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"Yes, Lady." Padget backed out of the room, shutting the door.
Once I heard the click, I touched the fabric release at my shoulder. The dress sideseam unwove itself to fall away from me. Removing the silk underslip from my body, I let it fall on top of the dress. Sweeping my leg outwards, the dress skidded across the Crystalstar floor to hit the wall next to the door.
Folding myself down, I stepped into the heated water of the tub. It was a little too hot, but I didn't have time to wait for it to cool. Only one person other than my parents had seen me naked since I left Avalonia. A mature Avalonians body is not seen away from home, and I didn't wish to have to explain it to anyone today.
Slipping beneath the water entirely, I breathed the water into my lungs. Tranquillity descended upon me. Concentrating, I felt the burning flash of one of the symbols imprinted up my spine and dispersed myself into the water. It was a forgotten ability even among my people, but I was born with it. If anyone came into the bathroom and looked in the tub now, all they would see was a bath full of water.
Walking into the throne room, I held my brother's hand. The king hated me and was always cruel, but I wouldn't let Zimri come to fight alone. We were stronger together. Only our uncle, the king, wasn't there, and the Barbarian sat on the throne. The king and queen's bodies were decapitated on the floor below. Zimri stepped in front of me protectively, as if he could shield me from their deaths. The messenger who rode with us moved like lightning, slitting Zimri's throat before me. Falling over his body, screaming and crying, my eyes went from him to the other dead bodies in the room. My family was killed. The floor was flooded in their black blood.
Grabbing my arm, the assassin dragged me through all that blood before dropping me at the Barbarian's feet. Fisting my hair, the Barbarian hauled me to my feet. "Don't cry, Princess. You get to be the youngest queen in history."
ChapterFour
Screaming as my body converged against my will, I sat up in the bath, purging the water from my lungs. I shouldn't have done it. I was too emotional to hold myself apart.
The door flew open. Sinking down until only my head was out of the water, I readied in case I needed to protect myself. A strange Cyran checked over the room carefully before gazing back at me. "Are you safe, Lady?" his deep voice boomed.
"Just… grief escaping me. I'm sorry for startling you…"
"Jervaise. Elite Guard Jervaise, Lady Zira. Elite Guard Hartwin needed to duck out." Giving the room one more check, Jervaise moved backward out of the room. "I'll leave you to finish… bathing, Lady." He shut the door.
Waiting to hear the bedroom doors close, I wondered how long I'd been dispersed before my memories dragged me from that peace. My dress was gone from the floor, so Padget must have collected it while I was dissolved.
Pressing the button to empty the bath, I climbed the steps out and dried myself looking out the window towards the city. Our family city house was in the south, but not one so big that I could see it from here.
Closing my eyes, I turned away and made my way to the still open wardrobe. Most of the dresses Padget delivered were in the latest city fashions, which was to say, not to my taste. There were only two country dresses, a pale pink and a pretty blue one, both a lot fancier in design than I would typically have worn at home.
Choosing the blue dress, I hung it on the hook in the dressing area while I retrieved a pale blue silk undergarment and slipped into it. Stepping into the blue country-style dress, I pulled it into place, pressing the shoulder connectors together, and felt the seam weave closed.
Using the reflective glass wall, I admired how the blue made my eyes and the star below my left eye stand out. Going out into the bedroom, I finger-combed my long blue-black hair over my shoulder since I didn't have a brush.
The light was starting to fade from the windows, a sign of evening being upon us. I considered lying down for a while, but I couldn't bring myself to relax on the prince's bed, so I stood staring out the window until a knock on the bedroom door made me jump.
Realizing the sun was nearly set, the sky strewn with greens and purples of the coming night, I blinked. The room was dark when the door slid open behind me, letting light from the sitting room illuminate where I stood by the darkened window. The silhouette of the prince was unmistakable.
"Zira, are you feeling any better?" he asked, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him. It left us both standing there in the near darkness.
The rustle of material let me know he was moving towards me. I could just envisage him in his military dress uniform, hands clasped behind his back as he deftly moved around his room towards his target. "Jervaise told me you were quite shaken earlier."
I nodded, though I wasn't sure if he saw it or not. Cyrans possessed fantastic night vision, but I wasn't sure to what extent. "I need to know, Zira. When you were captured by the Barbarian King, were you joined?"
"No," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes again.
Saboa's hand brushed down my arm until he took my hand in his. The size of his hand almost swallowed mine. "Are you sure? There were no words of ceremony spoken by an elder, no… physical indication of a ceremonial joining?"
"No," I sobbed. "He tried. They started the procedure, but my uncle's army attacked before it happened. My mother dragged me out of there, bundled me up, and shipped me off here. I… I'm bound to no one. My mother had it officially documented just in case the Barbarian tried to convince the people otherwise. The documents are hidden among other important papers at the estate."
Saboa squeezed my hand gently. "I'll have it found and brought to the palats, so the Barbarian can't challenge our legitimacy."
When I didn't reply, Saboa gave my hand a slight squeeze again. Stepping back, Saboa forced me to move after him. Sliding the doors open, he still held my hand as we entered the sitting area. Blinking rapidly into the sudden light, my eyes took a moment to clear to take in the room.
Hartwin stood talking to his father in the sunken lounge. Jervaise stood by the door chatting with two of the prince's elite guards. Aldous was sitting on the sofa reading over what I could only gather was our joining contracts.
Everyone stopped when we entered and watched us. Leading me to the sofa opposite his chief advisor, Saboa sat, still holding my hand, forcing me to sit.
"Well?" Aldous addressed the prince.
"Apparently, there is official documentation at the estate which proves she has never been joined," Prince Saboa declared loudly, then looked at the Commander pointedly.
