Entwined Paths (Swift Shadows Book 2)

by M. L. Greye

  For her first lesson, her handmaids had chosen a sea glass green tunic with rose gold embroidery along its hem in the usual Heerth patterns. The tunic went to the middle of her thighs with slits on either side. It also had no sleeves – held up only by the strips of cloth going over her shoulders. Beneath the tunic, she wore a pair of tight amethyst colored pants. Well, they were more like Anexian leggings, but these only went to just below her knee. Her feet were bare, of course. She was within palace grounds. No need for shoes here.

  Her whole ensemble was light, breezy, and flexible. Emry understood why it was the apparel of choice for doing the Turanga. Again, Emry felt like cursing the current Enn fashion of full-length gowns. For special events, sure. For literally everything else, though, they were so impractical.

  Emry had had plenty of time to contemplate this because she’d been waiting the past forty minutes for Trezim to show up. She’d arrived at the armory just past sunrise. When she’d walked into the empty practice room, she’d been glad to be the first to arrive. Yet, that had quickly worn off, as the minutes continued to tick by. She was just about ready to go bang on Trezim’s door when he finally strolled in.

  “Glorious morning, is it not, Emry?” Trezim called out, sauntering across the room to where she’d planted herself on one of the few wood chairs littering the space.

  He’d brought someone with him. The man was in his fifties, maybe even sixties. The corners of his brown eyes were wrinkled. His hair was white with age. He was short, too. As he approached Emry, she doubted he’d be much taller than she was.

  Trezim noticed her staring at his companion. He swept a hand towards the man. “This is Eazon Dartanen – the finest Turanga instructor in the palace.”

  An instructor. Was he to help guide Trezim through the process of teaching her? Emry rose to her feet. To Eazon, she smiled and said in her sad excuse for Heerth, “How fortunate the sun shines upon us this day.” Translation: Nice to meet you.

  Eazon bowed at the waist, fisting his hands in front of him as he pressed his thumbs to his lips. A Heerth bow to someone of royalty. “Thank you, sunflower. The sun warms my soul.” Meaning, the pleasure was his.

  Emry really wasn’t all that fond of Heerth greetings. She turned back to Trezim. “You’re late.”

  He glanced out the nearest window. “It’s dawn.”

  “An hour ago, it was,” she muttered in her own language. She would have said it in Heerth had she known the right words.

  “Well, we’re here now,” Trez replied, not using Heerth either so that she’d understand him. “Let’s begin.”

  It turned out that Eazon spoke more than just Heerth as well, which Emry was grateful for. Her Heerth was minimal at best. Eazon began with helping her select the correct sized staff for her height and weight. He then moved her onto one of the clay rounds.

  There, Eazon walked her through the proper grips and opening stances. That lasted for a good half hour. After that, he instructed her on very basic footwork – the sort she assumed Heerth children were taught.

  As she moved on the round with Eazon, Trezim lounged in a nearby chair. Every so often he’d offer her tips, but for the most part he let the older man do the talking. When she swung her staff for the hundredth time like an axe, Trez stood with a sigh.

  “Emry, you’ve got to remember,” he chided, as if she were frustrating him with her mistakes, “the Turanga isn’t just a form of defense – it’s a dance. An art. An expression of passion and strength. You must learn to glide through the steps. No sloppy, choppy swings like what your Kruths attempt with their sticks.”

  She’d never seen the Kruths fight, so she had no idea what he was referring to. As for the Turanga being a dance, that she knew to be true. She’d watched those Heerths two days ago. They’d swirled around each other as though there was music guiding them. Emry was well aware of how little her own movements matched theirs. She felt as awkward on her feet as a newborn colt.

  “You are doing well, trynpyla,” Eazon encouraged. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. Emry, on the other hand, was panting like she’d just sprinted a mile.

  “Thank you, Eazon,” she forced out between breaths.

  The instructor nodded once. “The most important thing you can do for now is to try. You will feel slow and weak, but as long as you continue to try, you will progress.”

