Page 43 of Hearts on Fire
Elex had been able to keep me in his room for the past few days. According to him, the king never asked about me again. I doubted the king really cared about the whereabouts of any of thesalamandrasof the Sanctuary or even knew any of them by name. He certainly never asked me for mine.
Mother knew where I was. But unless Elex updated her on my wellbeing while getting my food from the kitchen, she had no other means to know I was getting better. She had never sent anyone up here to enquire about my health and never came here herself, until now.
She folded her hands in front of her and straightened her shoulders.
“King Edkhar invited you to share the midday meal in the Great Hall.”
My heart dropped, a chill spreading through my chest.
“What?” I plopped down on the perch, my butt sinking into the furs and featherbed. “But why? How does he even know about me?”
Not meeting my eyes, Mother stared outside through the open window.
“You are to get dressed now and attend with the rest of us,” she said in a weird mechanical voice.
“No.” I shook my head. “There is no need for me to be there. The king doesn’t care—”
“The king has given his order. If you don’t come, you’ll get all of us killed for disobedience.”
“But how did he order it? He doesn’t know me. To him, I’m just another faceless figure in a red robe.”
Mother marched to the door and opened it.
“Clothes,” she ordered, reaching out. Someone, probably anothersalamandrain the hooded robe, handed her the see-through shirt and the pink dress I’d worn to the king’s midday celebration before, along with my dress slippers and the well-worn red robe.
“Get dressed, now.” Mother threw the clothes on the bed for me. “Unless you want to go just the way you are?” She tilted her head with the question.
Showing up in public wearing Elex’s clothes would mean nothing but trouble. Mother knew it, of course. Folding her arms across her chest, she waited patiently.
“Why does the king want me?” I asked.
“He doesn’t necessarily wantyou,” Mother explained slowly. “He requested allsalamandrasto be there today. A big battle is coming. The king and his men wish to have one last celebration before that.”
“Allsalamandraswill be there?”I clarified.
“Yes.”
That made sense. The king wished to unwind before the big fight. And in his true fashion, he chose to do so with an orgy.
I made a quick calculation in my mind. There were more women than king’s men the last time. A fewsalamandraswent unclaimed. With Elex, the High General, and a few others gone, even more women would be left without a partner. If I stayed at the back of the crowd, kept quiet, and attracted no attention, no one would choose me. The men had picked their favorites already. Without Elex there today, I’d just show up and leave quickly.
“Fine,” I conceded as if I had any choice on the matter. “I’ll go. But I won’t sit in anyone’s lap.”
“That is neither up to you nor me, child.”
“No,” I protested. “Lord Elex has claimed me. No one would dare take me while he’s gone. He’s the king’s favorite.”
She inclined her head again, and I took it as a confirmation of my words. Slipping out of Elex’s caftan, I promptly changed into the clothes Mother had brought me.
The sooner it started, the sooner it ended.
With any luck, I’d be back here in a few minutes.
* * *
As the women filed in into the Great Hall, I kept to the back of the line. The mood was a little different among thesalamandrasthis time as they knew what to expect. Some of them peeked through the lace at the men reclining on the perches. One or two even gave them a small wave and a few giggles.
There clearly had been some couples formed, which was great for me. There was less need to create new ones.