Free The Cedna (Tales of Blood & Light Book 2) by Emily June Street Page A

of her ulio at her waist, but she let Onatos leave before she spoke.

Chapter 7
    W hat did you tell him ?”she demanded as the carriage lurched back into motion.
    “Only that we had business with the king. Onatos suggested a private meeting would serve us better.”
    “You should have conferred with me before speaking about our mission with a sayantaq.”
    “It is my mission,” I bit out. “And Onatos can provide assistance we need.”
    Inarian’s reply dissipated as we again came to a stop and the door opened. A man in black livery bowed to us. “Welcome to the Amar townhouse,” he said without meeting my gaze.
    Onatos’s townhouse was enormous. Liveried servants in black and gold escorted Inarian and me through a front entry girded by shaped shrubs, and up a twisting staircase to a sleeping chamber. After the servants had gone, we sat on the beds and simply stared at our surroundings.
    The two beds had four long poles at each corner, carved in a spiraling motif and capped with golden orbs. The mattresses were strewn with brocade pillows in a deep burgundy tone, like southern wine. A complicated tapestry depicting a pastoral scene hung above the two beds. Deep carpets, also wine-colored, covered the white tile floor.
    I gingerly tapped the orb on the bedpost. “Is it real?”
    “Real?” Inarian asked, as confused and overwhelmed as I.
    “Gold, like the money.”
    “I don’t know. Why would they put so much value into a bed?”
    “Onatos seems unconcerned about frugality,” I said.
    Inarian snorted. “No doubt he lives as profligately as any sayantaq.”
    Her prejudices and fears wore on me. She laid down to rest on her wide bed. Disheartened by my countrywoman, I wandered back down the staircase into an expansive hall with a blackstone floor, pictures on the walls, and sculptures in the corners. A blackstone floor—if Master Urasuq could only see!
    Glass doors opened into an outdoor courtyard with a fountain in the middle.
    “My lady, Cedna!” Onatos called from the courtyard.
    He had changed from traveling clothes into something ridiculously southern, all black silk draped artfully over his shoulders.
    “You are finished with your business at the Palace?” I asked.
    “I only had to tell Mydon I had arrived in the city. He likes to know. How do you like my city house?”
    “It’s lovely,” I said. “Everything is so large.”
    He laughed. “Large? This is nothing. Wait until you see the Palace. Or better yet, the Alcazar, my home in Amar. Now that is something to see. This place is nice enough, I suppose, but the Alcazar has leagues of green around it and views of the Parting Sea.”
    “We do not have such splendor in Gante,” I told him. “Everything there is small and mean.”
    “So I hear. I suppose that is one reason we call you barbarians. But you are here now, and a whole new world lies before you. So, you need clothes, do you?”
    I nodded, ashamed of the rustic skins I wore. “I wish to find a dress that will make me look like your people. For when I go before the king.”
    “I can take you to a place now,” Onatos said. “We’ll walk together.”
    I followed him from his house in silence. I wished he didn’t think me a barbarian, but how could he not? At the house gates, his bodyguard and manservant joined us. The bodyguard walked in front his lord, and the manservant followed behind in a parody of supplication. I couldn’t figure how to fit myself into the pattern, so I walked behind as though not part of the party at all. People noticed Onatos—he was clearly an important man—but they looked right through me.
    Onatos paused and turned. “Come, walk beside me. Why are you lingering back there, Beautiful?” He held out his arm in invitation.
    I took it, and a small thrill ran through my innards. “I only need a dress.” I told him. “We’ve passed several shops already.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “But I’m taking you to the best tailor in Galantia.”
    “Oh.” I