I’m not often intimidated, but seeing the sudden change in him has my belly dipping in a twisted way.
“It was King Euron’s soldiers. They killed nearly all of them, women and children included.” The words slip out in a hushed whisper.
“Show me where.” It’s not so much a question as it is a raw, sorrowful demand.
Turning back to Leeson, she simply watches him and then slowly moves her gaze to mine. After a quick nod, she turns partially covered body to Caym.
With the most reverent kiss, she attempts to wake the slumbering man.
It’s not the first time I’ve witnessed their tenderness with each other. Affection isn’t uncommon, especially in bonded couples, but it always makes me flush withsomething.Not quite embarrassment, but akin to fervor.
Though this time, the devastation that looms behind our fortress is too great. I can’t feel anything other than dread for what I’m about to bear witness to again.
“Well, Devourer, let’s leave them to it.” Without another thought, I’m across the room and reaching for the door handle to twist, before I have a chance to second guess if I really want to go back out there, where desecration is the only consort to the world.
Chapter 20
Alora
Acarved mahogany wood door with intricate swirls and ravens stands before me. The details burned into my mind.
I’ve stood here for far too long with my hand pressed against the cool surface, too scared to open it and take in the devastation that waits just beyond. I’ve also noticed how my nails have been gnawed too short, a nervous habit I can’t seem to get rid of.
If time could stop, I’m sure it would feel like this. The in—between, distant feeling, where my breath falls short and my mind races.
As if time catches up with the motions of my hand, the door pushes open to reveal the outside torment.
My feet stop at the threshold, frozen in place as if I’m weighed down by mud.
The first thing that punches me in the face is the smell of rot. The sickening sweet stench of soured flesh riddled with smoke and sorrow.
The second thing to come is a torrent of hushed cries, whether it be from those mourning or those that lay broken and terminal. I’d wanted to help them all the moment we arrived, but many, if not all, insisted we let the veil take them.
The Devourer stands behind me. Heat from his body radiates, warming my chilled bones and shattered soul. Unknowingly or otherwise, his presence helps me to not feel so alone.
He could just be eager to verify my truths, to see if I lied again about the reality of this place.
I feel his gentle grasp on my arm as he oversees the landscape.
We’re somewhere in the middle of the courtyard, the gates of the entrance to our left, mangled and gnarled. Before us lies a wreckage of stone and lumber, the walls that guarded over Treach blown and battered. The main gate beyond recognition, it can only be described as if a molten pot of ore exploded and crumpled the inside structures in pure devastation. It’s horrific.
It all feels like too much, reminding me of Hanin and my parents. The sounds of burning flesh, the crackle of wood as it’s consumed, the popping of stones cracking from the heat of blazing fire…
The Devourer slides from behind me, keeping his hand around my upper arm. He moves to the front of me, as if shielding me from the horrors.
If he only knew the sights I wish to forget. The shadows that lurk in my mind. I may be haunted by the past, but it’s helped me to sharpen my claws and file my teeth.
I sidestep him, planting my foot boldly into squelching mud, the splatter landing on our black clothes.
I won’t run from the dread of this scene. I’ve faced nightmares and hounds at my heels.
Pushing aside the fragile thoughts, I morph into what everyone’s come to expect of me—I become the warrior I’ve been forged into and walk into the frey.
I’m not the same Alora as I was when Hanin was unjustly murdered, and I’m not the same woman I was a week ago. I’ll be long dead before I return to her. I’ll be my own savior, strong enough for myself when I once was the weak girl too afraid to leave the safety of her curled form.
“See what your king does, Devourer?” I don’t slow my pace, moving through the chaotic courtyard and round an alleyway.
He turns to me, his mask fallen away. Sorrow,other things, and pain are laced within his haunted gaze as his face contorts as though I’d slapped him. “I know what the king is capable of, Alora. I don’t need more evidence of that.”
