When the Stars Alight by Camilla Andrew

Author:Camilla Andrew
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gaslamp fantasy; gothic fantasy; gothic gaslamp fantasy; romantasy; romantic fantasy
Publisher: An Inkwell of Nectar Press
Published: 2023-06-16T00:00:00+00:00

XIX

Soleterea was sweltering when they arrived, the kind of heat so dense it was fit to swim in. Laila watched the residents walk by with their sun-soaked glisten, the heat fluctuating around them in waves, like she was observing the fish in a tank.

Dominus sat beside her in silence, his shoulders hunched. He had been crouched uncomfortably in the carriage for hours now due to his stature and the sight of him kindled pity in her.

“It shouldn’t be much longer,” Laila told him in an attempt to soothe. She had come here to escape from the winter, and yet she had brought a slice of it with her. It pained her to watch her abominable snowbeast melt. “Would you like to use my fan?”

Dominus grunted negatively in response. She had gradually become fluent in his non-verbal cues.

“All right,” Laila said, opening it up to fan herself. She stuck her hand out of the window and felt the light ocean breeze drift between her fingertips. She took her hand away from the window and placed it on the silk brocade of the carriage chair, sealing a fray in the fabric with her aether until it was good as new.

“Now, I have made an annotated brochure of activities that I think you might enjoy while you stay,” Laila said, pulling out a little booklet from her purse to hand to Dominus.

He accepted it with wary interest, flipping briefly through the pages.

“I can already sense your misgivings, but you need not despair: I had a ghoul assist me to make sure there were versions written in both Mortesian and Soltongue. And, oh”—Laila slapped her hand down on the page to halt his flipping—“there are even little illustrations I had peppered in to appeal to your artistic eye.”

He looked up at her with a brow arched. She beamed beatifically in response.

“Thank you,” he said, lifting up the pamphlet higher to his face to squint at it. “What is… opera?”

“Oh, you absolutely must see the opera at least once in your life. It’s rather like theatre but more… majestic. It’s something that needs to be seen to be explained.”

“We’re here,” called out Lyra, who had been dangling out of the window.

Laila poked her head out of the window to see the golden gates of the château opening to receive them. The carriage drew to a stop in the courtyard before the chauffeur went to open the door for her.

Laila stepped out, head tilted towards the sky to receive the sun’s warm kiss on her cheeks. She heard the carriage jostle as Dominus came lumbering out next, stretching himself once more to full height.

The atmosphere shifted immediately in his presence. Among his peers, it was easy to forget how imposingly enormous he was, even for his race. Here, he eclipsed all who were near him by at least a foot.

“Come,” Laila said, taking his hand and leashing him to her, an assurance of his safety. “Before we enter, I want to make sure you are fully aware of what to expect from my mother.

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.