Page 57 of Prize for the King
The curtsies they give Magnar are deep, their breasts spilling forth, gray cheeks dimpled. He nods left and right with a polite smilewhile my face sours. I remember how Khay said that any woman in Roharra would sing for joy if he made her his wife.
I spot humans in the crowd, men and women. There are only few, considering how close to the border this town is. I thought the nations under Magnar’s rule mingled, but evidently not.
When I step toward the tables, flanked by Khay and Raduna, the cheerful crowd grows quiet. The Agnidari stare at me with their jewel-colored eyes, some of their slack mouths revealing hints of sharp teeth, others flat with dislike. Magnar looks around and straightens, coming instantly to my side, where he takes my hand. Raduna and Khay step back.
“The whole of Roharra will receive the happy news in the following week,” he says in a proud, booming voice, raising my hand higher as if to show it off. “I am married at last! My wife is Caliane, the princess of Farneer, and now the queen of Roharra!”
Whenever my father made an announcement in that sort of voice, his court cheered and applauded, knowing exactly how to react. The Agnidari aren’t trained in the art of sycophancy. A few clap but stop when their meek applause is swallowed by the shocked, hostile murmuring of the crowd.
XVII Chance
All those eyes are on me, the stares growing more and more intense. I catch a flash of a woman’s angry face, her teeth bared. Then another, obviously disappointed. Judgmental gazes slide over my features, cataloging my clothing and hair, and obviously, inevitably, find me lacking.
“Fuck them,” Khay murmurs so quietly, only Magnar and I catch it. He steps forward and raises his arms, his voice loud and insolent.
“I was just as shocked and speechless when I saw her first!” he exclaims with a laugh. “Such a beauty, a true prize! And even better—she was alive!”
There are a few scattered laughs, and I swallow my unease, realizing belatedly I’m squeezing Magnar’s hand too tightly. All I can think is,He wasn’t joking. Prejudice, indeed.
“Princess Caliane has gracefully agreed to marry our king, thus making him a lawful member of the Table of Kings in the north!” Khay shouts again. “The war is over! We are victorious, and she is theone who brought us peace!”
He claps, and this time, the Agnidari follow his lead. The town square erupts with loud cheers, but they don’t fool me. I finally understand why Magnar was so adamant I come to him if someone is nasty to me at his court.
It’s very likely I will be hated.
“How come they didn’t know? We’ve traveled for days, and you must have sent messengers ahead,” I murmur to Magnar while keeping a forced smile on my face.
“We travel faster than gossip, and I wanted to wait with announcements until we perform the Agnidari wedding rituals,” he replies, an equally artificial smile on his face. “I’m sorry. It’s… a difficulty I will resolve.”
My smile grows a little more genuine as I contemplate Magnar commanding everyone to accept me as their queen under the threat of disembowelment. He won’t, of course. I’m not that important, and it would be ridiculous.
“It’s fine,” I say. “You have your seat. It’s all that matters.”
He turns to me with a frown, but a large Agnidari man jingling with gold jewelry steps forward, and Magnar drops my hand to greet him. Introductions are made, and I get to know the mayor of the town. He’s jovial and laughs loudly, inviting us to freshen up in his personal bathroom in the town hall.
“Go with Khay,” Magnar tells me, leaning down briefly to kiss my cheek. “And come to eat after. We’ll stay no longer than an hour, I promise.”
Khay listens to the mayor’s directions, nodding attentively while he firmly holds my hand. The chaos and the deep, unpleasant feeling of being out of place remind me of that day in the throne room when it all started. Just like then, Khay refuses to let go of my hand.
Except now, I feel comforted instead of trapped. Things have truly changed.
“Got it,” he says, pulling me toward a tall stone building with handsome pointed arches above the windows.
As we pass through a group of Agnidari women, they speak rapidly in their language of which I don’t understand a word. Khay growlsand utters a short, angry sentence, scattering the women.
“What was that?” I ask.
He huffs unconvincingly, as if nothing happened. “Oh, nothing. They were just in the way.”
We enter the enormous, three-floored town hall through a set of thick doors that shockingly make no sound, swinging easily open. It’s cool and empty indoors, and I sigh in relief, taking in pretty landscape paintings hanging on the stone walls. We ascend a wide staircase covered with a faded carpet.
Upstairs, Khay leads me through a veritable maze of narrow, tall corridors with multiple dark doors. We turn, once and again, go through a door, then down another corridor. My head spins, and I know I’d be lost here without Khay. I was never in a building so densely packed with small rooms.
“And—yes!” Khay exclaims with triumph, opening a door that indeed leads to a bathroom. It has everything I need, and when Khay makes to follow me, I stop him.
“Please. I’d like to be alone.”
He gives me one of his mournful stares, his long-lashed eyes brimming with longing.
