A heavy pressure on her chest kept her from breathing. It lasted for no more than a second, then it happened again, the beat matching that of a swagger. Someone was on her land.
"Your Highness! Iyó asks that you see him," a rirli was knocking at her door, calling out to her, waiting for a command.
Without rising from bed, she allowed the room door to swing open to let him in. "Tigri, will you please fetch a gown for me?"
"Yes, Your Highness," his voice held a hint of surprise.
He scurried across the room, his footsteps nearly silent, and entered her closet, then came back with a gown. She sat up as he laid it across her lap. The cool, satin fabric weighed little, it was a new gown.
"Have you seen Hilé this morning?" She fingered the fabric, refusing to look at Tigri.
"Yes, Your Highness. He said that he will wait for you in the Sala."
"Please tell him to come here," she could feel him hesitate. Inwardly, she smiled, "Do you prefer to be in the woods as a guard or a rirli?" Her voice did not entertain curiousness, it was cold, steely.
"I like both equally well, but I greatly enjoy being a guard, Your Highness." She could almost feel the sweat that beaded across his upper lip and forehead.
"Then, if you do not want your own arrow to find its way down your throat the next time you are in Srisci, you will tell Hilé to come here. Now." Her voice never rose above a whisper and her eyes never left the gown.
Tigri quickly bowed, then ran from the room.
***
"You did not have to threaten Tigri," Hilé said as he entered her room, he held a candle in his left hand and his other was pressed firmly behind his back.
"What color is this gown?"
"It does not matter. Iyó of Mouir is waiting in the Sala. He grows impatient." When she did not move, he sighed, "Silver. The dress is silver."
A few seconds passed before she met his eyes. Hilé could feel a gentle nudge at his temples; she wanted to see. His vision became blurry, then cleared when he allowed her access to his mind.
Hilé sucked in a sharp breath when she pulled back. It felt like someone had slapped him, his vision went black and his head spun. He leaned against the doorframe for support.
As his vision cleared, Hilé could hear someone yelling from some where in the palace. The bang of oak carved doors being thrown open hinted to him that that someone had entered the queen's hallway. Still slightly dizzy, he turned towards the room's door to fend off an attack. The queen had already left for her closet to change.
"This blasted darkness! How can anyone see!"
"Sir, you are not allowed down here!"
"I will do as I please! Where is your damn queen?!"
Hilé heard heavy footsteps thundering down the hall before he came face to face with the king. The man was huge, at least five inches taller than Hilé's six foot frame. He had broad shoulders, heavily muscled arms, and a chest that tapered down to a narrow waist. His short, black hair was now gray at the temples, his blue eyes roamed over the room, from wall to wall, he never looked at Hilé.
"Move, rirli. I do not plan on hurting Her Highness." His eyes sparkled when they landed on the closed closet doors.
"Yet you come here in armor as if to fend off potential danger."
The king looked down at the link vest he wore. "Oh, this? I am not up to being shot by the guards of Srisci woods," he glanced back at the closet doors longingly.
"They would just shoot you between the eyes."
Iyó's eyes narrowed at Hilé as the queen left her closet.
Her hair was now hidden in a blue lace and pewter head wrap. The dress flowed like liquid silver down her legs and swirled behind her in a short train. The sleeves hugged the tops of her arms leaving her shoulders bare.
Iyó pushed Hilé aside as he went to her, his black cloak swished behind him. He bowed and pressed a kiss to each finger of her right hand.
"You look lovely, My Queen," his voice was now filled with warmth, his eyes gentle.
Hilé gripped the candle holder a little tighter as Iyó curled the queen's hand into the crook of his elbow an led her out of the room.
As his eyes followed the king and queen's departure he saw Tigri in the hallway also watching them leave.
"Tigri," the man reluctantly turned to Hilé, "please fetch a maid to clean Her Highness's room." Tigri nodded to him before leaving the room, Hilé followed at a much slower pace.
***
"Your tea, My Queen," Tigri handed her a small, porcelain cup, careful to not burn her hands.
"Thank you, Tigri. You may return to Srisci." She sat at the head of the dining room table, her face pale and hands shaking.
"Is there anything else that you need before I leave?"
