“Are there any assassins in the crowd, Kerani?”
“No Mother,” I sighed, continuing to look out over the cheering crowd through the gold screen of our litter. The world rocked slightly from the gait of our elephant. The noise from the people surrounding them almost drowned out my older sister’s babble. Almost.
I sighed as I listened to my sister, Ranya, talk non-stop about her husband-to-be, the Crown Prince. Out of all the girls in Kemmer, Ranya had been chosen to be the next Imperial bride. It was a great honour for both Ranya herself and the Shira name—and Ranya knew it.
“Will you be quiet?” I snapped. “You’re breaking my concentration.”
At the mention I might be distracted both my mother and sister fell quiet. They feared if I lost focus for even a minute that an assassin would jump out of the crowd, get through the ring of guards surrounding our train, climb up to our litter and kill my sister. A far-fetched idea at best, but my mother was sure it would happen. It was the reason she’d asked me about assassins three times today. That was the only reason they had dragged me along for this trip: so I could use my magic to make sure nobody would harm our family in hopes that their family could gain Imperial favour. It was a common enough occurrence, I suppose, but still, I didn’t see how I was more of a defence then one hundred armed guards.
All my magic allowed me to do was sense people, their emotions and their intent. I rue the day I ever told my family about it, for that is when they started keeping me for themselves. I was told to wait in the shadows in every important meeting, keep quiet during them and say everything I had sensed behind closed doors. My skill was what had gotten my sister chosen in the first place. I had been able to sense what the Emperor’s men had liked and not liked. Those same skills could have gotten me a husband, but my parents insisted that I stay with them. Now that my sister was on the road to the capital, they insisted I stay with her. I didn’t exactly mind, considering that most girls were betrothed to men twice their age.
My mother began talking quietly about the upcoming wedding, too softly for me to say it was distracting. It didn’t matter; I had heard every point so often it was easy for me to tune out.
Instead I looked out over the capital, Shenora. The joy radiating from the people was like a cool drink after so long of sensing nothing be sorrow. The road we had traveled from Hurime to Shenora cut through one of the areas most severely hit by drought. For three years Kemmer hadn’t gotten the three months of monsoons that came each summer. Many areas were completely deserted, except by the road. The road was always choked with people— Broken souls who had given up trying to make a living off the land and were now willing to sell anything, everything, for their next meal. The sight of them was enough to make my heart ache—what I sensed from them was enough to make me cry. My mother didn’t care how much I suffered at the sight of them. She made sure I was always vigilant to an attack. Whenever she saw me shoulders relax as I closed off my magical self she would shake me, sure that if I relaxed even for a moment that somebody would attack us. No matter how much I told my mother I was still sensing things, she was too worried to listen. Ranya was more kind to me, at least. She would distract our mother to let me relax. Those short times when I wasn’t completely open to the emotions around me where the only things that had kept me sane on the two week journey from Hurime to Shenora.
“The Imperial Palace is just up ahead, Lady Vyoma, Lady Ranya, Lady Kerani,” the mahout called from his seat at the elephant’s neck. I was surprised he had mentioned me at all. Usually I was only mentioned at the most formal gatherings. The rest of the time, I wasn’t supposed to exist.
I didn’t really want to look at the palace, but curiosity got the better of me. I got on my knees to look over my mother and sister’s heads at the road in front of us.
The imperial palace was just as I had expected; thick outer walls kept most of the main building hidden, and what I could see was made of grey-streaked marble. Gold shimmers marked screened windows, black holes marked unscreened ones. By this alone I knew where the women’s and men’s quarters were. Kemmerian women were expected to stay hidden from the outer world, leaving the affairs of state to men. My forced spy-work kept me educated in the outside world, but the price I paid was invisibility even among women.
I was about to kneel back down, having seen enough of the place that would be my prison, when the dome of the palace caught my eye. It was shaped like a fat teardrop, made of the same marble as the rest of the palace. But there was something about it that tugged at my magic. I could feel a cloaking of some sort around the dome, when I shouldn’t have felt anything at all.
Mother pulled me back down. “You’re gawking.”
I ducked my head in apology and scooted into a corner. Ranya also sat back down; it seems she had been chided as well.
“Will Hasin be there to meet us Mother?” she asked, seeing my sorrowful look.
I brightened at the mention of our brother’s name.
“I don’t see why not,” Mother replied. “It’s the least he could do after not seeing us for two years.”
I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. Hasin had left for the capital to become the official Shira representative after our uncle had died. He was one of the youngest Counsel members in history, and one of the best. He had come up with most of the ideas for getting supplies to the rest of the country during the drought.
“What about the Prince?” Ranya asked tentatively. I could understand her asking, they hadn’t met each other yet, but I rolled my eyes none the less. Didn’t she have anything else to think about?
Our mother stiffened. “Would you like him to see you in your current state? After two weeks on the road?”
Ranya blushed and turned her head away. I rubbed my skin absentmindedly, bringing on an itch. The moisture in the air from Lake Kirna made me realize how dry my sky had become. I was sure their skin was in the same condition. Still, it was nice to have something other in the air then dust. The lake was the only thing that made Shenora inhabitable.
The groan of a giant gate made me jump. A bar of shadow soon fell across us, and we were in the palace’s outer courtyard. Servants were scurrying around, getting what little baggage we had traveled with into shadowed hallways. Most of our belongings had been sent ahead, just so our rooms could be prepared.
Another gate opened in front of us. These doors were in much better condition then the outer ones. The hinges had been polished, and the wood was freshly stained; I could smell the compounds they had used.
A sly smile touched my lips as we entered the inner courtyard. “Somebody’s waiting for us.”
*
A/N- The first part of my novel. Comments on characters and pacing are mostly what I'm looking for. Enjoy!
I'm awful at character movement from one place to another, so I admire your work with this. It wasn't too slow or too fast. Characterwise, I have a good feeling for how your characters fit in with the setting and I have some hints at their personalities and dynamics, but I think while revising, some extra characterization and focus on mannerisms would make them more engaging. Right now I feel like I know about them, but I don't really know them. Does that make sense? 
