The Queens Rooms

"Sire?"

We startle apart at the same time, the two of us not having even heard the sound of the guards approaching. Kassian's shadows return in a flash, safely encasing his whole body. Five men bearing the king's crest on their tunics stand before us, rapiers and pistols drawn.

Kallias stands and holds out a hand to me, the shadows about the offered limb disappearing as he hauls me to my feet. He releases me once I find my balance.

"There was an attacker. I felled him over there." Kallias points, and three of the men go in search of the body while the other two begin sweeping the area. "Take the assassin to the dungeons. If he doesn't die from his wounds before then, send for a healer to attend to him. And also send a healer to the queen's suite. Come, Loralie."

Kassian and I walk side by side to the palace. Percy leaps over the bench to amble along beside us, the fur about his lips wet from lapping at the king's blood.

"Useless mutt," Kassian says, but he looks down at his dog fondly. "He's a lover, not a fighter. That's for sure."

Touching. So much touching. And heated gazes. And assassins with swords and a gun and—

"You were shot," I say, stopping in place. "How are you uninjured?" When Kassian stops beside me, I reach out a hand to hover over the bloodspot on his coat.

"If I have time to shift into shadow before an injury kills me, the shadows will heal it."

"I thought—" I can't even voice aloud what I thought. It's far too terrible.

"You placed yourself between the attacker and me."

I did? I hadn't been thinking. I'd just acted.

"Thank you," he says. "But do not ever put your life on the line for mine. I can heal. You cannot."

He resumes walking, and I stumble to follow him. I can't seem to focus a single thought in my mind. It just replays what happened over and over again.

"What did you notice about the attacker?" Kallias asks.

Notice? I try to bring his image to mind, thinking everything through.

"He was male." I silently curse myself. Obviously that hadn't been what Kassian meant. Why am I struggling to remember a person I just saw minutes ago? "He wore dark clothing."

"What kind of clothing?" Kassian prompts. I wonder for a moment why he bothers to ask me all of this when he saw the attacker for himself as well. But it feels important to answer, so I do.

"It was made of leather. The hems were lined in furs. It was … Jadean." An assassin from the kingdom Kallias most recently conquered. The weather is cooler there. That's why the women wear pants. The cold can't climb up their legs.

"Good," Kassian says, as though my answer pleases him.

We enter the palace, and Kassian remains right at my side as we climb a set of stairs. Something niggles at the back of my mind. Something wrong. Something off about the assassin.

"I spoke with him," I say.

"Yes, I heard."

"His accent wasn't Jadean. It was Naxosian."

"What does that tell you?" Kassian asks.

"The assassin is from here, but someone wanted to make it look as though the killer was a foreigner. He didn't shoot me. Only you. He was supposed to be seen before he got away."

"Very good," Kassian says.

"Why are you praising me like I'm some daft schoolgirl?"

"You're in shock, Loralie. I'm trying to keep your mind busy."

I realize then that my hands are shaking. Kassian looks down at them as I do. He takes one of my hands within his own, not missing a step.

Kassian is like a specter as he moves through the palace, all flickering shadows floating from place to place. Though his feet still make the imitation of steps, I wonder if they need to. It looks as though his feet hardly touch the floor. The potted flowers sitting on tables in the corridors don't rustle as he walks by. The black carpet doesn't indent with his steps. The drapes around the windows don't whisper with movement as he brushes past them.

He is a true child of Darkness.

I follow beside him, fascinated by everything about him. From the way the muscles in his back flex as he walks, still visible through the shadows, to the way servants press themselves flush against the walls to let us pass. Everything about him exudes power.

We stride down a corridor leading … somewhere. I've never been in this part of the palace before. Wait, what was it Kassian had ordered to the guard? Something about sending a healer to the queen's suite?

A couple floors up, Kassian stops in front of a door. A potted ivy plant rests upon each of two tables placed on either side of the doorway, the vines growing up the walls and connecting at the space above the doorway. It's easy to imagine a magical garden lying hidden on the other side. Kassian, seeing me stare at the beautiful plants in wonder, says, "My mother loved plants. Roses were her favorite. I'm sure you've noticed them detailing all the woodwork throughout the palace. She'd grow them in her garden and paint them black."

"Black? Why?" I breathe.

"Because then they reminded her of my father. Of the shadows."

"Is this—?" I start, unable to finish.

