"Now, get out of my room."
Lex found Nyssa back on her knees on the floor an hour later. The animals had not left her, but she was sobbing into her hands uncontrollably. Her voice stuck in her throat. She was unsure if she would ever speak again as she began to exhaust of the day.
But the night had only just begun.
And their kingdom would be in flames soon.
Nyssa could still hear the thudding of their crowns as they’d left them on their thrones.
Their giver, Arbina Promregis Amaris, had been nowhere to be found. Nyssa wondered if Draven had succeeded in punishing her into submission and, if so, how long it would last.
Nyssa had paused before the great tree the night they left, staring at the blackened limbs, feeling the ash still settling around the room. An emptiness filled her as she clenched her jaw at the sight of the tree's insides glowing orange and black in the dawning sky.
The pillars that lined the open walls were still standing, though the gallery had been destroyed. The steps leading up to the Throne Room still existed; however, Dorian had insisted he navigate them first, just in case one was loose. The castle walls behind the Throne Room were primarily intact. Some rooms caved in with rubble, including her own. A few of the halls were impassable. The black rug that twisted and wove through their grand hallways was now covered in white dust and ash.
The one thing completely intact was the high dungeon tower.
She swore, once, when she looked up, she saw Draven and Aydra standing in the window.
The village below their gates was the rubble that broke her heart. But she tried to block it out.
What had been done to her kingdom was needed.
Magnice had been a prison, and the people deserved better than the lies they were being told. She kept telling herself that one day, she would bring them that freedom, along with the truth of their world, not the lies people in charge had pushed down into the streets to save face.
She persuaded Dorian to help her recover a few people the morning after it had happened. They pushed off boulders from homes and assisted some of the wounded to their feet. But it broke her heart every time someone would blame Draven or say Aydra had brought this upon their castle by consorting with the enemy.
She had to hold Lex back from taking a woman’s head.
“They don’t know any better,” Nyssa argued with her.
“You would let them speak about your sister this way?” Lex hissed.
“What would you have me do? Hold a town meeting to tell them everything they’ve ever known is lies, and that Draven did this—”
“Draven did this because no one else had the spine to stand up to the tyranny and exhaust of this place,” Lex interjected. “Draven did this because—”
“Lex, I don’t disagree with you,” Nyssa affirmed. “But we do not have time to try and fix a hundred years of lies in one day. These people do not know better. You want to be stoned and murdered in the street, be my guest. Tell them the truth. Watch as they strike you down just as they did her. The only way we win them is by taking our crowns, which we cannot do right now. We have more important things to do than worry about this place.”
Lex had gawked at her a moment until finally, she released the grip she had on her sword and straightened. “What is your plan, Princess?”
“We’re leaving. Soon. The Council has decided to stay to help move people into the cliffside strongholds and set up the beaches with supplies from the villages. Rhaif gave me a two day deadline to stay with him. I'm not staying.Weare not staying. But the moment we leave, we will be considered traitors to the crown and kingdom. A bounty will be put on our heads, and I don’t know how many people will come looking for us. The only reason they haven't thrown Dorian in chains for helping Draven is that we are helping and keeping quiet. We have to play the politics.”
But their decision had been made for them the following morning upon the ships' arrivals. The strangers had apparently seen the fire and sailed around there instead of docking south.
The four left at nightfall.
CHAPTER THREE
WORD OF THEIR departure spread between the Dreamer villages as the fire had spread over Magnice. By the time the group had traveled three days on their journey to the Forest, they’d already run into two companies of Dreamers and Belwarks from the villages looking for them.
It was Nyssa's eagle that woke her on the third morning. They’d slept at the Bedrani hill. Lex had a plan to steer off the roads from there to not attract more road thieves, but as the morning sun rose over the Hills of Bitratus, so did the mercenaries.
Nyssa bounded to her feet and shook her brother awake. When he grumbled and pushed her away, she huffed and screamed his name in his face.
“What—the fuck, Nyssa?!” he shouted as he bolted upright.
“What’s wrong—where—” Lex was on her feet, as was Corbin, scythe and swords drawn in their hands. “Nyssa, what the Infi?!”
