Inna took her time to prepare for her meeting with Prince Rabyatt. She bathed, had a servant wash, dry and comb her hair until it was sleek. She paced in front of her closet for half an hour, discarding one outfit after the other. Zazi watched her with mild amusement and provided witty comments about Inna’s vanity every once in a while.
Her indecision wasn’t really a matter of vanity, though. Inna didn’t want Rabyatt to think she had made an actual effort to look pretty for him, but he was still a man and Inna wasn’t beyond deploying her good looks to get the answers she needed. And she needed them desperately.
The image of her father’s entranced gaze when he had laid eyes on the Sphere of Truths still plagued her mind. Inna was all too familiar with the Shah’s fascination for rarities and objects of unparalleled power, and she was all but certain the Sphere would grow into an obsession for him. She had to find out whether Rabyatt was aware of that particular flaw in her father’s character, and whether he had meant to exploit it from the beginning.
In the end, she chose a long, blue dress with an elegant, high neckline and tight skirt that accentuated the curves of her hips and thighs without showing too much flesh. Zazi let out a soft hiss of approval from her spot on a cream-colored ottoman.
Remember to bat your eyelashes at him, the snake advised her, a mischievous smile in her voice. He’s already mesmerized by your eyes anyway.
Inna snorted. She grabbed the amber stone from the table she had put it on and turned it over in her hands, marveling once more at the strange energy it radiated. Though too insignificant to be of much importance, the stone’s energy had all the colors of a rainbow, a combination she had never seen before. It was warm too, unnaturally so, like a portable flame. Every time she held it, Inna felt as if she had warmed up by a fireplace.
Another thing she should ask Rabyatt about tonight.
Inna ate alone in her room that evening. She gagged at the thought of having to listen to round after round of political gibberish by councillors who stuck their ignorant heads in their butts most of the time. Instead of solving real problems, such as the city’s ever-growing poverty rate, they rather discussed the extravagant organization of the next great feast in honor of this or that god. Some days, their ant-sized brains and her father’s willingness to play along drove Inna mad enough to want to eat her plate along with the food on it.
She preferred eating with the harem and her siblings, especially Kasmir and Nylah, who were both only a year younger than her. But not tonight. Tonight, she needed space to think.
Tata knew better than to try and sway her into joining the Shah for dinner. She did give the princess a lecture on responsibility and duty, but it was only half-hearted and the maid left right away afterwards to inform the palace cooks. Inna loved that woman. Together with her brothers and sisters and most of her father’s wives, Tata made the dull life at court bearable.
Seated in her usual spot by the balcony doors, Inna waited until the sun dipped below the horizon and the moon’s white crystal orb took its place in the expanding sea of glittering stars. The moon’s hour. With slow movements to control her nerves, she pushed herself up and strode to the door. Zazi curled the tip of her tail around Inna’s wrist to tag along. The princess seldom went anywhere without her reptilian companion.
The gardens were situated in the very center of the palace’s complex, encompassed by long arcades where politicians, visitors and palace personnel alike often liked to stroll to behold the beauty of their environment. Inna had loved to come here as a child and hide behind a large bush or tree to read a book. Her lips curled up with a smile at the memories. Closing her eyes, she inhaled the sweet, exotic aroma of the blooming roses, lilies and dahlias. Most of the recent changes to the gardens’ design had occured at the hands of her mother, including the construction of a lovely, white pavilion in the eastern section. Long ranks of emerald ivy stretched across its roof like possessive fingers.
And that was exactly where she happened to find Rabyatt.
The prince had his back turned to her as he leaned against the pavilion’s railing to look out over the gardens. His posture was relaxed, free from the constant assessment of foreign eyes. Though Inna couldn’t see his face, she already liked this version of him better than the one she’d met in the throne room.
“Good evening, prince.” Rabyatt whirled around, his eyes wide as though she had caught him in the middle of a criminal act. A moment later, his face regained its characteristic expression of royal pride.
