Page 13 of Veil of Vasara (Fate of the Five #1)

CHAPTER 13- LORIA

I had expected to be escorted straight to the throne room, but the guards lead us away from it. Nathon’s sidelong glance at me revealed he was curious about our route as well.

“Where are we going?” I decided to speak up.

Before the guard could answer me, a man appeared. He was tall, his hair a burnt amber, specks of which adorned his jawline. His hand was placed horizontally over his golden vest. He approached us with a confident gait.

“Princess,” he addressed me, bowing slightly. “Prince." He repeated the action in Nathon’s direction. “We are escorting you to an adjoining room. Each of the Kingdom’s candidates and escorts will enter the ceremony when called upon. You will walk down the centre of the hall. Once you reach His Highness, you will curtesy” – he glanced at me – “and you will bow,” he said to Nathon. “You will wait until he acknowledges you, at which point you will join the other candidates at a table adjacent to His Highness’s throne. Where you should sit will be indicated by the presence of a guard holding your Kingdom’s flag.”

He looked at us both, flitting his eyes between us, searching for any confusion on our faces. “Any questions?”

I looked at Nathon, he remained staring at the middle-aged gentleman. I turned back to him myself.

“What after that?” I spoke.

The man looked at me and sighed. I raised my brow, confused by his clear annoyance.

“Is something troubling you, Sir…?” Nathon asked, who had clearly caught the sigh as well.

The man’s upper lip twitched slightly in surprise. “No, Your Highness. It has simply been a tiresome and long day. The preparations have been extensive.” He smiled, forcefully.

Nathon smiled with his teeth. “I’m sure, I’m sure.”

I cleared my throat. “What comes after the introductions?”

“Food and drink will be served. The other candidates will be there, as well as the most important members of Vasara’s Court. It is a wonderful opportunity to improve relations with them and learn more about our Kingdom.”

“Not much of an opportunity for the Vasaran candidate,” Nathon couldn’t help but add.

The man shrugged. “A chance to meet the other candidates is useful for all.”

Useful. This was not anything other than a chance to scout out the competition, to try and outmanoeuvre everybody else. I never thought I’d want to go back to Audra. But I did now. At least I could hide there. Here, I was like a rabbit in a forest, with an arrow pointed at its throat.

“Of course,” I said, grateful I had spoken just as Nathon opened his mouth to interrupt. “Thank you for the information. Will you be at the table Sir?”

“I will, Your Highness.” He placed his hand on his chest. “Lord Fargreaves.”

Nathon’s eyes darted to the floor. He squinted as if in deep thought but recovered almost instantly.

“A pleasure, Fargreaves,” I said, by way of distraction.

“Please, follow me.” He walked ahead, leading us to the adjoining room. I lagged a little, slowing our pace so I could whisper to Nathon.

“What is it?” I asked, my curiosity defeating any sense of composure.

His hands were behind his back. He didn’t even look at me as he breathed out. “I don’t know.”

“Do you know this man?” I tried to make my lips move as little as possible.

“Possibly.”

I fiddled with my clasped hands. “Possibly?”

“He’s familiar. I don’t know why.” Nathon’s clipped sentences stirred my chest with tension.

“Maybe you’ve simply heard of him before?” Even as I said the words, I didn’t believe them myself.

“It’s not that.”

I didn’t like this. Nathon was always so sure about everything. I hated to admit it, but if he said this man was familiar to him, then he was. I dreaded to think of the reason why.

“I suggest you find out what it is .” We couldn’t afford any further complications. This situation was already wildly complex and dangerous.

I expected him to make a joke or a sarcastic remark about my uncharacteristically commanding tone. Instead, he just said, his eyes focused on the back of Fargreaves’ head, “Don’t worry, I will.”

With each step we took towards the room, nervousness blazed brighter inside me. The corridors grew increasingly quiet, indicating we were heading into more exclusive areas of the Palace. We eventually reached a set of brown square doors, which Fargreaves shoved open roughly, gesturing with his hand for us to enter.

Inside were the other four candidates and their escorts. My eyes darted around the room and their faces. Rhana smiled at me warmly and nodded slightly. Her escort straightened up as we walked in, and her gaze fixed on Nathon with a predatory intensity. I had no doubt Nathon had noticed, but he didn’t acknowledge it. He, like me, was busy surveying the faces of the others present.

On their left and sitting down was a young woman whose face had been turned to the window behind her. Jurasa’s candidate. Her long thick golden locks obscured the side of her face as she turned to the sound of us entering. She surveyed us cursorily for the briefest moment and turned away as if uninterested. Her escort did the same.

To their left stood a lean pale woman, whose slick cherry red hair ran all the way down a sun-coloured gown to her waist. Her escort muttered something in her ear, eyeing us with a look that made me feel uneasy. He looked as if he were informing her of who we were. Her eyes widened in surprise at something he said.

In the very far corner of the room sat a man. He seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t ascertain how. His silver hair reached the leg that was bent up to support the spear he was sharpening across his knee with a stone. Next to him was a young girl, certainly the youngest candidate here. Her light brown skin appeared golden in the light that struck her from the window. She was chatting to the man fervently.

But he, he was distracted by our presence. He turned towards us and met our eyes. His stare lingered on both Nathon and I’s faces for far longer than any of the others had looked at us. The woman he was with, Kalnasa’s candidate, tugged on his sleeve and whispered something in his ear. Without taking his eyes off us, he shook his head, indicating no to whatever she had asked.

