Mirage (Mirage #1)(50)

“What?”

“We had an argument. So he refused to accompany me.”

My eyes widened just a little. I hadn’t imagined that the two of them ever argued. Fighting with Maram seemed to me a dangerous thing, and my curiosity was close to getting the best of me and asking what they could have argued about.

There was a sharp twist of disappointment in me too. I hadn’t seen Idris since our return from Ouzdad, and I’d hoped— But then, things rarely went so easily in the Ziyaana. “Is that why you planned to send me in your place?”

“Are you asking me if I was avoiding my fiancé?” she said, and stilled in her rummaging.

I lowered my eyes. “No, Your Highness.”

“Good,” she said, then tossed a gown toward me. “Try this on.”





galene’s estate, andala





26

Galene’s estate was far to the north, across the sea. Farther north than Atalasia. It was situated against a mountain range and made of white stone that shined even against the snow. High turrets and coned roofs marked it apart from the architecture many of the visitors would have been used to from the south. Even on board the ship I could hear the mountain wind screaming as it bore ice and snow down the mountainside.

I was placed in tower apartments on the north side facing the steep slope leading away from the castle. A fire roared in the bedroom, already stoked by a northern serving girl. For a moment I wondered who had lived here before the property had been confiscated and given to Galene. I didn’t even know the name of the people that lived so far north. Who had the will to build such a castle in such a place? Who had the will to stay?

A knock on the door roused me from my seat. It opened before I reached the door, revealing my visitor.

“Idris!” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

He frowned and looked over his shoulder as though he’d knocked on the wrong door. I closed the door behind him and touched his arm. A moment later he broke out into a wide grin as he realized it wasn’t Maram who greeted him, but me. A wave of happiness washed over me. Being recognized—and being recognized by Idris—would never lose its wonder.

“I didn’t think…” he started once he was inside.

“I thought I was coming alone,” I said.

He was still frowning. “I’ve just arrived. Maram and I had an argument and I wasn’t going to come.”

“You’ve come to apologize,” I said, amused.

“Something like that. What are you doing here? There’s no danger here.”

“My half sister’s bid for the crown poses a danger to my sanity,” I said. “Or something to that effect.”

“You are cheerier than I’ve seen you in some time.”

He was right. Twice now Maram and I had sat together and talked and I’d come away from it unharmed. A low bar for friendship, to be sure. But she seemed more real to me now, and I imagined—or hoped—that I seemed more real to her. We would never be friends, but—

But what? I didn’t know.

A serving girl knocked on the door and poked her head through.

“We’ve unpacked your gown, Your Highness,” she said. “Shall we bring it in?”

“Yes,” I said, and flashed Idris a look.

His face cleared immediately. He bowed a moment later. “I will see you when you’re ready.”

The gown Maram had settled on was more Vathek than Kushaila; it was a black gown with an oval neckline and black lace sleeves. The skirt clung to my hips and then widened just slightly at the knees, spilling into a pool of fabric at my ankles. There were silver epaulets at the shoulders and a thin silver belt of interlocking wings no wider than my smallest finger. She’d managed to find the necklace I’d mentioned—a dark silver talon clutching an emerald, and it swung from my neck, bumping against my ribs every now and then. The earrings were the same dark metal shaped and etched to look like feathers, and smelted so that when they moved, they glimmered with a rainbow of color.

All in all, I thought as I examined myself in the mirror, the effect was striking. The serving girl pulled my hair away from my face so that the earrings would not be hidden, but it hung low on my back, curling freely.

Idris’s eyes widened when he saw me. “You’re—” he began.

“Thank you,” I said, grinning. “Shall we?”

*

Galene held the party in the central courtyard, a place that was part garden and part ballroom, with a high glass ceiling to trap the heat. The walls were covered in ornate mirrors, and hovering high above were several chandeliers rising and falling, as though a wind flowed beneath them. White flowers hung from everything, twining over bannisters and around sconces.

I managed to keep my expression serene and apathetic as we made our way through the crowd. Most faces I recognized, and when there was one I didn’t, I squeezed Idris’s arm. It seemed Galene had invited not only the Vathek courtiers who resided on Andala, but some Vath from other places in the system. I couldn’t understand why they would make such a journey, but then I imagined a noble with no occupation had the time.

“Maram!”

Theo. And his Moranite wife. The two of them peeled away from their circle; Theo kissed me as he had in Atalasia, and his wife remained at his side, silent.