“Good evening, princess.” His gaze roamed her appearance while she climbed the steps to join him on the pavilion. She suppressed her irritation and reminded herself that this was precisely the effect she had aimed at. “I’m glad you decided to come.”
She shrugged, scratching Zazi’s chin. “My tutors taught me never to judge another person in politics based on a first impression.”
A smile, slow and lazy, tugged at the corners of his mouth. It made him look younger, an impish boy dressed in a grown man’s clothes. If she were honest, it also stressed the fact that he was, well, fairly good-looking.
“Would you walk with me, then?” He offered her his arm.
She accepted it, a bit hesitant just for show. This close to him, the difference in height became more prominent; Inna was at least three inches taller than him. Rabyatt had noticed as well, but contrary to some other men she had met, he didn't seem intimidated by it. Admiration lit up his eyes. Frowning, she wondered whether he was the subordinate type in bed. Then she scolded herself for imagining him as a lover.
As the prince guided her along the winding paths, Zazi brought her head closer to Rabyatt’s to inspect him. To Inna’s surprise, he didn’t back away, but underwent the scrutiny with the confidence of a man who knew he had an excellent résumé. Inna wondered if she wore a similar air of arrogance around her all the time. Perhaps it was a trait all nobility shared unwittingly.
“To be honest, after the looks you gave me in the throne room this afternoon, I had expected you to spill hundreds of questions on me right away.” Rabyatt cast her a sidelong glance. His eyes sparked ruby in the moonlight. “It would have been a normal reaction, considering what gift I brought with me.”
“Yes, well, about that,” she started, organizing her thoughts. Don’t let his good manners distract you. “Why would you possibly want to part with … such an artifact?”
He laughed softly. “If you and I were to marry and your father accepted the Sphere as your bride price, I wouldn’t really be parting with it, would I? The Sphere would become a part of your inheritance as Shahbano, so it would eventually come into my possession once more.”
She huffed out an indignant breath. “You really have it all figured out, do you?”
“I like to think I’m smart in that aspect.” He grinned. “Wouldn’t you have done the same if the artifact in Onshra’s temple were involved? Would you have given up on an object that powerful so easily?”
She gasped. “How do you know about that?” Her fingers itched to slap that smug look off his face.
He shrugged. “You may discover I have far better sources than most royalty you’ve met so far. If I’m to marry a princess from another country, I want to know as much about said country as there is to know about it first.”
“Sources?” She scoffed, quelling the urge to yank her arm free from his grip. “You mean spies. Or maybe you just used that damn sphere to get your answers.” He didn’t respond, because he didn’t have to. They both knew how court politics worked. “And this is supposed to make me trust you?”
“I am being honest with you, aren’t I? The Sphere is but a bargaining tool. Am I aware that the Shah will probably press you to marry me so that he can own it? Of course I am, because that’s the whole point of this affair, don’t you think?”
Inna pulled her lips up into a snarl, although it wasn’t directed at Rabyatt. More at the mental image of her spoiled father, sprawled on his throne. “My father would kill two birds with one stone: his eldest daughter married off to a prince from an allied nation in return for a sphere which gives him more intelligence than an entire network of trained spies.”
She shook her head, feeling hurt and used. Soft fingers brushed her cheek and she looked up, startled. Rabyatt tucked a loose strand of blue hair behind her ears. His face expressed compassion, which was ironic, considering his arrival in Primsharah was the origin of her problems.
Was it, though?
She turned her head a few degrees so that he no longer touched her skin. Was Rabyatt really to blame for her dissatisfaction, for the slipping control over her own life? From the moment she had been born, Inna had been destined to follow in her father’s footsteps as leader of Primsharah and its annexed provinces. That fate had transformed her life into an unalterable script. Every act, every thought, every breath she took revolved around a single core concept: power.
Even her future marriage. Rabyatt didn’t offer the Shah of Primsharah a World Artifact because he was madly in love with his daughter; he only did so because he sought power, and Primsharah was a wealthy and potent nation. He wouldn’t find a better political match within the borders of the Orabi Desert. All the more reason to distrust him.
