Shrouded Sky (The Veils of Lore Book 1) (18 page)

“Do you think she’ll please the Sovereign?” Jhon asked, jarring his thoughts.

Orryn nodded slowly.

Chandra walked into the room.

Orryn shifted his eyes to his father. “Why do I feel so strange?”

“You need lavation, is all,” Jhon assured him.

“Shall we have her wait elsewhere?” Mayra asked Jhon with concern. “I didn’t realize the effect she would have.”

“Oh let her stay,” Tiersa said with a grin. “This is so much more fun.”

Orryn frowned. Would his sister never cease being a pain in his backside?

Chandra approached Orryn and stopped. “Do you like it?” she asked, tracing her fingers along the lace of the gown’s low-cut bodice.

Again Orryn nodded, unsure how to respond.

“I feel like Cinderella,” she said, smiling.

“Cinderella?”

“A character from a Sister World fairy tale,” Jhon explained. “From what I understand, it was a dress that helped her find her prince and live happily ever after.” Jhon motioned Chandra to the couch. “Come, sit.”

Chandra sat down in a drift of yellow. She lifted her gaze to Orryn, who could not help but stare at her in return. As he ran his eyes over her, he noticed she had a thick line of kohl around her pale green eyes and a dusting of pink on her cheeks and lips. Her hair, once a short, wild mess, was now braided into multiple strands and pulled from her face, held back by decorative clips of topaz and gold, sparkling against her ebony and lavender hair. He could not help but think Cinderella had done far more than put on a pretty dress.

“You look different,” he said.

She blushed and lowered her eyes, then looked up at him through long lashes. Orryn felt his legs go a little weak. By the Maker, what was wrong with him?

“Chandra says she’s eager to meet our Sovereign Lady,” Mayra said to Orryn.

“Yes,” Chandra said excitedly. “I hear the palace is very pretty.”

“Pretty, yes,” Orryn said, frowning. The girl sitting before him seemed nothing like the angry, stubborn feline he’d practically had to wrestle to get here.

“I’ve never been to a palace before,” Chandra said. “I hope the queen likes me.”

Orryn glanced at his father.

Jhon cleared his throat. “Oh . . . yes . . . no worries. Chandra, you look lovely, and I’ve gone over every protocol I can think of to insure your visit will be satisfactory.”

Chandra looked at him worriedly.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Everything seems so strange.”

“Understandable,” he said. “Most Imelas have a difficult time adjusting to the change in their surroundings. But you have done better than most. You’re exceptional, and for that the Sovereign will likely take you under her wing.”

Chandra smiled, looking somewhat pleased, but then she cocked her head. “Why is that again?”

“Because you have ancestral memory. A great gift,” he said.

“Oh, that’s right.” She turned her eyes to Orryn. “Are you coming with me? To the palace?”

“Of course,” he replied. “I must explain where I found you, and of course how you’ll be an asset to the court. If you’re accepted, you’ll live there from now on and—” Orryn turned away, forcing his eyes from Chandra and toward the fireplace.

“And what?” Chandra asked.

“It will be goodbye for us,” he said, trying to sound matter-of-fact. “Pedants are not allowed to mingle with ladies of the court.”

The metal knocker on the front door pounded, sending a loud echo into the room. Orryn turned to his father. “You’re coming, I gather,” he said.

“Of course. I’m head Council aren’t I?”

“Yes, but under the circumstances they may feel there’s a conflict of interest.”

“Regardless, I must be there to provide the information I gathered during my interview with the girl.” He smiled at Chandra. “You have little to fear from the Council, my dear.”

“And from our Sovereign Lady?” Orryn asked.

Jhon’s smile faded. “In that, there are no guarantees.”

The sound of the front door opening, followed by the voice of Pey, interrupted their conversation. Jhon squared his shoulders and adjusted his robes. “Come, Chandra . . . Orryn,” he said, gesturing to the door. “Let’s not keep our escort waiting.”

The Council was assembled in a large chamber located within the palace itself. Circular in shape, the high walls of the room were made of rough white stone, while the tiles of its black marble floor were as smooth as polished glass. Along each side of the corridor leading to the tiered seats of the Council, cressets flickered with the fires dancing within them. Between each cresset a towering statue stood, marble depictions in perfect human form.

