Even with being built up high on the plateau that overlooks the city, the palace doesn’t have much of a defensive wall. There’s only a short parapet at the front with a wide open gate that seems to be more for looks than safeguarding. It seems arrogant in its lack of defense, although Glassworth was built in a time of peace and beauty.
It’s a lack that I have every intention of exploiting.
“Lord Rot.”
The male who’s been leading the group of Vulmin comes up to my side. They call him Hare, though I think it’s a nickname because his two front teeth slightly resemble that of a rabbit. “What’s the plan?”
I give him a fleeting look. “Thisisthe plan.”
There’s a disbelieving pause before he sputters, “What—you can’t mean to simply…walk up to the palace gates?”
“That’s precisely what I mean to do.”
“They’ll kill you on the spot!”
“I’m sure they’ll try.”
They said their king has Auren. So I’ll walk right up to those gates and start rotting everything in my path until I find her.
Hare’s eyes widen with wariness. It seems my absence from Annwyn has watered down the knowledge of my power. Otherwise, he wouldn’t look so scared for me.
The city where I once lived used to fearme, and with good reason.
“We need to go with you,” Hare says.
“We can’t go with him!” someone else hisses behind us. “They’ll kill us! We need to go into the city and get in contact with the others.”
“We can’t just leave the Lyäri’s bonded!” someone else argues.
I feel their eyes on me, and curiosity has me stopping on the road. Their clothes are covered in dust from the deadlands, their faces weary, their packs heavy. Though their tight-lipped regard has given me little to nothing to go on for their intentions.
But I know they hate the king, hate the war, and they have some sort of loyalty to Auren because of her family name. That’s been more than enough for me to trust them to lead me.
Plus, if they did anything, I’d just fucking kill them.
But judging by the way they talk about Auren, it’s obvious she’s more than just a notable figure for Turley loyalists. They speak of her with reverence, though they’ve admitted that they haven’t actually met her.
“If you feel a sense of responsibility to stay with me on Auren’s behalf, I can assure you, I don’t need anyone risking their lives for me.”
“But you’re alone, walking straight up to the palace,” Hare argues. “If you think King Carrick has sent all his forces to Orea, you’re wrong. I know for a fact he still has plenty of protection here.”
“There wouldn’t be enough forces in the entire realm for him to stop me.”
Hare blinks. They all look at me as if the way I speak is rooted in nothing but arrogance. It’s not.
It’s fact.
“Come with me or don’t, the choice is yours. But do so at your own risk.”
“We should go to the city,” another male says—the one who possesses power to attack with teeth. He wears a string of them around his neck. They call him Fang.
My strides cut past a shallow hillside, and just up ahead, the dirt road splits off. If I continue straight, I’ll reach the cliffside where a fae-built slope leads to the top of the plateau where the palace awaits.
But noise snares my attention, tugging my gaze to the right. To where the forked road splits off, leading to the city. A tall lavender archway is there to mark Lydia’s entrance.
And the path is teeming with fae waiting to pass through.
“Celebrating a holiday?” I ask, though I have a feeling that’s not the case.
