Adrienne (7 page)

“Are you telling me this magicks thing caused my nightmare?” Adrienne asked in surprise.

Mushira nodded. “The magicks must have felt your distress and worked to amplify it.”

“I get it. I brought this on myself by being depressed.”

“I didn’t mean to imply—”

“No, no, Mushira. It’s okay. I can admit when I’m wrong,” Adrienne soothed. She didn’t want the woman going into another fit of apologies. Mushira always sounded frightened, like she expected Adrienne to hit her.

A knock at the door caught everyone’s attention. Mushira looked to Adrienne. Hani stepped forward with a robe held out in front of her. Adrienne crawled to the edge of the bed and got to her feet. She tied the front of her robe securely before she signaled Mushira to answer the door. Despite the non-sheer nightgown Mushira had produced after her bath yesterday, Adrienne still wanted to be in a robe.

All her preparation and nervousness were for naught. The knock had come from Khursid. Unlike the ladies, he couldn’t simply enter Adrienne’s room. He had to make sure Adrienne was decent first.

“Good morning, Highness,” he greeted.

“Where’s Qamar?” she asked without returning his greeting. She hadn’t known them very long, but she didn’t like the implications of seeing one and not the other.

“She was called before King Malik, Highness.”

“He didn’t want to see you too?”

“No, Highness.”

“Do you know why he called her?”

“No, Highness. Sorry.”

Adrienne shrugged.

Another knock. Khursid waited for Adrienne’s nod before he opened it. Nimat entered, carrying a tray of food. A man, carrying another food tray, followed her. The man was willowy like Hani but shorter than Adrienne.

The stern look in the man’s violet eyes reminded Adrienne of her tenth grade English teacher when he caught someone using “ain’t”. The look didn’t end with his eyes. From his close-cropped white hair to his stiff spine, his whole manner was of stern disapproval. The man couldn’t be angry at Adrienne, he didn’t even know her.

He and Nimat immediately carried the food trays to the table.

Once she settled her tray on the table, Nimat greeted, “Good morning, Highness.”

Adrienne settled on a half-hearted wave.

Nimat gestured to the man with her. “This is Saj, Highness. He is King Malik’s lord’s valet.”

Saj bowed low to Adrienne.

“Lord’s valet?” Adrienne asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mushira supplied, “The male version of a lady’s maid, Highness.”

“Oh.” If Adrienne had stopped to think about it before she opened her mouth, the meaning of the phrase would have been obvious. It only made sense. What didn’t make sense was…

“What is he doing here?”

Malik entered the room without knocking. Qamar followed in his wake. She bowed to Adrienne, then took up her position next to Khursid.

Malik answered, “He is here to serve me as I eat breakfast with my intended queen. I assumed she would not be up to eating breakfast before the court.” He nodded to everyone in the room as they bowed or curtsied to him. “I trust the morning finds you well, my lady?” he asked with a smile. He signaled Qamar and Khursid out of the room. They closed the door after themselves.

Adrienne wanted to tell him she’d had a crappy night thanks to her magically amplified nightmare, but she decided against it. According to Mushira, Malik should already know about her nightmare since he was summoned when no one could wake her. He hadn’t shown. That alone proved Malik didn’t really care about her happiness or anything else.

She settled on saying, “As well as can be expected, I guess.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” said Saj in a voice that didn’t sound sorry at all. “Your breakfast is ready.”

Malik went to the table and sat. Adrienne stayed put. She was hungry and the food smelled wonderful, but she refused to sit across from Malik again.

“I don’t want you here,” she said quietly.

Mushira dropped the serving fork in her hand. Her eyes went wide and she stared at Malik. Nimat edged back to hide behind Saj, whose gaze was on Hani. She had placed herself sideways between the royal couple.

Malik only smiled at Adrienne’s declaration. “I appreciate and understand your anger at me, my lady. However, avoiding me will not alleviate these emotions. Also, you will not be able to acquaint yourself with me if I am not in your presence.”

“Why now? I have seven days. Why can’t you bother me later and leave me alone now?”

“Ten,” corrected Malik. He took a sip of his coffee.

“Ten what?”

