Heirs of the Gods

Ch 14: The outcomes of hubristic endeavours

  Ella barely had time to register an abrupt lurch before she found herself in a luminous grand entrance. She stumbled and the only thing that kept her from planting face-first into the ground was the hand clasped on her shoulder.

"It might have been wise to warn you before doing that," Aedion said, looking thoroughly amused. "Well, now you know."

"How kind of you to notify me, aren't you a gentleman," Ella glared as tried to regain some sense of dignity, tattered and grimy as she was, standing in the middle of an opulent foyer.

It hadn't been quite like travelling through the Petrium, but it had been unexpected. It was a strange sensation, akin to the feeling of being compressed, as if she'd squeezed through a tight place. She couldn't bring herself to ask how they'd travelled through thin air, but it burned in her mind. She hadn't been aware faeries could do such a thing.

"Well, I try."

He turned, spotting a willowy woman exiting a door down a hall. "Katram, come here, please." He signalled the woman closer. "This is our housekeeper," he explained to Ella before turning back towards the woman. "Please take her to the second room in the west wing. She'll be staying here, as my guest. I count on you to make sure she's comfortable," he eyed Ella and added, "Let me know if she goes snooping around." He chuckled as Ella pursed her mouth into a tight line.

The woman nodded and bowed her head slightly, discreetly eyeing Ella with a hint of curiosity in her entirely obsidian eyes. She was lilac-skinned and spindly, with curious black horns poking out from her high forehead.

Ella gave the woman a smile in acknowledgement and turned to Aedion.

"I want to see my brother."

"I can't do that at the moment. I've got a terribly tight schedule. You see, I lost the better part of my morning rescuing some madwoman from being orcish breakfast." She conceded begrudgingly, not being able to say anything because he had rescued her.

"Get yourself cleaned up and acquaint yourself with your room. We'll have lunch later and discuss our deal."

Looking down, she remembered her current state. Her two days old dress was tattered and covered in grime. Blood coated her hands and face, stuck under her nails and matting her hair into clumps in some areas. She looked like death warmed over thrice.

Ella grimaced and nodded, too out of sorts to argue. If Katram was taken aback by her state, she didn't show it, she simply led her towards the grand stairs directly in front of them.

The palace was a thing of dark, magnificent beauty.

Pale marble floors gave way to a dramatic staircase that dominated the room, commanding all attention. Carpeted in rich aubergine, the flight of steps was flanked by a multitude of columns and two statues of identical winged creatures. The steps went up to a half landing, where they branched off into two different flights of stairs, connecting the two wing of the castle. The oval shape spiralled upwards and gave an unobstructed view of the six floors of the castle, each supported by more columns and small balconies. It was all illuminated by a grand cupola that bathed the entire room in rich light.

The domed ceiling above was a fresco, depicting a painting of an expansive golden sky, brimming with thick fluffy clouds and colours so soft that it seemed to Ella that she was looking directly into the heavens.

Ella would have gladly stood there, mesmerized by the grandness of it all, but Katram was already heading up the steps, so Ella followed along, grimacing and hoping she wasn't staining the carpets.

They walked up to a fourth floor, weaving through corridors filled with balconies and alcoves, arched windows of stained glass, oil paintings and tapestries. A multitude of marble statues decorated almost all of the hallways at different intervals, depicting fauns, nymphs, mermaids and winged creatures.