  “Excellent advice,” Trezim agreed, rising to his feet. “It looks like you are just what the lovely Princess Emerald needs. She will be safe in your hands.”

  Emry frowned. “Are you leaving us?”

  “Sadly, yes.” Trezim laid a hand over his heart. “Unfortunately, I have another appointment.”

  She blinked. “What sort of appointment?”

  “Lady Tissia has invited me to breakfast with her this morning,” he replied.

  “Lady Tissia?” Emry repeated. “The woman you and Sabine dined with last night?”

  “The very same.”

  “Will Sabine be joining you for breakfast as well?” Emry asked, lowering one end of her staff onto the clay.

  “Alas, no. It will just be me this morning who will be meeting with Lady Tissia,” he answered, his tone sounding both light and mournful at the same time. And fake. He sounded fake. It was something she hadn’t seen from him yet. His tone caught her off guard. He was acting like a member of her Court. Trezim must have mistaken her startled silence for acceptance, though, because he went on with, “Eazon will take great care of you.”

  Trezim bid her farewell and made his way to the stairs leading down and out of the armory. Emry watched him go. Disappointment flared up within her. Trez had said he’d be the one to teach her, and she had blindly believed him. Emry couldn’t help but feel a little played. She was grateful to be given lessons at all, but Trezim … he’d misled her.

  “On your left,” Eazon warned.

  Emry whirled back around but was too slow. Her instructor barely flicked his wrist, and his staff flung out behind her left foot, knocking her onto her rear. She stared up at him in surprise, assessing her body for any damage. When she found none, she asked, “How did you do that?”

  Eazon extended a hand down to her. “Pay close attention, trynpyla, and I will guide your path as the sun guides the moon.”

  For the next six hours, Emry followed every demand Eazon gave her the best that she could. Food and water were brought to them, which they took a few breaks to enjoy throughout the day. But the breaks were brief. Emry was determined to keep going, and Eazon was willing to teach her.

  It wasn’t until her handmaids came to fetch her – to ready her for dinner – that she finally left the armory. About halfway through her evening meal with the king’s family, excluding Trezim, she began to feel the toll of her workout. It hurt so bad that she forgot to ask Sabine where her brother was. She ate and stayed just enough to be deemed acceptable before nearly limping up to her rooms.

  She then spent the next two hours beneath the strong hands of her handmaidens as they rubbed salves up and down her back, legs, and arms. When they were finished, she hobbled to her pit of pillows and allowed sleep to claim her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The next morning, Emry took her breakfast in her room. She was still sore everywhere, more than sore. Her muscles were on fire – burning and stabbing with pain. She could barely move. She hadn’t been able to climb out of her pillow pit. Her maids had lifted her out of it, to save her from crawling around on her belly.

  In Heerth, there were no beds. It was the largest adjustment Emry had had to make since arriving. Instead of beds, Heerths slept in round sunken pits filled with pillows. The base of the average pit was about twelve feet in diameter and was padded. Loose pillows lined the edges of the pit, which was about two feet deep.

  Emry had never experienced this kind of agony before. She’d pushed herself too hard on the round. Just sitting up to eat at her table in her room had made her cry from the pain.

  When Patice saw her tears, she suggested the best
idea Emry had ever heard in her life. “Call for a Ruby.”

  A Ruby was sent for immediately to repair the damage Emry had caused herself.

  It took the woman the better part of two hours to sufficiently heal Emry, but when she was done, Emry could walk again without feeling like passing out. It was splendid.

  She was late for her lesson, though. Once the Ruby had left, Emry had her maids help her dress for the Turanga. Patice made her promise not to overextend herself today, and Emry readily agreed. She couldn’t, anyway. Today there would be a banquet she had to attend – a luncheon. Her lesson would be no more than three hours today.

  When Emry finally arrived at the round, she wasn’t really surprised to find Trezim absent. She’d sent a message to both Trez and Eazon that she’d be late. Apparently, for Trez that meant he didn’t need to come at all. At least Eazon was there, and he picked up right where he’d left off the day before.

