Princess Nymeria's Arc

Chapter 22 of 32

Lyra led Nymeria down a hall of white stone. Guards fell in behind them. At the throne room doors, two more elves pulled the heavy panels shut. The sound echoed. Nymeria stood at the center of a bright chamber, her wolf close at her heel, her horns dark against all that silver light. She had a place to enter. She still had nothing to earn her a place to stay. A woman rose from the throne. Her red hair was pinned up loose, a crown atop it, her gown catching the light. This was Celeste, Lyra's mother, queen of the keep. She came forward and took Nymeria's cold hands in her warm ones. She did not glance once at the horns. "So this is the friend my daughter dragged home," Celeste said. She tipped her head. "Goodness. You are the most beautiful creature I have seen in three hundred years." "Careful, Mother," Lyra said. "Keep staring like that and Father will think you're leaving him for a demon girl." Celeste laughed. "He should be so lucky to lose me to someone this lovely." "I am standing right here," said Caladorn. The king had not risen from his seat. He watched Nymeria with steady eyes, and the room quieted around him. "My wife jokes. My daughter jokes. But I asked you a question at my gate. Who is your father, and what follows you here?" Nymeria let go of the queen's hands. She met the king's gaze. "My father is King Malachar of Shadowfen. He exiled me for refusing his marriage bargain. His hunters search for me still but a witch helped me escape the realm." She kept her voice level. "I have no coin. No skill your court needs. I can offer you nothing but the truth of what I am." Caladorn's jaw tightened at the name. A murmur went through the guards. He leaned forward. "Your father is a ruthless man I have met him years ago, why should I allow you a place at my castle." Nymeria's fear stirred. Her charm pushed at the edges of her, wanting to spill out and bend him. She held it down. She would not win a home by magic. "I cannot charm you," she said. "You are an elf. My power dies against your kind. So whatever you decide, you decide it clear-eyed. That is the only gift I have. An honest choice." The king studied her a long moment. Something shifted in his face. "She is my friend father," Lyra said quietly. "She could have run from me a hundred times. She didn't." Caladorn stood. He stepped down from the dais and stopped before Nymeria. "A woman with nothing who still refuses to lie," he said. "That is worth more than gold in my hall." He set a hand on her shoulder. "You may stay under my roof. But if Malachar's hunters ever follow your blood here. If they come, you will not stand behind my walls. You will stand on them, and fight." "I will," Nymeria said. The king turned to his guards. "Ready a chamber for the princess of Shadowfen." He looked back at her. "You have your place. Learn to hold that power of yours, girl. You will need every part of it before the season turns."