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ten

Carnaxa

S ervants have been in and out of my room since I stumbled my way back through the halls. It took a while to find my room without an escort. Well, Shache Ataiun followed me, but he wasn’t any help. Instead, he stood behind me and snickered as I tried to remember how I found myself in the throne room. I assume he went back to King Atlas’ side when I arrived back at the door to where I now call home.

“Can you please request Bêlit Siphonie come to my room? I would like my cousin with me before the ... the Nle Shom .” I stumble over the words while still learning how to say them.

Kyaw, she said her name was, shakes her head as she finishes taming my hair. “It’s not tradition.”

“My cousin is not permitted? She is family.” I look around, realizing for the first time I must have brought at least some of my handmaidens, although I do not see anyone wearing Antalis’ sigil. They are all from Shaston. Shackles on their ankles and dresses swallowing up their thin bodies. “Where are my own women or even my members of the Shayi that came with me from Antalis?”

Why would anyone care about what happens to you?

Kyaw’s hand shakes as she removes it from my hair and looks down at me. “I’m not sure where your women are. King Atlas did not permit Bêlit Siphonie to prepare you since it is tradition for those of Shaston to help the Soti .”

Anger begins to boil inside of me. “King Atlas cares who helps prepare a bride for their own marriage ceremony? Has Shaston hosted many Nle Shom with foreign royalty?” As far as I know, Shaston has not wed outside of its own kingdom since the beginning, as explained in our history books.

“It’s best to just ... learn to do what he wants. It’s easier for everyone if you do.” She shuts her mouth as she disappears to somewhere else in my room. I sit and twist my fingers in front of me. Tonight, I’ll lose my maidenhood to a man I hardly know. A man who more than likely cares for my title more than he does for me. I do not think my father would have sent me here if he feared for my safety without someone to protect me.

I think of the guard — the Ambassador — Thylas. Perhaps that is his job — to help protect Antalis’ intentions and my own — considering he seems to be the one in charge here, at least as Siphonie explained the new dynamic. Women do not hold the same power as men in Shaston, and so it had to be a man. But why him? Yes, why him? It could have been Rhenor. Someone other than just a soldier in the Shayi , or was he a part of the Ke Ney e, our royal guard? It doesn’t matter, what’s done is done.

A soft knock comes from the door that leads to Ereon’s room. A woman who appears to be in terrible condition — bruises across her skin and one eye full of blood — peeks her head in. Her hair is the color of rich turned soil, and her hazel eyes find mine. She smiles at me before walking in and shutting the door behind her.

“The Prince’s orur can’t be here.” A servant, whom I don’t know the name of, says as she walks up to the woman from the doorway. “Or are you the King’s now?”

“Be quiet, Simla ...” The dark haired woman straightens her spine, coming to stand within a few inches of the other woman. The rest of the women stop moving about the room to watch what is about to happen, myself included.

“We all know where you were when the Prince left. Don’t pretend to be better than us, Anara.”

Anara opens her mouth to speak. She takes one hand and pops a knuckle with her finger while taking a breath. Raising a fist she extends a finger in the air and smiles .

“That’s enough.” Kyaw’s soft voice creates a hush over the room. “Let us remember we are here to get Princess Carnaxa ready for Nle Shom . Remember your place, Simla. Anara, what can we do for you? The King did not give you permission to be here.”

Anara lowers her hand to her side and steps around the one who called her “ orur .” She walks up to Kyaw and smiles before grabbing her into a hug. Kyaw’s flaxen hair is tied low against her neck. I watch as Anara reaches up behind her neck, next to the hairline, and touches their foreheads together before taking a step back.

“Please, Kyaw. Let me stay. She’ll need someone to explain ... to help.”

Kyaw sucks on her bottom lip before glancing at me and nods. She lowers her voice to a volume I can just vaguely hear what she is saying, “You can stay until Shache Ataiun or someone else comes knocking on her door. Do her make up. The King commanded us not to speak to her … but she’s curious.”

“She’s not from Shaston, just like we weren’t. She doesn’t know what the Nle Shom is,” Anara whispers back to her. She moves Kyaw to the opposite side of the room to provide them some semblance of privacy so they won’t be overheard.

I gaze forward, hoping my attentive stance goes unnoticed. They are discussing the upcoming ceremony, and my role in it, in the middle of my room. I look at the mirror and have to appreciate the work that Kyaw did to my hair. The cerulean strands fall in loose waves around my face. I like this softer look. It’s the first time I’ve looked at myself since I awoke. My once rounded cheeks appear slimmer. My mother’s eyes stare back at me — as bright a blue as the ocean that surrounds my home. No, Antalis isn’t my home anymore. Shaston is.

