The Lion Soul by Amy Sumida
Chapter Eighteen
After traveling through farmland and forests in addition to the prevalent grasslands, we finally arrived at Caralin early that evening. The scent of heady, white flowers rode the air as we rolled down the cobbled street, Kaelen's guards in formation around us. They hadn't once complained about the long walk, although we had made several stops for meals and such. They didn't appear tired either, their heads lifted proudly as they navigated the busy road.
Caralin was much larger and grander than Murra, though Murra had its own charm. The architecture was similar, with the same rooftop gardens, and the shops were confined to a single area instead of spread out. Just past the bustling shopping district, we turned up a road that curved before a soaring edifice I would have called a palace if not for the lack of soldiers and the steady stream of children entering it. We stopped before the front steps.
“Shall we see him tomorrow?” Vaarda asked Kaelen as he opened the carriage door.
“Unless the Queen has other plans for us, yes.”
“Very good, my lord.” Vaarda nodded to Kae, then to me. “Tomorrow we'll start your lessons in magic, Rieyu.”
I inclined my head to him and then Nimalta.
“It has been a pleasure traveling with you both,” Nimalta said sweetly, then exited the carriage with her husband's help.
Vaarda closed the door, and we drove away.
I leaned closer to Kaelen to see more of the building as we left. “The Academy?”
“Yes. That's where you'll have your lessons.”
I grunted.
We left the Lion Academy behind and headed into a residential area, but these residences were nearly as grand as the Academy. Rows of palaces stood far back from the road, spaced acres apart, their driveways bordered by gilded gates that hung open. They didn't have little lawns with vegetable gardens like the homes in Nazaka, but instead hosted extensive gardens fit for royalty. I slipped back into a blank expression, unnerved by the displays of wealth that I couldn't even conceive of. In Nazaka, there was only one building that could come close to the grandeur of these homes—the Emperor's Palace.
We stopped before one of the palaces, and I stiffened. The gate was closed, but not locked. Two of the Lions nudged the sides open for us, and our carriage rolled through the opening after them. To either side of the driveway, grand gardens of stone-lined flowerbeds and fruit trees formed swirling designs. The sun was just starting to set, but the flowers were still awake, brightening the evening with brilliant purple, crimson, and orange. A man was out among the plants pruning but when he spotted the carriage, he stopped and ran for the palace.
If this had been the only extravagant structure in the city, I would have assumed that Kaelen was taking me to meet his queen. But after passing so many of them, I had a sinking feeling that this place, this garish display of prosperity, was his. I stared up from the sprawling, rectangular keep to the towers and the bridges that crossed them like spider webs. Plants grew everywhere, climbing the cream stone walls and trailing down them from above. Several windows were stained glass, depicting lions mostly, and a stone lion also sat front-and-center atop the main keep, one paw raised in warning. As we came to a stop beneath an overhang dripping with flowering vines, a large group of people marched out of the front doors and came down the steps to line up to either side of the entrance.
A man approached the carriage and opened the door for us, bowing as Kaelen emerged. Kae looked back at me with a grin and jerked his head in a gesture that urged me to follow. I nodded crisply and stepped out, taking a moment to stroke my sword sheaths reassuringly before I joined him at the base of the stairs.
A woman stepped up to him with a warm smile. “Welcome home, Lord Kaelen.”
“Thank you, Liana,” Kaelen said. “I've brought our valorian with me. This is Rieyu Brimara.”
Liana's eyes widened as she shifted her stare to me. “Welcome, my lord.” She curtsied.
“Thank you.” I nodded to her, then quickly looked beyond her, assessing the environment.
I was rapidly falling back into my warrior habits, and that alone made me realize how uncomfortable I was. The hotel had been opulent, and Kaelen had admitted that his home would be even more so, but I hadn't expected this. The hotel was a hovel compared to his home. And if this was how Kaelen lived, how could I ever be enough for him?
“Rie, this is Liana, my steward. She looks after the estate,” Kaelen explained. “And this is the household staff.” He waved a hand toward the rest of the faeries.
