Page 25

It was the only response I could think of to answer. Nadrisse smiled. That smile. The one that tells you she knows she’s won the game. She tossed her hair back in a graceful gesture, then motioned for her attendant to show me the dress.

“An interview with the king is still an interview with the king, Lady Ashana. Your Muvarian clothes are absolutely unsuited to the Osacan court. It’s an insult to His Majesty.”

Seitha hurried to join Nirgide by the bed to undo the tissue paper that protected the Osacanian dress, taking care not to touch it. It was the same kind I’d worn the day I arrived at Baal Castle, except this one was golden yellow.

“Seitha will accompany you to the eaglery.”

With that, Nadrisse suddenly swivelled around to leave, accompanied by Nirgide. Nirgide gave me an encouraging smile, which I found difficult to return. In that moment, I missed my mother. I missed my sisters. I missed Muvaria. I really wanted to be home.

“Lady Ashana?”

It was Seitha calling me, looking concerned.

“Are you alright?” she insisted. “I know the Isamane can be a bit ...”

I interrupted her with a hand raised in the air.

“You needn’t worry. It’s nothing.”

I had to move on. I couldn’t let myself be poisoned by her venomous words. Doubt was my worst enemy. If I started to suspect Dovah, everything would deteriorate between him and me, I was sure of it. It was my duty to find out for sure. Which I would do, but not just yet.

Luanda and Marione entered the room then, and although they were surprised to find one of the Isamane’s attendants there, they reacted with exemplary discretion.

Seitha refused the assistance of Luanda and Marione to help me put on the Osacanian dress. She wore silk gloves so as not to dirty the delicate fabric, or so I assumed. My chambermaids and Seitha then accompanied me to the wing housing the king and his precious eagles.

“Don’t get too close to them, Lady Ashana,” Marione advised me in a low voice. “They are so big and their beaks so sharp that they could hurt you or even tear off your arm in the blink of an eye.”

Luanda nodded in agreement.

“It’s true. When they circle around in the sky, we don’t really realize how big they are, but the truth is, they’re gigantic!”

Gigantic eagles? I was really looking forward to that. Or not.

“I’ll be very careful, in this case.”

“They are messengers of the griffin god Wulous. They will do you no harm.”

This curt intervention came from Seitha. I shot her a quick glance and she smiled back, but it remained a polite gesture tinged with deference, with no trace of the gentle friendliness she had already used with me.

When the guards stepped aside and the gates to the eaglery opened, the first thing that struck me was the noise. The shrieks of the great birds of prey were piercing, drilling into my eardrums.

“We’re waiting for you here, Lady Ashana,” Luanda said, rubbing her hands together. “Don’t hesitate to call us if you need us.”

She looked worried and Marione didn’t seem reassured either. Why was this? We exchanged glances, then the guards closed the large carved wooden doors behind me. I felt alone, and those shrieks grabbed me by the throat like invisible hands trying to suffocate me.

As for my own hands, I saw that they were trembling. Slight, uncontrollable spasms. Maybe I was more afraid than I thought.

I didn’t see King Elendur right away, but I heard his voice first:

“Ah, you’re here at last.”

I could make out his silhouette in the shadow of the backlight, the one provided by the roof under which I was still standing. The rest was open to the sky, haunted by the majestic giant eagles of Osacan. I immediately tried to smile.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Isamane told me you wanted to show me the great eagles.”

He held out a hand to me. I could see his gesture, but his facial features and expression were still a mystery to me. It gave him a curious, disturbing aura. Nevertheless, I accepted his hand and placed my palm on it.

“You’re trembling,” he observed.

“Yes, all that screaming ... I’m not used to it.”

It wasn’t entirely untrue, but the atmosphere of this place also had an unpleasant effect on me. Like a weight pressing down on my chest.

“I see.”

I sensed more than saw his smile through the inflection of his voice.

King Elendur had a certain charm. Different from Dovah, of course.

The two were by no means comparable, but I suspected that the king, even if he’d been a simple knight, would have been very successful with the opposite sex.

On the other hand, I had the feeling that behind that formidably handsome face lurked a dangerous darkness.

Did my imagination run too wild as a result of the numerous epic readings that had occupied most of my leisure time when I was younger?

Perhaps, but he was the originator of the bloody war against Muvaria, and that was enough to make me distrust him.