"No, thank you. You have exceeded what your duty to the kingdom asks of you. For that, I am grateful." Still, Tigri hesitated, her voice was not as calm and collected as usual, it wobbled slightly.
"Is everything okay, My Queen?"
"Yes, I wish to be alone Tigri," her unseeing eyes stared into the teacup as she spoke.
As he left the dining room a sense of foreboding made him slow, when he closed the doors behind him a sob echoed through the room, he tried to reenter, but found that she had locked them.
After trying the handles again, he turned to find Hilé.
He ran down corridors, into guest rooms, entered, then left the Sala. Nothing. He was not in the palace.
He grabbed the arm of a passing maid, her eyes rounded in shock.
"Where is Hilé?" His voice was sharp.
"He left for the market an hour ago," Tigri was already at the palace door before she finished. He threw the door open and stepped into the cool air of Diertéri.
The maid watched him go, then turned to tell the rest of the palace of what had happened.
***
Diertéri was a large hole in the ground. It was thousands of feet beneath Srisci woods; the roots of oak trees were the people's sky.
Their water came from reserves that surrounded the city and kept it cool while molten lava flowed beneath their feet.
Many feared that the walls between the water and Diertéri would soon break or the lava would burn them alive, but it had never happened. The queen would not allow it, she was what kept them alive, what kept the air clean and the water unlimited. They feared her because of that, but happily followed her. She had kept them safe so far. Why would she stop now?
The warm, dirt packed ground met the soles of Tigri's feet as he quickly walked through throngs of people. He wanted to run, but that would alert the people to his situation.
He followed the sound of flutes, drums, and tambourines. The marketplace was overrun with vendors and children dancing, a festival.
He skirted crowds of women as they pulled at his hands trying to get him to dance.
He saw Hilé when a group of people began to swing Tigri in their circle. He was surrounded by a group of little, dancing girls in white dresses. Their cries of happiness floated high above the music, making the oak roots shiver and stray leaves fall. Tigri did not go to him, he only watched Hilé so as not to draw attention.
As if he could feel Tigri's eyes, Hilé looked up. The smile fell from his face when he noticed the way Tigri's shoulders were set and the expression on his face. He excused himself and walked in the opposite direction, away from Tigri. ***
Hilé sped down the stairs that led to the queen's hallway, his breath rushing out in erratic puffs.Tigri stood with a candle holder in his hand and his head leaning against her bedroom door.
"What's wrong?"
Tigri told him of what happened after the king left, how sickly she looked, and her crying. "When I returned, a maid said she had returned to her room. I have knocked, but she will not answer."
Hilé could not feel her through the bond, so he did the only thing that would get her attention, he began to beat on her door.
"You idiot! She will have your head!" Tigri stepped away from the door in fear, waiting for the reins of hell to break. Hilé continued his incessant knocking.
When the reins broke, it was ten minutes later, Hilé's hand was bruised, and the wax of the candle had begun to roll down Tigri's hand.
The flame of the candle went out with a loud hiss, plunging the hallway into complete darkness, Hilé stopped and looked back at Tigri. Their eyes met, then with a loud clang, Tigri dropped the candle holder and ran for the stairs with Hilé on his heels. A strong wind blew them backwards and onto their backs. As the wind held them down, water quickly filled the hallway. Its freezing temperature stole their breath as the wind stopped. The hallway was now cut off from the stairs and completely filled with water.
Hilé and Tigri's eyes and lungs began to burn as they held their breath.
In their panic, their mouths opened and water entered. As their minds began to cloud the water left the hallway. On hands and knees, they tried to cough up the water and struggle for air, but they found that no water came up and that they could breath perfectly. The hallway was dry and the stairs lay behind them as if nothing had happened.
The queen's door opened, she stepped out, picked up the candle and holder before looking at them.
"It's called pli. It means 'think'. I made you think you were drowning," the candle's flame blazed to life again. "Hit my door again and I will drown you."
She left them in darkness once again. Those few seconds was long enough to see how worn down she was. Her face was pale, even though her skin tone was a warm and lively color.
It was her eyes that truly cut to the bone. They held something that neither Hilé, nor Tigri had ever seen their queen wear.
Fear. Her eyes were filled with fear.
