The Cogsmith's Daughter (Desertera #1)(3)

Aya nodded. “There is a kingdom above our heads, a whole world of gods in the sky. The Almighty King and the Benevolent Queen were married, but then the Almighty King forsook their bed for another goddess’s. The Benevolent Queen was so sad that She cried. She cried so much that Her tears fell down to our world and flooded everything.”

“That’s right. It rained for decades, and our ancestors built a great steam ship to carry them through the Benevolent Queen’s tears.”

“The Queen Hildegard!” Aya clapped her hands.

Papa smiled and patted her head. “Yes, Aya. The Queen Hildegard, named after the mortal queen who ruled when the great flood happened.”

Aya scrunched up her face. “But Papa, if the world was all water, why is Desertera so dry?”

“After the Benevolent Queen cried all Her tears, She got mad—so mad that the heat of Her anger dried up the world and made it into a desert.”

“Without water, the ship got stuck on land and became the palace.”

“Exactly.” Papa leaned forward. “Then the Benevolent Queen took the Almighty King’s power and banished Him deep below the desert soil. When She did that, She saw the mortal world had become a desert, and She felt terribly guilty for what She had done to us, Her children. So She appeared to our king and offered to help us.”

“But the world is still desert. Why didn’t She save us?”

“Well, She discovered that our king, just like the Almighty King, was sharing the bed of a woman who wasn’t his queen. This angered the Benevolent Queen, and She cursed the mortals, swearing that we will never again know our beautiful world of water and land until our kings and queens learn honesty and fidelity.”

Aya’s brows furrowed. “But King Archon is good, isn’t he? No one speaks ill of King Archon. He must be good.”

Papa motioned for her to stand and looked her straight in the eyes. “That’s right, Aya. You must never speak ill of King Archon or Prince Lionel or the queen, no matter who holds the title.”

“I won’t, Papa.”

“Good.” Papa smiled and squeezed her shoulders.

Aya pursed her lips and tapped her chin. “Papa?”

“Yes?”

“Why did the Almighty King want a different bed? Was his too stiff?”

Papa chuckled. “Something like that.”



*



“Miss? Are you lost?”

Aya jumped. A guard stood a few feet away from her, his face and body covered in dust. Aya blushed, realizing that she had wandered into the shade of the palace, where the guards were stationed. The guard stepped toward Aya. As he did, a gust of wind blew down the side of the palace, its heat sucking out her breath. Aya tugged her hood closer to her face to avoid the specks of dirt within the wind. The guard ignored it, taking bigger strides.

“No, I’m sorry,” Aya began. “I was lost in thought, maybe, but not body.”

The guard frowned, looking her up and down. “You know Sternville whores aren’t supposed to travel this close to the palace. You can walk around the edges of the city or through it, just like everyone else.”

Aya did know this. The only people allowed to walk in the shade of the palace were merchants and traders delivering goods and, of course, guards and nobles. When Aya was a child, the palace hadn’t had such tight security around its perimeter. However, as King Archon’s brides kept being seduced by mysterious men, and even some women, the king thought it best to increase security and keep out any wandering adulterers. Aya didn’t blame him. It must have shattered the king’s ego to know that nearly every woman he had ever married would rather bed a vagabond than him. Personally, she thought it served him right.

“I’m sorry, sir.” Aya lowered her eyes. “I’m trying to get to the Bowtown wells. My jar is very heavy, you see, and I wanted to walk the shortest route.”

“Why can’t you use the Sternville well like the rest of them?” The guard spat in the dirt, right where Aya’s gaze had landed.

“It’s dirty.”

“And that bothers you?”

The guard stepped closer to Aya and smiled, revealing clods of dirt between his yellowed teeth. Aya turned her gaze away from his mouth and searched his uniform for some sign of his patronage. Each lord rotated out his personal guards to watch the palace perimeter. If this man was from the right house, Aya just might be able to get through. Sure enough, he bore a welcome patch on his shoulder: a red square dissected by two crossing lines, a white vertical bar and a black horizontal bar. Lord Collingwood. Dellwyn’s most loyal customer.

“Yes, it does bother me. It also bothers my housemate, Dellwyn Rutt.”

“Dellwyn, you say?” The guard’s eyes shifted from side to side.

“Yes. Dellwyn Rutt, who I believe has done many a noble service for your Lord Collingwood and his men. Perhaps even you?”

“And this water you’re fetching, it’s for Dellwyn?”

“Of course.” Aya smiled.

The guard took a step back. “Forgive me, Miss…?”

“Miss will do.”

“Yes, forgive me, Miss.” The guard placed his hand over his heart and gave a small bow. “Please, let me escort you to Bowtown.”

Aya shook her head. “That won’t be necessary. However, if you could signal down to your comrades to allow my passing, that would be quite helpful to Miss Dellwyn and me.”