  The hours flew by quickly. All too soon, her maids arrived to escort her back to her rooms. Emry didn’t feel like she’d worked as hard as she had yesterday, but she’d remembered how to accurately hold her staff, so there was that.

  In Heerth, lunch was the largest meal of the day. It was mostly because dinners were nothing more than appetizers, fruit, and light finger foods. The heavier, denser entrées were reserved for the middle of the day – to promote digestive health. Emry didn’t mind one way or the other, but it was new to bathe in broad daylight so as to be fresh for the midday meal.

  Fortunately, Emry adored her bathing room. It was plush. That was really the best word she could describe it as. Back in Enn, her bedroom was a lot of wood – on the walls, floor, furniture – and her bathing room wasn’t much different. It was a little dark and drab. It was also old.

  Emry couldn’t remember the last time the royal suites had been updated. She’d asked her father more than once to remodel her rooms. He still had yet to decide if a remodel fit within Enlennd’s budget.

  Her bathing room here in the Solar Palace was nothing like her one at home. This one was tiled with the same hexagonal tiles of green, blue, and gold that floored the entire palace. The walls, too, were the same stucco throughout the palace’s interior, but in her bathing room they were painted a teal blue, except for the wall behind the bathtub. That wall was overlaid from floor to ceiling in gold arabesque tiles.

  Her bathtub was an enormous copper circle. A circle. She’d never seen a circular bathtub until coming to Zyntar. Beside the tub, a drain was inlaid into the floor with a copper faucet coming out of the ceiling overhead. An open shower. Emry hadn’t used it much as her maids generally drew her a bath and washed her hair for her – as was expected for Heerth princesses.

  There was just one vanity in the bathing room with a gold framed mirror above it. The vanity was of dark rich wood, and the sink was a copper basin set on top of the marble counter, matching the tub. Thick, braided rugs of faded teal and gold covered the floors. As there was no window, candles littered almost every surface, scenting the room with vanilla and sandalwood.

  She could relax in that tub for hours, but today she had a grand total of thirty minutes to get ready. As Emry bathed, her handmaids – Patice, Siva, and Tawna – laid out her clothes and whatever oils they planned to put in her hair on the counter of her vanity. When she was sufficiently scrubbed, she climbed out, toweled off, and quickly dressed for lunch.

  Fifteen minutes later, Emry stepped into the king’s banquet hall. Or, rather, banquet room. It wasn’t as palatial and exposed as the one her father held his banquets within. This was by no means a small room, but the ceiling was lower – closer to ten feet rather than twenty. It was cozier, more like a dining room, really. Just one made for the king and seventy of his closest friends.

  As was typical of Heerth, two low-lying, long tables of pale sandalwood had large, brightly colored pillows of blue, green, and orange encircling the floor around it. The king had not yet arrived, which was good. It meant Emry hadn’t missed the food. Once he was served, no one new would be allowed to join the tables.

  Taking a deep breath, she glanced over her shoulder to her maids. “You are dismissed.”

  As one, they dropped into Heerth curtseys – placing one foot out in front of them and bending at the waist over it, their hands fisted and thumbs pressed to their lips. Then, as one they rose and dispersed to their various spots along one of the two tables. As members of the Heerth court, they would also be attending the luncheon.

  Holding her head high, Emry made her way across the room to where the king and his children were usually sat. Trez was there. Emry spotted his golden head. She plastered on a polite smile and sought out the place card with her name on it.

  Trezim was nursing a cup of black tea. Although food was not permitted to be served until the king arrived, drinks were given freely. Trez didn’t even notice Emry take her seat to his right – her assigned seat. She cleared her throat and asked, “How has your morning been?”

  He jumped in surprise, nearly spilling his tea. “Must you speak so loudly?” He demanded with a hiss.

  She stared at him and noticed the redness around his eyes, his slouched shoulders. He was hungover. Still. At midday. “How much did you drink last night?”

  “Not enough.” Trez grunted. “But enough to question what else there is to do in a city where your every move is watched.”

  “What are you talking about?” Emry frowned.

