juniper laughs at her remark.
“When will we discuss why we’re here?” Caz asks from the other side of the room.
“In a moment. I’d like to show my guest around. She’s never been to Vanora before, and it’d be rude not to give her a tour. We won’t be long.” Caz grumbles something beneath his breath as Alora takes my hand, leading the way out of the regal room.
“I’m coming with you,” Juniper says, tailing us.
Alora shows us her tailoring room, her meditation center, the spa, an aquatic room (which I find the most interesting—glass walls with colorful fish and tiny black sharks swimming behind it), another kitchen that’s for larger events, a music room, and then a ballroom.
“Down there, you’ll find the garden room,” she says, pointing down a stairwell. “It’s quite relaxing in there at night. There’s also storage down there, where we stockpile barrels of our youth water.”
“Youth water? What’s that?” I ask.
“It’s basically essence from the Regals—water they created that keeps you youthful and healthy,” says Juniper.
Alora makes her way up a staircase and walks along a wide corridor with skylights in the ceiling. Her guard (Proll, as she introduced him to us) is trailing behind us while keeping a safe distance.
“I figured you’d like to see this part of the place.” Alora pushes a tall, white door open, leading us into a library that’s two stories high and bigger than a gymnasium. Every shelf is lined with books, a pearly staircase leading to the second floor. She takes us up the stairs to two wide glass doors leading to a balcony that overlooks the ocean. We step outside, all of us, as the sea breeze floats by and the cerulean waters whisper to us.
“Wow,” I murmur. It’s the only word I can muster. There aren’t many words that can perfectly describe this view. “Why doesn’t Blackwater look like this?” I cut my eyes to Juniper who releases a harmonious laugh, then shrugs.
“Every territory has its differences, I suppose,” says Juniper. “Vanora is known to be the most beautiful, but alsoveryexpensive to live in.”
“While Blackwater can be affordable, butverylethal. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t beauty to it. You simply have to look for it,” Alora says.
“But even your clothes are…better,” I confess.
“Meh.” Juniper interjects. “Depends on the person. I prefer Blackwater clothes over Vanora’s. With all the corsets and the stifling bras and panties—ugh, I woulddie.”
“Didn’t you say you’d live here if you weren’t from Blackwater?” Alora asks, smirking.
