Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Chapter 44:

Sanaya’s P.O.V

The royal courtyard was humongous and probably the most bewildering and well kept garden I’d ever seen in my life.

There was not a single flower absent from this garden and I was very sure some of the flowers I saw were rumored to be extinct. The air lingered with a fragrance so sweet that I wanted to bottle it up and preserve its sweetness forever. This palace was completely removed from time and maybe it truly was because as far as I had been told, each dimension was created on a different time frame. Sanctium was supposed to be where time stood still.

However, as much as I wanted to avoid her, my eyes kept shifting to the magnificent woman walking beside me. Valleria Eustein.

Today she wore a silk gown in a blue so gorgeous; I couldn’t find an appropriate name for it. It was the colour of the sky on a cloudless morning. In fact it looked like she had cut out a piece of the sky and had made a gown out of it. A gold belt molded in the shape of a snake secured the dress at her waist and she wore similar gold bracelets in snake-like designs on both arms. Her bright, apple-red hair was in loose curls and the wind flirted with them like caressing a lover. She no longer looked stressed or angry like she had the first time I saw her, but at peace with herself.

“I have been the Queen for over a millennium. Been married twice and bore two sons.” She told me softly as we came to stand in front of a huge fountain where water poured out of the pots of four angels, each pointing in a different direction. “But never in that time had I seen anyone as dedicated to their mates as Lancelin is towards you. It almost cost him his sanity.”

I instantly knew what she was talking about. “You know about that?” I asked her before bowing in a courtesy. “Your Highness.”

“You don’t need to bow to me. You’re Lancelin beloved.” Queen Valleria took a seat on the edge of the fountain and patted the spot next to her. I took the seat hesitantly, making sure to keep a respectable distance between us. “I’m mostly aware of everything that goes on in my son’s lives. And whatever I’m not aware of, Acelin always finds time to inform me.”

“Acelin!” I narrowed my eyes at the ground. “Him again.” I mostly muttered under my breath but when the Queen burst out laughing, I realized I hadn’t been so quiet after all.

“Ah, yes.” The Queen laughed. “My Acelin has a penchant for gossip. It comes from his father.”

I wanted to ask more but I held my tongue. But it seemed that I didn’t have to wait long to quench my curiosity.

“I was betrothed to Markus since I was a child.” She said, looking up at the sky. “We grew up together as best friends and soon became lovers before we were married and Markus ascended to the throne. He was a very gentle and kind soul and more than being a ruler, he was an artist. So most of the responsibility of the kingdom fell on my shoulders. I thought he would change once our baby was born, but he never quiet grew out of his childish ways. And after Acelin was born, he would spend hours with his son, acting like a child in his presence.”

“But rebellion started brewing in the kingdom when several women died from being overexerted as Scribts. And Nathaniel was the one leading the rebellion. They didn’t want a king who was so weak that he couldn’t govern the kingdom, they wanted a warrior. So a match was organized between Markus and Nathaniel to determine the next ruler. A match to the death. I couldn’t do anything but stand and watch because even Markus’s parents were in favor of the match. But I knew the outcome right from the start. Markus wasn’t a warrior. He was a poet and a sculptor.”

The Queen looked back at the fountain, at the angels and I knew even before she confirmed it that this had to be one of Markus’s works.

“This was his final work before he died at Nathaniel’s hands.” She caressed the stone lovingly. “I thought I would die too. But our people didn’t want that. They thought I was the perfect Queen. So Nathaniel was forced to marry me.”

“I came to love him eventually, after a century had passed. But Nathaniel never did. He doesn’t mix with other Incubi after the scandal with Asmara but he uses humans as he pleases. They come to him of their own free will, the foolish girls. They fight to be in his favor in order to receive gifts and gold.” She sighed and looked at me directly in the eye. “But in the process they lose their dignity, their self-respect.”

“But…”I asked her a little hesitantly after she had narrated her story. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because several challenges lay in front of you, my child.” She touched my cheek lightly with her slender fingers. “And you must be brave enough to face them if you want to stay beside my son. Because it is often women who need to prove their worth and the tests itself are conducted by women. So it is true that only a woman can understand the pain of another, but it is also a woman who can destroy your life.”

“Be careful,” she told me as she rose from her seat. “Be aware and be alert. That is the only thing I can tell you aside from giving you my blessings.”

I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders as she placed her hand gently on top of my head. So I did the only thing I could think of without saying anything.

I bent on one knee and touched my hands to both her feet before pressing that hand to my forehead first and then my chest, over my heart. It’s how we get the blessing of our elders in my religion, often called an ashirvaad. Queen Valleria must know about our tradition because she didn’t shift and when I was done, placed her hand once again on top of my head and said, “Blessed be.”