Page 89 of The Exile's Curse

So maybe she should just pick something that felt like her. "A raven," she said suddenly. "That's the symbol of the Academe. And magic in Lumia. That will do."

Ravens were smart and tough. Survivors. And they had wings to fly away if they chose. She didn't want a tame, tethered bird. She'd been tethered to Charl and then tethered to Anglion. She might be bonded to Lucien now, but she didn't intend for anyone or anything to truly chain her down again. Which perhaps was an entirely inappropriate thought for a symbol that was supposed to represent her commitment to marriage. But it felt right for her commitment to her. To the person she wanted to be. "A raven in flight," she said firmly.

Mila's eyebrows lifted, one side of her mouth quirking.

"Is that wrong?" Chloe asked. "Inappropriate?"

Mila shook her head. "No, my lady. It's just that it is almost exactly what Lord Castaigne chose."

It was? Lucien had chosen a raven to represent her?

Neni finally smiled. "A good sign, at least. The two of you must be well suited.”

Mila began to sketch, her hand moving quickly and without hesitation. She held up the drawing. "Something like this?"

Chloe blinked at the image. It wasn't large, only a few inches high and wide, but it was striking. A tower ringed with stars and a raven stylized but unmistakable above the stones. For the way Mila had drawn the wings, it could be either taking off or preparing to land. Free to stay or go. She smiled. "That's perfect."

"Very well. I will mix the dye if you'll unbutton your dress." Mila handed several more indigo cloths to Katiya. "Your Majesty, perhaps you can show Lady De Montesse how to drape these?”

The Andalyssian dress had buttons down the bodice. It was a looser style than worn in Lumia, less structured. It was actually quite comfortable, the layers fine light wools and silks. Even the vest wasn't as difficult to manage as she had thought it might be. And the button front made sense for the purpose of the day. It allowed her to ease the dress away from her shoulder and bare the patch of skin above her right breast. Katiya tucked the indigo cloths into the top of her corset and around the shoulder.

"To catch any drips," she said. "I always thought they should just make us wear indigo dresses for the ceremony, but apparently white is more bridal."

Chloe grinned at that. Katiya had a practical streak underneath the well-bred lady. Another good quality in a queen. Queen Sophia had it, too. The ability to think clearly and make sensible decisions was useful for someone with power.

Mila wiped a cloth dipped in what smelled like some form of alcohol across Chloe's skin. It didn't take long to dry.

"Hold still, my lady." She set to work with her brushes. The indigo dye smelled earthy and rich, not unpleasant but strong. But it didn't take Mila much longer to complete her work than it had for her to draw the sketch. The Tintzmach clearly was very good at her job.

Katiya handed Chloe a small gold-set mirror as Mila straightened. "Take a look.” The deep blue was very dark against her skin, but it was a perfect reproduction of the sketch Mila had drawn. She had a sudden flash of a similar image decorating the hard planes of Lucien's chest, and her mouth turned dry.

"It needs to dry for a few minutes, my lady. Then you can go. It will wear away naturally over the next month or two, but it won't be troubled by water or soap. So you don't need to make any allowances."

"Thank you." Chloe watched as Mila packed up her supplies again and left with the sejerin. She looked at the mark again in the mirror. Her fingers strayed upward, itching to touch, but she restrained herself.

"It looks good," Katiya said. "Those two symbols work well together."

Was that a hint that she thought Chloe and Lucien were a good match? But Katiya knew the truth of the situation. As Chloe did. This wasn't a real marriage, just a convenient way to avoid trouble.

But still, marriage. She fanned herself with the mirror, suddenly overly warm.

"It should be dry enough now," Katiya said. Then she frowned. "Do you feel unwell?"

"It's just a little warm," Chloe said. "And all of this...the last few days have been—"

"Why don't you go out in the garden, get some fresh air?" Katiya gestured toward the windows. "There's a door there, so you don't have to go through the other room. I can stay in here a while longer, and they'll all just think you're still drying off. No one will notice if you take some time to yourself."

"Cool air sounds nice," Chloe said. "I won't take too long."

Katiya just smiled and waved her toward the door. Perhaps she also wanted some time alone. Queens, from what Chloe had seen, didn't get much of that. Always surrounded by servants and ladies-in-waiting and courtiers and such.

The air outside was cold but refreshing. The garden stretched in both directions along the terrace, green with shrubs and beds of hardy plants, and dotted with a few small clusters of trees. Not many flowers so high in the mountains and closing in on winter, but the effect was still pretty, all the shades of green soothing. She walked away from the door, turning right so as to be out of view of the others waiting in the outer room, and took a path that wound through the beds until it reached the high wall of the section. An iron gate set in the stone gave her a view into the next part of the terrace, which seemed to be another garden. Just as empty as this one.

Which made sense. The terrace ran along the royal wing. No one would be allowed in without permission. Safe enough to venture a little farther. There would be guards somewhere at the perimeter, but she couldn't see any yet, and she wasn't ready to go back inside. Curious, she pushed the gate's handle. Not locked. She pulled it open and slipped through.

On the other side, the garden was planted to appear wilder. Taller shrubs and more trees, softening the hard stone of the palace wall and the outer wall. Curious, she walked to the edge wall. There were small gaps in the stone, and, stretching up on her toes, she could just look down on the four terraces below, alternating bands of greenery and paving. Only the lowest level, which sat just inside the wall separating the palace from the town, showed any signs of life, with guards and servants and courtiers going about their business. None of them looked up, and she doubted they could have seen her if they did. The gardens were designed to give the royal family some privacy.

Deephilm didn't have space for the kind of large parklands that surrounded the palaces in Lumia and Kingswell. It would be claustrophobic in winter when the weather prevented travel through the mountains and passes to anywhere that offered more space. The terraced gardens were a clever solution to provide some outdoor spaces to everyone who lived in the palace.

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