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Riot shakes his head and leaves.
I let him. Whatever he’s dealing with probably has to do with last night and isn’t my problem. I have enough to worry about and choose to stuff my face with some of the best breakfast I’ve ever eaten without giving much as a second thought to his weird behavior.
On a scale of odd, starting from when I first met him to now, Riot standing awkwardly is barely a blip on the map.
I finish every bite and then set my tray outside the door.I don’t bother moving the wardrobe. Sasha will be here any minute to help me dress. Besides, if anyone barges in unexpectedly, I have a freshly sharpened blade to introducethem to.
Today’s breakfast spread is just as ostentatious as yesterday’s brunch. The Crown has set platters of bread, meats, and pastries along the long banquet table buffet style; the only difference from yesterday to today is that we are permitted to serve ourselves. I’m the third lady to enter the room, a happy medium between the position of last, which I prefer, and first.
I never want to be first. Standing alone with anyone other than Riot makes me nervous. I don’t trust the other guards to stand up to Graves.
Another difference to last night’s dinner is that this morning’s seating isn’t assigned. I take the open chair at the end next to Jinx. We might not have spent any time together since the welcome ball, but she’s still a face I’m happy to see.
My hackles rise when I sit beside her and notice how pale she is. Jinx is naturally fair, as expected with her white blonde hair, but today it’s almost gray like someone’s sucked the life out of her.
“Are you feeling alright?” I ask, concerned with how frail she looks. Her movements are slow, too, as if lifting her spoon causes her pain.
Jinx nods and offers a friendly smile. “Yeah, I didn’t sleep well but I’m fine.”
“Not me,” Tamia adds, and I notice she has the same muted coloring to her as well. Her warm chestnut skin lacks the golden glow it held last night and her thick hair, rich with luscious curls, has lost its spring. “I slept like the dead. Didn’t even dream. I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew my aide was knockingon my door.”
I glance at the other ladies, taking in the details of each, noticing how they seem to be lacking in color, too. Even Raven‘s hair, usually as black as a midnight sky, has a cool, ashy hue. Yet, outside of Jinx, who acts as drained as she looks, the others are fine. Cheerful. Happily chatting about dinner and who will have the next date with Bash. No one seems to notice how slow Jinx’s movements are. It’s like she’s a lamp that’s run out of oil and the wick is on its last leg before the light goes out.
“Khiara.” Vidya’s voice booms through the room, her presence commanding. The ladies stop eating and fall silent as Vidya clasps her hands in front of her. “You kept me waiting.”
“Ma’am?” I ask.
Riot mentioned I’d be meeting with her this morning but he didn’t say when or where, and Sasha hadn’t brought it up when she helped me dress. I assumed she would mention the meeting details this morning but when she didn’t, I came to breakfast. After yesterday’s warning, I didn’t want to be late.
“You were supposed to meet me in the library ten minutes ago for your lesson.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize.” I look down at Jinx. I don’t feel comfortable leaving her until I know she’s alright, but I don’t have much choice either. I squeeze her arm, hoping to provide gentle reassurance. “Drink some water while I’m gone and don’t come down to lunch if you’re still not feeling well. I’ll find your room and come check on you when I can.”
“Thanks,” she says with a weak smile, her eyes barely staying open.
Vidya clears her throat and turns, taking a page from Riot’s handbook by leaving wordlessly and expecting me to follow. We go up the main set of stairs that lead to the second floor and make it to the library in minutes. She unlocks the door with a brass key and tells me, “Sit there.”
I make myself comfortable on the couch she offers and cross my hands in my lap. The room feels larger without the cold touch of death looming down the hall. The curtains are drawn, revealing the large, rounded window with panes that nearly kiss the ceiling and touch the floor. From that first night to now, someone has come in and dusted. They cleaned each shelf and fluffed the cushions because no thin cloud of particles tickles my nose when I sit.
Vidya stands above me, commanding the room with her straight backand high heels. She looks impassively bored and sounds irritated when she says, “I thought we established yesterday that tardiness was unacceptable.”
“If I’d have known we were meeting at eight, I would’ve come here instead of going to the dining room.”
“Lack of knowledge is not an excuse for a queen.”
I cross my legs and the thin layers of my skirt bunch, exposing my knee. I quickly push the fabric back in place before it can ride up my thigh. I doubt ladies are allowed to be armed and I refuse to walk these halls without my dagger now that I’ve got it again. “Let’s be real, Lady Vidya. Neither of us expects me to be crowned queen.”
She looks at me, her brown eyes narrowing, and then turns to the shelves of books. She pulls one with a cracked black spine free and drops it onto the coffee table. “What do you know of the history of Arcane?”
“Not much. Mom ensured I could read and write but we didn’t discuss the past. I know King Travers has ruled for the last thirty or so years, and his father before him and his before that. Sometime in the last twenty years, a bounty was put on the heads of Creatures of Legend, and anyone who sympathized with them was killed.”
Mercilessly.
All because a man in power decided women with red hair were a threat. The absurdity would be laughable if the outcome weren’t so bleak because not all Cerise have red hair. They come in every shape and color and I’ve never met another red-headed woman with power. Before Aisha, I can’t say I’d met many other Cerise either, but there were a few. Mom pointed out one or two women in our travels that were special.
Vidya makes a humph sound and shakes her head. “There’s more to our history than that. You know of the last century and only a fraction of it. What do you know of Harold Farbow and when he conquered Arcane?”
“Nothing.”
