Page 3 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
Defensively, Nes gripped her travel bag and forced her shoulders back.
“Potential staff should use the service entrance at the rear.”
Her brows popped so high they nearly flew off her face.The audacity of this man.The way he emphasized “potential” made it crystal clear, he thought she had none. And the fool didn’t even know why she was there! Steeling herself, she began again, “I have—”
“Go out.” He pointed nonchalantly at the massive palace doors as he spoke. “Turn left. Go around back. Door’s by the kitchen.”
With that, the dark-haired stranger turned and stalked away, disappearing through a set of doors.
Handle biting into her palm where she gripped her bag, Nes trudged around the side of the—excessively, in her opinion—gigantic palace, and continued along the downslope beside the southwestern wing. At the base of the hill, the kitchen stood right where that horribly-mannered man said it would.
On the heels of a frustrated grunt, she inhaled through her nose, held it a moment, then exhaled through rounded lips, willing herself to relax. Surely, she would find someone far kinder around back who would help her locate the king.
Sniffing the heavy air again, Nes looked up at the billowing clouds and sighed. Her lips drooped as the first wave of torrential downpour crashed down. Creating an umbrella was futile at this point, but she didit anyway, weaving the portable canopy from thin air and holding it aloft as she trudged down the desolate cobbled path.
With her luck bouncing between decent and abysmal, Nesrina hoped things were moving toward improvement when she spied a lone guard leaning against a sheltered stretch of wall by the kitchen.
“How can I help you, miss?” The soldier grinned lazily.
With his silky golden hair, cheerful wide mouth, and soft features, he was the light to that horrid-man-from-earlier’s darkness. Smiling, she produced her rain-spattered letter, seal side up.
“Summons from the king?” He glanced at the wax circle. “You should’ve gone in the front.”
“I tried.” She shrugged.
“It’s lucky you found me.” He ushered her inside before taking the lead with a, “This way, m’lady.”
“Miss Kiappa will do.” She giggled, picking a seam on her cloak, one step closer to meeting the king.
The guard’s uniform gave no indication of his magical ability, and her particular type was rare, so she folded her umbrella and leaned it in a dark corner near the door. Hurrying to catch up, she released her hold on her magic, letting her creation vanish into the air.
“Lovely to meet you, Miss Kiappa. I’m Rihan Sarma.”
The way he punctuated his sentences with a quick little smile over his shoulder brought a genuine grin to her face.
Was she terrified? Absolutely. But this man seemed nice, andcommon. She may be waltzing into a den of royalty, but the staff would all be like her.
Winding through hallways and stairwells, each was more sumptuous than the last as they neared the family’s terrain. In a salon at the base of one of the spire-capped towers she’d seen from outside, Rihan paused to say, “The king’ll be in his study this time of day. I was heading here after my break, to relieve Aram.” He nodded toward a statuesque sentry who stood immediately to their left.
The guard gave the pair an almost imperceptible nod that served as both a greeting and permissionto pass.
Rihan opened the door to a stone staircase, then ushered Nes up first. As she slipped past, she inhaled out of pure curiosity. He smelled like cedar with a hint of leather. It was quite nice—calming, even.
On the third level, they stopped before a tall mahogany door, and he asked for her summons.
As Nes handed over the parchment, Rihan knocked, and a shiver ran down her spine; the letter addressed to her father hadn’t left her person since she’d taken it from Mama’s hand four days earlier. This was it; she’d made it. Now it was time to put her best foot forward and hope the court would hire her in Papa’s stead.
When a voice boomed for him to enter, Rihan whispered, “One moment,” before ducking inside.
Gods, she hoped she got this position. Probably stupidly, she’d abandoned her low-paying but consistent tutoring post back in Napivol to come to the capital. Hopefully the king would hear her out, and maybe invite her to stay. They did have the same strange magic, after all.
As her patience waned, she studied the spiraling staircase. Windowless and narrow, it climbed from landing to landing with one room on each level, giving no hint of what lay two feet beyond. Like the thick walls around the city, the fortified tower spoke of war, a time long-past in Selwas’s history. Once a stronghold, now a pleasure palace, hints of Kirce’s old life remained.
Foot tapping, Nes was tracing mortar lines in the wall when Rihan finally opened the door and beckoned for her, his previous friendly demeanor replaced with a soldier’s stoicism.
“The king will see you now.” He gave her a small nod, and his mouth quivered at the corner, his kind smile nearly breaking through his professional mask.
Cheeks warm as the reality of her situation settled in, she inhaled one last steadying breath and stepped into the room.