They all bowed and curtsied as one.
I inwardly cursed. I was an elite warrior from the Takahansi clan. I wasn't used to sleeping in palaces staffed by servants. I lived simply, as was the way of my people. This new life meant that I would have to adjust to many things. I had known this from the beginning and thought I was prepared for it. But I had also thought that Kaelen's home would be a sanctuary for me; a place where I could relax and process the changes I was going through. I couldn't relax in a palace, surrounded by watching eyes. And, even more importantly, I couldn't feel like Kaelen's equal there. In a strong relationship, both partners should know their worth. There should be a sense of equality between them. If not an equality of wealth, then of power or beauty. Something had to even the scales. But I had nothing to offer Kaelen that could equate to this. We were unbalanced.
“Shall I have the consort suite made up for the Valorian?” Liana asked brightly.
“No, he'll stay with me,” Kaelen answered with a questioning look my way.
I nodded.
Kae smiled but when he reached for my hand, I moved it away. I couldn't walk into his home holding hands with him while his staff watched. It was inappropriate and would make me look weak. Kaelen's frown nearly made me reconsider, but then he was striding forward, and I was hurrying to catch up, his longer legs giving him the advantage.
The grand doors were already open, so we strode straight into a room larger than the meeting house in my old village. It soared up two stories, its walls hung with massive paintings in gilded frames and the vast space dotted with statuary. Above us, faceted jewels formed sparkling chandeliers that shed warm light over the room. Other than the artwork and lighting, the space was empty—no furniture at all. Doors dotted every wall, though, and the few that were open gave glimpses into luxuriously appointed rooms of jewel-toned fabric and polished wood. So, it was only this space that was left empty. An enormous entryway. How odd.
“Welcome to my home, Rie,” Kaelen said hesitantly.
“Thank you.”
Kaelen frowned and turned back to his steward. “Liana, have the trunks delivered to my suite, then send up some dinner, please.”
“Yes, my lord.” She hurried off as the rest of the staff marched inside and dispersed.
Kaelen's guards had followed us in as well but with his dismissing nod, they headed toward a hallway at the far end of the entry room. After another glance my way, Kaelen strode after them, his shoulders tight and back stiff. Instead of turning down the hallway as they had, he went to a closed door and pressed a button to the side of it. The door slid into the wall, revealing one of those elevator rooms that lifted and lowered people. Without even a glance my way, Kaelen went inside. Once I was in as well, he hit a button marked with the number seven.
The trip was short, but my chest tightened anxiously along the way. Then the panel opened, and we stepped out of the elevator and into a jungle. After the spaciousness and splendor of the entry hall, the greenery was startling. I gaped at the trees, set in huge glazed pots, and the assorted shrubs and flowers gathered around them in long planters. The floor was bare stone, but it was such a deep green that with the plethora of plants, it was hard to tell that it wasn't grass. Overhead, glass panes set in metal frames formed the roof, the darkening sky just beyond, painted lavender and pink, and from somewhere on my left came the sound of bubbling water.
Kaelen strode forward, around the islands of plants and beneath branches laden with fruit or blossoms. I followed slowly, my gaze catching on little nooks that held benches and stone statues. The whole place seemed to be overflowing with flowers—some sinking into slumber and some just beginning to open. Finally, I made it through the civilized wilderness to find Kaelen standing before a glass wall. To either side of him were doorways and off to the right was a dining set that was much too elaborate to be in a garden, but he ignored all of that and the garden itself to focus on the view.
I stepped up beside Kaelen and stared out at Caralin, watching the street lights come on as the blanket of night was pulled over the Lion Kingdom. The hidden garden had soothed me, and I sighed, feeling a little silly to have been so intimidated by Kaelen's wealth. So, I was unprepared for his furious glare when he turned it on me.
“What have I done to warrant such rudeness from you?” Kaelen demanded.
“Rudeness?” I asked, shocked.
“You rejected me in front of my staff and barely said a word.”
“I did no such thing.” I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“I tried to take your hand, and you moved away from me!”
