The Queen of the Golden Court – Part 2: Sunset

She taught him on the terrace, as the sun went down. She had him kneel on a cushion of white silk at her feet, hands on his knees, and said nothing for the better part of an hour. The sky went from gold to apricot to deep rose. The fountains murmured. A servant brought lanterns and set them in the arbour and withdrew. She sipped her wine and looked at the sea, and he knelt, and breathed, and for the first time in his life, simply was.

She gave him tasks, and watched them done. To hold a single lemon in both hands without moving. To carry a cup of water along the length of the terrace and back without spilling a drop. To stand at the balustrade with his hands behind him, looking out at the dark water, while she told him, in her warm, low voice, precisely what she wanted from him: nothing, and everything, and an end to the endless carrying. She corrected him as she had promised, with a touch of two fingers under his chin, a murmured no, a long and gentle look. Slower. Softer. Again.

She was severe and exact, and unmistakably kind. When he stumbled, she waited. When he shook, she laid a broad warm hand on his shoulder, and the weight of it was the first thing in six months that felt like rest.

"Does my steward wish to continue?" she asked, as the stars came out.

"I do, Majesty."

"Say it plainly."

"I do. Thank you."

"The Queen of the Golden Court does not require thanks." But the lantern showed a smile.

Late, when the terrace was dark and the sea was a black glitter under the moon, she set down her goblet.

"Sunset," said Solenne, softly.

It was the word, and she spoke it for them both. The circlet came off and lay on the couch. She slid down from the couch and sat on the cool marble beside him in her honey-coloured gown, and pulled a linen cloak round both their shoulders.

"How are you?"

"Put down," said Emric, with a wondering laugh. "Everything. I think I've put everything down."

"You were a lovely servant." She kissed his forehead. "The best I have had."

"May I serve again?"

"The bond is open." She smiled into the dark. "And I find that the Golden Court requires a steward who knows when to be still."

"I'll learn," said Emric.

"You already have," said Solenne, and the fountains played on in the moonlight.

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