10. Zarios

Chapter ten

The caravans were ready for the trip. The procession consisted of guards in the front and back, my needed advisors in different carriages scattered throughout, the grand carriage in the middle meant for me and my intended. It was gaudy and spoke heavily of wealth. I tried to insist on traveling without it, but Kiaza informed me others may take it as a show of disparity to not bring it. It sounded like bullshit to me, but here we were, with the large contraption in the middle.

"All set to go, Grand Clarak," Tashna, one of the guards, informed me.

"Great, thank you."

I looked around for a moment before I saw a short head of hair making her way through the crowd. Sorcha wore a dress obviously made for her by Lunar, the court's seamstress. It was blue, with a short sleeve top and a skirt with two large slits down either side, the same as many other minotaur women.

This is the first time I'd seen her awake in three days. I rose early and snuck out to get work done, only to return by the time she was asleep in one of the other rooms. The other night made me realize I was getting off target. Closing her against the door the other day had been meant to tease her, but having her that close underneath me sent desire pulsing through my veins. In that moment I thought about dropping to my knees and…

I stopped that line of thought. That couldn't happen. Though we looked intended, we weren't. She would be leaving, and getting attached could cloud my judgment. There was too much at stake for that.

Once she noticed I was looking at her, her face shifted, and she walked towards me. "Ready to go, Princess?" I asked as she approached.

"I would appreciate it if you stopped calling me that," she grumbled.

"I'm sure you would," I said. "Ready?"

"Of course, King Zarios."

It was my turn to scowl. She turned to the large carriage. "We have to ride in that?" she asked.

"We do." I didn't want to either, but we needed to keep up pretenses.

"Great." I opened the door, and she stepped up, settling onto one of the benches. I looked inside, concerned about the small amount of space.

"Coming?" she asked.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and got in. I sat across from her, the carriage creaking under my weight. My legs were so long, I couldn't help but touch her with my knees.

Once we were ready, the troop set out. Our first stop was Sobury. They were closest to the capital and visited frequently. Atalin, their Clarak, was generally kind, but she was very traditional, and that meant she, more often than not, fought against my policy changes. Not when it came to lowering the taxes, or starting different jobs programs throughout the kingdom, but when I tried to change the rule about Grand Claraks being married within the first five years of their reign, I was shot down, and she was a major opponent.

We rode for hours, and I kept my eye out for anything unusual in the forest. Thankfully, I didn't see anything of note. I noticed Sorcha doing the same, her eyes hovering back and forth over the woods.

When the sun hung high in the sky, we stopped in a clearing for lunch. I hopped down and glanced over at Sorcha.

"Need any help?" I asked her. Though the carriage steps weren't that high up for me, but compared to her smaller size they were more difficult.

She glared. "I'm fine."

She stepped out, but as she did, she tripped on her own feet and fell. I stretched my arms out and caught her, her body landing on mine with a thud. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and I grabbed onto her thighs as they fell around me on instinct.

We were face-to-face, her clean, berry smell filling my senses. Her eyes were wide, but she narrowed them quickly. "I was fine," she insisted.

"You were falling," I said with a quirked brow.

"On purpose."

"Right."

We stood there for another few moments, eyes locked. I took in her dark features, her determined jaw, her deep eyes, lost in all that was Sorcha .

"Foods up," Damyr said, approaching the two of us.

The moment between us broke, and I put her down. She looked as dazed as I felt, but she quickly righted herself and headed off towards the meal line.

Damyr looked after her. "Looks like you and your mate will be having a good night," he said, waggling his brow.

I only hummed, irritated at him for breaking the moment, though that was ridiculous. There was no moment between us.

We ate quickly and got back on the road. Once the sun was almost set, we arrived in Sobury. It was a larger territory that specialized in agriculture, situated along a river, making the soil perfect. A lot of the food for Valcor came from here, and some was even shipped out of the port in Mertis.

Sorcha's eyes bounced all around, interest clear on her face as we got closer to our destination. "Is this Sobury?" she asked.

"Yes," I confirmed. "Our first territory stop."

"I heard that they had large farmlands, but I didn't expect it to look like this."

I followed her gaze. Though there was a small main town, just beyond it were large fields full of crops. It was fall, so they were full of jarrl fruits growing on thick, winding vines, making the fields look almost wild and untamed .

"I'd read about it a bit, but seeing the vast fields in person…" She trailed off. "They look so different than those in Peradona."

"What book?" I asked her.

Her cheeks tinged a slight pink. "I wanted to do some preparation, so I read up about each territory. There wasn't much, but I found a few of the books helpful."

"Have you left Peradona?" I asked, trying to continue the conversation. Maybe I was trying to make up for ignoring her for three days, but I wouldn't examine the thought too deeply.

