A Child of Fire by Jordan Baker

Author:Jordan Baker [Jordan Baker]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

It was late at night when Calexis strode through the entrance of the royal apartments of the Maramyrian palace, decidedly unimpressed with just about everything. She hated the drapes, the furniture the tapestries, the walls, the ceilings and even the floors. The look of the place irritated her, mostly because it bore little resemblance to her own palace at Xalla and she wondered if it might not be time to return to her kingdom for a while. The entire return journey from Kandara, Cerric had proven resistant to her advances, ignoring her in favor of his obsession for the grand tournament he was planning, and the moment they had arrived, he had locked himself away with Berant while they worked out the details. To make matters more irritating, Cerric had magnanimously proposed that she could help by overseeing the arrangements for both the palace and the city for a week of celebrations in honor of the fighters who would compete for the favor of the god-king.

Calexis snorted in disgust as she thought about how meaningles her role as a ruler had become. By marrying Cerric, she had become the queen of two nations and her army had participated in the conquest of the mountain kingdom of Kandara. One might think that she would be entitled to make some decisions and decrees, but Cerric had gone ahead and appointed the Maramyrian lord, Myrdel as the Steward of Kandara, without even consulting her and, to further demonstrate her irrelevance, her god-king of a husband had barely spoken with her on their journey to Maramyr. When she had pushed him to include her in his plans, he had given her a menial task, as though she was some kind of servant or minion to be commanded. If Cerric wanted her to ready the palace and the city for his warrior games, to essentially decorate them, then that was what she would do. She pulled a velvet cord by the wall and sat down on a richly brocaded sofa and counted the moments before the servants entered, which were thankfully few.

"How may we be of service, your highness?" asked a maidservant, accompanied by two others.

"What artisans are there in this city?" she asked.

"There are many," they said. "Is there some particular skill you seek?"

"There are many skills that I seek. Stone masons, wood carvers, painters, tapestry makers, weavers, clothiers," she said. "Bring me the best of them."

"Yes, milady," the maidservant said with a polite bow of her head.

"And find that mage, Dakar," she added.

"I believe he is at the Temple of the One, your highness."

"Is that where the mages spend their time when they're not scurrying about doing my husband's bidding?" Calexis was curious.

"I do not know, highness. It is not our place to know the business of mages. Shall I send a messenger to the temple?"

"No," Calexis said. "I will go there myself. Ready an escort."

"Yes, milady."

The servants exited and Calexis rose from the sofa and, though she detested the flowery design, she marveled at the fine texture of the fabric.

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