“I was caught by the guards. They were going to send me back when you found me.” She looked at me with such gratitude in her eyes I couldn’t help thinking about the others I couldn’t save. What must their lives be like with no hope of ever seeing their families again? What about the families who had lost their children? What hope was there for them?
“I was trying to get to a ship that would take me back to Rohron.” She shook her head and started to weep again. “My family has no idea what happened to me. I was visiting a friend when I was taken.”
I balled my hands into fists. “He will be punished for this. I will speak to Prince Shiraz.”
Penelope shook her head. “You cannot interfere any more than you already have, Aurora. We are lucky Prince Shiraz did not take offense from your actions. This is not the time to go around changing policies.”
“But—”
She held up her hand. “Let me finish. Once you are queen of Illiador, you will get the opportunity to change the world for the better. But until then you must think of the bigger picture. If anything happens to you, there will be no world left to change.”
I crossed my arms and stared out of the palanquin curtains. She was right, of course. My hands were tied. I had to get the Detoris to join us. Securing the way through Brandor for the fae army had to remain my first priority.
The Pink Palace
The palace of the Detori emir was a colossal monument, a testament to the power and wealth the emirs enjoyed while the rest of the city lived in poverty. The Detoris were even wealthier than the Valasis family, effectively controlling all the mines and trade routes in the eastern lands as well as the ships that traversed the Sea of Shadows.
The Pink Palace, as it was called, was famous in Brandor and beyond for the brushed pink sandstone from which it was made. The Detoris owned all the pink sandstone quarries in Brandor, along with gold, copper, jade, and iron mines.
Surrounded by a massive sandstone wall, the great golden domes of the palace could be seen from every rooftop in the city. Similar domes spread out over smaller buildings on a reduced scale, which made up the rest of the palace, accenting the great center dome.
The Pink Palace was beautiful and more ornately decorated than the Red Citadel in Sanria. The flooring was made of a rare pink marble, with shades of dusky rose veins slithering inside the stone like snakes. Massive jade pillars carved to look like palm trees held the immense domed ceiling of the entrance hall up. The ceiling itself was intricately carved with flowers made of shimmering rose quartz and leaves of jade set on a light mesh of pure gold. It was an ostentatious display of wealth, and I wondered how many slaves it must have taken to build this monstrosity.
Prince Shiraz led us through great silver doors to a courtyard with terraced lawns, shaded by towering cypress trees, where our rooms were situated. A light breeze drifted through the gardens, and the birds had awoken to fill the palace with song. The air was thick with the scent of jasmine flowers and frangipani as we navigated the garden paths to our rooms. Beautiful pavilions and lotus ponds graced the interior of the palace, creating a sprawling oasis within the hot dusty city of Nedora.
“I hope you will be comfortable here,” said Prince Shiraz, showing us around the suite of rooms that Penelope and I were to share. Great marble arches hung with soft muslin curtains led out to a private walled garden with a cascading fountain spouting fragrant rosewater.
Rhea had been taken to the infirmary to see to her wounds and would join us later. Tristan’s room was situated in another wing, as all the rooms in this part of the palace were reserved for women only.
After Prince Shiraz departed, crimson-veiled servants entered silently and drew a bath for me. I was eager for it. It had been a while since I had bathed properly, and the hot dusty streets of Nedora seemed to cover my skin with a layer of grime and sand that required a good scrubbing.
The bathing chamber was a bright room with big arched windows that looked onto a small private garden. A great white onyx sunken tub filled with rose petals lay in the center of the room, surrounded by luxurious silk cushions. I removed my clothes and waded into what was more of a pool than a tub. Rose oil had been added to the steaming water, and I washed myself from head to toe with the scented soaps and scrubs that lay beside the pool in small crystal bowls.
I felt much better after the bath and changed into the clothes the servants had left for me. They were similar to the clothes I had worn when I came here but made with a much more expensive fabric and bordered with exquisite gold embroidery on the short tunic and loose pants.
When I was ready, I met with Penelope in the common room. Tristan was already there waiting for us, and we tried to figure out how we would approach the emir when he returned to the palace. While we were discussing our next course of action, a servant came to our rooms to announce that Prince Shiraz had invited us for a private dinner in the magnificent inner terrace, which was reserved for the emir and his chosen guests.
I inquired about Rhea and when she would be joining us, but the servant did not have any information. She just bowed respectfully and withdrew from the room. I frowned at the thought
