Scorpius (Stars and Sails, Book 2)

Two (Part 1 of 2)

Ro watched as they draped her father's corpse in a heavy black veil, his body stiff and unmoving. Another great king from the house of Garnet was dead. The two funeral-servers hauled up the carved board that he lay on over the Pool of Leo. They slowly settled his body into the sparkling water, until his round stomach dipped below the waterline.

Her mother, Dowager Queen Pleione, let out a cry before stifling it. Ro watched her six sisters sit on their round daises through a black veil. She sat on her own dais, cross-legged, bare-footed, veil tenting around her like she was trying to keep the mosquitoes away. These uncomfortable veils were meant to keep the royal family from catching death.

They funeral bearers hauled her father out of the Pool of Leo, the threads of glittering water rolling off his veiled body. All royalty bathed in the Pool of Leo on the holy days as well as once after birth and once more after death. The constellation Leo was important. You had to be born of the constellation to have any chance of being next in line for the throne. Atlas and Pleione tried for a Leo successor for years until they had their seventh daughter, Ro.

Ro breathed in deep and ran her thumb across her fingernails. She'd never thought about it this much, even though in the back of her mind, her father's death was an eventuality. She never could see the day when the Durantans called her Queen Merope. Maybe because she hated that name. Merope. Merope. Merope. Like some sort of wilting girl, when she knew exactly what she wanted for herself. Even as a princess, she'd always been a queen.

The pulleys and levers squeaked. They hauled her father up to the height of the corpse-dresser's waist and he began the preparations for burial.

No one. No one had expected him to die during their winter vacation at the House of Garnet. But now they were all left here, the crown floating in the hands of a dead king and a daughter that nobody thought deserved it. At least not like King Atlas did. She was just nineteen, after all. She was just a girl.

She and her sisters rose. They were all dressed in simple black dresses and veils that made them look like twins of different heights--all blonde-haired and blue-eyed and golden-skinned. People made that sound so much more beautiful than they all were. Without their mourning veils, they were all a little awkward looking.

The corpse-dresser raised his hands to the sky. "This to Atlas himself who carried the world on his shoulders, you too, Eternal King, have carried this great nation of Duranta upon your shoulders until you crumbled. Here we end another chapter of the House of Garnet, your daughter Merope, a gracious heiress."

Ro opened her palms to the heavens and curtsied. Again her father was raised, the black mourning veil taken from his body. They placed his body in a golden coffin. The door squeaked shut before the latch was secured. He'd be buried in the Garnet Mausoleum back on the Firefish Islands. But today, the family funeral ceremony was over. Ro and her sisters hiked their veils up to their ankles and stepped off their daises. The floor was freezing cold marble. They filed out as Pleione sat back down, waiting for the room to be quiet so that she could be with her husband.

The girls filed out of the ceremony room, their bare feet plodding against the marble floor. Ro closed the heavy royal blue and gold leaf doors behind them. Electra burst out in tears and ran down the hall, nearly tripping over her veil. Asterope ran after her, calling for her twin. They disappeared around the corner. Tiggy and Alcyone moved away down the hall, holding hands through their veils. Maia was the last to leave, pressing a veiled kiss to Ro and Celaeno's cheeks before hurrying off.

"Are you okay?" Celaeno whispered once they were alone. She was older than Ro, only two years of a gap. She had bright eyes like all of the sisters. Ro was the youngest, with pale eyes and a boyish frame that truly made her the runt of the family.

Her nose wrinkled. She tugged up her veil and spun around on her heels. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly as I said," She hurried after Ro down the hall, but neither of them was moving fast in their veils. "Especially when you were his favorite."

"Favorite?"

"With you being the heir and all. None of us was so much as jealous. Being the favorite comes with the responsibilities of—"

Ro stopped walking and whipped her head back. "War? Diplomacy? Economy?" Calaeno nodded silently. Ro's face softened. "I—I know. I'm just stressed. The weight of the world will be on my shoulders in just a few weeks."

Celaeno's crossed her arms and smirked, her little foot tapping playfully on the marble. Pat, pat, pat. "Not the entire world. Just Duranta."

"I don't see your point," Ro said as she turned to walk.

Celeano followed Ro to the end of the hall to the big marble staircase. Ro stopped, gripping the ornate banister until her hand hurt. She looked up at the huge chandelier, where crystals and garnets hung and caught the light. Celaeno leaned down, her mouth inches from her sister's ear. "My dearest Ro. Queen Mero--"

Ro turned back, laughing lightly, unable to stop the nerves threaded through her voice. "Relax." Ro hurried up the staircase, velvety rug crushed under the soles of her feet. Was Ro meant to be a Queen? Of course. But years of doubt from the people around her made her wonder if she was enough of a Leo to hold Duranta up quite as high as King Atlas did.