Page 15 of Stars May Burn

Callum gave me a strange look. “Hmm. Well, we’d better get you inside before the civilians kill themselves trying to climb the wall to catch a glimpse of you. Didn’t Cley tell you to keep your face hidden?”

I lowered my face to hide my blush. “Yes, but…”

Callum had already strode through the castle door, Meena a step behind him, and I realized he was expecting me to keep up.

I took one last look at a furious Miss Claris, abandoned on the stairs, before I was concealed within the castle. Without her to scrutinize me, I let my curiosity rise to the surface and stared more openly at my surroundings.

Callum was already walking up a grand wooden staircase far enough away to make his behavior utterly rude. He seemed to be deliberately not checking to see if I was keeping up. The wood was dark red, and the banister was formed from elaborate carved statues that extended in pillars to the ceiling, giving the impression I was looking at his retreating figure through a forest.

I turned to Meena who was lingering close to me. “Do you know the way to my rooms?”

She bowed her head. “Of course, Lady Sophie.”

“Is there a different way than the one Callum is taking?”

“Eh… yes, I suppose there is. We could go up the west wing staircase.”

I lifted my skirts higher. “Take me that way, please. I don’t know how long it will take Callum to realize I’m not following, but I won’t play along with his antics.”

The corner of Meena’s lips flicked up. “Of course, Lady Sophie. This way.”

We walked through a pair of high doors, made of the same dark red wood, into a corridor that tunneled beneath the staircase. The architecture was both familiar and strange. In Adenburg, interior walls were normally white with an occasional simple painting or tapestry, and the furnishings were made of pale silk. I assumed Kasomere was more influenced by our proximity to the countries on our eastern border and blended cultures together. Fenland tapestries met Tyrazastan silk curtains and drapes. Marble statues met unplastered sandstone walls and Cerith lattices across the windows. Curling scrollwork met symmetrical angular patterns. I had to admit, I liked the effect. It gave the place an air of mystery, since one could never guess what they might see just around the corner. There was so much…otherness.

We walked down a corridor with blue glass kryalcomy lanterns in intricate bronze cases, turned on even in the day, and I peered through each door we passed. A comfortable parlor. An evening room. A game room. I stopped. The next door was closed, but the top half was lattice and glass, revealing a huge dormant ballroom with white fabric covering the furniture and chandeliers. It looked like it hadn’t been used for a decade, despite it being the start of summer.

“Does the general really never host balls? Not at all?” I asked my guard.

Meena snorted a laugh, which she attempted to turn into a cough when she realized I was serious.

“We rarely host anything here.”

“Oh.” It was a pity. I could imagine the room being truly beautiful. Maybe the general had simply not had the time without a wife to help him organize such entertainment. He’d been frequently away at war ever since he had come of age to receive a title. Kasomere was quite far from Adenburg, but we had more than enough rooms for guests to stay.

We walked up a simple wooden staircase, and I was relieved to find my room was not far down the corridor. The door was a lighter wood, more orange than the staircases, and carved with beautiful birds that had tiny white stones for eyes. It smelled warm, almost spicy as Meena pushed down the bronze door handle and stepped to one side for me to enter.

I gasped.

The room was full of flowers, and the decor was lavish. I hadn’t known what to expect, but it certainly hadn’t been this. Lilies, peonies, and roses flooded every surface. Bundles of lavender dangled from the bed posts. Potted plants flanked the doorways. There wasn’t a wilting bloom in sight.

The curtains were high-quality silk that fell in crumpled, luxurious puddles on the deep blue carpets. The bed was the largest I’d ever seen with petals of every color scattered over the sheets.

The smell of pollen was so thick, I almost coughed, but it was beautiful in its chaos. My throat constricted at the thought that somebody would do this for me.

A heavy sigh echoed behind me. “Ridiculous, isn’t it? I told him it was over the top, but he insisted.”

I jumped and whirled around. Callum sat at an ornate desk with his feet on the surface, rocking back in the chair. The table was so crowded with flowers, I could barely see him.

“These flowers are from my husband?”

He slid his feet off the table and the chair thudded back onto four legs. “Of course. Who else? Got a secret admirer?” He waggled his eyebrows with a wolfish grin.

I ignored the jibe. “They’re beautiful and very thoughtful. I must thank him in person. Do you know where he is?”

He sighed. “No idea. I would wait for him to find you. If you try to hunt Kasten, you can waste all day in this place. Besides, there’s been an…incident involving one of his men in the capital. He’s rather busy right now.”

I tried to hide how much his words deflated me. “Oh. Maybe there’s a way I could help ease the load?”

Callum gave me a flat look. “Unlikely.”

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