Exposed [Book 4 in the Expiring Series]

15 Placate Palace

Erik~~

"You didn't have to kidnap me."

            "I prefer the term forceful nudging," Rydersin says as she leads me through her palace. That's right. The woman has her own palace.

            Late last night two Amorian men showed up at my hotel room, telling me to come with them. I was then taken to a limo, an airport, a plane, and then another limo before ending up at her house—damn it—palace. This is so not a house.

None of the Amoris I encountered on the way here were particularly forthcoming with information. For all I knew, none of them could have worked for Rydersin and were instead sent by Alistair so I'd be waiting for him like a pretty package when he gets home.

            The floors, walls, and ceilings of the palace are a white marble with a tinge of salmon pink. The furniture all looks as if it's made from glass or crystal, and it will take a lot of forceful nudging before I will take a seat in this place. It's all so pristine. As if someone couldn't possibly call this place home.

            "Are you hungry or would you like to go straight to your fitting?"

            "My fitting?" Her question draws my eyes away from a window overlooking a lake that in the light of the sun seems to shimmer with the same shade of pink as this palace. The outside is just as marble as the inside. This part of Acquaellia is known as the lake district where the land is flat, covered in gray sand, and the lakes come one after the other. The different continents on Amoria don't hold a mixture of countries. Instead, the landmasses are each ruled over by one Order that reports to the Head Order.

            "You'll need proper clothes."

            "There is nothing wrong with my clothes."

            "If you're going to be presenting in front of the Orders, you need clothes that come from a designer and that look as if they've never been worn."

            "As long as I look nice, put on a suit, and don't show up with any unkempt facial hair, no one will care."

            "Maybe on your planet people only care what the women are wearing, but here things are different. You don't get a pat on the back for doing the bare minimum. If you aren't perfect"—she takes a step toward me, and I find myself backed against the window—"they will eat you alive."

            I crack a smile. "It's a good thing I have an Expiration Date that's far from now."

            Her expression conveys nothing, and abruptly she turns and starts walking again. "Food or fitting?"

            Though my stomach grumbles I choose "Fitting."

*****

            After being poked and prodded and stuffed with food, Rydersin invites me to join her at a table laid out with a tea set that's stationed alongside her pool. The pool, instead of running perpendicularly along her palace, stretches outward into the distance toward the lake.

            I take a seat in one of the clear chairs with a lot more confidence than I had when I sat down for my meal.

            "How did you end up with a palace?"

            "My father gave it to me."

            I scoff. "Yet you act like you were shafted by him."

            She sets her teacup on a saucer. "This palace was meant to placate me."

            "Most would be grateful to spend even a night in a place like this."

            "I'm not going to apologize for wanting what rightfully belongs to me." She reaches for the teapot. "Tea?"

            I nod and take a cup and saucer from her. Steam wafts off of the red-colored tea. "It doesn't according to Amorian law."

            Her hand holding her teacup stills in midair. She's definitely considering chucking it at me. "The law can steal better than an Amorian can. And I don't require you to lecture me on taking my wealth for granted when you practically threw yours away." She sets her cup and saucer onto the table, and I let out a small breath that it's no longer a projectile weapon.

            "I did the right thing. The Society is oppressive."

           "And you couldn't have made it better?" She swipes her finger over the screen of her tablet that looks as if it could be made from glass. I recognize the design from the books we have in the library below the Estate; though, when she hands it to me, I realize it's not a book and only a tablet with the information of twelve men pulled up: the Order of Odalia. "We'll be starting with them, followed by Gadfrie's and Surielius's Orders, then the Head Order, and lastly my father's."

            "You may be the daughter of a Preeminence, but do you really think you can just waltz in and demand an audience?"

            "Absolutely. Do you think I haven't planned and accounted for everything?"

            "For everything sounds a bit impractical."

She takes a sip of her tea. "I have close friends in the Orders of Odalia, Surielius and Gadfrie where my mother's brother is the Eta. There won't be a problem."

            "You want to be Preeminence. There are going to be problems."

            "A problem is only a problem if you believe it is. I need you to prepare a statement about your cousin Gwen. You do have nice things to say about her?"

            "Not particularly."

            She pins me with a daunting stare.

            "But I'm sure I can come up with something." About Gwen, about the person who now holds my position. "She's doing a far better job than I would have."

            "Did you ever give yourself the chance?"

            I take a sip of my tea. I don't enjoy being in the company of Rydersin Torellae. She always seems to succeed in making me feel exposed, and I don't need that. Not in my new life with the new and improved me. Free from my family. Free from obligations.

            Stars, it sounds like I'm a normal adult who just got to college.

            I stare down at what remains of my tea, unsure how anyone could use it to predict a future but wishing I could.

            I'm not normal, even if it's what I so desperately want to be. Maybe if I just get through this—helping Rydersin achieve what she wants—I can become normal. With how much she'll pay me, I'll be able to make my life anything I want.

            I set my cup and saucer on the table and smile at her as I lean back in the glass-looking chair, not letting my fears that it will crack show. "We're not here to talk about me. We're here to talk about you need." I hope my smile is dazzling. "Tell me exactly what you need me to do."

Thank you all so much for reading! I've started posting Asleep again. It's been completely rewritten, and I'm so happy to finally be sharing it again. Thank you to all who have checked it out! If you don't know what Asleep is, imagine Inception but with teenagers.