Yet, when Inna studied the prince’s face out of the corner of her eye, a tiny seed of sympathy started to grow in her chest. In the moonlight, his hair looked like liquid silver.
“You know,” she said, tightening her grip around his arm, “sometimes I envy the people out there.” She made a vague gesture at the sky. “I only leave the palace twice a year, during the Great Festivals. At least, that my father knows of." She winked at him, which earned her an amused chuckle on his part. "I’m supposed to rule this city one day, yet I barely know the citizens who live in it. How can I be a good leader to them if I’m not allowed to venture out of my home?”
Contrary to her expectations, the look in Rabyatt’s fiery eyes was not one of surprise or condemnation. His shoulders heaved with a heartfelt sigh, a sound filled to the brim with a profound understanding. “I think that’s the curse of living a privileged life. In Rasir, my father never prohibited me or my brothers from leaving the palace. However, if I learned one thing in the commoners’ dominion, it’s that neither party understands the other one. Rich and poor don’t harmonize. The people regard us nobles and royalty with a wary eye, and they only behave kindly when they intend to pick our pockets. I had to discover that the hard way.” He scowled.
“And so we all uphold the eternal segregation,” Inna sighed. A dull headache throbbed behind her eyelids and she used her free hand to massage her temples. Zazi’s forked tongue teased the soft skin of her cheek.
“Do you really hate nobility so much?” Still no incredulous looks.
“No.” She clenched her jaw. “I hate the enormous disparity between rich and poor.”
He smiled. “Ah, I see. Well, you’ll be in charge of at least a part of the world in the future. You’ll be in an excellent position to make improvements.”
She rolled her eyes. “Really? With my father’s conservative councillors scheming against me?”
“Then you’ll pick a new council.”
“Oh.” She met his calm gaze. “Well, you’re right, of course.”
“Of course I am.”
“Now, don’t go all Mr. Cocky on me, prince.”
His surprised laughter startled a group of courtiers taking a late night stroll in the gardens. They whipped their heads around and gave the prince strange looks, but Rabyatt ignored them or he simply didn’t notice. Inna bit her tongue not to stick it out at the nosy courtiers. The corners of her mouth twitched with a high-pitched giggle bubbling up in her throat.
“My … um … sources already warned me that you’re a feisty lady, but gods, I haven’t had this much fun in a while. That probably says plenty about my own life.” He cracked a smile full of self-mockery.
She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Are those the same sources who told you to buy me this, because it fits my eyes so perfectly?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the amber stone. It caught the moonlight, which toned down the stone’s fiery exterior to a soft yellow, like an oversized firefly.
Instead of fixating on the stone, Rabyatt’s gaze raked over Inna’s face. “Oh no, I picked that gift myself.”
“What is it?”
The expression on his face could only be described as approval. “Intelligent and a connoisseur of magic. So you detected the extraordinary energy which the stone is imbued with. In fact, there’s an interesting story attached to it. Would you like to hear it?”
She nodded. “Sure, as long as it won’t take all night.”
“Not at all.”
They had arrived at another section of the gardens, dominated by a large pond. Waterlilies floated on the rippling surface. A few birds sat scattered by the shore, splashing in the water. The knot in her stomach loosened at the sight of it and Inna exhaled a slow, grateful breath. Rabyatt guided her to a stone bench that looked out over the pond and motioned her to sit down beside him.
“Three years ago, my brothers and I were sent to the Coast of Isidar on a diplomatic mission. While we were there, the Sheikh’s son invited us on a sailing trip and introduced us to a merfolk tribe. We spent a few days with them in a secluded bay before returning to Isidar.” He cleared his throat. A sheepish grin crossed his features. “Anyway, the merfolk gave each of us an amber stone like the one you’re holding. It puzzled me at first because, you see, amber is nothing more than fossilized tree resin. However, when I asked one of the mermaids about it, she laughed at me and told me that the stone is actually a soulstone.”
