Crown of Coral and Pearl

by Mara Rutherford

  I stayed where I was near the door. “Do they?”

  He strode toward me, crossing the room quickly. I was pressed all the way against the door when he took my hands in his, causing me to drop the wrap. “I’m sorry I mistreated you earlier. But you must understand that there are people watching us at all times. The lords and ladies... They like to talk, to gossip. If I’m going to be their king someday, they must respect me.” His silver eyes glowed pale blue in the light of the lanterns.

  “Of course,” I said. “I understand.”

  He held on a moment longer before dropping my hands and stepping back. My breath left me in a rush. I stepped hastily away from the door and retreated toward my bed.

  Ceren turned to leave, then whirled back around to face me, his long hair fanning around him. “The pie.”

  “The—the pie?”

  “You never told me if you liked it.”

  Talin had told me to act impressed, if I wanted to earn Ceren’s affection. I had no more desire for his affection than for another bat pie, but I did want him to leave. “Oh, yes!” I said as cheerfully as I could muster. “It was very...unique.”

  He nodded, seemingly pleased. “Good. It wasn’t easy getting all those bats together. As it was, we lost several during the baking.”

  I covered my grimace with the back of my hand. I wasn’t squeamish, but harming innocent creatures for entertainment was not something I could condone. “Perhaps next time, you could put something less...alive in it.” I smiled as sweetly as I could. “The other ladies got a bit hysterical.”

  “But not you. You’re made of stronger stuff than they are, aren’t you?” Ceren sent me an admiring glance, then kissed my hand and slipped out the door, leaving me bewildered and more than a little unnerved.

  * * *

  To my relief, Ceren was gone the next day. A servant told Ebb he’d left New Castle to collect more supplies for his experiment. I asked her to set up my meeting with Lady Melina immediately. As much as I wanted to hide in my room and avoid the stares of the court, I only had a little while to gather information for Sami. And anything that might take my mind off the fact that I was going to marry Ceren—possibly very soon—was welcome.

  Ebb was hesitant, but eventually I convinced her that there was no danger, since the king was still in his chambers and Ceren was absent. At the end of the day, she agreed to take me to the library for a meeting.

  The library was an unfinished cavern Ebb said was rarely used, but I found it beautiful. The ceilings had been left in their raw, natural state, with pillars of stone for support. There were spiral staircases on either side of the finished part of the chamber, but there was really no need for them, since most of the upper shelves were empty. In order to keep the books safe from the damp, the room had more skylights than any other chamber I’d been in. I waited for Melina under one of the lights, soaking up as much sun as I could.

  Lady Melina came alone. She had to be close to sixty, but aside from a few strands of gray hair among the black, she could have been my mother’s age. Her complexion was sallow from so many years inside New Castle, but she was still unquestionably beautiful.

  “Hello, child,” she said as we took a seat on a cushioned bench.

  No one had called me “child” since leaving Varenia. I was surprised to find that I’d missed it. I bowed my head. “Lady Melina.”

  “How are you adjusting to life here in the mountain?”

  I kept my eyes downcast, staring at the lace edging of my sleeves. She wasn’t old enough to be an elder, but she was nevertheless worthy of my respect. “Very well, thank you.”

  “And how do you like your future husband?”

  She was feeling me out, testing me. I didn’t know if I could trust Lady Melina, but right now, she was the closest thing I had to a potential ally. “He’s very...unusual,” I said carefully. “I don’t know what to make of him yet.”

  “I suppose you’ll have plenty of time to decide, once you’re married.”

  My lip curled involuntarily at the word, but I quickly rearranged my features. “Of course.”

  “But if you ask me, that boy is rotten to the core,” she murmured.

  I looked up finally. “Prince Ceren?” I whispered, surprised by her candor. She must have seen my reaction.

  Her eyes were a deep blue-violet that stood out against her dark hair and clothing. “He is violent, unpredictable. These little lords and ladies here, they think there is safety in numbers. They believe they’re like fish in a school, in no danger from the shark circling around them. But one moment, the shark will snap, devouring a fish before the others even know what has happened. I’ve seen it many times. A lord says something that displeases the prince, or a lady offends him in some way, and the next day the person is gone, never to be seen again. It’s all so clean and quiet...until you’re the one being eaten.”

  Her words stunned me. I was grateful for her honesty, but this was so much worse than I’d imagined. “Surely they’re just sent back to their families?”

  “Perhaps. That’s what the others choose to believe. But people are dispensable to that boy.”

  That boy. She despised him, clearly. “What happened to you, after the king realized you weren’t the chosen girl?”

  Her violet eyes widened. “Someone told you?”

  I wanted to tell her my own story—it seemed only fair, considering I was asking for hers. But we’d just met. It would be stupid to assume I could trust her. “Just that the king discovered the truth, and our people were punished.”

  Lady Melina rose and began to pace over the woven rug. I noticed her bare toes peeking out from beneath her hem, and my heart clenched at the reminder of home, though I wasn’t sure how she could tolerate the cold bite of the stone floors here. “When Lazar saw I was not the girl from the portrait, he was furious, even though I explained countless times what had happened,” she told me, her tone full of bitterness. “He said he could not marry someone so unworthy. So instead he married an Ilarean lady, cut off Varenia’s water supply, and made me his mistress.”

