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Twenty-Two

CIANA

T he second night of our travels was coming to an end, and there still was no sign of a city among the endless dunes and hills.

“There it is.” Kurai suddenly pointed up ahead.

Like most of this journey, I traveled on horseback, and Kurai walked, leading my horse by its reins.

I peered into the desert but saw nothing except for a wide hill that rose in our path like a mountain.

“Where is it?” I leaned down to the horse’s mane, straining my eyes.

“That big hill over there is the City of Teneris,” Kurai explained.

“The hill is the city?” I squinted at him skeptically.

“You said you don’t remember your arrival to Kalmena the night you were brought to Alveari Kingdom.”

“No, I don’t. I was very much in shock, curled in the cage or the seat in which they transported me. I think the frame around the seat was also covered with fabric or something, and I never bothered to look out. ”

“So, you’ve never seen one of our cities from the outside?”

“No.” When Kurai and I escaped Kalmena, we were transported by his magical cloak too far from the city to see it.

“Well, that’s how most of our cities look. The dome-like shape makes it easier for the structure to withstand the storms. Most of the city is also usually located underground. The queen’s sarai is positioned on the surface because we know that humans need at least some sunlight occasionally.”

“Hey, Joy Guardian.” Malis caught up with us. “How do you want to do this? Just walk up to the city guards and tell them to let us in? Because I’ve gotta tell you, the guards don’t particularly welcome us to any city. Or do you have another trick in your bag for this one too?”

“No tricks,” Kurai disappointed Malis in her expectations for another magical devastation. “We’re bringing the Joy Vessels as per Prince Rha’s order. That should be enough for the guards to let us in.”

Malis nodded, nervously tugging at a braid that had made its way out of her giant bun speared with long needles. I noticed the male of our entourage also looked increasingly more uneasy the closer to the city we got.

As we approached Teneris, it became clear this was not an ordinary hill. The bottom of it remained dark, but the top glistened with gold from the open balconies, glowing vines, and shimmering insects flying around the night flowers.

Kurai walked toward the city guards by the gate.

“Greetings,” he said.

The guards crossed their long spears in front of him. Their leader poked his head out of the narrow window of the gatehouse at the foot of the giant city hill.

“What do you want?” he barked.

“As per Prince Rha’s order, we found his Joy Vessels in the desert and are returning them to Teneris.”

“For the reward the prince promised,” Malis chimed in from behind Kurai’s back .

“Joy Vessels?” The leader’s eyebrows shot up to the edge of the shroud over his head. “Are you sure?”

He hurried from the gatehouse to us.

“Yes.” Kurai nodded.

“Prince Rha will pay the reward for them, will he not?” Malis clarified.

“Yes, His Highness promised a reward for his Joy Vessels. Only no one has actually turned any in yet. How many do you have?”

“Four,” Malis said before Kurai had a chance to answer.

More guards exited the gatehouse, forming a semi-circle around our group. The leader gave me and the other humans a closer look.

“What do you know, these really are Joy Vessels. Go get General Oskura,” he ordered one of his people. “And grab a couple of Joy Vessel Keepers on the way, too. These Joy Vessels are in a sorry state and will need some care.”

“Finally, some decent food and a bath,” Shyanne murmured, climbing down from her horse.

Peter and Maria also sighed with relief, dismounting.

I got down from my horse, too, and took a place on Kurai’s side.

“So, about that reward…” Malis prodded, rubbing her hands.

The leader of the guards nodded. “Don’t worry. Prince Rha is a man of his word. You’ll get what you’re owed. His Highness holds his Joy Vessels in high regard. By bringing them back, you likely earned a huge royal favor too.”

A tall woman briskly walked out of the gate.

“Who brought the Joy Vessels?” she demanded, raking her gaze over our group.

“Greetings, General Oskura.” The guards bowed to her.

Her probing stare landed on me. “I don’t remember you being in Prince Rha’s sarai .”

“It’s because I wasn’t here before.”

“Where are you from?” the general asked .

“Does the prince only want his own Joy Vessels back?” Kurai intervened, without answering her question. “Should I have left all other humans back in the desert to die?”

“No. But you will all be questioned. The prince will want to know how you came into the possession of the Joy Vessels before paying the reward.”

The guards stepped around us, drawing their weapons.

“Shit,” Malis cursed, darting her eyes around as if searching for an escape. “I knew it wouldn’t end well.”

