When Slade takes me down to the large open entry hall, everyone’s already there waiting. Lu is wearing her usual army leathers, while Judd is wearing a bright orange tunic that rivals the mustard of his hair, making him look a bit like a poppy flower.
Digby is wearing borrowed clothes just like me, still scowling, as if he’s ready to ward off more lectures about how he should stay here and rest.
“I’m surprised you both wanted to come,” I say as we reach Lu and Judd by the main doors.
“Of course we do. We haven’t done anything fun in ages,” Judd says. “King Rot is always dragging us around the world and making us destroy his enemies.”
Slade rolls his eyes. “Last I checked,youhaven’t destroyed anyone this trip.”
“That’s true,” Judd replies, as if he’s disappointed about this. “No wonder I’m so bored.”
“Which is exactly why we need a trip to the city,” Lu puts in.
“Yep. Pub drinks,” Judd says with a wag of his brows. “You haven’t lived until you’ve been to the Burnt Cat Tavern.”
I scrunch up my nose. “They don’tservethat, right?”
“Only on Tuesdays,” Lu quips. “Ready?”
Am I ready?
I’m not sure, because I haven’t been out in an unprotected public like this in a very long time.
“It’s your choice, Auren,” Slade murmurs beside me, and I know that if I changed my mind right now, he’d turn us back around and let me stay in his rooms, no questions asked.
“I’m ready.”
Digby is at my side in a second to escort me out of the castle, just like he did all those months ago when I left Highbell for the first time. That was the catalyst, the tipping point for all the chopped trees to start falling down. The moment that changed the course of my life.
When Brackhill’s carved black doors open wide, I see a flash of Highbell’s gilded ones in my head. But instead of stepping out into a frozen night, I walk over the threshold and am greeted by the warmth of day.
The front is paved with dark cobblestones smoothed from tread. The stones ring around an impressive obelisk statue that’s straight ahead, the onyx stone pillar reaching up toward the sky and creating the perfect walls for the climbing vines to wrap around.
I turn to look at the castle, and my eyes go up and up and up. With grooved black walls, arched windows, and pointed rooftops, Brackhill looks intimidating, stately, and beautiful all wrapped up into one. The way it’s set against the mountain makes it look bigger than it is, and the moat of sparkling water on either side wraps around it like a crystalline cloak, with a small dark bridge curved right in the middle.
Slade points at the gathered horses ahead, where there’s a dark carriage at the back with a driver seated and ready. “We can take the carriage down, if you like. It’s a bit of a slope from here, but once we get past the falls, it’ll only be a few minutes into town.”
I glance at the carriage and then at the loose horses that the others are walking toward. Lu swings her leg up and over a reddish-brown one, while Judd shows Digby to a smaller dappled mare.
“Actually,” I begin, tearing my eyes away. “I’d rather like to ride.”
“Would you?” Slade asks, looking pleasantly surprised.
“Yes. I still remember riding horses when I was little,” I say. “But after, I rode quite a lot with Midas. Until we reached Highbell, and then...”
And then I never rode again for a decade.
“I don’t think I want to be stuck inside the walls of a carriage on such a nice day. At least for right now?”
He nods like he completely understands that. “Then we’ll ride.”
“I’m not sure if Digby should be on a horse…”
My guard hears me, tossing back a brusque, “I’m fine.”
When I look to Slade, he just shrugs. “You know he’s too stubborn to stay behind.”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah.”
