Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(29)

“That’s why you’re looking for that elixir,” I said, and my heart suddenly beat faster—I had almost forgotten there was something that took away elemental powers. If I could help him find it—if I could use it—I would be safe. “Have your men found anything yet?”

“No,” he said. “They’re searching the desert, but there are few places to hide something of this nature. I believe it would have to be in the mountains. Can you think of any place that would make sense?”

The lake. But I didn’t say it—it was too precious, too complicated to lead him there. If he found the lake, whether or not that contained his elixir, he would have considerable power over the clans. Without that water reserve, our survival would be at the whims of the spirits.

And what if I didn’t have this power, and the elixir was there? He would have the ability to take Kata’s power away from her, and I would be responsible for leaving her powerless before the Trifectate—again.

“There is the cave of our ancestors,” I said. “Where we honor our dead. But it’s all hard ground—I don’t know where anything could be hidden.”

He nodded sharply. “I will send word to my quaesitori.”

“I will help however I can,” I told him. I wasn’t sure if I meant it or not, but whether I needed the elixir found or wanted to prevent him from ever finding it, I wanted to know what he knew.

He kissed my neck. “Good,” he said.

I asked, “Will you tell me more about tomorrow’s ceremony?”

His fingers touched my chin, applying light pressure until I lowered my head a little, ducking to be closer to his mouth. “The Three-Faced God appreciates pageantry,” he said. “It’s a grand performance. Everything must be perfect. The crowd must be vast and eager; you must be raised up on a stage for all to see.” His fingers trailed over my skin. “You must wear the perfect costume to look the part of a queen. And then the play will begin—the trivatis will speak the holy words, a tradition that is both ancient and eternal. And you will dazzle the crowd, and the people will cheer, and they will remember how powerful their king can be.”

“Powerful?” I asked.

His fingers ran over my neck, brushing my pulse, his hand spreading out over my throat and moving before I could say anything about the strange gesture. “The Three-Faced God is powerful,” he said, bringing his mouth closer to my ear. “And he grants us his power. He wants the people to stand in awe of us, to kneel at our feet and remember that we brought them up from nothing. We stand between them and oblivion.”

I shivered, unable to speak, and he pulled my head down and pressed his lips to mine.





Three Silver Branches

The day dawned cool and beautiful. The sun on the water had all the dangerous beauty of a desert mirage, sparkling and twinkling and making the water look like a living thing.

The ishru dressed me in a silvery, shimmering swath of fabric, and an older woman came and adjusted the dress, suiting it better to my frame. She then put a blue dress the color of night sky over my head, laying it along the silver one so it was edged with the bright, metallic color. Dark blue ribbon was next, and she knotted it carefully so that it outlined my breasts, hugged my hips, made me feel somehow taller, if still incredibly exposed.

She snapped her fingers and the ishru brought out another coat, this one a matching blue and lined with white fur, knotted with silver threads that made me ache for the desert.

“The princess advised me that you are used to much warmer climes,” she said. “Will this be too warm?”

She slid the coat onto my shoulders, and I looked down. There was a stiff collar around my neck, and this one didn’t close but cut away to show the dress underneath. It was the softest thing I’d ever had on my body, and I sighed with pleasure. “This is … exquisite,” I told her. “Can I have more like these?”

She smiled like a kind old mother and bowed her head. “My queen.”

“What’s your name?” I asked her.

“Zova, my queen.”

I pressed my hand to hers. “Thank you. This is lovely.”

She bowed again and dipped away from me. She picked up another stretch of the silver film and let it flutter down over my head, wrapping it back so it wasn’t tied but held still.

The guard opened the door to let Adria in, and I scowled at him, steeling myself to deal with her.

She bowed, and I noticed she looked resplendent in a dress of green and gold. “You may stand,” I told her. “I dislike people bowing to me.”

Her eyebrows rose, and I wondered if this was something she would report to her father. Then she looked me over, her mouth pursing.

“You look very beautiful, my queen,” she allowed. She didn’t sound very pleased.

“Thank you,” I said. “Would you lead me to the presentation?”

She bowed her head. “Yes, my queen,” she said, and the guard opened the door as she led me out of the room, down the hall, and to the front of the castle.

In darkness, held back from the wide arch, I could see thousands of people, and the platform, and everything Calix described. The people were noisy like the ocean, moving in the same restless, relentless way.

Adria stopped and I kept moving, seeing Calix coming forward to me. He took my hand, raising it to his lips to kiss, as I struggled to find my breath. “Don’t be nervous, my love,” he said.