Past the houses were larger structures I assumed to be shops of some sort and couldn’t wait to see inside them all. Then, directly in the middle of everything was the largest stone fountain I’d ever seen. From a distance, it appeared to be made from rocks at the bottom, but as I took in the five layers above the base, they shimmered with something more like sapphires.
Jordan snapped her fingers in my face. “Wipe the drool. You don’t want to look like a newb as soon as we get around the others. I need them to think I trained you better than that.”
My head shook. “So, I need to act right just so you look good?”
“Precisely.”
“You’re insane,” I replied.
“And you’re the princess around here, so you don’t only want to look good for me. Just remember that.” The smirk on her face made mine pale.
For just a little while, I had forgotten all about my royal ancestors. “We’re not still considered royalty around here, are we?” I asked Mom and Dad.
“Well, nobody calls us King and Queen,” Dad answered sheepishly.
“Don’t stress about it, dear. You’re not expected to be anyone other than yourself,” Mom added.
I groaned, realizing that while they didn’t sit on a throne, they still had the power and respect of royalty. That was probably the real reason they were dressed up. I should have known something more was going on.
Deciding to take my mom’s advice, I went back to checking out the village, or more accurately, the castle behind the village. The front had four thick pillars holding up a large overhang that covered a set of stairs.
The exterior appeared crazy old, like the structures I’d seen when spending hours dreaming of visiting Rome. Except here, while the coloring was the same tannish brown, the building had no cracks in it.
I thought we’d have to pass through the town area first, but my parents detoured to a side road before we passed the first building, stating we didn’t have time to be stopped twenty times before meeting with the council.
Ah, the council. I wasn’t sure what to think about them yet. As long as they weren’t power-hungry politician types, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Taking the stone steps up, we arrived at ornate wooden double doors that had to be at least twice as tall as me. When we entered, people were moving freely through the grand entrance, but they immediately stopped when they saw my parents to offer a slight bow before moving on.
No longer considered royalty, my ass.
My parents didn’t miss a beat. They addressed everyone by name who took a moment to greet them and introduced me before politely excusing us. The way they spoke and held themselves had me feeling like I had no idea who my parents really were. I suddenly felt very nervous about whatever came next.
Jordan must have sensed the shift in my emotions, because she looped her arm through mine and tilted my chin up with her other hand. “You’re going to be okay. Just act like you own the place and don’t let anyone make you feel like anything other than the strong woman I know you to be.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at her, because I really had needed to hear that.
We went up one more set of stairs before entering into a room with three men and two women standing around in blue robes.
“Brooks, Daliah,” an older man with thick white hair and hazel eyes greeted us. “And this must be Kaliah. It’s so nice to finally meet you after all these years.” He reached a hand to me, and I ineptly gave him mine as I stepped away from Jordan.
“Uh, hi.” I had no idea why I was being so awkward.
“Kali, this is Mathias. He took over for me as the leader for the council,” Mom said, and I choked on air.
“You were the leader?”
She grinned. “Before the kingdom was disbanded, we were a monarchy, so it had seemed fitting at the time when the council was first formed to keep some traditions in place.”
That was some of the best information I’d yet to hear, and I really wanted to give my mom a high five but doubted it would be appropriate at the moment. Instead, I greeted Mathias again, this time without the use of “uh” and was promptly introduced to the other four.
Next was Selene, followed by Rosella, Gracin, and Theo. Once introductions were done, the four of us took seats across the table from the five of them.
“So, we wanted you to meet Kali today, but we’d rather not get into anything heavy with her as we promised her a couple of days rest before we threw her into training, both physical and knowledge-based. Though, if there is anything pressing, she should be aware before we send her and Jordan on their way…” Dad said, leaving the sentence open for someone to finish.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any news on Alaryk, the dark fae, but if Kali has any questions for us, then we’re happy to answer,” Selene said. Her green eyes flicked to mine, but I couldn’t stop staring at the intricate braids in her ebony hair.
“Nope, no questions. Well, actually, maybe one. How long and how often is this training I’m supposed to do? I’ve spent the last year being told what to do by a feathered tyrant, and I’d like to be mentally prepared for what’s coming.”
She nodded and smiled, dimples appearing on her umber skin. “Understandable. We’d heard Stryx decided to prepare you some. While that’s not conventional, it isn’t entirely bad given your unique situation. For future training, you’ll begin magic training with Ryland, Jordan, and Oliver serving as your guides. They’re some of our finest guardians, and considering your closeness to Jordan, we thought it would be best if she was present as well.”
Ugh, Ryland. I was really hoping to avoid him for as long as possible after our interaction the night before, but apparently, that was only going to last for the two or three days I had off.
Selene continued, “As for how long your training will last, well, that’s up to you. Whenever you feel confident in utilizing your abilities, then we can move on to more specialized aspects, depending on what you’re most interested in doing. As the daughter to Daliah and Brooks, you’ll be able to choose whatever you want.”
Sigh. Of course, I would be able to.
“Thank you for the information. We’ll let the rest of you get to whatever business it is you need to discuss,” I said, then stood at the same time as Jordan.
The council members stood as well, followed by my parents. As soon as I hugged them and left the room with Jordan, a sense of dread settled into me.
“You could have prepared me a little better for this, you know? Little hints here and there wouldn’t have hurt anything,” I grumbled.
She laughed. “But this is so much more fun considering how you tortured me on your birthday with all the crap you kept spewing.”
Grinding my jaw, I really regretted finding so much joy from her discomfort, because this payback was not what I had in mind.
Chapter Eight
We exited what Jordan had called the town hall and headed for the main streets we had skipped by earlier.
“Everyone is staring,” I groaned when we passed by the first store.
“Nah, they’re simply using their peripherals to peek and then turning to whisper about you to the nearest person. Totally different.”