Blood-Bound [ Lore of Penrua: Book I ]

23

One night, when she was a little girl, Mhera had roamed the palace, wakeful and barefooted well after she should have been abed. Now, much older but feeling no wiser, Mhera found herself wandering the halls again. She felt just as lost.

She wore her habit, but had taken off her veil and now carried it in one hand, dragging it along behind her. Her soft slippers made no sound on the polished floor. She walked without knowing where she went. Her family was peacefully abed; the only folk awake were silent guards standing around every corner, most half asleep themselves at this middle hour of the night. The rose moon had not yet risen, and the light filtering in through the high palace windows was soft and blue. It was peaceful, a moonlit world set apart from the reality she lived in the daytime.

It was over now. For over a decade, she had known with vengeful clarity that this day would bring her family closure and restore order to the world. But somehow, the execution had done nothing to settle Mhera's heart. Her confused emotions nestled in her stomach, weighing her down. Sorrow. Anger. Fear.

She hadn't watched the crucial moment. Was that why the nightmare wasn't over for her? She hadn't seen Rhodana die. Until the last second she had thought she could, but when it came to it, Mhera had looked away. By the time she had opened her eyes, Rhodana had lain dead.

It should have been enough. It was justice. Vengeance.

Mhera stopped near a window. She was roaming the first floor of the palace, not far from where the wide doors opened out onto the Sovereign Square. When she looked out, she could still see the platform where Rhodana had met her death. A dark blur marred the surface where the woman had knelt.

She's gone. It's over, Mhera thought. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to feel the relief she had longed for. But Mhera realized now, too late, that one cannot be a queen of nothing. Rhodana had not been alone.

After me comes the King!

Mhera opened her eyes again. There was nothing for it but to try to move on. In a few days' time she would go back to the Haven and leave all of this behind.

She moved toward the doors, where two guards stood inside. This, too, was new; from her youth, Mhera only remembered guards at the outside of the main palace doors. She stopped in front of the men. More new faces.

"I wish to walk in the gardens," Mhera said. "Please open the doors."

One of the men glanced down at Mhera's veil, which was dragging in a tangle at her side. "You may not go unaccompanied, my lady," he said.

"I wish to be alone."

"His Grace holds your safety above your desires, my lady."

Mhera laughed without humor. She felt so unsettled, so adrift, that her manners had deserted her. To herself, she said, "Yes. Obviously." Emperor Korvan had, after all, sent her away. This thought reminded Mhera that in a few days' time, she would make a vow that could not be unmade and commit herself for the rest of her days to the Haven.

Solemn again, Mhera gestured toward the door. In any case, she was reminded that she was in the city, and there were dangers here that she did not face on the isle. "Very well. I will go."

The guard nodded and reached for one of the tall double doors. He pulled it open. The men outside snapped to attention and turned to flank the door, as if they expected the emperor himself.

"My lady wishes to walk in the gardens," said the guard from inside.

This appeared to cause some confusion. Mhera waited for a moment as the men debated the logistics of her request.