Jeo.
I hold my breath, but I don’t need to brace myself for any emotion. Instead of feeling much of anything about him or how he died, I feel a sense of contentment. He died in sacrifice so that I could be here.
Now, even when I think of Highbell, I know that it was good that my people betrayed me, because it led me on this path. Tyndall’s treachery doesn’t matter to me anymore. The frigid fear, the hate, the bitterness, it’s simply…gone. Melted away within these remedying walls.
That’s how I know being here is right. For the first time in a long, long time, I am at ease.
When I’m ready, I glide down the stairs and enter the breakfast room. The three men are already there, the food steaming in wait for me, just as it has been each morning.
“Good morning, Your Majesty.” The twins speak and move in unison so often that I’ve grown used to it.
“Good morning.”
They sit back down once I take my place at the head of the blue-painted table, a pillared centerpiece of crystal bulbs holding soft candlelight that prisms inside of it. I hum as I eat, soothed by the pretty music, enjoying the sunshine that streams in through the blue-tinted windows.
I should’ve come here long ago.
“My queen, how are you feeling today?” Friano asks, mole dimpling into his left cheek.
“I’m feeling very well. My stay here has been just what I needed.”
“No less than you deserve.”
Fassa nods and tugs at the shiny gray sleeve of his shirt. His brother wears the same thing, and both of their hair hangs like black drapes that frame their faces. “It’s true,” Fassa says. “We are so lucky that the fates have divined you to come. We wanted nothing more than to give comfort to you after such a treacherous journey.”
“And after all your betrayals,” Friano adds with a tsk. “From your husband and your own people, no less.”
“But no matter,” Fassa picks up. “Here is where you are, and here is where you belong.”
“Exactly,” Pruinn agrees, and his magnetic eyes draw me in, the smile on his face letting me know I should’ve trusted him all along. “You are going to attain your heart’s desire, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, and we think you’re ready,” Fassa and Friano say in unison.
I straighten up eagerly, feeling my heartbeat quicken. Since the first day I arrived, the twins haven’t spoken more about my role in Seventh Kingdom. They told me that all I needed to focus on for the time being was recovering after all my hardships. To be catered to like the queen I am.
“I am ready,” I say with confidence.
The twins grin. “Come, let us walk.”
They take me into an atrium.
For a moment, all I can do is stare around the space as a flood of memories come back to me. “This…this reminds me of the atrium back in Highbell. Back before it was all gold-touched.”
I’m not choked up with emotion—I feel far too content for that—but walking in this space brings me both awe and pleasure. These are the plants that I can thank for the bouquets set all throughout the castle. The room’s walls are painted a soft blue, before doming into a ceiling of glass that makes the blossoms sparkle, the silvery stems on which they grow matching the mist that clings to the windows.
As my eyes skim around, I notice that a cloud of mist has seeped inside the atrium as well. It swirls near one of the window panes, congested in a dense, large collection as if there’s a crack in the grass, letting it stream inside. My skin prickles ever so slightly just before I turn away.
“We thought you might like it, Your Majesty.”
With a nod, I walk down the aisle, the low heel of my shoe clicking across the blue-tiled floor as I gently skim a fingertip over the budding petals beside me. The soft floral scent seems to sink into my lungs and brush through my pores.
“It’s beautiful,” I say as I turn away from the flowers to face the twins, while Pruinn stands just off to the side, his gray eyes roving over the rows of plants as if he wants to clip a few blooms and stuff them in the merchant’s bag that’s always slung across his shoulder.
“Come, sit,” Fassa offers, and the twins part to reveal a dainty bench of gray stone set right in a semi-circle of blooms.
My heart turns automatically, nose pulling in the smell in this close proximity. I could bathe in this fragrance—have my bed brought up right here to slumber in its sweet perfume. It’s just so calming. I take a seat, while the twins also sit down on an identical bench that I somehow missed.