Crown of Coral and Pearl

“King Xyrus would argue he is still the ruler here. But these soldiers wear the crest of Lord Clifton.” She lowered her voice. “He’s actually just a commoner who made himself a lord. These are his soldiers.”

Sami had mentioned talk of war in the South, but this wasn’t the South. Did he know the disputes reached this far north?

The chatter outside grew louder and more animated, and Ebb tugged on my sleeve. “Best to wait inside.”

“I’m hardly outside,” I started to say, when a man’s face appeared next to the window.

He was the same man Osius had been speaking with. He was shorter than the Ilarean guards, with a body the shape and size of a water barrel, and his breath stank of alcohol.

“So, this is to be your new queen?” he asked Osius. He examined me so fully I felt the scar on my cheek burn. I’d been careful to keep it covered, reapplying the stain whenever Ebb left the carriage, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever stop being conscious of it. “The most beautiful girl in all of Varenia.” He licked his lips. “I bet your commander wishes he were the firstborn instead, eh?”

The captain strode over, looking furious. “To prevent us from crossing is an act of war, Riv.”

“Steady on, Os.” The man leered at me before returning to the front of the carriage. “Let ’em cross!” he called to someone I couldn’t see.

“Are you all right, milady?” Osius asked me.

I took my seat. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Ebb said. “He’s an ignorant mercenary. Most of Clifton’s soldiers came from the South to escape the woman king.”

I raised my eyebrows. “‘Woman king’? Don’t you mean queen?”

“She calls herself a king, and they say she’s amassing an army. These men fled to escape conscription, preferring to work as sellswords instead. But they don’t belong here. King Xyrus will drive them back as soon as he’s well.”

“Is the king ill?” I asked.

She caught her lip in her teeth and glanced at me sideways. “I misspoke, milady. He caught a chill recently, but he’s on the mend. As healthy as any man of forty.”

Forty. My father was forty-two, and he was even more fit than Sami. Fifty was considered a Varenian male’s prime. But since we lived longer than the Ilareans, perhaps forty was considered a bit older here. Still, how unhealthy could a man be at that age? A king, no less.

The wheels bumped over the wooden planks of the bridge, but my eyes were on the water beneath it. I’d never seen a river before. The water, so clear I could see the rocks and stones on the riverbed, rushed toward us faster than a wave. I scrambled past Ebb to the other side of the carriage and threw back the sash. Farther downriver, the water became white and frothy as it swirled over larger rocks, tumbling toward some unseen destination.

“Where does it go?” I asked Ebb, but her eyes were closed and her normally hollow cheeks were puffed out, as if she were holding her breath. “Are you all right?”

She didn’t respond until we finished crossing and were back on the road. Her eyes fluttered open, and she exhaled noisily.

I eyed her curiously. “What were you doing?”

Ebb looked a little sheepish when she answered. “Keeping out the water spirits, milady.”

“The what?”

“It’s nothing. You should rest up.”

“We have water spirits, too,” I said, thinking of the ocean around Varenia, how sometimes I’d speak to the spirits through the cracks in our floorboards, asking them to guide me to the best oysters the following day. “But we don’t try to keep them out.”

I fell asleep for several hours and awoke to sunlight on my face. Ebb had insisted on keeping the curtains shut for most of the journey due to the dust on the road, but she’d pulled them back now to reveal the captain riding alongside us.

“Is everything all right?” she asked him. She’d been worried about “robbers and vandals” before we’d reached Ilara’s borders, but she seemed more relaxed today.

“Yes, all fine. We’re just—”

“The castle!” I yelled, startling Ebb. I pointed past her to the large stone edifice in the distance. It was massive, the size of one hundred houses at least. Crimson and gold Ilarean flags waved from towers that stretched up toward the clouds. It was surrounded on all sides by gently rolling hills covered in purple and yellow wildflowers, and a small river shimmered in the valley between them. It was even more beautiful than I’d imagined, and for a moment, all my discomfort faded.

