Quill of Thieves

Chapter 13

This surely had to be a dream.

Or a nightmare.

Sebastian hadn't yet been given enough information to determine which it would be.

The captain named Matthias herded Sebastian into a large room with an enormous vaulted ceiling seemingly dug from the mountain rock itself. Intricately carved wooden beams stretched overhead in elaborate patterns of shapes and symbols that eerily resembled those of the Scribal Tongue. The once dark wood had been worn to an almost pale gray. It somehow resembled the evening sky, which was just visible through a circular window built into the peak of the ceiling.

Captain Matthias gave a rough shove between the shoulder blades. Sebastian stumbled into an adjoining hall filled with bright, richly dressed people. It was an unexpected sight, at first, and Sebastian had to blink a few times against the sparkling glass-like jewels that adorned the women and the golden, colorful clothes that covered them. Jewels sparkled and bounced off the light let in from the floor-to-ceiling windows along the far wall. Sebastian glanced out of them as he passed; it was as if they overlooked the entire kingdom! Dips of emerald valleys and the peaks of smaller mountains and hills were flecked with bright shades of green and evergreen trees capped with snow. In the distance he could just make out the wide expanse of the Ember Sea, and he imagined his little fishing village of Eilibir down there among it all.

It all looked rather magnificent.

Captain Matthias jerked him forwards. "You must bow."

"What?"

Startled, Sebastian turned from the window, to the captain who bent his spine, and finally to the elegant woman who sat before them on a raised, marble dais. Her shining mass of hair lay nearly as dark as his own atop her heart-shaped face. It clashed vibrantly against the thick, white fur of the impressive gown adorning her body. It draped over her thin shoulders and the sides of the throne she sat in, pooling around her delicately crossed ankles. Sebastian couldn't help but stare.

Queen Davina Salvera was stunningly intimidating.

When he met her gaze, her blue eyes flashed inquisitively like the icy diamonds that surrounded her neck.

Sebastian dropped clumsily into a bow, Matthias's fist still heavy on his shoulder.

"You may stand."

Sebastian obeyed and straightened, observing the beautiful woman sitting upon the throne once more. The queen of Rainier. Rainier's Saviour.

He tried to lower his shoulders from around his ears.

"So, she found him."

Queen Davina's voice, though collected and soft, somehow clanged throughout the crowded room. In his awe, Sebastian had forgotten he was not alone. Those in attendance paused, the skirts of the women stalling mid-rustle. Sebastian felt his ears grow hot as their eyes turned to him.

"Well done, Captain Soiree." Queen Davina swept a regal hand across the room to dismiss the Halorians in attendance. "Leave us be."

The crowd dispersed; the guards, who had remained hidden on the other side of the hall, held open the heavy, oak doors. Their immediate retreat took the sparkle and noise with it; even Matthias gave a final bow of his head and marched to the furthest corner of the room, taking up position there.

Amidst the swishing of cloaks and the hustling of footsteps, the queen remained still upon her throne, but those intense, light eyes tracked each and every movement as the royal hall emptied.

Sebastian's arms pricked with gooseflesh when her gaze landed back on him. She raised from the throne and stepped off the dais, her fur-lined boots soundless beneath the long train of her gown.