Lady Smoke (Ash Princess Trilogy #2)(37)
“How far up is it?” I ask, hoping I don’t sound rude. The last thing I want to do is insult my host.
Nesrina laughs and shakes her head. “Not to worry, Your Majesty. We have a riser—we aren’t savages.” She turns and motions for us to follow.
I seem to be the only one who doesn’t know what a riser is, and I don’t want to show my na?veté by asking. Warily, I trail behind her until she stops before a large brass cage at the base of the stairway, nestled in the center of its spiral. Inside is plush red carpet and a shirtless man, skin the same color as the bars behind him, standing at attention. His shoulders are broad and his arms are the biggest I’ve ever seen—I think each one might be bigger around than my waist.
Nesrina steps into the cage and gestures for us to follow, but I hang back, my mind circling over every way this can go wrong. It’s a trap. King Etristo thinks I’m foolish enough to step into a cage so that he can deliver me to the Kaiser and collect his five million gold pieces. I know I’m supposed to play the fool, but not that much a fool, surely.
S?ren lingers by my side. “The risers are the easiest way to get to the tops of the towers,” he murmurs. “The man uses that crank to lift the box up, bit by bit.”
I glance sideways at him, unable to keep the disbelief off my face. “We’ll fall to our deaths,” I say.
He shrugs. “The Sta’Criverans have been using them for decades, and they’ve sold the design to other countries around the world. We even adapted the design to use in the mines in Astrea. No deaths have been reported. They say you’re more likely to fall by taking the stairs.”
Though my stomach is still churning, I follow the others into the cage. When the door closes behind me with a clang, my whole body goes tense. I force myself to take deep breaths, but I know it’ll be difficult until I’m out of this contraption. With the rest of our eight packed in, giving the riser attendant plenty of space, there’s barely room for me to move my arms.
“To the twenty-fifth floor, please, Argos,” Nesrina says. She’s perfectly relaxed, as if she does this all the time. She likely does.
The riser attendant—Argos—nods and takes hold of the large crank, beginning to turn it. His muscles bulge with the effort.
“There’s a jolt to start,” S?ren whispers to me an instant before the jolt comes. S?ren’s warning aside, it still scares me and I jump, reaching out to grab whatever I can, which turns out to be S?ren’s arm and Artemisia’s shoulder. Art shrugs me off and at first I think S?ren does as well, but after a second, he takes my hand, lacing his fingers with mine. The riser is so crowded that no one can see him do it, but I feel the urge to pull away. Though I know I should, I can’t bring myself to.
We rise slowly at first, but gradually get momentum and pick up speed until we’re ascending at a decent clip—much faster than we would if we took the stairs. The stairs pass in a blur of colors, but even though it’s easier than I expected, I can’t bring myself to relax. I feel my shoulders bunched all the way up to my ears, and I squeeze S?ren’s hand like I’m trying to break it.
To his credit, he doesn’t pull away and I can’t help but think of the last time we did this, in the dark dungeons beneath the Astrean palace, racing through the corridors with the Kalovaxian guards and their dogs getting closer with each passing second. I don’t want to think about that, but I suppose it’s somewhat preferable to imagining what would happen if the crank broke and the cage plummeted to the ground.
“Last time I was here,” S?ren says quietly, though I’d imagine everyone in the riser can hear him, “was when my father sent me on a diplomatic expedition to try to make the Sta’Criverans allies. It was the first time I was ever in a riser and I think I nearly fainted, which was not exactly the image of strength my father wanted to project. Of course, the Sta’Criverans had no interest in an alliance, as I came to find out. But they wanted to make sure I—and my father—understood how strong they were and how, even if we weren’t allies, it would be a mistake to consider them enemies.”
“It’s true,” Nesrina says, glancing at us over her shoulder. “The Kalovaxians would never dare invade Sta’Crivero. Which is precisely why it’s the safest place for you, Your Majesty.”
“I’m so grateful,” I say with my sweetest smile, as if she’s given me a gift by extending to me what should be a basic human courtesy.. “Your kindness to me will never be forgotten.”
Yet, as the elevator finally lurches to a stop so sharp it makes my stomach tumble, I can’t help but wonder what Sta’Crivero’s kindness will cost me.
NESRINA ESCORTS US DOWN A long hallway, passing half a dozen doors before stopping at the one at the very end. She twists the gold and crystal knob and pushes the door open.
“For the Queen,” she says, inclining her head toward me. “We hope that it is to your liking.”
I step inside and the room swallows me. It’s an expansive space, with high, vaulted ceilings painted with clouds and cherubs and so big I think merely walking from one side to the other would take some effort. In the center is the biggest bed I’ve ever seen—a family of six could sleep in it comfortably—draped in fire-coral satin with a jewel-box array of pillows covering most of it. Yards of matching silk canopy over it, dancing in the breeze coming through the open windows that line three of the walls. Midafternoon sunlight pours in, making the lapis lazuli tile floors glow beneath my feet.