“I’m sorry, milady,” Osius said. “But that is the old castle. We haven’t reached New Castle yet.”

My smile broadened. If this was the old castle, the new one must be even more magnificent. “Are we stopping? Say yes, please. I have to see it.”

“I’m afraid we can only stop for a bit. We still have a few hours’ journey ahead of us.”

Ebb dropped the sash and urged me back onto the bench.

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “Why would anyone ever want to leave?”

“New Castle is much safer. Only the king’s guard lives here now.”

Safer than a giant stone building? What would she think of my little wooden house back in Varenia? “So this is where the captain and his men live?”

“Yes. And the prince.”

“The prince?” I was going to meet my future husband now, in a dress the color of soot, and stale from five days trapped in a cage? My hands flew to my hair, which felt just as ratty and tangled as I feared. “I can’t meet him now!”

Before Ebb could respond, Grig opened the door. “We’re going to change out the horses and leave a few of the guards here, as we’re in safe territory now, milady. The captain said you wanted to get out and stretch your legs for a bit?”

At the sight of the open door and the blue skies beyond, I forgot about my hair and dress. “Yes,” I breathed, already rising to my feet.

“Your shoes, milady,” Ebb said, tugging at my skirts.

I sat back down, and Ebb presented a pair of black silk slippers topped with neat little bows. They looked far too delicate and small for my feet, but somehow they slid right on. Captain Osius stepped forward and held his hand out to me, and I took it eagerly. I was so fascinated by the sights around me that I forgot to look down, and my foot landed in a muddy rut in the road with a squelch. I squeaked at the sight of brown mud all over my new slippers. My very first step on land, and I’d made a complete mess of it.

The captain patted my hand reassuringly and led me across the road onto the grass. It was softer than I had imagined, like stepping onto a sponge. In a way, I felt like I was back in the ocean, but instead of being surrounded by blue, everything was green, from the grass to the trees that arched overhead.

I started to smile over my shoulder, excited to see Zadie’s reaction to all this. We had imagined the castle when we were small, but never had we dreamed up anything like this. She must be as stunned as I was.

My smile fell as my eyes landed on Ebb instead of Zadie. Somehow, in my excitement, I’d forgotten. I was so used to sharing everything with my sister. Now, every time my gaze landed on the empty space where my twin should be, I felt an ache in my heart at the realization that we would never share anything again.

“Don’t worry, milady,” Ebb said, taking my other arm. “No one will harm you.” She had mistaken my sorrow for trepidation. A small party of guards was riding out to meet us, and two men on foot led four black horses so large they dwarfed their handlers.

As the riders came closer, I noticed that the young man in front was wearing metal armor, which glimmered in the fading sunlight. One hand held the reins while the other rested on the hilt of his sword. His horse was a silvery gray with a white mane that flowed down to its muscled chest. When the young man stopped and dismounted, the guards bowed, and Ebb dropped into a deep curtsy.

I lowered myself shakily next to her, my eyes downcast in respect. But to whom were we bowing? Surely not the prince. I couldn’t imagine Ebb would allow me to meet him in such a state.

My heart hammered in my chest as the young man reached for my hand. I didn’t even know what to call him. Prince? His Royal Highness? Though we’d been traveling together for five days, Ebb hadn’t prepared me at all for this first meeting.

But when I glanced up, the turquoise eyes that met mine did not belong to a stranger, and the lips that brushed the back of my hand were all too familiar, though his mouth was set in a grim line very unlike the amused smile I’d seen in Varenia.

Talin’s gaze held mine for ten heartbeats that felt both like an eternity and not nearly long enough. “Welcome to Ilara, my lady. I believe we’ve already met.”



      12



For a moment, I wondered if I would faint like Zadie had when Governor Kristos toasted my engagement. Talin had told us he was an emissary—why was everyone bowing to him? And for the love of Thalos, did he know who I really was?

“Talin,” I said, and the people around me gasped. “I’m sorry. Sir Talin?”