  “Zyntar, my dear. Zyntar.” He chuckled, almost bitterly. “The city where if I become too involved, I won’t be free to keep my main residence in Acoba. I’m in no rush to tie myself down.”

  “Does this have to do with Lady Tissia?” Emry asked quietly. She felt like she was missing something, and she didn’t like it. “Are there no expectations for you in Acoba? Why would it be any different than here?”

  “Because Acoba is across a desert. It makes life there very different from here.” He smirked as if at some private joke. “Feeling jealous of the attention I gave Tissia yesterday?”

  “You must still be drunk to think I’m in need of your attention,” Emry retorted. She felt like rolling her eyes. Instead, she said, “When will I get to visit Acoba for myself?”

  He let out a short laugh, massaging one side of his head with his hand. “How about you focus on one thing at a time? How was your lesson today?”

  She held back a wince at the memory of how many times she’d ended up on her back that morning. Instead of answering him, she merely smiled and took a sip from the glass of water in front of her.

  “I heard you called for a Ruby,” Trezim commented. “A little sore from yesterday’s exercise?”

  “If I’d called for a Ruby, would I still be sore?” Emry shot back.

  “If you make a habit of seeing Rubys every day, you’re going to gain unwanted attention,” he admonished.

  “It was one time, Trezim.” She narrowed her eyes.

  “I’m just saying, if you don’t want to run into any problems with your lessons then don’t call a Ruby to fix every ache.” He drained the rest of his cup and set it on the table.

  Emry stared at him. She hadn’t been able to walk. The Ruby had told her she’d seen less damage to muscles that had been stabbed. She’d worked herself all day to the point of near exhaustion, and Trezim had the gall to say her use of a Ruby was just her being weak. Emry glared as he closed his eyes and went back to massaging them. She forced her face into what she hoped was a look of wide-eyed innocence.

  “I have no idea what you mean,” she said drawing his eyes open again. “I’m merely taking Heerth dance lessons. No one questions a princess learning to dance.”

  “You did more than just practice like the other ladies of my court do.” He frowned. “People will wonder why you spent all day on a round. I told Eazon to limit your lessons now to no more than two hours a day.”

  “You did what?” She hissed, gaped at him – unable to stop her jaw from dropping.

  He shrugged. “It’
s for your own reputation. It looks poorly on Enlennd if their princess spends so much time learning to fight.”

  “That was not your call to make.” Emry was seething, trembling. How dare he!

  “I’m the one who set up the lessons; I can dictate when you’re permitted to take them,” he replied as if he were explaining himself to a child.

  Trezim was a bastard. Emry realized with a start that she truly knew nothing about him. She’d put her trust in a selfish, egotistical man. She should have known better. Perhaps she was like a child after all. Well, in that case…

  Emry retrieved the place card in front of her and tore it in half. “Oh, how silly of me. I’m in the wrong seat.” She glanced across the table to where Portos – Trezim’s next younger brother – had just sat down. Using Heerth, she said, “Portos, that’s my seat next to yours, is it not?”

  Portos exchanged a quick glance with her, his eyes flicking to the shards of her place card in her hand, and grabbed the one beside his seat. “I believe it is, Emerald,” he said as he tore the paper in half.

  “Wonderful.” She pushed herself to her feet, her hands on the table, and sneered down at Trezim. “I wouldn’t make a habit of getting drunk every night. It looks poorly on Heerth if their prince is such a self-righteous, inebriated moron.”

  With that, she dropped the shards of her place card onto his plate and moved around the table to Portos.

  :::::

  Declan woke to thunder interspersed with lightning and was grateful that for once he wasn’t out in it. He’d worked the last eight nights straight. It wasn’t his usual schedule, but ever since the disappearance of one of the night warriors three weeks before, extra bodies had been stationed on each shift.

  The commander was concerned bandits were nearby, or so Declan was told. Bandits seemed like a small reason to give everyone extra shifts along with drawing everyone in closer to the border. He could no longer run freely through the night. He now had a partner to keep an eye on, and vice versa. As a safety precaution.