“The weeks on Bron are ten days long, not seven, my lady.”

“Even more reason to leave me alone today,” Adrienne insisted. She wanted to kick herself when she heard the whimpering quality of her voice. Pouting like a child wouldn’t win her this argument. Malik had proven immune to her upsets.

He nodded at her words. “You are right, of course, my lady. I find I cannot leave you, though.”

“It’s easy. Get up and leave. The door’s right there. Don’t let it hit you on the ass on your way out.” She pointed at the door in question but Malik didn’t move. He continued to smile at her and eat his breakfast. His amusement at her frustration made her angry.

“I have allowed you ten days, my lady. You can allow me to spend that time in your presence. It is only fair.”

“What about your kingdom? Don’t you have to do
something
as the king?” she asked in a last ditch effort to get him to leave.

“I do. As much as I would enjoy your presence at my side as I attend matters of court and kingdom, I know you will refuse. As well you should. You are new to Bron and I wish to keep the knowledge of your origins secret from the world. It is best to wait until you are comfortable in your knowledge of Bron and Ulan before I present you to the court,” he said. “I had not planned to spend all day with you, my lady. Only a few hours. Surely such a small amount of time can be tolerated?”

Adrienne stalked over to a set of windows as far away from Malik as she could get. If he wouldn’t leave, then she would wait him out. She could concentrate on the garden below her room and the many people trying to keep the palace grounds beautiful—a task made difficult because the plants didn’t want to be cut, and fought back when the gardeners tried.

The battle of man versus nature should have been hilarious to Adrienne. It only reminded her of Bron’s differences. Ten days wouldn’t be enough time to learn everything she needed to convince people she was a true inhabitant.

What would she talk about? One family anecdote and she would give herself away. She couldn’t discuss how she and Malik met or anything about her life before he brought her to Bron. The less she said about herself, the more people would want to know and that would put undue stress on her.

There had to be a good reason why she had to keep her origin a secret, but it didn’t matter. It constituted another demand—something forced on her by a man who didn’t care that he’d taken her from her family and all that she loved for his own selfish ends.

There were so many things she wanted to say, wanted to yell, at Malik. None of them would come out and she knew none of it would make any difference.

She “belonged” to him. That’s what he’d said to her. He’d brought her there to be his possession, not his equal. There was no way he would share his power with her. He didn’t want a queen, he wanted a placeholder. What better placeholder than some dupe who…

Adrienne startled. The window in front of her cracked with a loud snap, the only warning before the whole thing shattered.

Adrienne cried out and shielded her face. Flying glass whizzed past her.

Another loud crash made Adrienne look up to see what had broken. A three-feet-tall vase had exploded. Bits of ceramic rested on top of a translucent white barrier that surrounded Malik. He looked surprised.

Before Adrienne could ask, Khursid and Qamar rushed into the room. Qamar went to Adrienne while Khursid leapt out the window face first.

“Why did he—?”

“Are you hurt, Highness?” Qamar asked.

“No, I’m fine. What was that?”

A tiny flash of light heralded Khursid’s return. He stood before the shattered window. “I could find no intruders, Majesty, and no trace of the magicks used,” he said to Malik.

“You just jumped out the window,” Adrienne yelled. “What the hell?”

“A levitation spell slowed my descent and a teleportation spell aided my return.”

Adrienne was so preoccupied with Khursid’s antics that she missed Malik moving to her side. She jerked away from him when he would have touched her cheek.

“Don’t touch me, damn it.”

Another vase shattered.

Everyone looked at it and then at Adrienne. She stared back at them.

Saj walked over to the first broken vase and started gathering the pieces. “It is not well done of you to upset your intended queen in such a way, Majesty. Her Highness will end up destroying the palace if you persist.”

“What’s he talking about?” Adrienne asked.

“You are right, Saj. I am leaving even now,” Malik agreed. He turned his attention back to Adrienne. “I had not expected your powers to show this early. In a bid to keep my palace whole and return you to a more sanguine mood, I shall take my leave of you. You will not see me again until tomorrow. I hope this is satisfactory, my lady.”

“No, it’s not. I want to go home.”

