Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(26)

One came to me and bowed, not meeting my eyes, and she turned and moved away, so I followed her through a door that led to a narrow staircase and another door.

She opened the door, and I found a room full of fabric, much of it for making dresses like the one I’d been made to wear, but also a row of hooks with more-finished-looking pieces on it. I pulled on a bright blue one with long sleeves that would cover the length of my dress, and it was lined with soft fur from a kind of animal I’d never seen.

For the first time in days, I felt warm, and I shivered with pleasure at the sensation. “Perfect,” I murmured.

I returned to the main chamber just as Kairos was coming past my guard. I crossed my arms with a sigh.

“Not happy to see me?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh no, Kai, it isn’t that. I told my guard earlier not to admit guests without my approval.”

“Well, I am your brother, so it shouldn’t count, but that is what I’m here about, as it happens.” He looked around and whistled with a smile. “Nice room.”

He started nosing around the room before he went out to the balcony. “What are you here about?” I called, not understanding.

He came back inside and shut the doors, then raised an eyebrow at the door I’d come from.

“Kai?” I asked again.

“Your protection,” he said. “We didn’t get a chance to talk during the ride, and I need you to tell me exactly how bad things are.”

“Bad?” I asked.

Kairos crossed his arms, his gaze heavy on me. “Tell me how bad it is.”

I shook my head. “How bad what is?”

“The way he speaks to you? It isn’t exactly hard to imagine him doing worse. The man cannot abide anything outside his control.” He watched my face, studying my every reaction. “Either he’s harmed you already, or he will.”

The only thing I could think of was the pain of our first night of marriage, but even as little as I wanted to mention that to my brother, I was led to believe that was expected. But something else in his words caught my attention. “What do you mean, ‘he will’?” I asked.

He gave me a crooked smile. “You know I know things, Shy. And sometimes I see things. And I’m never wrong. So stop denying it and just tell me.”

“He hasn’t hurt me. I swear it.” My throat went dry, and I covered my mouth. “Does that mean he’ll find out about …” I held up my hands, helpless, unable to say it.

He stared at me for long moments. “Maybe,” he said. “But if he threatens you, your kinsmen will stop him. Decisively. King or not.”

Shaking my head, I sighed. “You’re not kinsmen—you’re just one kinsman. What will you do?” I asked, trying to tease him.

A hint of a smile graced his serious face. “You forget, little sister. I’m not Cael, or Aiden, or even Rian. I don’t punch first and ask questions later. I’m the clever brother, and if I need to be, I can be more powerful than the whole clan together.”

“There’s only one reason I’d need such protection,” I told him, looking at my hands. Quieter, I asked, “Have you heard from Kata?”

He drew closer, looking over his shoulder and nodding. “She’ll find you. It may take her time, but as soon as she can, she’ll come. Has it happened again?”

I shook my head. “No. I think I was imagining things. I had to have imagined it, don’t you think? How could someone from the desert have her power?”

His smile became crooked and knowing. “You know I know things, and sometimes I see things,” he told me again. “Kata says that’s some kind of ability between the elements.”

My breath stopped. Kairos had an ability? “Kai—” I started.

The guard opened the door, and Kai’s smile disappeared as Calix came into the room. He raised his eyebrow, looking over Kairos. “You can go,” he told Kai.

Kairos kissed my cheek and glared at Calix. “I’ll see you in the morning, Shy,” he told me.

Calix watched Kairos as he left and then turned back to me. “Come, my love. It is time for you to meet my vestai.”

“I thought the presentation was tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Yes, but this is a private introduction. It isn’t appropriate for them to meet you like commoners.”

“So there are more vestai than just Atalo?” I asked.

He took my hand and brought me through the palace to the courtyard outside. There was a carriage waiting there, and he led me into it. “It’s a title, for wealthy landowners,” he said, sneering. “Men who would fashion themselves king if they could.”

The carriage was a silly conveyance, as we only traveled a few minutes before the carriage door opened again.

We were in the courtyard of a white stone building, not unlike the castles but smaller and not nearly as grand. “Where are we?”

“This is the Concilium,” Calix said as the guards bowed to us. “The vestai meet here to discuss matters of state.”

“Everything in this city seems so new,” I marveled, looking up as we began to walk forward.

“It is,” Calix said, tugging my hand. “Previous kings of the Trifectate allowed sorcerer pagans to assist in the construction of many of our buildings. Naturally, any vestige of pagan sympathy needed to be dismantled. It’s disloyal.”