Page 30 of Elemental Hall: Nautica
“You’re… more beautiful than I could have imagined.”
He starts to take a step toward me, but then stops. It seems I’m not the only one with complicated feelings about our kiss under the moonlight. Not that we’ve discussed it. Not that we’regoingto discuss it. Our fake relationship feels like a soap bubble floating on the waves; poke it too hard, and there’s a risk that it will simply burst.
“I should get changed too,” Orion says, instead.
“I’ll wait for you out on the deck.”
I can’t be in there while Orion is getting dressed. The temptation would be far too great. Instead, I stride back onto the deck, watching the waves ahead of us. It means that I’m in the perfect spot to see Orion’s home as it comes into view.
I knew it would be some vast expression of wealth. I’mnotexpecting a castle.
That’s what it is, though, shaped granite and marble rising from the side of a cliff as if it had been grown from it. Maybe it had, if Orion’s family had the wealth to employ elementalists with control over stone when it was built. Towers jut into the air, commanding views over every approach. Layer after layer of the building seems to be cut into the cliffside, clinging there like a barnacle.
“It’s impressive, isn’t it?” Orion says, stepping up beside me. I start. I was so caught up in the sight of his home that I didn’t hear him approach.
He now looks every inch the noble he is, dressed in cream hose and shirt with a tunic of pale blue, worked with silver thread and pearls. Rings that he never wears at the Elemental Hall adorn his fingers. He seems almost like a different person.
The castle only gets more impressive as we draw closer, the true scale of it made clear. It is vast enough that it could hold an army, and maybe that is the point: a spot from which to hold off any threat approaching Lumina’s coast by sea. There is a small harbor beneath it, and our ship pulls into it, tying up at a jetty and then lowering a plank to allow us ashore.
A servant, an older man dressed in the same blue and white as Orion, meets us as we step onto the jetty.
“Orion, welcome home, and welcome to your guest as well. Your parents bid you to meet them in the ballroom. They would greet you here, but they are in the middle of an engagement.”
“What kind of engagement, Chorsley?” Orion asks.
The servant raises an eyebrow, but otherwise manages to keep surprise off his face. “Didn’t you know, sir? Your parents are entertaining Queen Niann.”
I want to turn around and get right back on the boat. I want to run back to Nautica and forget aboutallof this.
Orion’s hand touches my arm. Gently—he doesn’t grab me. Maybe I would prefer it if he did, because at least that would give me something to fight back against.
“Sera, it will be okay,” he says.
“Okay? I agreed to come see your family, not meet thequeen.”
The queen of Lumina, nominal ruler of half the world. Lumina is a federation of many kingdoms. I’m not even quite sure which one Nautica resides in. It doesn’t really matter.Queen Niann still rules over all of them and royalty is still many,manysteps outside my comfort zone.
“I didn’t expect this either,” Orion says, “but it might make things easier. My parents will be distracted by entertaining. They won’t focus on us so much. Please, Sera.”
If he weren’t pleading, I wouldn’t do this, even with our agreement. As it is, I nod once, tersely, then allow him to lead me up the path away from the jetty. There are stone steps beyond it, leading up to the castle, lined with arrow slits and occasionally defended by iron gates. It seems that Orion’s family takes defense from the sea seriously.
Finally, we pass through a large, iron-bound door into the main castle. Compared to the craggy exterior, it is both delicate and beautiful, every surface decorated with frescos or mosaics, tapestries depicting the creatures of the five core elements hanging from the walls. I can hear the sound of music a little way away, the lute, drums, and fiddle blending into a lively tune. Orion takes my hand, leading me toward it.
A couple of servants step back to allow us entry. One looks as though he might announce our presence, but Orion stops him with a shake of his head. I’m grateful for that. The last thing I want is the full attention of a roomful of people on me.
And the roomisfull. There are people dancing there, whirling in complex patterns, the steps to which I do not know, all of them dressed in finery that might feed my village for a year if they sold it. I see Orion’s parents at the front, in the company of a woman in her forties, a golden crown sitting in her deep auburn hair. That must be Queen Niann. There is a younger woman with her, my age, with the same auburn hair and slender, willowy good looks. I instantly know that this must be her daughter.
We can’t just slip into the crowd of dancing figures, it seems. Instead, Orion leads me straight to his parents, who both smile as soon as they see us.
“Orion!” his mother says, sweeping him into a hug. “And you brought Seraphina. I wasn’t sure you would. You look lovely, my dear.”
“I said that I would, Mother,” Orion points out.
“Ah, but who can tell if young love will last?” his mother says. “You remember Queen Niann and her daughter, Tia, of course?”
She introduces them like long-lost friends rather than royalty. Orion sweeps into a formal bow, though, and I do my best to attempt a curtsey. I’m sure I don’t do it correctly, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
“Oh, let’s not stand on ceremony,” Queen Niann says. “We are all friends here. We have missed you at court, Orion. Tia especially.”
