Page 92 of Conspirators' Kingdom

“I’m afraid not,” Mereruka said as he re-entered the bedroom, still dripping from his bath. She followed one such droplet with her eyes. A tendril of dark violet lay plastered against his chest, outlining his pectorals, his taught abdomen. The strand ended at his hip bone, and there the droplet rolled down his muscular thigh. She hadn’t seen him fully nude in broad daylight, and hadn’t had the moxie to stare overlong. Now that she did, she noticed the distinct lack of hair anywhere but on his head. It made certain things appear…prominent. Oblivious to her heated gaze, he dried his hair with a towel. It was the only part of him covered by one. Taisiya reluctantly tore her gaze away from the alluring sight.

“Ew,” Vasilisa said flatly, turning away. “At least put on your weird damn skirt.”

“I swear I told him to,” Bas grumbled.

Taisiya blushed, realizing she hadn’t even noticed the shifter as he’d exited the bathroom.

Mereruka chuckled.

Vasilisa flicked her ear when Taisiya tried to turn her head to get another peek at her husband.

“S-so, we won’t be returning to Rhacotis?” Taisiya asked.

“No. Bas just informed me that the inundation has officially begun. Khety will commence the journey to the Court of the Inundation, the northernmost palace, and we’ve beeninvited…” He said the word with disdain. “To join the court for the season, along with the rest of my siblings, so that he might celebrate our union.”

Taisiya’s nails bit into her palm. No doubt the season would end with either them dead, or Khety. By the look in Meri’s eyes, he thought so too.

Vasilisa snorted.

“So that he might take our measurements for our coffins, more like,” Bas said.

“Precisely,” Mereruka added with a grim smile.

“No rest for the wicked, I suppose,” Taisiya sighed.

Her first weeks in Maat were shaping up to be hectic indeed.

Chapter 37

Theyhaddecidedtomeet the king and his court at the Court of the Emergence, located in the centre of Maat, overlooking the winding Hapi. A sprawling, city-like group of buildings competing in size and splendour rose up on the banks of the Hapi, the entrance like the mouth of a cave of wonders. The wealth of Maat fairly radiated from the rooftops. It gleamed from within as well. Painted murals moved and danced, making the floors and walls a bright and dizzying simulacrum of stylized life. Statues of former kings and queens, posing triumphant over enemies, or glaring their disapproval of all who would come after, lined the sky-high halls. Even lowly soldiers and scribes dressed as well, if not better, than many a noble in Lethe.

Shapeshifters were conspicuous in their absence, for everyone Taisiya saw was entirely fae, or at least appeared so with skin a veritable rainbow of colours. Some had horns, others wings or tails, a few even appeared more like living flowers than men or women. And yet none appeared as beast mages might. Mereruka had explained that Khety thought shapeshifters beneath full-blooded fae. Not even shifter servants or officials were allowed in his presence, including those attached to Mereruka’s household. Qar had been forced to stay aboard the barge, tethered outside the palace walls. Courtiers roamed the halls and the many lush gardens, participating in games, banter and professional lounging. But these were no layabouts, their eyes hunting for new victims to crush beneath their feet. Their curious stares were like hot needles as Taisiya passed, her hand on Mereruka’s arm. She studiously ignored them. A princess consort need never take notice of a mere hatya. Still, the last time she’d felt so notable, she’d been branded the child of a traitor and all but chased from the halls of power. She could only pray her second such attempt would prove more successful.

Whispers reached her, wondering aloud if this was truly Prince Mereruka and not some glamoured imposter, or if he’d returned as a revenant, or if the woman at his side was a powerful, evil sorceress, puppeteering him. He never deigned to make eye contact, inviting no practised flattery or introductions. She was grateful for that at least.

As they approached the royal receiving room, the decorations changed—strange animals, statues and gold, everywhere the glint of gold. Every few paces, another gilded, painted statue of the king, a wall scene featuring his image, his every honourable action and victory immortalized in all visible mediums. Though she couldn’t read the text, the moving images told the stories unambiguously. Beside the towering depictions of Khety stood the much smaller, though no less detailed, images of his siblings. Taisiya had worried that it would be difficult to remember the names and faces of Mereruka’s family. She was happy to discover it had been a baseless one. By the time they were but a long hallway away from their destination, she was confident she could identify each of them. She recognised Mereruka in the family scenes and had taken to trying to spot his image. It was better than dwelling on her fears.

“Nervous?” Mereruka asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. It would be unwise to relax at court. Or look at all impressed. Expect this to be a whirlwind of introductions and insults. Give as good as you get. And remember-”

“Never tell an outright lie. I recall,” Taisiya responded.

The courtly manners Mereruka had been teaching her were seared into her brain. It really was a shame that she couldn’t lie, as she was used to. She was so good at it, after all. Though she supposed if she could, that would simply mean having to keep all her lies straight. A headache she didn’t need, as she had plenty of legitimate concerns already.

Mereruka nodded, pleased.

Nerves of a different kind jumped about in her gut. But she could be brave. She’d survived a stabbing, and what she had to say couldn’t be more painful than that.

“Would you like to make a deal?” Taisiya asked.

His ears twitched.

“I’m listening.”

“If we survive this evening-”

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