Inna stared at him, her mind twisting in impossible ways to process his words. It failed. “It’s what now?”
“A soulstone. When a member of the merfolk dies, they send their soul to Onshra’s realm, just like us, except that they split it first,” he continued. “They extract a tiny part of the deceased soul and keep it in a magically suited vessel. In this case, basalt mined from a submarine volcano. The soul’s energy alters its composition, almost setting it back to its original state as magma.”
"So this solid piece of magma contains a sliver of a soul?" She could barely believe it.
"Yes."
She gazed at the stone in the palm of her hand, small and ever so warm. "Why would the merfolk do such a thing?"
Rabyatt's eyes were glued to the gemstone as well. "The soul part gives one better access to the spiritual aspect of our world. It enhances magical abilities, among other things. I lack both the necessary skills and time to research the topic any further, but I figured you might." A hesitant smile crept across his lips, and despite her earlier intention to keep a healthy distance from him, Inna felt a pleasant warmth spread through her veins.
He swayed a little, lowered his head with his gaze fixed on her lips, as if he considered kissing her. A soft sound escaped her throat. It startled him, and he retreated at the speed of an elastic band snapping back into place. A slight furrow creased his forehead.
She blinked. What in the name of Amalia was she doing?
Rabyatt stood up from the bench and extended a hand to help her do the same. Inna pretended as though she hadn’t seen the gesture, slipping the amber stone—no, the soulstone—back into the pocket of her dress. She got to her feet independently and folded her hands in front of her.
The prince watched her with an intense gaze. A pleasant shiver rolled down her spine. “No matter how much I have enjoyed our conversation tonight, the moon is rising higher. I should probably accompany you back to your room,” he offered.
“No,” Inna said quickly. His eyebrows shot up, his back straightening the slightest bit. “Before you do so, I’d like to have another look at the Sphere.”
His expression displayed a mixture of caution and tentative amusement. “Why?”
“Whatever it showed my father this afternoon, it clearly left an impression. I want to experience its magic for myself.”
“You do realize using the artifact implies certain danger, right?”
She clucked her tongue, annoyed. “And this is the same man who called me intelligent only minutes earlier. Yes, I’m aware of the risks, but I trust that you’ll stop me before it has the chance to absorb me completely.”
He narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to determine what political game she was playing. To be honest, Inna wasn’t sure herself. In her heart, though, she knew she had to see the Sphere at least one more time.
Zazi’s golden eyes found hers, the question in them evident. Inna stroked her head to reassure her. I know what I’m doing.
I know you do, princess. But that doesn’t mean the thought of being so close to a World Artifact doesn’t scare the hell out of me.
Rabyatt opted for her hand instead of her arm this time and led her back inside the palace. They navigated through the maze of corridors, up and down stairs, until they reached the guest wing. Inna spotted the trunk as soon as she entered the prince’s room, dumped into a dark corner. Rabyatt groaned while he dragged the trunk into the light and lifted the heavy lid so that she could peer inside.
The Sphere of Truths still looked equally fascinating as the first time she’d laid eyes on it. Inna bent forward and reached into the trunk to pull it out, rolling it around in her hands as she inspected the colorful mist inside. And she waited.
Her brow quirked and her head snapped up, searching Rabyatt’s gaze. “Am I doing something wrong?”
“You have to open up your mind to it,” he explained. “I can tell you have a strong mind, princess, but the Sphere can’t share its knowledge with you if you don’t lower your defenses first.”
Her skin itched at the thought of leaving herself so vulnerable. As the eldest child of the Shah, she had learned to protect her thoughts from intruders at a young age. It had become second nature to her.
All right, then. She could do this. Even though the Sphere’s numerous secrets terrified her no end.
Closing her eyes, Inna unlocked her brain to the foreign powers of the Sphere of Truths.
That was the first time she had a vision about him.