“You were presenting me to a large group of people for the first time,” I snapped. “It's not appropriate to hold my hand as if I need your assurance. I'm a Takahansi warrior, not a timid maiden! You say that you've studied my culture, but you do things so against it that I can only conclude that you do not respect it.”
Kaelen blinked and then sighed, his shoulders drooping. “Is that all it was? You were simply trying to be proper?”
I nodded, then grimaced and shook my head.
“I didn't think so,” he muttered. “What's going on? Do you dislike my home?”
“Your home is beautiful.” I glanced at the garden. “I particularly like this part of it. But I'm not the sort of man to live like this.”
“Not the sort of man?” Kaelen frowned.
“I'm just a warrior, not a king, Kaelen.”
“Warriors become kings all the time, Rieyu,” Kaelen said firmly. “You're no longer just a warrior, you are the Lion Valorian, and this is where you belong. You have become the sort of man who lives like this. At least, when we're not at camp.”
“I don't like so many people about,” I admitted and lowered my arms. “I don't know if I can ever be comfortable here, Kae. I'm a private person.”
His expression softened. “The palace is large and takes many people to look after it, but we'll spend most of our time in these rooms.” He waved a hand toward one of the doorways. “And the staff is good at their jobs; they stay out of our way. It's not as intrusive as you might imagine.”
“Very well,” I said softly.
“You've just gotten here, Rie.” Kae took my hand. “Give it a chance.”
I nodded. With a hopeful smile, Kaelen led me out of the garden and into a grand sitting room with a massive fireplace mantled in marble. A lion head roared from the center of the mantelpiece, apparently angry that no one had thought to light the fire below him. Kaelen kept walking through the room, ignoring the lion's demand to take me past the long, velvet couches and beneath the stained glass chandeliers to enter a masculine bedroom done in shades of green and accented with gold.
The bed was even larger than the one in the hotel, though it had no posters. Instead, twin lions stood guard at its foot and a stone headboard was carved with a forest scene. From the top of the headboard, ferns and flowers grew, making me conclude that it was also a planter. Moss trailed down, over the carvings, giving it an ancient air, as if it had been sitting in a garden for centuries before Kaelen decided to bring it inside and stick it behind his bed. More plants, including several small trees, stood in the corners of the room and near the picture window, lending a freshness to the air that wasn't often found indoors.
Plush rugs lay beneath my feet, and I cringed to walk across them in my dirty boots. My people always removed their footwear before entering a home so they wouldn't track dirt through it. I didn't understand why no other culture did this.
“The bathroom is through here.” Kaelen waved toward a door, then at another. “And the dressing room is in there. When we're finished with dinner, we'll change, and I'll take you to meet the Queen.”
“Tonight?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes, she'll be offended if we don't present ourselves as soon as possible.”
I grunted. Royalty appeared to be the same everywhere.
“Rie,” Kaelen said softly as he drew me closer, “I really want you to like my home.”
“And I really like that you want me in it,” I said with a soft smile.
“Which means that you hate it.” He let go of me.
“I don't hate it.” I reclaimed his hand. “I told you, I think it's beautiful. I will give it a chance, as you asked.”
“Thank you.” Kae cleared his throat. “If you can't be comfortable here, I can find somewhere else—”
I yanked Kaelen to me suddenly, grabbed the back of his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. It seared us both, passion rising instantly to banish the awkwardness brewing between us. Kae was trying so hard to make me feel welcome, and I had unwittingly done my best to not be. I had thought that with his studying my culture and my adaptability, we wouldn't have such problems. But perhaps we did simply because we wanted each other so badly. I'd never had such insecurities with a lover before and, somehow, I doubted that Kaelen had ever worked so hard either. But the desire hardening our bodies gave testament to the fact that we were worth the effort. Yes, we'd been trying too hard, but we'd keep trying until we got it right.
When we eased out of our kiss, Kaelen was smiling. “So, we just focus on our strengths, then?”
“And what would those be?”
With a wicked grin, Kaelen picked me up and tossed me onto his bed.