“Are we being arrested?” Kurai glared at the general. “Because that doesn’t send a good message to anyone considering turning in any Joy Vessels in the future.”

“Not arrested, just temporarily accommodated by the city at the expense of His Highness, as his guests,” the general replied smoothly.

As the guards led the humans and the fae inside the city, the general cast a quick glance at Malis and the male fae, then paused her probing stare on Kurai.

“You don’t look like you belong with this crowd,” she stopped him, taking in his collar, then the golden cuffs around his wrists.

The focus in her eyes sharpened. Raising her hand, she clicked her fingers, and the guards immediately surrounded Kurai, grabbing his arms.

“What are you doing?” I tried to elbow my way to him. “What the fuck is happening here?”

“Remove his cuffs,” the general ordered sharply.

The guards wrestled Kurai to the ground, then bent his arms to his back. A guard took a dagger from behind his belt and clicked the golden cuff open, first on his left hand, then on his right.

“Here it is, my general.” He held up Kurai’s right wrist.

A tattoo of a golden scorpion graced Kurai’s wrist, standing out starkly against his ink-black skin.

“A Watcher,” the general hissed with deep resentment. “To the dungeon with him. ”

“Why? What does it mean?” I grabbed her arm, dumbfounded.

I’d never seen Kurai without his collar or his cuffs. I never knew he was hiding a tattoo behind them. But what harm could there be in a tattoo?

“What did he do?” I scrambled after the guards who were taking him away.

A woman, with her tendrils clipped at their bases in the manner of Joy Vessel Keepers, appeared at my side.

“You don’t have to worry about the Watchers any more, Sweet One. They will never harm you in Teneris. Prince Rha made sure of it. Come with me. In our sarai , you will be safe.”

“No!” I shoved her away, running into the city after the guards who dragged Kurai away. “Let go of him! He didn’t do anything wrong. He saved us! He didn’t harm us.”

The Joy Vessel Keeper ran after me. “Please, let me show you the way to the sarai , Sweet One. You look like you could use a warm bath.”

Her calm soothing tone had an explosive effect on my frayed nerves.

“Fuck you and your bath,” I snapped, trying hard to keep up with the guards on the busy city street. “Where are they taking him?”

“To the dungeon,” the Keeper replied evenly, unfazed by my snappy tone.

“Kurai doesn’t deserve to be locked up in the dungeon. He isn’t a criminal.”

“That’s for His Highness, Prince Rha, to decide.”

I squeezed past a man leading a camel, trying to keep the guards in my view.

“Where is the prince?” I asked the Keeper, who remained on my heels. “I need to speak with him.”

“Prince Rha is currently occupied on one of the lower levels of the city. Teneris is a large place. Our ruler’s attention is constantly requested somewhere. ”

As we turned into a narrow street densely packed with pedestrians, I could no longer see the backs of the guards or Kurai.

“Where do you have the dungeon here?” I demanded from the Joy Vessel Keeper. “Take me there, too, please.”

“It’s unheard of to put a Joy Vessel in a dungeon,” she bristled.

“But I need to be with him!” I gripped my hair, aimlessly turning in circles around the pedestrians gawking at me. “Please, please, I can’t let them hurt him. What if they kill him?”

The Keeper caught me in her arms, stalling my useless pacing.

“No one will execute a prisoner without a due process in Teneris,” she said soothingly.

“He will get a chance to speak in his defense. And you will be able to plead his case, too, if you so wish. But you’re far more likely to see Prince Rha in his royal sarai than in the dungeon.

And while we wait for him, let me take you to the royal baths.

No need to offend our poor prince with your current appearance. ”

I let Jotti, the Joy Vessel Keeper, take me to the public baths in Teneris.

The only other thing I could do while waiting for the prince to grace me with his presence would be to pace inside the sarai that was currently absolutely empty.

The three humans who came with me to Teneris had all happily gone to the city baths, too, and all the prince’s Joy Vessels had escaped in their failed attempt to return to the human world.

Unlike them, I didn’t mind staying in Alveari for the rest of my life, but only if Kurai was with me.

“What would you like me to do with your hair?” Jotti asked, lifting a handful of my soggy braids.

We stood in the pool, both she and I completely naked. Her slick, pitch-black body shimmered softly. With no genitals on display and with her nipples being the same color as the rest of her, Jotti didn’t even seem nude despite having no clothes on.

Shyanne splashed nearby, in the hot shallow pool next to ours. But Peter and Maria had asked to bathe in private.