“Keep moving,” Matthias ordered from ahead. “We’re almost there.”
Rummy straightened, her face a mask of concern, but she said nothing as we pushed forward. None of us did.
We marched and marched, forced to ignore the pleas for help—for what could we do for them? We had no extra supplies or food—until a massive wall came into view ahead. This hadto be the castle, though we couldn’t see a damn thing over the towering barricade.
As we approached, the king’s guards stormed upon us, surrounding us. There had to be at least fifty—each with their weapons drawn and pointed directly at us.
“Dismount from your horses. NOW!” one of them ordered.
“They come from Scarlata Empire!” Matthias yelled. “They are here to see the king!”
The guards didn’t flinch. “On the ground!” they ordered again.
I dismounted my horse and obeyed. Rummy and Xavier did the same.
“From Scarlata?” One of the guards approached me, surveying my wings and the sword strapped at my hip. “You’ve come a long way.”
“We received a letter from the king. We’re here to speak with him.”
Stiffening, he regarded me more closely, as if warring with himself. But eventually, he waved his arm. “Follow us. Just you three.”
I shot Matthias a look, but he just nodded.
This was all part of the plan.
So when the guards cleared a path to a small opening in the castle wall, we followed.
I fought the urge to glance back at Rummy as I followed the man who’d spoken to us. She would be fine. We would all be fine. The pounding in my heart was due to the adrenaline flowing from me. This close to the new king, it was natural for my defenses to be up. That was natural. At least that’s what I told myself.
The instant we slipped behind the castle wall, the chaos of the streets vanished completely. There were no beggars here. Nocitizens at all, actually. Just guards hustling around the perfectly groomed grounds.
“Kneel,” one of the guards ordered.
We made it two damn steps inside the wall before we were being shoved to our knees. I resisted at first, until I remembered what Matthias had said.
King Cornelius is an egotistical man. Of course he would make his guests kneel before him.
This time, I did glance at my companions. Rummy raised a brow at me, then slowly lowered herself to her knees.
Xavier and I did the same.
I kept my focus on the ground until the sound of boots approaching caught my attention.
Perfectly shined, hardly worn boots.
The owner of the pristine footwear stopped just a few feet in front of us. “Friends, friends!” he called. “Welcome to Pericius. It’s an honor to have you here, though I must say this was quite the surprise.”
“And who are you?” Xavier said through gritted teeth.
The man laughed slowly, the sound raising the hair on my arms. “I’m King of Pericius. But since you all are my new friends, you can call me Cornelius.”
Chapter 15
Rummy
King Cornelius was a fucking sight.
Maybe he was ordinary, but the lack of available men in Scarlata lowered my standards. Or maybe I just hadn’t seen as much of the world as I should have.