“Come towards the light so I can admire you more closely, wife of my hand of justice. By the way, did Dovah tell you that your union would be celebrated tomorrow at the temple?”

“Yes, he told me.”

As with his sister, there was no question of me admitting to the king that he hadn’t been able to do it yet, and that I’d only deduced it. I had the idea that the twins had hoped to spoil Dovah’s announcement about our marriage.

Once under the blinding light of the Osacan sun, King Elendur scrutinized me further. I felt naked as he let his gaze run over me. The Osacanian dress didn’t help me feel at ease, and one thing was certain, he had guessed it!

He smiled at me, but it was a predatory smile devoid of friendliness.

“You have the perfect body for our style, Lady Ashana. I like it very much.”

I dug my fingernails into my palms to help myself maintain the appearance of a perfectly relaxed attitude, pretending to ignore the possible implication lurking behind that last sentence.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Your compliment flatters me.”

When I said the last word, his smile deepened, as if I’d said something amusing.

“I’ll introduce you to my friends.”

He must have been talking about eagles.

“I’m told you wish to send gifts to your family,” he inquired as I walked beside him, disturbed by the incessant sound of flapping wings as birds landed here and there.

“That’s right, yes,” I agreed.

I discreetly examined the gigantic eagles.

They were enormous! About the height of a tall, full-grown man.

Most of them had white heads, golden-yellow eyes, and an almost orange-coloured beak, which appeared so sharp that I didn’t doubt for a moment that they could shred any flesh in the blink of an eye.

My gaze dropped to their talons, and I swallowed hard.

“Aren’t they magnificent?” asked Elendur with a curious gentleness in the inflection of his voice.

It wasn’t the first adjective that came to mind. Oh, they were beautiful, yes. Majestic, certainly, but "terrifying” was the only word they inspired in me.

“Come closer. This way,” said the King of Osacan.

We approached a row of solid gold perches, where two large white-headed eagles and a smaller brown-headed one were resting freely.

“This is the dominant clan. The biggest is the male, the leader. His name is Crisios. The second smallest is his son, Chiron. And here’s the wife, the delicate Epione. It’s this lovely lady who’s going to Muvaria for you. How do you like her?”

Fierce , I thought. There was nothing delicate about this raptor of extraordinary size.

“She is beautiful.”

Elendur smiled at me almost sincerely.

“Isn’t she? Do you have the items with you?” he continued, grabbing a leather pouch equipped with a buckled harness.

I jumped, then my fingers hurried to unfasten the velvet purse from my belt. It was a purse I’d sewn when I was younger. The only sewing job I’d ever completed successfully, in truth.

Suddenly, King Elendur touched the sheath of my dagger.

“He gave you Cinder,” he remarked thoughtfully.

My eyes instinctively dropped to the weapon.

“I ... Yes, indeed.”

Was this such a surprising gesture from Dovah? Elendur presented me with the empty pouch, into which I placed the gifts for my mother and sisters, as well as a letter I had sealed.

The king immediately took the latter.

“May I?” he asked rhetorically, before unsealing it and skimming it quickly.

I was too shocked to even try and stop him. Besides, this was the king I was dealing with, not a mere guard. Under my frightened gaze, he refolded it and placed it with the combs I’d bought that morning in town.

“Don’t hold it against me. You’re still the princess of an enemy kingdom. I had to check that you hadn’t written a letter ... Well, you understand.”

Yes, I “understand.” Above all, I understand that even after marrying Dovah, the king of this country’s hand of justice, I remained a Muvarian capable of plotting against Osacan.

“Is His Majesty reassured?” I asked, in a drier tone than I would have liked.

Elendur did not seem to be offended and even granted me a broad smile which, as usual, didn’t reach his eyes.

“More than enough. I’m glad you’re more loyal than I expected.”

Ah. A nice jab, perfectly executed. If I’d ever had any doubts about what he thought of me, I had none now.

He closed the pouch, placed a small golden helmet—well, what I assumed was also solid gold—on Epione’s head, and she let out a scream. He then spoke a few words to her, the meaning of which I didn’t understand, and the bird flew off almost immediately.

“"And when the Great Patriarch’s burning fire is propitious to set the world ablaze before leading it to its downfall, we will be the new gods of the heavens,” King Elendur whispered in my ear.

I froze instantly. He was so close that I could feel his warm breath on my ear.

“I ... I don’t know this poem,” I stammered, trying to create some distance between us.