Merlot's Eyes

Chapter Nine

Iakkethis was certainly a beauty to behold. On the outskirts of the main city, Capital Declanthain, laid the Viridis Palace, where Momi and her Sentinels dwelled. Trees of pink, purple and blue were scattered everywhere, painting the town's greeneries and plazas with a gorgeous glare of color. It certainly was different from the grey slums of Calanthe City and the cold streets of Korath. I'd spent the rest of the day walking alongside King Dren, stopping to gaze at small, babbling brooks and the occasional street vender. My stomach was quite full by the time we returned to the palace for dinner, yet I wouldn't dare disrespect Queen Nokomis by turning down her food. Even if I wasn't royalty, I knew a thing or two about respect in the regal community.
Dren's hand was on my shoulder, guiding me as we walked through the main doors of the palace. His touch was kind and heated and made me feel as if I was naught but a child to him. I shook myself. Why did I care of what I was to him? He gave me time out of his day, shelter, a paying job and much more. If anything, I should be undoubtedly grateful. Which I was.
"Ah!" exclaimed Momi as we entered the large dining hall. "Welcome, welcome, little mice." She strode gracefully over to us and pushed us apart. "Come now, dears, I have places for the both of you."
"I don't think I should dine with you all, ma'am," I said with my eyes cast downward. "I am just a human."
"Nonsense," Dren said. "You deserve to dine with us just as any other."
"Exactly," crowed Momi. "Please sit." She pulled out a chair and gestured toward it. Carefully, I inched my way in front of Momi and sat down, my legs sore after walking for most of the day.
"Will Conleth be joining us?" asked Dren. I watched his movements. He laid the golden-laced napkin on his lap. I did the same.
"Who knows?" sighed Momi, sitting at the head of the table and grabbing a silver knife. "That brat has wants of his own, surely. Perhaps he's at a brothel. The only way he gets any warmth at night is from paying someone to give it to him."
Dren laughed. I watched him. His golden eyes sparkled in the crystal light, a pair of fangs catching the light. Was his nymph form coming out? Had Samsara's spell only lasted a few hours? Surely in the Viridis Palace, he was safe. Momi herself had an inhuman form that she flaunted about.
Why are you worrying about him?
I rolled my eyes at myself and watched as servants carried in silver trays. Piping hot foods were laid in front of us, along with crystal decanters of wines and brews. Everything smelled delicious and I immediately began serving myself, even if I was already full. Iakkethis had their own version of breakfast and dinner; mostly seafoods, but also strange concoctions with nature. I sliced myself a piece of the moss-laden cream cake and scooped a portion of usople pudding drizzled with what looked like to be a pecan mud dressing.
"My, my," I heard Momi croon. "Look at your little pet, Dren. She must have been starving. I only see pigs eat as she is."
I looked up from my plate, my appetite curved. Is that what she saw me as? A pig and a pet?
"Shut up, hag," King Dren growled. "Keep your rude comments to yourself, would you? No one ever comments on how you chew with your gods-damn mouth open."
"Ha." Queen Nokomis sat back in her chair, kicking her feet onto the table in the most discourteous manner. "This is my palace, nymph. If anyone dared to make such an observation of my eating habits, I would surely have their guts for garters come the next morning."
"Merlot isn't my pet. She works for me."
"Ah... a slave."
"No." Dren looked at me with an exasperated expression. I'm sorry, he mouthed. I nodded to him, hoping he would take the message that I understood. We were guests in Momi's home—the last thing we wanted to do was to get in an argument with her.
"Mmm," Momi said around a mouthful of fried crab, shifting in her seat. "I have another visitor on the way. My little birds reported that Conleth has retired to bed early. It gives me the chance to converse with his Sentinels."
"The Silver Sentinels are betraying King Conleth?" I blurted out.
"Not betraying," Momi corrected. "This war is indeed a fool's errand. Even Conleth's Sentinels are against it. They would do whatever was needed to protect their king, and this is what they have chosen to do. Conleth wouldn't survive two minutes on a battlefield. Therefore, this battle is highly voted against by his Sentinels. There is a reason they are called Silver Sentinels of Safety." Momi giggled. "Bring them in, now," she said, waving her hand to one of the Verdant Sentinels standing by the door.
Nodding, the Sentinel pushed open the door. Three Sentinels dressed in garbs of black, silver and indigo marched into the room, swords sheathed at their side and helmets covering their faces. I set my fork down, eager to watch how this would all go.
"Remove your helmets," Momi told them as they lined up in front of her. "You're in front of me, for gods' sake. Show some respect."
The Sentinels all removed their iron helmets, heads of blue hair popping into view. I looked them over, curious as to why their hair was such an unearthly color.
"They're visitants," Dren whispered to me as if he could read the question in my mind. "They aren't human. Created by the gods to protect the Three. Each of them holds a different name, yet they are all one."
One of the Silver Sentinels looked at me and I froze.
I knew him.
He knew me.
His eyes widened.
"Sephiran?" asked Momi, snapping her fingers in front of the man's face. "Do you know Dren's little pet?"
Yes, you do know me, I thought. You showed me mercy that night.
The visitant called Sephiran looked at Queen Nokomis. "Your Highness, we are here to discuss matters pertaining to His Highness, King Conleth."
"Of course," sighed Momi, laying back in her seat and picking at her teeth with those long claws of hers. "What news do you have for me."
"King Conleth cannot be moved on his decision," Sephiran said, holding his helmet beneath his arm. I couldn't stop looking at him. His blue hair was unkept and unruly in a handsome way, his eyes the same as that night. Stern and cold, yet with a spark of familiarity and kindness. "He plans to ship out a batch of soldiers and Sentinels next week."
