The Wrong Proposal by Stella Dorthwany

Author:Stella Dorthwany [Dorthwany, Stella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dorthwany Publishing
Published: 2018-03-20T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3

They departed right after lunch. The carpet flight to Lakhir was only forty minutes, and Rahbi pushed his two-seater so hard they arrived in thirty-seven. Usually, he preferred horseback to flying, but this was an emergency.

Miska had appeared wearing a khaki dust robe and a veil that enveloped her head completely. It was a popular outfit with tourists who tended to wilt beneath the desert dust and heat when they left the climate controlled resorts. It was a strange choice for a Caladoner native; however, all of Miska’s clothing choices were strange, so Rahbi gave her garb no more than a passing thought.

When they arrived at the palace, the guards took one look at his face and waved them through the gate.

“Practically a prince,” Miska murmured, and Rahbi flushed.

“I’m sorry I said that.”

“Why? It’s true.” They landed in the main courtyard. Servants ran up to help them dismount, to take charge of the carpet, to offer iced beverages and information. Rahbi waved them away impatiently. “We can take care of ourselves. We’re just running an errand.” He didn’t want anyone to take special notice of the fact that he was there with Miska. The courtship rumors at home would be bad enough, without adding a second layer in Lakhir. Normally, he would have reveled in the attention, since it would allow him to parade his broken heart and earn a few more months of precious freedom, but now he just wanted to forget that he had ever set eyes on his mother’s secretary.

They stepped out of the glare of the courtyard into the cool interior of the palace. Rahbi blinked his eyes in the dimness and looked around at the familiar corridor: a floor of polished sandstone, the roof supported by arches, walls decorated with colorful mosaics about New Caladon’s history (the whole hundred and seventy years of it).

“The archives are that way.” He pointed down the hall as he turned to look at Miska. He almost swallowed his own tongue.

For a long moment, he wondered if he’d brought the right woman to Lakhir. Gone was the lumpy figure in dust robe and veil. In her place stood a woman with abundant honey-blonde hair enchanted into the latest style from Estoria City. Her big brown eyes were lined with kohl, her lips were painted an enchanting red, and her ears dangled crystal ornaments as long his index finger. Her white silk dress was tailored to emphasize the way her form curved out and then in and then out again in an extremely appealing way. “You,” said Rahbi. “You.”

She tilted her head in a familiar way. “Yes?” The voice—flat as unleavened bread—was undeniably Miska’s.

“You look different,” he managed.

“Of course.” She glanced around, making certain they were alone. “I don’t want anyone to recognize me. While we’re here, you should call me Caryl.”

“Nobody’s going to recognize you,” Rahbi said with conviction. “Why are you in disguise?”

“Shh,” Miska cautioned. “I’ll tell you when we get to the archives.”

The royal archives, although the largest library in New Caladon, occupied only five rooms in the palace’s underground level.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.