A Discovery of Secrets and Fate (Chronicles of the Stone Veil #2) - Sawyer Bennett Page 0,83

as we make our way across the inside bailey and up a set of marbled steps to the front double doors. They’re massive, at least twelve feet in height, and each door appears to be molded from silver and inlaid with chunks of more of the white crystal.

Before we can knock or even look for a doorbell, the left door swings slowly open and a male fae appears. He’s also big, but not as big as the guy with the ax. His dress suggests he’s military as he has white pants tucked into black boots and a blood-red jacket with gold epaulets on the shoulders. It’s rather a sedate ensemble compared to what I’ve seen.

“Carrick,” the man says in a deep rumble. It’s a greeting and clearly Carrick is well known here.

“Rebsha,” Carrick replies. “I’d like an audience with the queen.”

The fae’s eyes come to me and I’m slightly surprised by the lack of hostility there, but he doesn’t say anything. I wonder if he somehow heard Carrick’s proclamation in the bailey, or if he knows Carrick well enough to realize I wouldn’t be with him without sound reason.

He takes a few steps back, then bids us inside with a sweep of his hand. As the door shuts behind us, I’m momentarily stunned by how cavernous the inside of the castle is. The ceiling goes up probably a hundred feet, and it slopes inward on all sides like the inside of a cathedral.

I immediately realize the inside structure doesn’t match the squared exterior we walked into. My assumption is magic makes the exterior look a certain way to appease the queen, and the interior a different way for the same reason.

The castle’s length goes back just as far with random spiral or sweeping staircases that lead up to other floors. Except not really other floors, but doorways that lead into the sloping ceiling to who knows where. It feels almost a little Alice in Wonderland-ish. The flooring is surprisingly not crystal, but a white marble with silver-gray veins running through it.

There are a few fae walking around—the women are pretty and the men cute—but by no means so dramatically beautiful as some of the other fae I’ve already encountered. They are dressed in what I would consider dull attire. Plain gray or brown dresses for the women and loose pants and tunics for the men. I’m guessing servants, and I assume this is representative of the lower class of Light Fae. Despite the dull colors of their clothing, they actually pop out against all the white and silver of the interior of the castle. Perhaps that was the reason for being monotone in her design of her home. She certainly likes colors to shock and awe.

“The queen is very busy today,” Rebsha drawls as he starts walking down the long hall past various staircases until he comes to a room on the right with a—go figure—crystal door. He opens it, then motions us inside. “Wait in here, and I will see if she will entertain you. Would you like any refreshments?”

This question, of course, was asked to Carrick and I was ignored. Carrick declines though, and I wonder if it’s because he doesn’t trust I won’t be poisoned, or he just wants to hasten things along. Regardless, I’m all for making this quick and getting out of this place.

The door shuts behind Rebsha, and I take a moment to look around.

Holy shit… I think we’re in a throne room. The area is long, rectangular, and devoid of any furniture except for four chairs at one end of the room. While crystal isn’t the prevalent material, the walls are white wooden paneling, and the flooring is the same marble as in the large hall. There’s a raised, three-level dais made of bleached wood polished to a high gloss. On the top level sits a feminine gold-and-silver chair with the seat and back cushions done in white silk. On the next level, to the right of the top chair, sits another in the same colors and material, but in a more masculine style, meaning it was slightly larger with thicker armrests and legs. On the level lowest to the floor, to the left of the top chair, sit two chairs side by side, exact replicas of the first two chairs but not quite as big.

Clearly, that’s where the royal family sits when they attend an audience.

There’s not much else to the room, but it’s overly large, so I imagine it might be