The Beginning of Everything by Kristen Ashley Page 0,39

I whispered.

“I must reflect,” he whispered back on a squeeze of my hand.

He knew what I was saying.

Petals.

Coins.

Flaming arrows.

Hails to the King and Queen of Mar-el.

We were not curiosities.

We were luminaries.

So I had made a blunder in how I communicated with my husband.

And I knew right then he was reflecting on the fact that he might have made a blunder in not listening to his wife.

We arrived at the top of the steps, moved into a cool vestibule, and a variety of introductions were made to a variety of people that Mars clearly had very little interest in and even less respect for.

Save two.

Prince True, of Wodell.

And a strange exchange that seemed somewhat telling as he curtly introduced us to a petite beauty bizarrely named Silence.

His betrothed.

It was Silence I studied, doing this so intently, my head was turned to her even as my husband led us away, following Mars.

And I did this with the deepest shock I’d experienced that day.

Because she was Dellish.

And she was mermaid.

12

The Camp

Princess Elena

An Oasis, Dune Desert, Outside Fire City

FIRENZE

“Bid them to enter,” my mother called.

“Yes, my honored sister,” Lucinda answered and turned back to the coral silk of the tent flaps.

At who I knew was about to enter, my gaze went to Melisse who was sitting opposite me on the coral, purple, gold and silver pillows set on the rugs that covered the stone and sand of Firenze, and I gave her a disgusted look.

She shook her head at me.

My mother turned to Julia, another of her lieutenants, handing her some papers.

“When we return to The Enchantments, this must be discussed,” she murmured. “We take in so many Airenzian, it’s becoming difficult. Shelter. Food. Training in the craft. Finding ways for them to be of service to the Sisterhood. I’ll want you all together in order that we can decide how to carry on.”

“Melisse, as you know, has elected to be with Elena after Firenze,” Julia reminded my mother.

“I’ll speak with her before we take our leave,” Mother replied. “This way, we will know her thoughts.”

The flaps opened, and Julia drifted away as all eyes went there.

G’Seph of the Go’Doan came through followed by a slight man with straw blond hair, also wearing the pristine white of the Go’Doan robes. The second man had a gold filigree belt that said he was a Go’Ar, one of their learned priests who did missionary work, unlike Seph, who was a Go’En, a high priest.

“Seph,” my mother greeted, pushing up from the pillows to take her feet.

I felt my mouth get tight and my gaze again went to Melisse.

She repeated the shaking of her head.

I understood her wisdom. I’d grown up with it. And she’d taught me much, including the fact that we had two eyes, two ears and only one mouth for a reason.

Watch.

Listen.

And then make your decisions or carry forth your acts.

But even though I’d spent a year in Go’Doan, learning Triton history and advanced ways of healing, and there were a number of the Go’Doan I liked, I still did not trust some of them.

Specifically, Seph.

I could not explain exactly why.

It wasn’t that I was not fond his people felt it imperative to their religion to send missionaries wide in an attempt to convert others to their ways, and I did not understand the import of this.

Believe what you believed, and discourse and even debate of it was often enjoyable, and was apt to sometimes create converts, but the practice of diligently attempting to recruit others to believe your beliefs I found a mystery.

But it was their way and they believed in it, so it was not for me to say anything about it. Simply show them the respect of understanding their ideals but stay true to my own beliefs and leave them to who they worshipped and what they did.

It was also not the fact that in their temples across the various realms, they required weekly tithes, many of which were not kept in the local places but sent to the city-state, which was rather magnificent with its gold domes and tidy streets. Though, it was true that was this not only due to the duties they received from its worshippers, but also the cost of the education they offered to students.

This was again not my business. If their followers wished to do this, it was their coin. And the truth was, Go’Doan learning and healing was the best in all the lands (though the Dellish would argue that in regards to education),