  I felt myself growing sick at her words. “But why not send you back to Varenia?”

  She shook her head. “I believe he wanted to maintain Ilara’s relationship with Varenia. And while his pride wouldn’t allow him to marry me, I think he still desired me for himself.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t feel sorry for me, child. Lazar was never cruel to me personally, and Prince Ceren is far worse than his grandfather ever was. He’ll be the death of all the Varenians, mark my words.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She arched an eyebrow. “Has he taken you to his study yet?”

  “Yes,” I said. “So?”

  “He didn’t spend a year working on his little device so he could make friends with the fishes. He thinks that whatever is wrong with him can be fixed with the Varenian pearls, if only he had enough. And he knows he can only push our people so far before they starve to death, or worse, revolt.”

  “But Ceren seems perfectly healthy,” I said, confused.

  “It’s this mountain,” she said, looking up at the raw ceiling above us. “Something about it kills the Ilarean royals while they’re still young.”

  “I imagine it’s the lack of sunlight and fresh air.”

  She sighed impatiently. “You’ve seen the king, child. He’s two decades younger than me and looks a thousand years old. It’s more than that.”

  “So Ceren is afraid he’ll end up like his father?” I asked. Lady Melina nodded. “And he thinks he can harvest the pearls himself with a sack and a hose?”

  She laughed at the incredulous look on my face. “If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself. He tests it at night. But be careful. He has spies everywhere.” She started toward the door. “Which is why you and I shouldn’t meet again.
”

  I rose, hurrying to catch up. “But you’re the only person here I can really talk to. Can’t we meet in your chambers?”

  Lady Melina continued her swift pace. “To invite you to my rooms would be like swimming directly into the shark’s jaws.”

  “In my chambers, then. Or at meals.”

  “Prince Ceren prefers to see as little of me as possible, and I’m happy to say the feeling is mutual. But you need to stay on his good side, or at least try. And you won’t do that by meeting with me, child. Make some other allies here at court. You’ll need them.”

  “Just tell me one thing,” I begged, unable to keep the desperation out of my voice. “Will I ever be permitted to leave New Castle? Please say there’s some hope.”

  She turned her piercing eyes on mine. “There is no hope for any of us, child. We are all trapped in this mountain like lobsters in a cage, waiting for our turn to die.”

  17

  I spent the next day in bed, alternating between drowning in self-pity and plotting my escape. If I could somehow get to the market, Sami could take me back to Varenia and we could tell Governor Kristos everything. The fact that Lady Melina had been made a mistress instead of queen should be reason enough for us to put an end to the ridiculous pact we had with Ilara.

  But then I remembered how difficult the journey here had been, in a plush coach with a personal servant, and I knew there was no way I’d be able to make it to the port market on my own. Lady Melina was right. I needed allies. And I wouldn’t make any by wallowing in my room.

  No one seemed to know when Ceren would be returning, so I decided to make the most of whatever time I had to myself. At breakfast the next day, I struck up a conversation with one of the ladies sitting nearest to me. Lady Hyacinth was around twenty, though her powdered hair and high-necked taffeta gown made her look much older. Ebb had assured me that this lady was well worth knowing—she was part of the king’s military council and had an extensive knowledge of the uprisings sprouting up around the kingdom, particularly in the South.

  After we exchanged pleasantries at breakfast, she invited me to her chambers for tea with several other lords and ladies.

  “Aren’t you lovely!” one of the women commented, inviting me to sit next to her on an overstuffed brocade couch. “I passed Varenia once, on my way here from Kuven. We didn’t get close enough to see any people, though. Our loss, clearly.”

  I blushed, and Lady Hyacinth exchanged a knowing smile with her friends. “I told you she was darling. Much better than that awful Lady Melina.”

  “Let’s not even talk about her,” a lord said with an exaggerated shudder. “That woman frightens me.”

  I spoke only when spoken to, trying to glean any useful information I could, but Hyacinth was much more interested in talking about court politics than anything outside the castle. Several of the other ladies were busy knitting. It was so cold in the mountain that when the women weren’t at meals displaying their fine gowns, they bundled themselves in knitted cowls and shawls, warming their hands in gloves. Knitting these garments, I discovered quickly, was about as fun as repairing fishing nets.

  When Ceren returned the following day, I decided that I would somehow find a way to broach the subject of leaving New Castle. Even if I didn’t make it to the market this month, I couldn’t spend the rest of my life drinking tea with Lady Hyacinth and her friends, knitting fingerless gloves. I’d go mad in a matter of weeks.

  Before dinner, I asked Ebb to dress me in something she thought Ceren would like. She eyed me strangely, but didn’t question my request. She chose a heavy plum-colored satin sleeveless gown with an attached cape that drifted behind me like the wings of a manta ray when I walked. The bodice was fitted, but not low cut, and it didn’t leave me feeling vulnerable like some of the gauzier gowns in my wardrobe.

