Kingdom's Vice Series: Journey to Alleria ( #1 2014) #Wattys2015

Chapter Eleven

Sympathy is carved into her cheekbones, her lips puckered as if she’s eaten a sour fruit. For the first time, I see a sense of compassion in the Lady Faeore, daughter of King Xertormei of Alleria. Duhamas has it in his eyes too, but Faeore takes a little while to warm up to me. Faeore’s love for Duhamas warms something inside of me, and makes me want it just a little bit more, and watching her smile in preparation for their wedding is like torture. Her dress, mind you, is one of the most magnificent things I have ever laid eyes on. In Bardhelm, dresses like that are worn daily, in the hopes of catching a fine man’s eye, but Faeore made this dress special. Her beauty could not be compared amongst the highest ranks of an Ivorian woman. Not even the wisest or kindest. Though her eyes were almost always cold and disregarding, she certainly knew how to wear a dress.

‘Isn’t she just stunning?’ the King asks me as he takes his place beside me in the throneroom. We both watch Faeore twirl around in her dress a little more, before he motions to speak about something a little more heavy.

‘Yes,’ I reply. ‘That she is.’

He clears his throat. ‘And what of your little Kennah friend?’ he speaks as if he knows already, like he’s awaiting my side of the story.

I sigh. ‘We’re not on speaking terms,’ I reply. ‘And I guess rightly so. What I did was not wise. Especially to him.’

A grin crawls up along his mouth as he turns to me. ‘So you admit that there was something going on between the two of you, that you found him agreeable?’

I want to tell him to shove off, but I know I can’t. What business is it of his? But then I remember, everything in Alleria is his business.

‘Yes,’ I say. ‘I’ll admit that and nothing more, My Lord.’

He paces and circles around me like I’m a criminal awaiting my sentence. ‘So this is the moment when my kin grows fond of another, a forbidden love. It is but life’s cruellest trick to play on the heartstrings of the weak and vulnerable.’

I close my eyes and listen to his words. The more I hear them, the more I believe them. Life is cruel, especially when you know how you feel about someone or something and you just know you cannot be together. Whatever forces are against us, I wish more than anything to speak with them.

‘My heartstrings have been played long enough,’ I tell him, tears welling in my eyes.

He nods, acknowledging my grief but says nothing more of it. He leaves my side to embrace Faeore and chant a blessing or two upon her, before Duhamas enters.

‘Skaya,’ he acknowledges me with a smile.

I nod and bow a little, a sweeter smile appearing on my face. Duhamas was kind, the sort of kind that was hard to come by back home, and even here in Alleria. He’s like the brother I never had, should have had. He’s the kind of person who would not abandon you for his own desires, but he would share his treasures with you for all eternity. He is a rare person, but I think I know another, one who does not dwell in the moonlight or appreciate the moon’s glow like the natives do. I was wrong about him; I had thought that he was coward, full of pride and arrogance, but I did not know he had the ability to feel anything close to affection for another person, just because he wanted to. And all I can tell myself now is that I know now, but it’s too late.

I have spent years fighting against my own culture, denying myself the rights that I have had since birth. I have had the right to anything and everything I want. I could have any dress in every colour, any gem stone embellishing the necklines; any ring of any size, metal, or shape. But, no matter what I had or how much I had to my name, love was never in abundance. We traded with coins and gems, but we never dealt in anything as fragile as love. It was too painful too remove, and thus, too painful to give away. Love only existed in marriage, but even then things were tense. The general custom in Bardhelm is to love your objects of value more than your spouse, more than your kin...more than yourself. Greed was our life, greed was everything.

But here? Greed is present, yes, but in the way that Bardhelm has become so famous for. We were sister kingdoms after all, so it would be expected that we would share some common vice(s). Vanity was a selfish vice. Vanity was the foundation of everything. They do not own so many dresses or tunics, only the ones that are deemed the most beautiful on the canvas of an Allerian body. Tattoos cover the hands of most Immortals and children, ancient markings from the times of the Old Tales—a reminder of what was, and can never be again.

I find that the only place that calms the mind is the Tale Room. The King has granted me full access whenever I please. And so, I take it upon myself to understand the history of our universe and the famous three kingdoms within it.