The Lost Queen (Book 1 of The Lost Queen Series)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Seraiah tilted her head back to take in the massive entry to the Elven city. The gates, made from unadorned wood, stood open to allow traffic to pass in and out.

It wasn't the gates themselves that had drawn Seraiah's attention. No, it was the stone pillars carved to look like twin dragons, their flames arcing high over the opening to meet in the middle that had her mouth falling open. They were made from a pale gray-green stone that seemed lit from within.

She had never seen anything quite like it.

"I was instructed to bring you to the castle and draw as little attention as possible," Eryx said. "Prince Kaimana said he would meet us in the stable yard with someone to show our guest to her rooms."

"We are hiding her then," Kestrel said.

It wasn't a question, but Eryx answered anyway. "Seems that way. Now that I know the guest in question is a human, I can see why Kaimana would want to keep her hidden. You know Gavaran is going to be displeased."

"And how long does Kai think he is going to be able to hide her? Eventually, someone is going to talk, and Gavaran finding out through court gossip is going to be worse than if Kai tells him himself."

"My guess?" Eryx said, tilting his head back to look up at the sky. "I'd say he plans to introduce her tonight at Eostre."

"What?" Kestrel yelped. "That's tonight?"

Seraiah itched to ask what Eostre was, but she didn't want to interrupt their conversation. They seemed to have completely forgotten she was present and listening to every word they spoke.

Eryx nodded. "You've been gone awhile. What were you doing all that time, anyway? Chasing a seer? I wasn't aware we needed a new one."

Interesting, Seraiah thought, it seemed no one knew Kai had been hunting for their lost queen.

Kestrel stayed silent, which all but confirmed Seraiah's suspicions.

"Kes, what aren't you telling me?" Eryx asked. "I can't help if I don't know."

The way he was looking at Kestrel made Seraiah feel like she was intruding on a private moment. She cleared her throat to subtly remind them of her presence.

This seemed to snap Kestrel's attention back to the matter at hand.

She kicked their horse forward, ignoring Eryx's question. "We need to get moving. People are going to start staring the longer we sit here."

Kestrel was right. Several people were already glancing curiously in their direction. Most of their eyes skipped over Kestrel and Eryx to land on her.

Seraiah avoided meeting anyone's stare by keeping her gaze up, studying the buildings they were passing as they wound their way through the main street toward the castle. The houses here were nothing like they had back home. All of them were made with the same pale stone from which the pillars at the gate had been carved. There wasn't a thatched roof in sight.

Even the streets were different. Instead of heavily rutted dirt and mud, these streets were paved with cobblestones and perfectly clean, as though someone swept them daily. There were no children running in and out of the traffic, and the noise of people going about their lives, that Seraiah had become accustomed to hearing, was absent.

Gradually, the houses gave way to an area of shops. None of the shopkeepers were outside, shouting their wares to draw customers in. Instead, hand-painted signs hung from the doorways depicting what sort of goods were offered at each.

"Do you not have a market here?" Seraiah asked Kestrel.

"No," she answered. "Only these shops that you see here."