Page 53 of The Exile's Curse

Tea in hand, she wandered over to the window, ignoring the cooler air as she took in the view. From this side of the palace, she could see only a slice of the city below, and if their schedule continued to be as busy as it had been so far, she doubted she would be seeing much more than that. Perhaps after the wedding itself. The month of ceremonies to follow was less frantic. Of course, they would still be focused on their mission. But to make up for her frustration at not being able to get to know the city, there was, at least, a breathtaking view of the mountains. Their lower reaches were wooded, and there was the odd patch of green here and there above the tree line which must be valleys or small plateaus, but the peaks seemed to stretch forever into the distance.

"Enjoying the view?" Katiya asked, coming to stand beside her.

"It's beautiful," Chloe said. Beautiful and wild and not a little intimidating. There was a harshness to the mountains. An unmistakable air of “enter at your own peril.” As she had no intention of venturing farther into them on her own, she could ignore that and merely enjoy the spectacle.

"And the ceremony?" Katiya said with a smile.

Chloe turned back from the window. "It's very interesting. We don't have anything like it back home." She gestured down at Katiya's arm, where the five tscherovs she'd acquired hung in a rainbow band of color. "What do you do with them afterward?"

Katiya giggled. "Traditionally, I'm supposed to hang them on the bedposts on my wedding night. But Misha's bed is carved from stone. It doesn't really have bedposts."

Chloe raised an eyebrow but refused to be drawn into the subject of how familiar Katiya was with the king's bedchamber. "Is that a tattoo on your forearm? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't mind." Katiya held her arm up, shaking the bracelets back toward her elbow. “It's my zaka. We get them on our Ascension to mark our connection to the goddess."

The design was a stylized tree and moon in shades of blue and green that were very dark against Katiya’s pale skin.

"Does everyone get the same one?"

"No, there are variations for house and personal taste. Most people use elements from their house marks to work into the design. You've seen some of those on our robes. Each house has a few key motifs but plenty of other symbols, so very few zaka are the same." Katiya smiled. "They're not the first we get. Those are the keya." She dragged a finger across her left bicep. "Around our arm here when we turn thirteen and pledge loyalty to the House. Those tend to be more similar."

Intriguing. There'd been nothing about tattoos in the briefings. "Are there more tattoos?"

"Well, the marriage mark," Katiya said. "That one goes here." She touched her chest above her heart. "First drawn in indigo dye. Then, once the marriage month ends, it is made permanent and tattooed if the couple don't change their minds."

"You can do that?" Chloe asked, startled.

Katiya laughed and sipped her wine. "Well, it would be a vast scandal if I did, so it's just as well Misha and I know we suit. But in the towns and villages, sometimes a couple will realize something isn’t right. That's why we have the month. Here in the palace, it's full of ceremony and ritual now, but out there, it's mostly for the newlyweds to spend a lot of time together. There are a few simple ceremonies over the weeks, but it gives them time to be alone and know they've made the right choice."

And have plenty of sex, Chloe imagined. That would be a luxury in a small village where everyone worked hard. A month to spend just with your new wife or husband would be a break from the hard work of day-to-day life. Particularly in such a climate. "What about people who change their minds after a longer time?"

Katiya frowned, shaking her head. "We don't have divorce as you do. If there is cruelty or violence, then the priests will sometimes grant that the marriage be dissolved. But it can be hard to marry again after that. It's not balanced to do it. And it rarely happens in the sixteen houses." She grimaced, as though the subject was uncomfortable.

Time to change the subject back to something lighter. She was spoiling Katiya's fun.

"And other than the marriage mark, are there more?"

"Some people get more. Men, in particular. Some women get them for children or when somebody dies. The seers and the svasyas have their own traditions, too, but some of them are secret."

Of course they were. "Sejerin Neni seems...more approachable than Sejerin Silya."

"Neni is a sweetheart," Katiya agreed. "She's my second cousin. Or maybe it's third. I lose track. Between the houses, sometimes it seems like everyone starts being a distant relation somehow or other. The House Namenmeisters keep track to make sure no one is marrying too closely."

She'd never thought about that in the aristos back home. Illvya was, of course, a much larger country, and there were more of them, so maybe it wasn't a problem.

"I suppose you would have to," she said, fascinated despite herself.

Katiya smiled. "Is this why you like to do what you do, to learn about others?"

"It's part of it," Chloe said.

"It is a long way to travel. So far from home to find out about tattoos and silly braids."

"Not so far. And not forever. I like to see the world. If I didn't leave home, I wouldn't get to see this." She gestured at the towering snowcaps, blazing white in the sun.

"I've been to Elenia but no farther." Katiya smiled lopsidedly. "The houses keep their daughters close."

"But you'll be queen soon. Will you and His Majesty see more of the world then? You have other neighbors to deal with besides the Elenians. Near and far."

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