“That sounds good to me,” I said quickly, looking at Ari.
He frowned uncertainly.
“I don’t like leaving you alone, L’lorna.”
“She won’t be alone—I’ll be with her every minute,” Jalli promised. “We’ll get all cleaned up in no time, really Ari.”
“Well…” He paused, as though considering it.
“I don’t mind,” I told him. “I’d like to get to know your little sister.” I sensed that Jalli could be an ally here in the huge, cold Drake palace and right now, I could use all the allies I could get.
“All right. I’m glad that you’ve taken to each other so quickly. Though I think it’s mostly that Jalli has taken to your Mr. Seahorse.” He nodded at the chimeling who chimed back at him, as though he recognized his name.
“That’s not true!” Jalli said indignantly, putting a hand on one slim hip. “I think your L’lorna seems like a lovely person. Kaitlyn and I are going to be great friends.”
“Go on then.” Ari smiled at us. “Have fun and I’ll come to get Kaitlyn and escort her to Mother’s Chambers in an hour.”
“Okay! See you soon!” Jalli called. She grabbed me by the hand, and—since Mr. Seahorse didn’t protest this time—started pulling me down the hall with that odd, hobbling gait of hers.
Smiling, I followed her. I hadn’t expected that anyone in Ari’s family would like me—it was nice to find out I had been wrong.
76
Ari
I watched them go, my heart swelling with love and protectiveness as the two females I loved most in the world laughed and talked together. I was glad that Jalli had taken to Kaitlyn so quickly. After the way that cabron Sanchez had talked about her, I had been afraid she would be sorry she had come with me in the first place.
“Of course she’s not sorry,” my Drake informed me. “She is only wary—as well she should be. Keeping her will not be easy.”
“I know that,” I said, frowning as I turned to head to my mother’s royal chambers. I wanted to speak to her alone before I presented Kaitlyn. By now, with the way the servants gossiped, she would already know what to expect.
“If they refuse to accept her, we will leave,” my Drake said, stating a fact we both knew.
“Yes,” I agreed. There was no need of any other words between us. We both agreed without question that Kaitlyn was the one for us—our L’lorna—and nothing but death would part us from her.
But making my parents understand that was a different matter altogether. I had known they wouldn’t want to accept Kaitlyn but they had to be made to see that they could either accept her or lose me. That was why I had been so forceful and public in my announcement of her as my future queen. I wanted them to know immediately where I stood on this issue. There was no room to bend—no way I was giving her up.
She was mine and I and my Drake were hers. Now and forever.
77
Kaitlyn
“So the private bath isn’t super fancy with gold and marble and precious gems in the walls like the main palace cleansing pools,” Jalli told me as she opened the door to a small wooden chamber with a round stone tub in the middle. “But it’s private and Papa said it’s just for me so nobody else can come in.” She shot me a curious glance. “I thought you might like that no one else could see you. I know that’s how I feel.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at her. “You thought right. I’m, um, kind of self-conscious about people seeing me, um, undressed.”
“Me too,” Jalli said. Closing the door, she lifted her long skirts and nodded down. “Because of this.”
Looking down, I saw that her right foot was twisted—bent up at an ankle so that instead of walking on the sole of her foot, she was forced to walk on the outside edge. Her right calf also looked withered and was much thinner than the healthy left one. I understood her hobbling gait now—it was a wonder she could walk at all
I tried to think of the name for what I was seeing. I remembered my parents donating to a medical charity that operated in Africa, healing kids who had this kind of problem.
“Oh, a club foot!” I said, before I thought. I looked at her quickly, hoping I hadn’t hurt her feelings. But Jalli looked no more than curious.
“Is that what you call it in your world?” she asked, frowning. “I mean, you’ve seen something like it before?”
“Well, sure.” I nodded. “Kids are born with it sometimes. Is it really, um, unusual here?”
Jalli shrugged. “Don’t know. Most babies with deformities are judged unfit to live and put out on the rocks for the branthas to eat.”
“What?” I looked at her, aghast. “You’re not serious, are you? Please tell me you’re joking!”