"Where."
"Köd Kunta. We are to attack them when they sleep. Come in from behind their main territory and strike strong. We have orders to kill all—men, women and children. No one leaves alive."
"What is he going to do with the rest of his Sentinels?" questioned Momi, her face stone-set, teeth grabbing at her red lips in anxiousness.
"A day after, he plans to charge forward in front of them with himself at the helm. He has archers readying to charge at the front and foot soldiers behind them. Riders will come up behind them all and he will be among them, riding up and down the formation as if giving the soldiers morale," answered Sephiran.
"What a bloody fool," moaned Momi. "Thank you for your testimony. We will reconvene tomorrow, surely. Await my orders and act as if nothing is wrong. The last thing we need is for Conleth to catch on."
Nodding in unison, the three Sentinels left, Sephiran looking back at me once more. I noticed Dren had been aware of the exchange of glances. His eyes met mine and I balked at the look he gave me. His cheeks were taut, his eyes steeled. What was wrong? Had I done something disrespectful? I began shaking in my seat.
"Well, I think that concludes our dinner time," Momi said, standing from her seat and dusting crumbs off her gown. "Dren, you and your pet are located in the west wing. Third door on the right. We will meet up before breakfast to hear our final affairs and ideas and plans. Make sure you get enough sleep—tomorrow is bound to bring in some exhausting happenings." Momi swept into a light bow and left the room, two Verdant Sentinels tailing her.
"Come, Merlot," said Dren beneath his breath, standing and offering me his hand. "We need to get some rest."
I took his hand silently and followed him to the west wing of Viridis Palace. The halls were lined with long-leafed potted plants and paintings with abstract shapes and colors splashed on them. There were no tapestries depicting great battles or even statues of the gods or the Threefold daemons. It was like Queen Nokomis didn't even acknowledge them.
Dren entered a room and pulled me inside, shutting the door albeit hard—hard enough to make me jump. Something was going on with him, and whatever it was, I didn't like it.
"How did you know him," Dren said, facing the wall, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.
"Wh-who," I whispered, taking a step back. This was a side of Dren Heartland that I hadn't seen before. He was terse and tense, his nymph form barely showing through, yet enough where his nails straightened into talons. "That Sentinel. Don't play dumb. I could tell you knew him."
"Why does it matter to you?"
"Because you're a servant under my rule and I demand to know how you knew him!" roared Dren, turning. His golden eyes were alit, casting an eerie glow upon his scrunched face. "Anyone caught dallying with a Sentinel is unclean and is cast to the shadowland. May the Threefold daemons help you if I took in an unclean monster to prepare my meals and sleep beneath my roof."
I was shocked and scared, backing up into the bedpost. "I've never laid with a Sentinel, I swear it," I breathed, shying my face away from Dren's. "He showed me mercy some years back... My uncle, I killed my uncle!"
Everything went quiet. There it was. The hard, cold truth.
I was a criminal. And now King Dren Heartland knew.
"Where."
"In my old home. In Calanthe."
"Why."
"He tried to sell me off," I croaked, tears stinging and slipping down my cheeks. "He attacked me."
"And you killed him," Dren said, his voice coming closer and closer. I shrunk back into the bedpost, my entire body wracked with sobs and tremors. "I had to, he was going to hurt me. That Sentinel caught me in the act and he let me go. He showed mercy to me!"
"He should be Banished for breaking a rule of the Three," hissed Dren. He was closer now, his teeth nearly brushing against my ear as he hissed into it. "You should be Banished for breaking a rule of the Three as well."
"I am," I whispered. "I haven't set foot in Calanthe since then. My name is tainted."
"So you move to Korath."
"It was the closest place I could go. I had to clear my name with something... I couldn't simply die in my depression and sorrow." I held my breath as I felt Dren's body brush up against mine, his lips tickling my ear from how close he was.
"Your name is not tainted in Korath, Merlot Elfhallow," he whispered.
Gooseflesh prickled my skin. "I know, Your Highness."
"You are safe here, with me. No one will hurt you when you are with me."
I opened my eyes and looked up. Dren was standing over me, his arms grasping the bedpost, his head dipped down close to mine. "I'm thankful for your kindness and generosity every day, my king," I told him, tremors thrumming through to my very core, making my words slurred and jumbled together. "I know the rules of the Three... I would never dare break another again lest I be Banished to the shadowland. I know the risks and I wouldn't dare take it."
I awaited Dren to say something, yet he didn't. We stood their, sharing each other's breaths until he moved. His arms slid beneath my knees and around the small of my back, lifting my frame into his chest and carrying me into the bed. He laid me down as if he were laying a babe into a crib—carefully and slowly. Pulling the goosedown covers over my body and beneath my chin, he leaned down and planted a kiss onto my forehead. "You are safe here," he repeated. "With me. Nothing will harm you. Do you understand."
"Yes," I breathed.
Dren walked over to the other side of the bed and slide beneath the covers, burrowing himself close to me and then asking, "May I hold you."
Redness crept up on me and my body balked from his request, yet I answered, "Yes, Your Highness."
Dren's big hands slid underneath my stomach and around my hips, pulling himself closer to me. I could feel his heat through his clothes, yet I knew sex wasn't what he wanted tonight. Kings and queens had to save themselves for their betrothed, so even if he did get touchy, I would have to decline and remind him of his vows.
Tears sprung into my eyes. Never in my life had anyone held me with such love and care. It was a feeling of safety that I'd never felt before. I didn't want it to end. If the gods gave me the chance to lie in bed with the king for eternity, I would take it. I shifted myself against him and he growled into my ear, causing me to pause. Sleep, yes. Sleep. Nothing else.
Just sleep.