Orryn, Chandra at his side and his father in the lead, walked down the corridor toward the Sovereign’s throne and the tiered Council seats on either side of it. But this was not the first time he had taken that long walk. The first had been when he was but eight years of age. His father had been newly appointed then and, as was the Sovereign’s custom, all male children of council members were to be brought forward to determine their own ability to serve. She’d immediately taken a liking to him. Few boys were blessed with hair and eyes like his, and those that were were almost always chosen for duty, regardless of their young age. Most were sent to be trained as Pedants, while others remained in the palace, doing whatever she desired of them. In that, Orryn supposed being a Pedant was a blessing rather than a curse. Though he’d been forced to give up part of his humanity in order to become one, a life behind walls was surely worse.

As Orryn walked toward the Sovereign Lady and her Council, he could not help but replay the first time she’d raked her eyes over him. He’d been a frightened little boy back then, yet now he realized, even at the age of one and twenty, he still felt the same sense of dread. He glanced at Chandra who was walking at his side, and his dread turned to an emotion far more disturbing. Her childlike awe as she took in her surroundings left him with the unexpected urge to protect her.
You need lavation is all
, he reminded himself. If only the nagging voice in his head believed it were true.

They reached the end of the corridor and his father instructed him and Chandra to stand before the Council. At the center of the tiered wall sat the Sovereign Lady, poised on a throne that was so large and imposing it made the dozens of black-robed men in the gallery look almost miniature. On her left stood two identical handmaidens. Dressed in long, rich mantles of red, their heads were bowed and their faces hidden by cascades of ebony hair. Pedants and Shield men stood guard, while priests and attendants knew their place and waited at attention nearby. It was a familiar scene, Orryn realized, and yet it was like nothing he had ever experienced in his adult life. He should have been standing with the Pedants behind the throne. Instead he was on the black tiles facing it.

Jhon took the steps and made his way to his seat amongst the others, while the rest of the council members waited, all of them staring intently at Orryn and the Taubastet girl at his side. The Sovereign seemed equally mesmerized, though more so with Orryn than the Imela. Her dark smoldering eyes had not left him since he’d first entered the room. For a long moment all was quiet. Orryn shifted his focus to the Council, struggling not to meet his Lady’s gaze. Were he to make eye contact with her, he felt sure she would reach into his soul.

The faces of the Council members seemed to dim, as if all the light in the room was suddenly focused on the Sovereign alone.

Orryn turned his attention to her, and as he did he could feel the power of her enchantment. Even with lavation he had never been able to deny the perfection of her face, from its ivory skin and heart-shaped mouth, to her coal-black eyes and the pale hair that curled around her head like a wild, golden halo. She sat straight in her high, cushioned seat, narrowing her eyes as she ran them over him. Her white gown shimmered, but otherwise all was eerily still.

“So Orryn of the House of Seth, you have broken your vows,” she said calmly, but the edge to her voice was undeniable.

Orryn bowed his head. “No, my Lady.”

A hiss of surprise escaped her lips. “You dare lie to me?”

“No, my Lady,” he said, straightening to attention. “I speak true.”

“According to Pey, he and his men witnessed you take this girl against her will.” She flicked her eyes briefly to Chandra, then back to him. “Yet here you stand, claiming you did not.”

“I wished only for them to think it, my Lady.”

“And the purpose of this . . . ruse?”

“I brought the girl to Syddia as a gift to you. But when Pey and his men forced us to the catacombs to secure the Taubastet male behind its doors, the girl began to fight me. Pey threatened to take her, and I could not allow that to happen. I had no choice but to prove I was in control of her, even if it seemed I was not in control of myself.”

“You’ve never had qualms about turning Imelas over to Pey before. Why risk your vows over this one?”

“My vows may have been at risk, but I did not break them. As to why this one, she’s not like the others.”

The Sovereign slid a critical gaze over Chandra. “You’re right,” she said with distaste. “She’s cat.”

“Yes,” Orryn said, “but she has no love for them.”

“Except, I imagine, for the one currently housed in the catacombs.”

Orryn felt his insides twist. “I don’t think it’s anything more than appreciation,” he attempted. “The cat saw that her injuries were tended, that’s all.”

“Perhaps we’ll ask the girl to prove her feelings for the male later. If he lives long enough.” She turned her eyes to Chandra. “What is your name, cat?

