Royal Assassin: Book Five of The Empress Saga

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

    Dawn arrived earlier in Jin's chambers than it did in most of the city. The altitude of her chambers made it so that she would often receive as much as an hour more of daylight than the goodfolk. Jin had heard droning philosophers speak of that fact to support various positions. Were the Algaras more fortunate, favored, or even avaricious to receive a greater portion of light? Or, was it one more thing driving the Highest Kings to work longer and harder for their people? As it stood, Jin saw it both ways, and she disliked it no matter how the academic types chose to interpret such inane details. Because, a single dot of sunlight managed to snake its way through two layers of drapes and the silk surrounding her four-poster bed to land precisely upon her eyeball. Jin was displeased.

    She groaned tiredly as her hand went to her chest. It momentarily disoriented her to find no one using her as a pillow. She quashed the sadness as it welled up and turned onto her side so her back was to the window. Jin searched the blankets around her and eventually found her plush megarach. She pulled Edwyn into a tight hug and buried her nose in his fur. The old and familiar scent from childhood calmed Jin's turbulent emotions before they could fully arrive.

    It reminded Jin of Nikos and his dreams. Of how one smell could mean so much. It never ceased to amaze Jin, how much of reality could become clear by spending a little time away from it in dreams. Perhaps Tarlus was the wisest in the family.

    The spot of sunlight made one inch on the back of Jin's head uncomfortably warm. She would've hidden from it beneath her blankets, but then she would find the air stifling. Jin despaired of getting comfortable again, so she made noises of ill content as she slithered her way out of bed.

    Sitting on the edge of the bed with her feet on the cold floor, Jin winced as a light stab of pain shot through her midsection. She lifted the hem of her nightdress above her waist to get a look at herself. There remained a slight discoloration on the right side of her torso, but when she touched at it, there was only a remnant of discomfort. Whatever potions and spells the surgeons administered, they appeared to have left her almost entirely mended.

    Jin frowned at other things she saw. She was unsure of how many days had gone by since her confrontation with Vintus, but judging by the hair on her legs, it was past time for some personal care spellcraft. Jin stood and went to her washroom, and she vowed not to come back out until she was groomed to her satisfaction.

    An Algara princess' washroom was the envy of any noblewoman in the world. Jin's was white porcelain, alabaster and silver fixtures, and lavender pigments. The decorations carried an angelic motif, a holdover from Jin's younger days when she harbored a fascination for Melcia in general and Adeyemi's eldest daughter in particular. Her bathing pool was carved into the shape of a pair of feathered wings, and the mirrors were even capped by golden halos. Looking at it now, Jin felt it to be excessively juvenile, but she wasn't about to change it. The decor was still pretty, after all.

    "Essence of all spirits," Jin muttered once she got a look at herself in the mirror. Her hand went to her hair and the ragged mess she'd made of it. The right side looked as if it'd been shorn off by dull scissors rather than a sword. Jin gasped in horror.

    Deebee saw her in this state. Of all people. The dragon she had always strove to look as collected as possible in front of, and Jin talked with her while looking like a cur with mange!

    "Unacceptable," Jin muttered. Her hands went to the shears beside the washbasin.

    It was all the more galling because Deebee hadn't said a word. Though, thinking back on it, Jin had noticed Deebee's eyes being drawn to her hair. The silver had been too kind to say anything, winds bless her.