“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.”
The Prince says the word so deliberately, as if he can see right through my words. He catches my gaze and tries to hold back his laughter, his brown eyes dancing across my face in even more amusement until I find myself grinning with him.
“What do you have against the nice ones?” I laugh, giving up on the charade.
“Nothing,” he grins, “I just don’t think their soft hands could ever satisfy a woman like you.”
“Too true,” I smile.
Keane’s eyes narrow for a small moment as he looks at me in thought.
“What’s the truth, then?”
I find myself biting my lip, not knowing how much I want to share.
“The truth is that I most often enjoy the modest ones,” I consider honestly, “there is a certain sexual appeal in those that don’t flaunt every aspect of themselves or their lives. The humility is refreshing.”
The Prince watches me quietly for a moment before nodding his head.
“You have no idea how right you are about that, Lady Alexis…”
“And you?” I ask after a small pause, “what’s your type?”
Keane’s eyes flick to the blonde riding ahead of us again, or rather, to the opening in the forest that allows a full view of the sunset descending into the horizon. I follow his gaze and gasp out loud at the sight of the sky on fire…
No.
I shake my head and peer closer at the deep oranges and reds of the fading sunset. The waning rays are splashing against an ominous black city ahead of us, giving theimpressionof a horizon on fire. Keane eyes me closely in our ride, a small smile curving on his lips as he nods proudly to the city beyond.
“Welcome to Gaumond, Lady Alexis.”
CHAPTER IV
SMOKEY RISES AND SHARP
BLACK LEAVES
Gaumond is a massive city fortress of many,manylevels. Yes, the Black Forest surrounds the entirety of it like a thick, dark green blanket, but the city rises from above the tree-tops with numerous walls of black granite encircling the whole capitol. The entry gate is huge, its dark bars looming overhead as our whole company rides under the banners of the Court of Warriors.
Hundreds of shops and vendors greet us through the ground-level gate, but instead of selling the typical trinkets and food you’d see in any other city, all of the shops are melding pieces of black granite into various functions. Tools clang against the stone to create weapons, armor and intricate slabs that’ll no doubt be fashioned to buildings, while other shops are crafting jewelry and making everyday household items like pots and pans out of the stone. Everything around us just seems to revolve around the black granite and the blacksmiths who wield it, with every hardened worker in this portion of the city moving with that Warrior purpose.
Crates of fire can be seen lining every shop and road, their red flames reflecting off all the black buildings beautifully and lending a fiery glow to every corner. There’s so much going on that I barely notice we’re traveling at a gradual incline through the city, the main road slanting up a path until we’ve reached another massive wall that encircles the next section. We pass under a second gate and meet a new rise that’s completely surrounded by wood, the change to this portion of the city from the last completely striking…
Where the buildings of the first rise were made of the Warrior black granite, the buildings on this rise are primarily made of wood and fashioned in the likeness of large and daunting cottages. There’s tree everywhere, as if the people of Gaumond didn’t want to forget about the Black Forest that surrounds them, and between those small woods are numerous stables filled with more horses than I could count. Most of the vendors are crafting wooden bows and other weapons made of wood, while all the large fires along the road have food cooking over them as the scent of pepper dusts the air.
Barnes takes his leave on this rise and bows to the Prince brothers at the front, tuning down a well-lit path filled with torches and beautiful homes into a residential area that’s much quieter than the main road we’re traveling on. The rest of us continue the steady trek up the incline until we reachanother wall and gate, this one catching me by surprise as it opens itself to a large, rolling green hill.
In every direction around us, the land is covered in green, with the hill gradually falling to our left until it plateaus out into a lush plain of even more grass. There’s no homes or shops or taverns on this rise. Instead, at the bottom of the hill are lengthy rows of training barracks, exercise arenas, and multiple targets stationed for bow practice. Many Discerni and human soldiers are on those arenas now, their bodies moving with precision as they practice drills using the broadsword this Court covets. Past the barracks and the training arenas is a small forest that follows along the full circumference of the wall, the dense trees rising well above the height of the black granite and fading into the shadows of the night, truly resembling the forest that lays just beyond the city.
I watch in amazement as a Warrior Discerni just on the outskirts of that forest raises his arms in the air. The movement lifts a large boulder from the ground and guides it with the sway of his palms, the rock balancing above his head as if with practiced ease.
“Is that man lifting a boulder with his summoning?” I ask no one in particular, my eyes going round.
“He is,” Alanna slows her horse besides mine.