Clearly ignoring his advice, the woman walked, practically skipped towards us, and curtsied, spreading out the bottom of her silver dress. The light silk rippled through the air, danced as she moved. Kalnasa’s nobles and Royals possessed, by far, the most luxurious clothing of all Five Kingdoms.

“Your Highnesses. I’ve heard much about you. I’m Dyna Kumosan.” She stood slowly, smiling innocently.

I mentally reviewed my Royal History, and all the books I had read on family dynasties at Audra. “King Dunlan’s niece,” I said, as I remembered. Nathon smiled slightly, seemingly glad I had remembered her, for both our sakes.

“Yes…urrr yes!” She looked utterly shocked I would recognise her name and turned behind her left shoulder to look at her escort in surprise.

“This is my escort… Captain Hestan Hikari.” Dyna gestured to him.

Hestan nodded tensely. He pocketed the stone in his pale blue robe, placed the spear on his back, and stood to shadow her. It seemed he’d rather be anywhere but here.

“You look familiar, Captain, have I seen you somewhere before?” Nathon said. He drew out every word in a provoking manner, tilting his head to one side, slightly rubbing the side of his temple.

The Captain looked thoroughly irked by Nathon’s question, which made me unintentionally smile in his direction. He caught my eye and immediately corrected his expression once he saw my own.

A strange man I thought, brave enough to make his irritation at my brother clear. Perhaps the only man here with a shred of honesty running through his veins.

Although even I was not courageous enough to face Nathon. Was I no different from the vapid liars here then?

I found myself genuinely interested in what the Captain’s answer would be, and I could tell by the expression on Nathon’s face, that he was delightfully curious about it. But there was a knowing glint in Nathon's eyes as he looked at the Captain that confused me, and Dyna as well.

“Answer him,” she hissed innocently in the Captain’s direction. I was beginning to think the Kalnasans had a very different approach to etiquette than the rest of us. I wouldn’t have minded growing up there, I thought.

The Captain cleared his throat. “No, Your Highness, I don’t believe so. You must be mistaken.”

“Mmmmmmm,” Nathon hummed. “Perhaps.”

Perhaps it was the Kalnasans attitude that had put me at ease enough to say, “I confess, I thought the same thing of you, Captain. I feel I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

Nathon looked at me confused. The Captain too, seemed startled.

“I didn’t realise my escort was so well known. What have you been doing these past few years to be recognised by such prestigious people, Hestan?” Dyna giggled and placed her hand on his shoulder. Their familiarity was unusual, but Hestan seemed unperturbed by it.

“Forgive me, it might just be my imagination.” I decided it best to drop the subject for now, since the Captain seemed uncomfortable.

For now.

“No, I…” The Captain cleared his throat. “That is to say, there is nothing to forgive, Your Highness.”

Nathon chuckled slightly. The other candidates had, I noticed, been watching our exchange with disguised interest, although they could not hear it. All but the golden-haired woman, who was still staring out of the window, her eyes glazed over.

“Still, we didn’t mean to unsettle you. This atmosphere is already unsettling enough,” I murmured.

Nathon gave me a warning look. The Captain’s expression remained blank, while Dyna's looked almost pained.

“Yes," the Captain said, glancing at Nathon briefly.

An attendant walked into the room. “Lady Tarren of Vasara, please, follow me.” The slim red-haired woman trailed behind the attendant out of the room, along with her escort.

It was starting then. We were being called into the ceremony. As if by some invisible force, each candidate and their escort separated to the farthest corners of the room, conversing with one another.

Strategizing, more accurately.

“That was foolish,” Nathon muttered through gritted teeth.

“It was true.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t true, I said it was foolish.” Nathon looked down at me.

I smacked my lips together in frustration, glancing to the side.

“Can you please refrain from your noble desire to be honest while we are here?" he whispered.

“And what of you and that Captain? You were clearly probing him.”

“The Captain won’t get us killed, foolishness might.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Stop it Loria, please.” His voice became quieter. “You know full well what I mean.”

We pretended to be waiting patiently, admiring the architecture of the room.

“How do you know him?” I said after a few moments.

“Who?”

“The Captain.”

“I don’t.”

“You’re lying.”

“You said you recognised him as well, Loria.”

“Yes, but I don’t remember how.”

“Well, I suggest you remember then,” he said, visibly pleased with himself he had echoed my earlier words about Fargreaves.

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“You’re full of shit,” I whispered, smiling for the sake of any curious onlookers.

Nathon smiled back, so warmly it almost made me believe in it for a second. “Maybe when you learn to keep your mouth shut, I’ll share some of my shit with you.”

“So, you do know him.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s what you’re not saying that’s more revealing.”

“Drop it Loria, you know—"

I hadn’t noticed that one by one, the other candidates had been called into the throne room, until an attendant stopped right in front of us, and bowed. “Your Highness, it’s time.”

I looked up and realised we were the last ones to leave.

Nathon held up his arm for me. “Shall we?”

I warily grabbed onto it. My fingers were trembling. It didn’t go unnoticed by Nathon. He glanced down at his arm and back up at my face as we got closer and closer to the entrance. He placed his hand over mine.

“Loria,” he said. I looked at him, swallowing nervously. “I’ve got you, alright?”

“Unfortunately,” I said.

Nathon laughed. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard him laugh like that. Genuinely, warmly, with real amusement. Not the fake, restrained, and carefully constructed laugh he employed around other people. One that I had similarly perfected myself.

“Unfortunately,” he repeated, without moving his hand.

The doors opened, and hundreds of faces turned in our direction.