Page 14

thirteen

Carnaxa

I think the ceremony is complete but we are now being guided through a side door. Men are cheering around me as if the King’s awoken primal animals. Women tear me from Ereon’s grip and lead him one way down a split hall and me another, before shoving me into a room.

The room looks similar to my own. A massive bed is set in the middle of the room and a fire blazes in the hearth across from us. I look for Siphonie but I can’t find her in the sea of people that are flooding the room. Women, the same who helped me prepare, start pulling me to the side of the bed. Their faces seem tired and no one will look me in my eyes. The room is brightly lit compared to the darkness typical of Shaston. I blink my eyes as they adjust to the light.

“What is this?” I ask one of them, but I’m ignored as they dabble with my hair, my dress.

I notice then, someone is pulling at the laces that keep the large skirt attached to my corset. They are trying to remove it. I shove their hands away, but just as I do, another pair is in their place.

“Stop! What are you doing?” My voice rises in warning. I spin in circles as they grab and pull.

“It’s the Nle Shom .” Someone yells toward me over the whistling of the men and the chatting of the servants trying to get me down into my slip. Anara pushes her way through the throng of servants circling me.

“Move. I’ll do it,” she commands. The other women eye her skeptically as she answers their stares. “The King told me to do this. Move.”

“Please ... tell me what is happening.”

She turns me to face her. “ Nle Shom is the consummation and plal ryow . Damn Ereon. He had all this time to prepare you, and he didn’t. He should have. You need to trust him, trust yourself or your goddess. Whatever will help you get through this.”

“What is the plyl ry … ryow ?” The words come out clipped as I stumble over the foreign language.

“It’s a” — she stops and runs her hands through her hair — “bond ... a marking ... I’m sorry. I don’t know the word for it in a language you understand.”

A sudden hush flows through the room and I turn just as Anara finishes with the last tie and the full black skirt falls to the floor. The laces of my corset being delicately pulled apart registers but when Ereon walks in, all I see is him.

Ereon has changed his attire and I notice King Atlas is beside him. My new husband’s toned bare chest glimmers through an open, long-sleeved robe that brushes the floor behind him. Bruises and scars mark his skin. The bruises look fresh, but the scars seem to glisten against the candlelight. Two long pieces of fabric, held up by a thick, silver rope, fall between his legs down to his ankles on either side. He’s barefoot and the sound of his steps echo through the room as he walks to me. His eyes widen as he glances at Anara. Ereon pauses, his mouth opening to speak, and his father takes notice.

“Look Ereon, your whore can make herself more useful than just lying on her back for you.”

My mouth dries and I think of what the servants called her. The Prince’s orur . The Prince’s whore. As the significance sinks in, I can’t help but feel dumb for not realizing it sooner. Does she love him? Does he love her? Does she have a choice?

“That’s my wedding present for you, son. Anara will be Princess Carnaxa’s personal servant.” He walks past Ereon.

“I’m sorry,” Anara mumbles. Ereon stands there, clenching his jaw, and his hands fist at his sides before shaking his head. He closes his eyes and tries to compose himself. “Go. I’ll get her ready,” he says flatly. I feel Anara slip away from behind me and he takes another breath as he closes the gap between us.

“Trust me, Princess.”

I look up into his brown eyes and focus only on his stare as he seems to rip the laces from my corset and his fingers lower it down and away from my chest, the sheer sleeves get caught on my bracelets and the black cuff I still wear. Keeping my eyes on Ereon, I tug them off and let it all fall to the floor.

Standing half dressed in a room shouldn’t bother me. I’m from Antalis, where we celebrate all bodies, but now I feel uncertain. Worried even. A consummation. These men will watch as I ... as I lose my maidenhood. They’ll all watch. I quickly glance around the room and I see Rhenor standing there, his hand on Thylas’ shoulder, knuckles white from holding on so tight as if he’s holding him back. But I don’t see Siphonie.

“It’s just one night ... we can get through one night,” Ereon tries to console me, placing his fingers gently along my cheek.

“Just tonight, baby girl. We have tonight.”

Thylas’ voice comes screaming through my thoughts. “Baby girl” ... he called me that when I first woke up, but I still don’t understand why. I look at him again, and tears brim his eyes and something inside my chest falters.

Because he wanted to use your power to claim a throne.

The thoughts take me by surprise, but I’m suddenly distracted as the King claps, gathering everyone’s attention.

“Get on with it Ereon. We don’t have all night for you to fuck her.”