Page 19 of The Curse of a Kingdom
Nava pondered if things would have been different had he not scared her off that day. Had he not sent the bounty hunters to chase her down, would their relationship be more akin to family now?
No. He would have still chased down deserters, destroyed families, and killed innocents he deemed useless. Devon Black was not a good man. She needed to keep remembering that, even if they were allies of sorts.
The bigger issue was Arkimedes’s lack of most, if not all, of his memory from the last decade. It was odd that he knew everyone in this castle and also had a fair amount of comfort talking to the king, which would indicate he’d been here for a while.
It made no sense—he’d been taken from their home the night before. Maybe time in this kingdom worked differently or somehow magic was involved.
“True.” Arkimedes’s fingers went through his hair, making the thick strands stand on end. “I had not intended to stay for long. Callie, take Nava to her room. Make sure she has what she needs, as they will join us for dinner.” Nava fought her urge to squirm under his gaze. “Rilu will come with you.”
Oh, so he thought Callisto—or Callie—needed protection from her? Nava focused on the other woman, who was practically glowing, her face flushed and eyes glossy with desire. Maybe he had a point. After the day she’d had, her crankiness had gotten the best of her.
Though the one getting stung might be Arkimedes and not this girl.
“Your Highness.” Callisto beamed with a bow and headed down the corridor. “This way, miss.”
* * *
“Do you need me to call on a maid to help you wash?” Callisto opened the curtains that led to a sizable terrace. A pleasant view of the garden opened ahead and, beyond that, a vast forest. “Miss?”
“What? Oh. No, I don’t need help bathing.” Nava focused on the trees, wondering if Ari was waiting for her.
“The rooms in this castle are alive with magic,” Callisto said. “When you want a bath, it will run on its own. The fire will turn on the moment you enter the room if the air is chilly. Clothes for you to wear are already in the armoire.” She eyed Nava’s clothes, and her brows met in the middle. “It’s a great privilege to stay in this wing. Especially in this room.”
Nava huffed and walked toward the terrace. She didn’t need fancy accommodations. Something simple would be perfectly fine. Arkimedes was all she needed. “What do you mean?”
Callisto walked to the door, her pale hair shimmering with the sun. “This is the prince’s wing. Where he hosts his guests.” Her sneer swelled. “The guard will escort you to dinner tonight—don’t be late. The king likes to eat before the sun sets.” She opened the door and left before Nava could ask anything else.
Nava basked in the splendor around her, the warm tones of the stone wall, the imposing vaulted ceilings. The room alone was larger than the whole second floor in her house. Now that she was alone, she studied every detail. The linens on the bed were rich forest green. Multiple wool rugs were layered under the bed, in complementary shades of lighter greens that reminded her of Arkimedes’s eyes.
The mantlepiece was green marble; carvings showed swirling rosettes and leaves, an imposing oil painting of a forest hanging on top of it. Her heart ached from what she’d left behind and what the men in the shadows had stolen from her.
The same flower arrangements she’d seen in the halls decorated each side of the fireplace in the room's corner. Nava paused as her gaze stopped on the weird geometrical flowers she had foolishly thought were camellias when walking down the corridors.
Spies.
Nava walked to the arrangements, plucked every single one out of the vase, and threw them out of the balcony. She breathed in, relieved that even if it was paranoid to throw away the beautiful arrangement, she would not let them spy on her.
The hole in her heart grew like a festering wound, unlike anything she’d felt before. Something was off with the encounter she’d had when crossing the portal. That shadowy shape was all too eager to have seen her.
She was unable to come up with what she had lost but knew it was something irreplaceable. Her cheeks dampened with tears, and she held the weight of her body against the cool banisters, feeling as if everything was closing in on her. This elegant room was a prison in disguise, oceans away from home, where she didn’t know how to save her soulmate.
Nava had only her magic against an entire kingdom, against powerful ones everyone feared. How was she supposed to start when she’d just learned about her magic a year ago?
She had never been this far away from Cameron and Ari—but there was one familiarity with her current situation: being forced to face everything she didn’t know.
Her clothes constricted her breathing, and she stripped off the layers, taking a deep breath to calm the pressure forming in her heart. The shadows of the room traveled across the floor, and the warm, humid air of summer kissed her skin.
Her legs groaned with pain from standing for too long. She made her way to the washroom, ready to get the grime off and face whatever was coming for her next.
Just as impressive as the bedroom, green slate extended through the floor and up the walls. There was a tub—or a pool—in the center of the room. The water inside was steaming and a milky shade of blue, and the scent of honeysuckle drifted in the air.
Nava lowered herself into the hot water, hissing as it burned her skin but calmed her aching muscles. She picked a sea sponge from the side and dampened it in the water; she used to use these to make potions, her mind supplied, though she couldn’t pinpoint what potion that had been.
* * *
By the time she got out of the tub, her fingers resembled prunes, and the sun grazed the treetops with orange hues. Nava wrapped her body with the most luxurious and fluffiest towel she had ever encountered and made her way to the bedroom.
The closet smelled like a mixture of sandalwood, mildew, and a side of peppercorn. She wrinkled her nose as she took in the wall of gowns in front of her, all in different shades of blue. Some shimmered under the afternoon sunlight.
