The Carnelian Way

30

*Warning: this chapter includes a mature scene of a sexual nature. It isn't very explicit.*

She excused herself from the receiving room the moment Mai released her hand, stepping between the columns and into the garden. The marriage wouldn't be accepted, at least by many. As people defied Mai, there would be more death, and once again, she would be to blame.

She took a path away from the palace, entering and exiting small enclosed gardens. Something tickled at the nape of her neck—the scrape of unseen eyes. A chill rolled down her skin, like marbles bouncing down a flight of stairs. She stopped.

Silence.

Stop it, you fool.

Here—in the shade of Mai's palace, at least—she was safe. Mai would have her shadowed at all times, and she needed to grow used to it.

She opened and closed an iron gate and found herself on a broader path. The sky before her. The air fresh. The heat of the day absorbed by her thin soles. Even high above the bay, she tasted salt. She was vaguely aware of passing Queen Kiera's garden as she continued toward the edge of the plateau.

The niggle at her neck continued. She turned to look behind her. Nothing. She walked faster. The stones crunched like rocksalt between a mortar and pestle.

She stopped suddenly. Crunch.

She spun on her heels and thought she saw a flash of tan and white vanish behind a bush, but lights frequently shot across her vision now, whether or not she stepped into that other spectrum. It could have been that. It could have been an animal. It could be paranoia. Shaking her head, she resumed walking.

The ninth level of the mountain city was much smaller than the lower ones, and it didn't take long to approach the edge. A waist-high stone fence rose a meter before the cliff edge. She lifted her skirts and swung her legs over.

The world yawned before her.

She peered down. A thrill streaked through her veins at the sight of a rock shelf metres below. After a moment of searching, she found a goat path leading down. Unmindful of her silk dress and delicate shoes, she hurried down and sat on the stone. She swung her feet back and forth and closed her eye. The afternoon sun warmed her back and she forced herself to focus on it rather than the life bubbling through her blood like an untended pot.

"That's dangerous," said a voice after a time.

Rina snorted, not bothering to open her eyes, letting her heels bounce against the rock. "You wouldn't let me fall, would you?" she said.

"Of course not, my dear."

Mai sat beside her, and she faced him. "So it was you who followed me," she said. "Why did you hide?"

Mai frowned. "What are you talking about? I don't need to follow you." He tugged at that phantom line between them to demonstrate his point. He could find her—so long as she stayed close enough.

"When I passed your mother's garden," she said, "there was someone else." She gave a shrug. "It was probably a guard. Or a gardener."

"I'll need to speak to the captain," said Mai. "If you saw or heard one of his men, they aren't doing their job."

Rina rounded on him. "So you are having me followed."

A self-deprecating smile spread across Mai's face. He shrugged out of his dark robe, removed his crown and set it on the fabric. He wore a white shirt, the ties at his chest undone, and his black suede trousers. Just a man. A beautiful, ageless man, with skin that glowed like alabaster before a flame in the sun.