"A few times," she said, eyes still glued out the window. "But not much. We do a bit of traveling in the country, but I've only been to Nordin once for a wedding, and Quvill for one of their grand balls Sage dragged me to."

I was slightly surprised she'd been to the kingdom of Quvill. Those were fae lands, and though they were welcoming, they were very secretive. Lots of things there appeared different than they truly were.

"Must have been a big ball if rumors of how the fae party are to be believed."

"They are," she said, waggling her brows.

I laughed as the carriage began to slow.

When I looked out, Sobury's capital building came into view. It was made of solid, dark wood, almost like a giant cabin. Large flower boxes lined the walls, moss crawling up the sides.

Sorcha took the building in with interest. I got the impression there was a lot she hadn't seen, as she had a keen interest in everything.

"Ready?" I asked her.

"As ever."

The large doors opened, and out walked Atalin. She had a cherry-brown coat with white spots and short, dark horns, her hair tied back in braids. She had been around a long time, which always made me shocked when she was so open to certain change. I was sure she would be leaving her position soon, and I would need to host a choosing ceremony. It would be my second after appointing Naram, and I hoped to have this resolved before then.

She was followed by her advisors, as well as her own personal guard. Her mate had passed the previous year, and she'd been a bit different since. "Grand Clarak Zarios," she said, bowing slightly. "We are honored to host you and your intended mate."

"Thank you," I said. "This is my intended, Princess Sorcha Yulean."

I held my arm out, gesturing to her. "So nice to meet you," Atalin said, bowing slightly.

"You as well," Sorcha said, bowing her head to Atalin. A gasp rang out among the surrounding crowd. Sorcha sat up and looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong. My stomach sank. We'd been here for a few minutes, and she was already showing weakness.

Atalin looked at me in confusion. "I apologize," I said. "Sorcha isn't quite accustomed to our ways." I was all but holding my breath, hoping she wouldn't say anything.

Sorcha looked at me in confusion, but I didn't return the glance. I needed to keep everyone's attention on me .

Atalin nodded. "Be sure she learns," she said. "I am much more understanding than the others."

I gave her a single nod, some of the tension leaving me.

"Good," she continued. "Let's head inside. I'm sure you're exhausted from your journey."

Sorcha was still eyeing me as we followed the crowd inside. The interior of the building was almost exclusively made of glass framed by wood, letting natural light illuminate the space. Vines climbed the sides, clinging to the wood. The floor was glass and housed an expansive terrarium underneath, filled with plants native to the area.

Sorcha took in every little detail, her gaze moving around the space quickly.

Atalin made small talk until we were led to our suite of rooms. "This is your room," she said to us. "I'll let you get settled before the feast tonight. Please let one of the servants know if you need anything."

"Thank you," I responded before stepping into the room. Sorcha followed closely behind until the door clicked shut.

"What was that?" she asked, throwing her bag down.

I slouched on the small couch in the room. "Your show of weakness?" I asked. "Unacceptable."

Her eyes widened. "Weakness?"

I nodded. "Bowing to someone symbolizes your defeat to them, your status beneath them. You can't do that. As the Grand Clarak's mate, you must never show weakness."

"In Peradona, it's a sign of respect," she said. "How was I supposed to know it was different here? You never told me."

I sighed. She was right, but I was too stubborn to admit it. My face fell a bit, and my tone softened. "It doesn't matter. Now you know, and it was only Atalin. But she is correct. Some of the others wouldn't take that show of weakness lightly, misunderstanding or not."

"I get it," she snapped. "Anything else I should know before I make an ass of myself once more?"

"Never do anything to show any weakness." I tried to say it as a warning, but she seemed to take it as an insult.

She scoffed. "Yeah, I'll get right on that. Now what do we do?"

"For now, we rest," I said. "I'm sure you're tired from traveling, and we need to be at our best for tonight. Remember our plan."

"I remember," she said defensively. "And I'm not that tired. I'm fine."

"Well, I am," I said. "And you should really try to rest. The best time to do some snooping will be while everyone is at the party, which means we'll probably be up late." I hopped up onto the bed and relaxed back.

At least, I attempted to. Sorcha was pacing around, searching every nook and cranny. "What are you doing now?" I asked.

She turned, as if I caught her doing something wrong. "I'm just looking."

"Well, look quieter."

She huffed before sitting down and pulling out a book I recognized. "The Controlled Art of Fighting," I read from the back of the cover in a questioning tone.

Her gaze met mine over the spine. "Is there an issue? "

"No. It's just one of my favorites. Not everything I say is meant as a slight towards you."

Her gaze caught mine, and something in it softened. "I can tell," she said, her voice much calmer. "There are lots of notes. They're helpful."

I smirked. "Wow, you found something I did helpful."

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't get used to it."

I chuckled, laying back. Truth was, I was tired, and we needed to be prepared for the night.