Page 10 of Kingdom of Flames & Flowers
The queen’s eyes narrowed, a corner of her mouth lifting. “Ah, yes. Now I remember. How sad. Perhaps we should have abandoned the usual trials.”
That small gesture at the corner of her mouth said otherwise.
“How many were pruned?” she asked nonchalantly.
It took me a moment to understand what she meant.Pruned.
“Eight, my queen. It would have been more, but …” he trailed away, giving the queen a significant look, and then glanced at the row of fireguards behind us.
Was he implying fewer girls died because of my fireguard’s actions? Surely those stone girls would have perished on those steps, moaning and holding their delicate feet the entire time, had he not stepped in?
The queen huffed. “We are thankful good sense prevailed, then.” her white hair glowed in the rapidly approaching twilight. Her nose lifted in the air, furthering the impression she was looking down on us.
“Get them to their rooms.”
With a flourish of her hand, she dismissed us.
Including the captain, they left only four fireguards to escort us into the castle and through to our chambers. We couldn’t help but gawk at the gilded portraits lining the halls, and the rich fabrics under our feet. They gilded the walls with gold and silver embellishments, and there was enough wealth on one square inch to feed my mother and me for months.
It was such a waste.
“Through these doors are your rooms. You may share them as you see fit. Do not leave for any reason. We will escort you anywhere you need to go.” The captain glared at us as if to impress upon us his seriousness. Two of the other fireguards opened the heavy wooden doors, and we passed through them in two lines.
Once the last pair crossed the threshold, the doors slammed shut behind us with an unnerving finality.
“Wow,” said one girl, summing up my thoughts nicely.
The room wasn’t a single room, but a few rooms interconnected to each other. We stood in a large common area with pillows and couches arranged facing each other. Small tables were scattered here and there. A large balcony stood directly in front of us, long strips of gauzy fabric fluttering in the breeze on either side. Half of the girls ran to it immediately, making delighted sounds as they took in the view of the Seat below us, and beyond that, the entire kingdom. Or what they could see of it, anyway. Darkness was quickly slipping over us, making it hard to see the entirety of the view below.
Look at me now,I thought.A flower among real flowers.
I left most of them to the balcony and their gawking, and explored the other areas. Four bedrooms were off to the left with individual beds that were surrounded with the same gauzy fabric as the balcony. They looked soft and comfortable, covered in velvet and with so many pillows that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at it all. I claimed the one furthest on the left, slipping off my silk slippers to feel the fur rug in between my bare toes. My heart hurt imagining my mother with justoneof these items of luxury, let alone an entire room. Everything was so clean. I hesitated on touching the bed, then I remembered I was clean as well. That would take a while to get used to.
Candles were lit everywhere, providing a warm, comforting glow. We didn’t have candles in the mud quarter. When it got dark, it was dark.
“It’s a lot, isn’t it?” whispered a voice.
I glanced up to see the blonde flop on the bed next to me, grinning mischievously. I smiled back and touched my palm to my forehead in greeting.
“My name is Marigold Mudthrice, but please call me Mari.”
She held out a hand toward me. “Leilani Breadtwice.”
I stared at her hand suspiciously.
She laughed. “What, you don’t do handshakes in the mud quarter?”
My brow furrowed. “It seems foolish to offer your hand like that. What if the person you are meeting grabs it and pulls you down, stealing your food?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. It was a stupid greeting that left you vulnerable.
Leilani withdrew her hand, instead using it to comb through her hair instead. “Oh. I suppose.” She frowned. “Things are rough in the mud quarter, aren’t they?”
I sighed, not really wanting to get into it. “We survive,” was all I offered. “Did you see what’s on the other side of the rooms?” I asked instead, desperate to change the subject.
Leilani waved a hand dismissively. “More beds. There are nine of us, after all.”
A red-headed girl poked her head around the corner of our room and shyly made her way in. “Is it alright if I take this bed? All the others are taken.”