Anara is suddenly before me. She bends to recline on her knees and smiles up at me, resting her hand on mine, stopping my fidgeting fingers in my lap. “I’m happy to meet you. I’m Anara.”

“I’m Princess Carnaxa, but I guess you know that already.” I shrug my shoulders before a small laugh comes from her.

“It’s hard not to know who you are right now. I’m sorry you had to come here.”

“Why?” I take my hand from hers; it sweats beneath her warm touch.

“Because … no woman wants to be in Shaston,” she says.

Because you are weak.

“I’ll do what I need to. I am eager to rule at Prince Ereon’s side.”

Anara leans back on her heels and looks down at the floor. “She called you the Prince’s orur ? I don’t recall what that means? Are you Prince Ereon’s sister?” The words sound na?ve coming from me, and I hate it. I notice her bruises and swollen eye and want to ask what happened, but I don’t. No one is asking, so I won’t either.

Anara picks up a small brush. “No, I am not his sister. I am … it doesn’t matter. Let’s get you ready. What do you think of Prince Ereon?”

She dabs the brush in malachite before turning to me. “Close your eyes.” She softly touches my eyelids, adding the green to the creases.

“I don’t know. I remember little before arriving here.”

“My apologies for that. ”

“For me falling off my horse and hitting my head? I don’t think that you had a part in my clumsy self.”

She tilts her head to look at me. “Is that what you all believe?”

Kyaw speaks from behind me, startling me, “Enough chatter, Anara. I told you the rules if you were going to stay here. If not, return to where you came from.”

Anara nods and puts kohl on the edged brush she holds in her hand before applying the dark liner on my top and bottom lashes.

We don’t speak as she finishes powdering my face and adds something shiny to my lips. Kyaw stands, clutching a dress that I can only assume is what I’m expected to wear for this ceremony.

She holds it and several women come to help me put it on. It’s puffy — the bottom skirt full of tulle with a satin top layer. The top is a corset that has gold embellishments around my waist before going up my stomach and between my breasts. The sleeves are a transparent gauze and attach to my wrist with blue lapis lazuli stones. I smile at the stones — they are a reminder of my home and I must thank the dressmaker. The garish black band on my wrist remains tethered. I tried to remove it earlier and couldn’t find a clasp. The ladies pull my dress over it, they must expect it to stay on. I wonder at its significance.

My fingers graze the gold stitching that lines the top of the corset. “It’s beautiful.”

Anara looks at the mirror from behind me. “It is. Kyaw was happy to have found it in your belongings. Nothing in Shaston could match it. ”

“I brought it with me?” I look at the mirror again, taking in all the details as Simla lifts my foot to attach a gold heel with a strap in the form of a snake that looks as though it slithers around my ankle.

“I believe so. Enjoy it. If Atlas was to pick out your ceremonial attire, you would wear a rug and have your face covered. This will be the last time you can wear something from your home without fear of punishment.” She picks up a necklace with a gold stone in the middle of a black chain.

I shake my head. “No, my neck must be bare for the Noko Maki .”

Anara places the necklace back from where it came. “Princess, you need to know … after the Nle Shom, for the plal ryow you’ll be required to let Ereon br —” Siphonie’s screams from behind my door cut her words short.

My door bursts open and Siphonie stands in front of Shache Ataiun.

“I told you I don’t give a kos? what your traditions are. We Antalians have ours as well and I refuse to let her get ready without my assistance, or at the very least, I will be her escort to the throne room for the ceremony!”

Shache Ataiun licks his lips before answering, “Good. She’s ready. We will head to the throne room now. Bêlit Siphonie, your husband should whip you for the lack of respect you have given a Shache .”

Siphonie turns toward him. “Go take it up with him then, and shuck a shell while you do.” She slams the door in his face before turning to me and her eyes fill with tears as she rushes to hug me. A gasp escapes my lips, mirroring the shock that ripples through the room. “You’re beautiful, Naxa!”

I release Siphonie and look around for Anara but don’t see her, she must have left. Kyaw walks up to me before placing a black gauzy veil over my hair while another woman has my mother’s crown in her hands. Sapphires and pearls are scattered across the shells of silver that reach up toward the sky. A wide smile spreads across my face as I realize the importance of having it with me today.

Siphonie takes it from the woman’s hands and walks in front of me. “You may only be a Su Kechni until your father passes, but then you’ll be our Telae, our queen — regardless of what they call you here. We Antalians know you are our queen and we will honor you.” She places my mother’s heavy crown on my head, atop the veil, and kisses my cheek.

“Nesh? Pek? Ra, Lengo Ra, Noko Ra. ” Siphonie steps away from me as she repeats, “Watch over her, guide her, love her.”