“Chandra, my Lady,” she said with a curtsy. “I’m . . .” She paused and leaned toward Orryn. “What is it that makes me special again?” she whispered to him.

The Sovereign laughed. “Yes, Orryn, please do tell us what makes her
special
.”

“She has ancestral memory,” Orryn said. “That is why the elementals gifted her to us. Clearly she’s Taubastet, yet as one of the Lost she has never known them, so has no loyalty to them. This makes her a great asset, my Lady. For that reason alone I would allow no one to bring her to you but me.”

The Sovereign Lady tilted her head. “Ancestral memory you say?”

“Yes,” Chandra said. “I knew where I was when I washed up on the beach. At first I was scared, and Orryn wouldn’t tell me anything, but then he explained why he needed me here, so I came.”

“He gave you a choice?” the Sovereign asked, incredulous.

“No,” Chandra said. “But I could have made things much harder for him I guess.”

Again the Sovereign Lady seemed amused. “Lack of lavation has made it hard enough I think. No doubt his hands tremble every time he looks at you.”

Orryn clenched his hands at his side rather than reveal they were trembling now. “I assure you, my Lady,” he said, “even without lavation, I’ve done well to keep my hands to myself.”

“Has he?” the Sovereign asked, directing the question to Chandra.

“Oh, he’s had his hands on me,” Chandra said. “But not like that.”

The Lady turned to Jhon. “I understand you interviewed her, Councilman Seth. Do you have anything to add to this?”

Jhon rose. “Yes, my Lady. The girl spoke freely of Kiradyn, as well as other historical sites. She is familiar with Tearia, as well as Meirla and Pobu and something of the Red King. There is no way she could know of these unless she has ancestral memory. Further interrogation would reveal more, some of which could be used to aid you in your new campaign. Admittedly she seems very childlike for her years, but I think this innocence, as well as her eagerness to serve you, proves she could be a great asset.”

“Are you suggesting that I bring her into court?” the Sovereign Lady asked.

“Only you have the authority to suggest that,” Jhon said. “I merely suggest that she could be of benefit.”

“Think what this would mean to the Taubastets,” Orryn said, interrupting. “To have one of their own working against them? It would surely rouse them from their dens.”

The Sovereign studied him, then turned her attention to Chandra. “Come closer,” she ordered. “Let me take a look at you.”

Chandra stepped toward the throne. She bowed her head respectfully, as Jhon had no doubt instructed her.

“Your wife cleaned her up well I see,” the Sovereign said, glancing at Jhon.

“As a favor to you, my Lady. She would not have her stand in your presence in the state she was in.”

The Sovereign Lady looked Chandra up and down. “Well, turn around,” she said with annoyance. “Let me see the back of you.”

Chandra turned in a slow, graceful circle.

Orryn glanced at the Council, realizing they were watching her with increased interest. Chandra stopped and stood facing the throne.

“Tell me, girl,” the Sovereign said, leaning toward her. “Have you lain with a man?”

Chandra gasped. “Why, no, my Lady.”

“So the tom is not your mate?”

“The tom?”

“The Taubastet male.”

“You mean Tygg?”

“If that is his name.”

“He helped me when my leg was hurt,” Chandra said, “but otherwise he’s nothing to me.”

“Do you know why he came to Syddia?”

“He came only to—” Orryn said.

“Silence!” the Sovereign ordered.

Orryn lowered his eyes to the floor.

“Answer me, girl.”

“He said he came to see that I got here safely, and to ask that I be allowed to go back to Adjo with him.”

“Nothing more?”

Chandra shook her head. “Orryn told him the elementals left me on your shores. But I don’t think Tygg believed him.”

The Sovereign Lady turned her eyes to Orryn. “Is this true?”

“It is. The elementals gifted her to us, my Lady. The cat simply refused to accept it.”

“So he came here to ask for favors knowing he would get none.”

“He does have an arrogance about him,” Orryn said. “Perhaps seeing the Imela at your side will finally put an end to it.”

“Pey’s men will bleed most of it out of him,” she said, then smiled. “But they’ll leave enough for me.”

“I would love nothing more than to help you put him in his place, my Lady,” Orryn said. He swallowed thickly. “I humbly request lavation so that I may continue to serve you as Pedant.”