"Miraluna," he echoed. The name didn't seem to fit the part animal part human person sitting in front of him. But then he glanced behind her, where her sorrow cloud curved out like blankets behind her, black as a starless night and shaped like a crescent moon, and he could see one way in which the name fit.
"Yes," she said, oblivious to what Cori was thinking. "And yours is Coriander RosOrion, correct?"
He blinked.
"You announced it when you first entered the palace," she said. She suddenly winced at something the servants were dabbing on her wound.
Somehow, Cori hadn't imagined that she had heard. He said as much. "I didn't realize you heard me."
"I heard everything," and with that she shuddered once and collapsed against the pillows.
Cori looked to the servant tending her bite, the one he thought most likely to be RosLaurel. "Is she all right?"
Through gritted teeth, the creature on the bed growled, "I can still hear you, you know. Take him to one of the guest rooms in the north wing. I'll deal with him later."
"North wing," Cori said, "and not the tower?"
Her voice came out in an irritated rumble. "Would you prefer the tower?"
"The north wing is fine." Thank you he almost added out of habitual politeness, but retracted at the last second. She didn't deserve thanks for not throwing him into a cell.
One of the servants left her side to come to Cori's. The servant offered him a faint smile as she led him into the hall. To be polite, Cori returned it.
A few paces into the hall, a loud roar erupted from the room they'd left. Cori flinched. The servant didn't spare a glance behind them.
"Should we-"
The servant shook her head. "Not to worry sir. RosLaurel will tend to the princess."
It wasn't the princess Cori was worried about. But if the servant didn't seem concerned about RosLaurel or the other servants, then maybe Cori shouldn't be either.
He glanced around the air around her for her sorrow cloud. It took him a moment to find it. It was a small circle that Cori could have fit between his thumb and forefinger if it was corporeal, and dark. Not half as dark as the princess's, but darker than normal.
Whatever her sorrow was, it didn't weigh heavily on her right now. But it weighed deep. The deepness indicated something serious, but why wouldn't a serious sorrow wear heavier? Perhaps it was something out of her control, and she was at peace with that.
It was an odd sorrow, but not as odd as the princess's. That was a mystery he needed more information to solve.
"Would this room suffice?" The servant asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.
They'd stopped at an open door. Inside was a four poster golden bed, a gold wardrobe taller than Cori was, and a gold nightstand. Light shone in from a large glass window on the wall. Fitting the theme, the walls were painted pale gold.
"Yes," Cori said, "thank you."
"Is there anything else you need, sir?"
Cori smiled at her. "You don't need to call me sir."
The tips of the girl's mouth perked up. "It's protocol, sir. Is there anything else you need?"
He almost said no, but then a pang hit his stomach. He hadn't eaten the meal that had been brought this morning.
YOU ARE READING
The Moonshaped Sorrow (Open Novella Contest 2020)
RomanceIn the world of Emagora, everyone has a Blessing. For Cori's, his is the ability to see a person's sorrow in a cloud that only he can see. For the most part, he tries to ignore his power, preferring to stay among his plants, where he never has to...