“I am sorry I must disappoint you in that regard.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re not sorry in the least. Just leave.”

Malik bowed. “As you will, my lady.” He straightened and left the room without another word.

Adrienne sagged. She wanted to sit down but too much broken glass blocked her path to the nearest chair, and she didn’t have shoes. Instead, she checked for wounds. When her search turned up nothing, she turned to Saj. “No offense, but can you leave, too?”

“I wished only to aid in the clean up, Princess.”

“Doesn’t Malik need you?” Adrienne asked. She didn’t care if Malik needed him, or for
what
Malik needed him. She wanted the man gone.

“Not presently, Princess. If I could be allowed to help clean the shattered glass, I will make quick work of the task and then be gone from your presence.”

“Whatever,” Adrienne said. She looked around. Had she really caused the vases and window to shatter? The tension she felt had demanded she break something. In answer to that request, things had broken.

“Is this normal?” she asked.

Hani answered, “No, Highness. As you are new to Bron and magicks, your control is not what it should be. Extremes of emotion at this time will manifest in unpredictable ways.”

“Like my nightmare. Great. Now I’m a hazard to myself,” muttered Adrienne in annoyance. She looked across the room when a table started rattling. “Oh, stop it.”

The table stopped.

She looked away from the table to Khursid and Qamar. They stared at her. She said with a smile, “Looks like you were right, Khursid. I may end up hurting myself after all.”

“That was not something on which I wished to be proven right, Highness,” Khursid replied.

Mushira announced, “No one will get hurt. We merely have to teach Princess Adrienne how to recognize the power she is using and how to control it.”

“That’s another thing,” said Adrienne. “When did I become a princess?”

“As you are not yet queen, you must be given a title that denotes your status. That title is princess,” Mushira answered.

Adrienne nodded. The sound of glass clanking against itself drew her eye. Saj put the last of the broken glass on the serving tray. He said, “I will endeavor to remind Malik of this incident in the hopes he will curtail his selfish tendencies, at least until you have gained control of your powers, Princess. After that, I can make no promises.”

“You’ve just given me incentive not to learn, Saj. Thank you,” Adrienne quipped with the first real humor she had felt since she got there.

“I am always glad to be of service to you, Highness. I shall take my leave now.” He bowed again, gathered up the tray and left.

Adrienne waited for the door to close behind him, then asked, “Is he always so…rigid?”

“Yes,” everyone said in unison.

“Ah, King Malik must have ordered the repair of the window,” Mushira said with satisfaction.

Adrienne looked at the window she’d broken. The upper pane of the window dripped clear, viscous liquid. Each drop of liquid formed a small portion of glass until the entire window pane was filled.

“None of you guys is doing that?”

“No, Highness. Construction magicks are a specialty. It takes years of training to master,” Hani said. She went over to tap on the glass once the repairs finished. “The construction mages who work in the palace are extremely strong. Fixing this window without being in the room is a testament to that.”

“Nice,” Adrienne said. She looked back at her breakfast. How many meals would be ruined before she got used to life on this alternate Earth?

* * *

Adrienne stared intently at the vase in front of her. It was simple, blue, and about four inches high with no unique characteristics to cause her fascination.

“You’ve improved since yesterday, Highness,” Mushira said.

“This is easy. I’d rather go back to juggling.”

“Perhaps another time. It’s better to make sure you are able to split your concentration between floating the vase and speaking.”

Adrienne waved at the vase. “Done. Here I am, floating a vase and talking. What’s next?”

Mushira pushed down on the vase. It dipped, then returned to eye level. “Keep it stationary, if you would, Highness.”

“Sure.”

Mushira pushed again. This time it stayed in place—and started laughing. Mushira gasped and snatched her hand away.

Adrienne laughed at the woman’s surprised look. “I’m sorry, Mushira. I couldn’t help myself.” She poked the vase. It laughed harder.

The laughter garnered the attention of everyone in the room. Nimat poked the vase and it squeaked with even more laughter. She looked at Adrienne in awe. “Highness, how do you know animus magicks?”

“Animus magicks?” Adrienne asked. She put her hand over the mouth of the vase, muffling the laughter, but it didn’t stop. She needed a top.