“It’s beautiful. What is it?” I whispered. Emotion welled up in my chest unexpectedly, like a homecoming, as if this was where I belonged, and maybe it was.
“That is Keisan, the Royal City by the Sea.”
We arrived at the palace gates a few hours later, and it was even more beautiful up close. The smooth, pale walls gleamed in the sunlight. We entered onto a single lane lined with verdant gardens. Twin fountains burbled on either side of the road, and gardeners hurried about trimming hedges and digging in the multitude of flower beds. The perfume of jasmine and the scent of the ocean filled the air. Beneath gazebos and covered walkways, clusters of courtiers gathered. A few lifted a head and marked our passage and upon seeing our road-weary mien turned away, chatting as if we were not worthy of their notice. I glanced down to my dusty gown. What was I to these glimmering courtiers but a peasant. Though, I supposed I was; I had no land to claim, I had no title either, other than loose ties with House Diranel, which amounted to nothing. What was I but a parasite upon their society.
Servants materialized and led our steeds to a receiving courtyard. Hilliard jumped down from his steed and hurried over to help Damara from her mount. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. Of my companions, I trusted Hilliard the most, but I reminded myself, He is in her service first.
A servant helped me from my mount. I went around to face the mare that had borne me to the city. I stroked her nose. The animal huffed in my face, blowing my hair back. I patted its cheek. At least I can trust you. The servant who helped me dismount took the reins of the animal and with a bow to me said, “My lady, I will see to the creature’s comfort.”
I felt strange to be address thusly. I dropped my hand and watched the servant lead her away. Damara’s attendants slipped away without a word, confident in their place in the world, while I hovered like a ship lost at sea.
Damara chatted with a well-dressed man with a chain of office around his neck. Johai stood off to the side, arms folded over his chest. No change there.
“Your grace, I shall lead you and your party to your rooms now, if you please.”
“Thank you, we are weary from our long travels.”
“Very well.” He bowed before turning and leading us into the palace proper.
I trailed behind, bedazzled by the splendid interior. I wanted to resist the opulence. I did not want to be swayed by the finery and niceties. I had made a conscious decision to be melancholy, but without a past, everything was a new experience, and an unconscious part of my mind was thrilled by the whitewashed walls draped in thick tapestries and the ceiling inlaid with gold and mosaics. Every few feet, a niche hosted a decorative vase, statue or bust. I must have appeared a simpleton gaping at the splendor. My head swiveled back and forth; indeed, Johai chastised me.
“You look like a fool with your mouth agape like that.”
His reproof reminded me of my anger, and I snapped back. “Pardon me for being impressed by beauty, perhaps you are jaded by such things, but to me it is all new.”
His expression did not change, but I knew I had insulted him somehow.
“Keep up,” he said and strode away, leaving me to scowl at his retreating form.
We traversed several halls and a flight of stairs before reaching Damara’s appointed rooms on the second floor. Upon entering the receiving room, Damara’s house colors, the House Florett, flooded my vision. Someone had arranged yellow and blue flowers and placed them in vases along lacquered tables. Even the tapestry bore her house crest: a yellow flower blooming against a light blue field. Damara stepped into the room and inhaled deeply.
She turned to face me. “Welcome to Keisan, Maea.”
I fought the grin that threatened to bloom on my features. I did not want them to know how giddy I felt. This was not the life I had chosen. This splendor, it was magical and yet overwhelming because I would trade it all for a past and freedom. I organized my face to a schooled indifference and said instead, “May I be excused?”
Damara’s smile faltered for a moment before she replied, “You may, and your room is right over there.” She gestured down a hallway.
I bobbed a curtsy and headed in that direction. I half-expected one of them to follow me to my room and lock me in, but I opened the door and found my trunk placed at the foot of a four-poster bed draped in red velvet. This is home, I realized. All the fire I had felt was gone. I was defeated and their captive. My exhilaration had been tamped by the sobering thought that I enjoyed this at the cost of my independence and my memories.
At some point, I dozed off. Road weary and my head pounding with a headache, I thought only to close my eyes for a moment. Next I remembered, I was being woken from tormented dreams of disembodied hands wrapped around my throat, stealing the breath from my body, by a woman’s voice calling to me. I tossed in my sheets and searched for its owner. My room was empty but for a flickering candle on the bedside table that I thought had been put out. I reached across for the candlesnuffer when a flash of white flitted past the corner of my eye.
“Who’s there?”
No reply came. I pushed back my sweat-soaked sheets and climbed out of bed.
“Maea.”
I twirled around and found only an empty room. Am I dreaming?
“Come to me, daughter of my blood,” she crooned.
I followed the sound of her voice as if in a trance. I snuck out of my chamber, surprisingly unlocked, and I left Damara’s apartments and padded down a long hallway. I should not be out here, I thought. Her voice continued to beckon me and called me forward, guiding my steps. I stopped along a stretch of blank wall, light shifted behind nearly invisible cracks in it, and I discovered a hidden handle to a concealed door. It opened up onto a dark hall I assumed was a servant’s passageway.
I traversed down a series of pathways. The light from the sparse torches along the walls became fainter and fainter the deeper I traveled into the underbelly of the palace. I came to a halt outside a solid stone wall. Her voice continued to call out to me and stirred a longing inside me that was impossible to deny.
“Just a bit further,” the voice urged.
I was under the spell of her voice, and my actions were not under my command. My hands slid over the smoothed stone until my fingers caught on a chink. I dug my nails into it and pulled. It shuddered as it swung open, revealing a descending stairwell. I followed the melodious voice. After a time, the stairwell ended at a wooden door. I pressed upon the splintered and decaying wood. Inside, water dripped, and the room smelt of the sea. I searched for the source and found a woman in a black cloak, her hood hiding her face, standing beside a basin into which the water dripped.
“At last we meet, daughter of my blood.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I am who I have always been, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
“I don’t understand. Why did you summon me here?”
She gestured toward the basin and exposed one pale translucent hand. Fear overwhelmed me, and my feet remained planted in place. She moved over to me. I took a few steps back.
“I am not the first of my kind you have dealt with.” Her hand reached for me and hovered over the pulse in my neck before resting along my cheek. “You do not remember he who has altered you.”
Her touch was soothing, and I leaned into her hand. She pulled away, and a pair of violet eyes stared back into my own from beneath her hood.
“You are a diviner, too.”
“Yes.” She glided back to the basin. “Look.”
I kneeled over the water. The surface was chaotic. Thousands of images overlapped one another, competing for my attention. I focused on flashes of visions: a crimson gown, eyes the color of sapphire, a knife dripping with blood, my face streaked with tears before being absorbed by the image of Johai, his face contorted and screaming.
I pulled back as pain shot through my temple and bloomed in my skull like a white-hot fire. I folded over, bringing my head to my knees, and whimpere
d through the pain.
“You are incomplete,” the other diviner said.
I held back the bile threatening the back of my throat. I swallowed hard. “Can’t you help me?”
“This is your test. You must find the key.”
“What key?”
“Use the clues to find the answers.”
“What do you mean?”
“You must remember, only then can you prevent His rising. If you fail, it will mean the destruction of all things.”
[End Excerpt]
In the Household of a Sorcerer Page 6