Kassian walks through the solid door, leaving me alone in the dark corridor for a moment. Then I hear a latch clicking, and he opens the now unlocked door from the inside for me.

"These were my mother's rooms," he says. Though his hand must have become corporeal to open the door for me, it is already encased in shadow once more as I brush past him.

In the greeting chamber, a large table rests, fresh roses blooming in a vase. A grand piano sits against the far wall.

And the wall behind me, next to the door I just stepped through? Stained glass covers every inch of it, little pieces of color forming together to make the picture of a flourishing forest. A deer drinks from a flowing lake. Butterflies hover below the leaves of a tree. And everywhere along the bottom, flowers bloom. The door was made to look like the trunk of a large tree, not detracting from the opulence in the least.

Candles throughout the room cast the whole magnificence of the design aglow, the inner facets smoldering as though the flames live within the individual glass pieces.

"The whole palace has been fitted with electricity, but my mother preferred the way the candlelight made the glass shimmer. I still have servants light these. I think she would have liked that."

Kassian opens another door, which leads into the bedchamber. The bed sits high off the floor, so heaped with downy blankets and plump pillows, I wonder if I'd have to jump to reach into the expansiveness of it. Red bed hangings have been tied to each of the four posts around the bed, and I suspect they perfectly block out the light when let loose.

Red rugs cover the black carpet, making each step even softer. The wardrobe is massive, a design of rose thorns cut through the wooden sides. A vanity takes up nearly half the wall, an assortment of jewels and cosmetics heaped upon it.

Seeing where my eyes have landed, Kallias says, "They belonged to my mother. Use what you will. Anything else, you can have the servants remove."

"What?" My mind tries to wrap around everything. Assassin. Kallias's blood. The queen's rooms. "Why are we here?"

"These are your new rooms."

"What?" I ask again stupidly. "Why?"

"You saved my life by distracting the assassin and giving me time to heal. And I have never feared so much for your safety. You'll be sleeping right next to me now." And then he adds, as though it pains him to say it, "Unless you find that disagreeable?"

I'm speechless for a moment. "No," I say at last, my face softening. "No, I'll stay here. And I'd be honored to use your mother's things. Don't have them removed from the room."

Though his face doesn't change, I can tell he's pleased. Perhaps by the way the shadows about his face lighten.

"That door at the end of the room leads to the washroom. And this one"—he points to a door I hadn't noticed near the bed—"leads to my chambers."

My throat feels a little tight, and I can't quite think why. Because I'm so pleased? Humbled by this gesture? Perhaps even a little afraid by the intimacy of it?

I am being naive again.

Kassian rushes to say, "Also, keeping you in the queen's suite further helps our ruse. You can also barge in on me, if you like, as I have so rudely done to you several times." His eyes are still trained on the door leading to his own rooms.

"I don't know what to say," I say at last. The large windows set all the finery to near sparkling. The small potted trees in the corners of the room strain toward the light. I feel like a woodland princess.

No, not a princess, I amend.

A queen.

I am in the queen's rooms.

"You could say whether or not you like it," Kassian offers. "If there's anything displeasing about the accommodations."

I smile, turning to him. "I don't find anything displeasing. This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with me."

"I'm glad," he says. Then he looks down to my hands. I realize they're still shaking.

Kassian gently pushes on my shoulders to get me in a sitting position atop the bed. He grabs a blanket from an ottoman near the foot of the bed and wraps it around my shoulders.

"I'm fine," I insist.

"You will be, but it's fine if you're not."

"It's not the first time I've seen death, Kassian." I wish I could call back the words. I don't need him asking me questions about Jason.

"Seeing me kill a guard is far different than watching me kill a man intent on killing us. Your life was in danger."

Oh, right.

"Why are you so collected?" I ask, glaring up at him.

"You're the one who was shot, for gods' sake."

"Because I've known for a while that someone is trying to kill me. I've come to expect it."

Kassian doesn't leave me until a healer arrives. Some old woman who fusses over me, insisting she look at the red welt on my face. Unsurprisingly, she prescribes rest as a treatment.

"Do you have someone who could stay with you tonight?" the old crone asks.

"Why?"

"After such an encounter, some find it difficult to sleep. Another body in the room might help."

"I'm not a small child. I don't need someone to check my closets for monsters."

"Not monsters. Assassins. Men who would use you to get to the king," she remarks unhelpfully.

"Get out," I snap.

The healer gathers her things before quitting the room and leaving me in blessed quiet.