Page 47 of The Princess of Nothing
He hesitated.
I squeezed his hand. “I need you to save her, for me. Please, Kiros. You’d be my hero. I can’t rely on anyone else.”
The uncertainty in his expression washed away with my words. He tensed his muscles, then stood taller. “I’ll find out about your friend. Don’t worry about a thing. I will fix this for you.”
Relief washed through me. I prayed, as I did in my quiet moments when I had the comfort of blackness behind my eyes, to my ancestors, begging again for her life to be spared for another day, if it had been prolonged to now already. “Thank you.” Tears danced down my cheeks, patterning wetness on my skin.
He brushed them away with the back of his hand. “Don’t cry.” His eyes rounded. “I’ll make this okay. I promise.”
I rested my head on his chest, grateful—for the first time since arriving—to have him in my corner. “There’s something else. When I was in the pits...”
He squirmed uncomfortably.
“I saw two dragons being taken somewhere. I thought they were protected creatures. Why were they here?” I asked, feigning ignorance to my prior knowledge. “The men who’d come, the warriors you spoke of, they run with them, no?”
His eyebrows furrowed, wrinkling his forehead. “You must be mistaken.”
“I’m not. You can’t miss them.”
He fumbled his fingers and looked over at the window. Outside, ferns baked under the midday sun. “Dragons are impossible to capture.”
“I’m sorry, I know what I saw.”
“If they were there, then it would be because the firedrake warders brought them with them. They’re protected creatures under the monarchy. If they had come to the kingdom, they’d have been taken to the hole to sleep. Not the pits.”
“The hole?” I arched an eyebrow.
“It’s these massive underground caves, where large creatures are taken if they pose a danger to society, like dragons. Although, they’re never used unless for absolute emergencies. It’s so rare for anything like that to happen. My father would have told me if the firedrake warders had brought dragons here.”
I already knew they hadn’t and that Xenos had caught them so he could steal their powers. But I couldn’t tell Kiros. “You know.” I placed my index finger in the air. “You were right. When I think back, it was hazy. I was severely dehydrated and tired. I probably hallucinated.”
He placed his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eye. “I’m sorry, again, you had to go through what you did. I wish I could go back and take you out of there sooner. My poor girl.” He pulled me into a hug, holding my body against his. His breath tickled my neck, the sun warming us both. “I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again. I love you so much.” His grip tightened. “I’ll always keep you safe.”
I wanted to squirm out of his arms, but I stayed rooted to the spot. “I know,” I said slowly. “I love you too.”
The lie hardened my heart.
***
After dinner and dancing, women in red-and-orange skirts danced in thin, soft net down to their feet, circling in the middle of the floor. Tight orange fabric was wrapped over their breasts, around them like a band and coming to a knot on their back. Their stomachs were visible, and their bellybuttons were pierced with silver loops. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. Black curls of hair rippled around them as they danced to the bongo players. I watched, mesmerized, as they moved with grace and flexibility. They tossed their hips from one jolt to another, then curled their stomachs over and over, creating a synchrony between them. When they finished, I stood, clapping. My eyes sparkled.
Kiros stepped next to me, leaning his head toward mine. “Impressive, huh? They’re dancers from the south. A new addition to court.”
“I love them.”
He chuckled and looked around. “So do the men here.”
“The way they moved, the music, the energy... it was captivating. I wish I could dance like them.”
He kissed my cheek. “Queens don’t need to.”
I clenched my jaw. “Yes, of course not.”
“Besides, you’re far more beautiful than any woman in this castle, including the dancers.”
“You’re too kind,” I said simply. “I enjoyed the cake.” I eyed the leftovers of orange sponge with yellow paste. “Interesting taste compared to what I’m used to. A little spicy for a desert.”
He grinned. “You’ll get used to it. This is your home now. Of course, we will visit Magaelor twice yearly for a few weeks and appoint council to run our kingdom in our absence.”