  Ceren came to my chambers and offered to escort me to dinner. I noticed that his cheeks had just a hint of pink in them, as though the time away from the mountain had done him some good.

  “You’re looking well this evening,” he said as we walked to the dining hall arm in arm.

  I smiled. “I was just thinking the same about you.”

  But he did not return the smile, and I got the sense that the compliment displeased him somehow. Perhaps he didn’t trust it.

  By the time we reached the lull between dinner and dessert that night, Ceren had consumed several cups of strong Ilarean wine, more than I’d ever seen him drink before. I’d learned to avoid wine since the night I’d danced with Talin by asking the servants to fill my glass with water before they brought it to the table.

  “Your Highness,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady, though my hands trembled in my lap. “I was wondering if I might be permitted to go to one of the villages. I saw so little on my journey here, and I imagine there is far more to Ilara than New Castle.”

  He swirled his wine in his glass, pretending to be very interested in the contents, but I knew there was more going on behind his granite eyes. Everything was a calculation for him, a tallying of sums and differences.

  “No,” he said finally. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

  I was disappointed but not surprised. “Oh. Can I ask why not?”

  He tilted his head back and drained his cup. “The villages aren’t the best representation of Ilarean culture. Perhaps one day I’ll take you to one of the estates, but everything worth seeing is already here in New Castle.”

  I bit my lip to hide my scowl. If I couldn’t go to a village a few miles from the castle, how was I ever going to get to the market? It would take days to get there, and the trip would undoubtedly require an escort. It seemed impossible now. I imagined Sami searching for me, risking his life just by being there. I couldn’t even warn him that I wouldn’t make it.

  My anger flared hot and bright. I remembered the way I’d envied the other chosen girls’ freedom, but now I saw the truth: they were far more trapped in Ilara than I’d ever been in Varenia. I had prayed for the wrong thing that night at the governor’s house, and now it was too late.

  I wanted to remind Ceren that the former queen had been allowed to visit the villages, according to Ebb, but mentioning Queen Talia was a risk. If the king was here, he might persuade Ceren on my behalf, but he was “resting” again tonight. He seemed to spend the majority of his time resting, which made me wonder how he was able to do any kind of ruling.

  “There may be an opportunity for you to leave the castle soon, however,” Ceren continued. “If everything goes well with my experiments. I’ll know more after tonight.”

  My pulse quickened, though I kept my expression neutral. “What’s happening tonight?”

  He pushed his chair back with a screech. “Nothing to concern you, my dear. Enjoy the rest of your meal.”

  If Ceren believed he was close to success with his device, it concerned me more than anyone else in New Castle. I finished eating and left the hall, determined to find out what he was up to.

  I was nearly back to my chambers when someone called my name. I turned to see Lady Hyacinth trailing after me.

  “There you are,” she said, as though we’d bumped into each other by accident. “I was hoping you’d like to join us again.” She clasped her hands in front of her to display her fingerless gloves and glanced pointedly at my bare hands.

  “I’m afraid I’m quite tired this evening,” I lied. Spending time with the nobles only served to show how out of place I was here, and I had more important things to worry about than knitwear.

  Hyacinth steepled the points of her long fingernails together. Ebb said it was a sign of rank; the longer your nails were, the less manual labor you did. I kept mine neat and short, as I always had. You never knew when you would need to use your hands.

  “What a shame,” she said. “We do so want to get to know you better.”

  It
had only taken one afternoon with them to discover that the majority of “teatime” was spent gossiping, and when it came to me, they had very little to work with so far. I planned to keep it that way. “Next time,” I told her with a forced smile, hurrying down the hall before she could protest.

  Lady Melina had told me to see the device for myself, and that was exactly what I planned to do. I asked Ebb to help me bathe and dress for bed early, claiming exhaustion.

  “It’s the mountain,” she said as she brushed out my hair. “People come here healthy, and within weeks they’re sick and run-down. That’s why the king is in such a dreadful state.”

  So Lady Melina wasn’t the only one who thought the mountain was causing the king’s illness. Ceren wasn’t sick like his father, but he was lean and lanky compared to Talin. Many of the other people at court also appeared weak and tired, even early in the day. “Then why do the nobles come here?”

  “Some are hoping for more land, loftier positions. The young ladies are sent by their fathers to try wooing Prince Talin.”

  “Not Ceren?”

  Ebb lowered her voice. “Ceren has always been determined to marry a Varenian.”

  That seemed odd, considering how he felt about Queen Talia. But my thoughts had snagged on Ebb’s remark about someone else. “And Talin?” I asked, trying to sound mildly disinterested. “Does he favor a particular lady?”

  “Not that I’m aware of,” she said, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

  Ebb was a bit too shrewd sometimes. “Do you have any siblings?” I asked to change the subject.

  I caught her smile in the mirror. “An older brother, milady.”

  “Where does he live?”

  The smile evaporated, and I knew I’d asked the wrong question. “He’s here, in the castle.” Ebb set down the brush. “Can I get you anything else?”

  I excused her, but the nagging feeling that something was wrong followed me later when I covered myself in a thick wool wrap and headed out into the corridor. I’d only done a little exploring on my own, but I had some sense of my way around now.