There's something about five-star hotel rooms that always feel the same. Plush carpet underfoot, soft lighting trying to whisper luxury in my ear, sheets tucked so tight into the bedframe it's like they expect you to wage war just to lie down, which is honestly so annoying.
And yet, standing there with my suitcase cracked open, I felt… small. The CATF premiere was tomorrow and Seirath had already registered us. However, I had had to hide my identity.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the rain-streaked window. Nairobi's skyline blurred into watercolor lines beneath the storm. A sigh slipped out of me. I visited two countries in less than a year. This is surreal.
I let the suitcase sit half-open. Instead, I stripped out of my travel wear, turned on the shower, and just stood there under the water until time blurred. When I finally dragged myself out, towel slung around my shoulders, I spent a while wandering the room touching little things. I don't think I've ever been in an expensive hotel before in my life.
That's when the knock came three times. I frowned, tugging the towel tighter around my waist before grabbing a shirt.
"Yeah?" I called, heading for the door.
When I opened it, Phyri was standing there. She's the fourth daughter of the Rameses line, seventeen years old, still caught in that awkward place between girlhood and womanhood. She shifted from foot to foot, her black hair damp from the rain, her eyes flicking up at me with a hesitance I hadn't seen in her before.
"Um, can I… ask you something?"
I leaned against the frame. "Sure. Shoot."
She fiddled with the hem of her sleeve before blurting, "Are you dating my sister Hinesia?"
For a moment, I just stared at her. Then—because the sheer bluntness of it cracked through my fatigue—I chuckled.
"No. I'm not."
Her lips pressed together, but she wasn't done. "Then… are you interested in her?"
That made me pause. I tilted my head, studying her. She was serious.
"Hinesia's… a precious friend to me. That's it. Why are you asking?"
But she shook her head quickly. "It's nothing."
Before I could stop her, she turned and walked away down the hall.
Or at least, I thought she did. Because when I leaned out to look after her, the hallway was empty. I was about to shut the door when another presence slid into view like the world had glitched. Nefira, blindfold and all was standing there in front of me.
"May I come in?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Were you invisible again?"
"Yes."
I sighed, stepping aside. "Fine. Get in."
She moved into the room. Her foot caught the edge of the carpet. She stumbled and nearly collided with the table. I caught her arm and guided her toward the bed. She sat down stiffly, her hands folded in her lap, trying to pretend it hadn't happened. I crouched a little, resting my arms on my knees.
"You're tripping all over the place. Back in the pyramid, you didn't."
Her head turned slightly, as though she were watching the rain beyond the window despite the blindfold.
"I've spent my entire life in the pyramid. I know every corner and step. And, I can see at night so it's not like I'm completely blind. I just don't know this place yet."
That, oddly enough, made sense.
"Fair enough. So what's the real reason you're here? Don't tell me you came just to trip over my furniture."
For a moment, she was silent. Then, with that same unnerving calm she always carried, she questioned:
"Do you want to marry any of my sisters?"
"What?"
"You heard me. Do you want to marry any of my sisters?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"You're a God-touched Fluxer. Your affinity is the strongest we've seen, even compared to our own bloodline. My father will fight tooth and nail to tie you to this family through marriage. It's inevitable. I'm asking if you're already interested in one of them. Hinesia. Radellei. Vilythe. Phyri, you name her."
I opened my mouth, shut it, then opened it again.
"You're serious."
"Yes."
"Marriage? We've barely known each other a year."
"Time doesn't matter to bloodlines. Strength does. Legacy does. And you… you're the kind of man Houses gamble over."
I stared at her. The storm outside thundered. She tilted her head again, and for the first time her voice wavered, just slightly.
"So. I'll ask again. Are you interested in marrying any of my sisters?"
I leaned back against the wall, still thinking from Nefira's question. The room felt colder all of a sudden. Marriage, huh? They really had the nerve to drop that on me the night before CATF even started. I let out a slow breath, then shook my head.
"Nefira, I think you're forgetting something. I'm not just some Fluxer your House picked up off the street. I'm the heir of the House of Argemenes, not my sister. Sooner or later, whether I like it or not, that House is mine to inherit. That means anyone I marry becomes an Argemenes. Their bloodline folds into mine. Their name doesn't carry forward, ours does. And do you know what that really means?"
She shook her head.
"It means if I marry into the Rameses line, that daughter either Hinesia, Radellei, Phyri, Vilythe or even you, ceases to be a Rameses. She will be an Argemenes. Your father wouldn't be tying me into his House. He'd be handing one of his daughters over to be swallowed whole by mine."
I stopped and looked at her. She didn't move.
"And more than that, you all keep forgetting the one law no House can bend, the law of inheritance. Every first child born of a union will be as powerful as both parents. For us, the first child will always be human or hybrid and will wield the Concept Flux. It doesn't care if the mother's blood runs with fire, water, lightning, or even your precious Rameses heritage. The Concept Flux overrides it. It dominates it. Your Elemental Flux would be recessive. The child would never wield your gifts. All my children will have the Concept Flux."
Saying it out loud felt like dragging ancient iron chains out of a riverbed. Sheesh, Phasnovterich's knowledge really came in handy.
"Your father's plans for marriage... if he really thinks it'll cement something for him, it's impossible because the Argemenes don't give away power. We keep the Concept Flux under lock and key, generation after generation. It's why the world doesn't even know half of what we can do. And do you think we'd let that secret spill just for the sake of marrying into another House?"
Her lips parted but no words came. She sat there speechless. For once, the girl who always had an unnerving comment ready was silent. Finally, she exhaled.
"What if it wasn't political? What if it was… for love?"
I laughed under my breath.
"Love? I can't afford it. Not now. Not marriage, not relationships. Not when every step I take feels like someone's measuring the weight of my shadow. I don't get the luxury of 'just love.'"
The silence stretched, broken only by the rain hammering harder against the glass. Nefira sighed, her shoulders slumping just slightly.
"I heard what I wanted to hear."
She shifted as if to stand. Instinct made me move faster. I reached out, catching her wrist gently. I guided her up, steadying her as she wavered on the carpet.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping you. If you're blind, then how the hell did you even get here?"
A small smile tugged at her lips. "Phyri led me."
"Of course she did. Alright, come on. I'll take you back. You'll crash into half the hallway before you make it alone."
So we stepped out into the corridor, the plush silence of five-star hallway swallowing the storm. I walked slowly, her hand hooked loosely around my arm. Each step she took was hesitant but with me there, she didn't falter. Their rooms were clustered on the same floor, not far from mine. When we stopped at her door, she turned her head toward me, her blindfold tilted like she was actually looking.
"Thank you."
Without waiting, she slipped inside and closed the door behind her. I stood there a moment, staring at the wood, listening to the muffled click of the lock. Then I let out a long, heavy sigh.
Back in my own room, the silence felt sharper. I leaned against the window, head resting against the cold glass.
Yeah, part of me wanted a girlfriend or someone to peel away the armor, if only for a night, a week or a year. But marriage? That was another story.
I actually wished for love but I couldn't afford it. Not when I'm trying to change the plot so that Outers won't kill me or be infatuated with me.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this world?