Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(25)

The room was beautiful. Two archways in front of me, two to my right, all filled with thin panes of glass and leading to balconies on either side. It seemed all I could see was ocean, magnificent and unending.

I went to the balcony directly ahead of me, opening the fragile doors and walking outside. The balcony was larger than I thought, wide and railingless but extending forward to a point like an unnaturally smooth white precipice. I walked forward to the point and found myself suspended far past the edge of the cliff, high above water churning against the rocks below.

A wave of unease hit me, and I stepped away from the edge.

Looking back, my rooms seemed to be only half the width of the building, but there were more doors, more windows, just beyond. I moved toward them as Danae followed me out.

“That leads to Calix’s rooms,” Danae said. I stopped. “There’s a door inside your chamber as well.”

I came back to her, unwilling to look into his chambers yet. “We have separate rooms?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. This is a room for both of you. That … is his room. Alone.”

Going to the door, I pulled on it, and it didn’t open. “It’s locked from this side,” she said.

He could open it, and I could not. He could sleep with me or alone—all choices I did not have, serving as just another reminder of who held the power in our marriage. I thought of the words of advice my mother and cousin offered on my wedding day, and I wondered if a woman’s power was so different here because I was in the Trifectate, or because I was a queen.

She led me inside to a room with a bath and a basin like the one at Vestai Atalo’s castle, and beyond that to another room with cushioned seats and a fireplace. “What is this room for?” I asked her.

“Your reception chamber,” she told me. “Should you want to see guests.”

“Oh,” I said, nodding. “Should I do that?”

“You will be expected to receive the court as necessary,” she said.

“Danae,” I called, stopping her before we went back into the other room. “Why are you angry with me?”

Her small shoulders pushed up with a heavy breath before falling again. “I’m not,” she said, turning. “I didn’t think you would have to find out about my training, my position. I thought—” She shook her head fiercely. “I don’t know what I thought.”

“What does it change?” I asked her. Then my eyebrows drew together in consternation. “And you do realize I know very little, yes?”

“You can tell I’m not like you. Not the woman or princess I’m supposed to be. They keep me hidden as much for that as for my position.”

“And you are expecting my censure?” I asked her.

She looked at me, her cheeks flushed with color, her chin proud and high. She said nothing.

“You will not receive it.”

She drew in a sharp breath, but she did not respond to this. “We should continue,” she told me, her voice softer. “I’m sure your attendants have gathered.”

“Attendants?”

She led me back into the main room, where four women in white had appeared. They knelt fully down onto their hands and knees. I jumped forward. “Get up,” I said quickly, catching one’s arm. “You don’t have to kneel.”

They got up, looking among one another, saying nothing.

“They’re ishru,” Danae told me. I gave her a little shake of my head, not understanding. “Servants,” she whispered. “Only they are allowed to serve royalty.”

“Why?” I asked, shivering.

“They have no tongues,” she said. “So they cannot betray us.”

My stomach clenched. “You don’t need to kneel to me,” I told them. “Ever.”

One woman met my eyes and nodded. The others dropped their chins to their chests.

“Calix should return soon. If you ever need anything, Galen and I are close,” Danae said, bringing me to the balcony again. She pointed to stone walkways that led over the open air to two other castles. “I’m on the right,” she said. “And Galen’s is left. The three faces always linked, always separate. Get some rest if you can; I imagine I won’t see you until the morning.”

I watched her go over the walkway, fearlessly moving forward as the wind blew at her dress. When she was out of sight, I looked to the left.

Galen’s and Danae’s castles were angled slightly off in either direction, so the points of their balconies faced away, but going closer to my husband’s rooms, I could see Galen’s balcony.

And he was there. And he was looking over. At me.

And frowning.

I turned away from the dangerous edge, going back to my rooms and telling the guard not to admit anyone without my permission.

I sat on the large bed in my room just to try it—beds were a rare luxury, found only in Jitra. Traveling in the desert, we had rolled pallets and rugs that kept us above the sand, and I found I was quickly becoming used to the indulgence.

Suddenly, I wished that Danae hadn’t gone. The ishru were floating like ghosts through the room, but none of them could speak, and no one could tell me what was expected of me now, or how I was meant to get food.

“Do any of you know where my clothing is?” I asked.