“You don’t have to follow me up there,” I told her. She’d gain nothing but exercise from the climb.
She raised a shoulder. “I don’t mind. I haven’t seen the views from up there in a while. Plus, I’ve been sitting at so many meetings the past few days, I’m dying to move.”
“Alright then.” I twisted around to address Stefano. “You also don’t have to follow us up there.”
“Yes, I do,” he stubbornly replied, refusing to take a single breakfrom his guard duty. Per usual.
Like everyone else, he wasn’t privy to my situation. He’d never been told that I wasn’t actually themagvis, but with all the time he spent with me, I imagined it was rather clear I wasn’t the all-powerful being. I’d been climbing the same damn staircase for four days in a row without a reasonable explanation. I was also novice in my combat abilities, and I certainly didn’t act like amagvisin his presence. Skies, Ana had openly asked me about my progress in front of him, and he didn’t even bat an eye. But he’d never questioned me. He was too loyal to Harthon to do such a thing. And he was also too loyal to Harthon to shirk his responsibilities and save himself from this pointless climb.
There was no sense in arguing with him.
With a sigh, I began my ascent. A few minutes later, we were at the top, and I stood at the open-air window, the tension releasing from my chest. Blue sky peaked through the clouds today, but the field and hills to the south looked the same as always. It was just a direction. A very broad direction.
Ana inhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering closed. “This is nice,” she said, exhaling long and slow.
A chilled breeze threatened my tidy braid. “If I was trapped in meetings with North and Callen and other Lords, I’d appreciate the fresh air too.”
She leaned over the edge of the sill, the shiny curls of her hair billowing behind her. “It’s the view, too.”
I scanned the field and hills again, no longer impressed by the vastness of the land as I once was. “I guess.”
She laughed lightly, nudging me with her elbow. “I know. It’s the same gray, barren wasteland as always. It’s nothing special. But the land and the skies were once alive, you know?”
That time was long gone.
“I was three when the Domus appeared,” she revealed. “For three years of my life, I was in a living world, not that I remember much about it. But still, whenever I look at it now, I think that maybe it can live again.” It was a wistful comment from a generally non-wistful person. Ana was almost always factual and realistic, if not a bit saucy in her delivery.
“Getting the resources from Centralis won’t do anything to fix this land. It’ll help people live better, but that’s all,” I reminded her.
If I’m even able to find that path into the Domus.
She smiled, but there was sadness in it. “Trust me, I know. It’s just sad when you think about it. All the potential this place has.”
I’d never really considered its potential, just took the current miserable state of this land as an unchangeable fact. I supposed that was what divided us. What made Ana and Harthon into leaders, and me into…me. I never thought of potential, of what could be.
Except now, I was beginning to.
I was starting to think of how things might change for these struggling people if I got us into Centralis. And for a short while, after my nightmare in the woods, I was thinking of how it might feel for Harthon to kiss me again.
Of course, that thought was gone now.
Totally gone. Mhm.
But still, I was slowly beginning to think in terms of potentials.
Chapter 23
The Citadel’s great hall reminded me of the hall where Ellan’s party had been. It was a cavernous space with a tall, arched ceiling, only there was no party to be held here.
Quite the opposite, actually.
Harthon was holding a justice hearing, and judging by the number of axes, swords, and knives held by the guards in attendance, it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight.
Ana had warned me yesterday of the event, which was a quarterly occurrence in the Territory. While most crimes and disputes were handled by the Lords, the justice hearings gave people the opportunity to appeal to Harthon himself. They also gave Harthon the opportunity to very publicly punish a few unlucky criminals who’d been selected for his judgment, rather than that of their local Lords. It was a necessary evil for maintaining order and emphasizing authority, Ana had said.
I shifted on my cushioned seat, trying to relieve the soreness in my lower back. I wasn’t sure I’d evernotfeel sore again. It’d been a week of horseback riding lessons now, and it no longer pained me as it had the first few days. As a result, I’d increased the intensity of my trainings with Callen and Stefano, and both had knocked me onto my ass yesterday more times than I could count. Hence today’s pain.
Tomorrow, I’d probably be hurting somewhere else.
