“Why?” Mavlyn asked. “I thought she’d jump at the chance to leave the temple, since she’s locked in there all the time.”
Leap shook his head. “Quye likes to complain about being locked up like a princess in an ivory tower, but the truth is that even though she enjoys sneaking out every once in a while to give her caretakers a hard time and make mischief in the city, she loves the air temple. It’s her haven, and it’s also where the winds come to whisper their secrets to her. She’s most powerful there.”
Mavlyn frowned. “If the air temple is where the Oracle is most powerful, then wouldn’t Lord Oren want her to stay there? Her predictions won’t be as accurate if the winds can’t speak to her.”
“Taking her from the temple was the right decision,” the rider said. “King Aolis’s death has thrown the entire country into a political upheaval. With no clear contender for the throne, all three houses are vying for position. The only good thing that’s come of all this is that the shadow creatures have disappeared.”
“What?” Mavlyn stared, sure that she’d misheard him. “What do you mean, the shadow creatures have disappeared?” That was impossible. She’d seen the shadow demon take over Gelsyne’s body, turning Adara’s poor mother into her very own avatar. There was no way that shadow magic had disappeared from Ediria, not while that monstrous creature was still in their world.
“I mean exactly that,” Gale said. “The shadow creatures that have been plaguing the Deadlands border have vanished. We haven’t had a single one try to cross over into air fae territory in nearly a week now. And we’ve gotten reports from the other realms that their pockets of infestation have also disappeared. It seems the girl from the prophecy did her job.”
Mavlyn glanced at Leap to gauge his reaction. She could see that this news was just as unsettling to him as it was to her, yet he didn’t question the rider about it. “It must be a relief for the rest of the lightning riders to be able to take a break from guarding the border,” he said instead, the question a little too casual.
Gale blew out a breath. “Well, I can’t say that we’ve done that yet,” he said, sheathing his blade. “We’re still guarding the border vigilantly, in case this is some kind of fluke or trick. But I have a feeling that if we continue to see no activity, Lord Oren will order us to pull back so we can deal with any potential threats from the other fae territories.”
Leap looked at Mavlyn then, and the dread in his eyes made her stomach lurch. She sensed he was thinking the same thing—that if this was some kind of trick, then the border would be unguarded when the shadow demon was ready to make her move. She’d done her best to fill Leap in on what had transpired in the castle, knew that he’d seen Nox himself when he’d gone looking for them.
It was more important than ever that they find Quye, so she could advise them on how to best help Adara. But how could they do that when Lord Oren was keeping her under lock and key?
Sighing, Mavlyn turned and walked away, suddenly tired of this conversation. Everything seemed so hopeless, and as she looked around at the billowing sails and the fluffy clouds whipping by, an almost crippling wave of homesickness struck her. She wished she could talk to her mother, or even Mrs. Aeolan, and ask them for advice. She’d never been away from home before, and although she tried her best to keep a brave face for the others, she felt out of place here. Adara was a lost princess and a child of prophecy, Einar a dragon general, Leap the son of two famous lightning riders and nephew to one of the most powerful fae in Ediria. Who was Mavlyn compared to all of that?
These thoughts gnawed at Mavlyn for the rest of the journey, and when Angtun finally came into view, she was almost glad for the distraction. Like Wynth, the city of Angtun was built on the peak of a mountain, protected on all sides by an electric energy field.
But that was where the similarities ended.
“It’s ugly, isn’t it?” Leap said, sidling up to her. His lip curled in disgust as he looked down at the city. “Like a mouthful of teeth from some giant monstrosity, waiting to devour the world.”
Mavlyn raised an eyebrow. “That’s one way to describe it,” she said, studying the city skyline. The buildings rose from the mountaintop like a bristling pyramid of spines, each one gilded orange by the dying sunlight. The spire-like buildings were all constructed from smooth white stone, save for Angtun Castle, whose spires were painted gold. Like the air temple, it perched at the tip of the mountain’s peak, six of its twelve spires tipped with rods that fed into the city’s electrical field.
The captain steered the airship toward the city gate, a circular metal portal that appeared to be floating in the air. Two lightning riders manned the portal, and Gale went to confer with them while the other three lightning riders on board the airship guarded Leap and Mavlyn, their narrowed eyes glued to them like a hawk’s to his prey. The riders manning the portal gave Mavlyn suspicious looks, but their expressions seemed to soften when they looked at Leap, and they gave Gale a nod of approval, allowing the group to pass.
“I think you have more allies here than you may realize,” Mavlyn murmured to Leap as the airship sailed through the portal, aiming for the docks waiting several thousand feet below.
Leap shrugged, but Mavlyn could tell by the uncertain look on his face that he hadn’t expected to find so much sympathy amongst the lightning riders. It was clear there was more to the story of why Leap had fled Angtun, and Mavlyn wondered if he’d tried turning to the lightning riders for help. Perhaps he’d thought they wouldn’t be able to assist him—they did answer to Lord Oren, after all. But she suspected that even though the riders were servants of Oren, they held power in their own right. After all, they were an elite force, and they wielded an ability that was rare amongst even air fae.
Night descended on Angtun as they docked in the harbor, and the guards ushered them off the ship and through the city. Mavlyn craned her neck to study the buildings, which rose around them like a cluster of stalagmites, tall and narrow, with points that tapered off into the sky. Even the shortest ones were ten stories tall, with windows spiraling along the outsides. The narrow, winding streets were nearly empty, and it wasn’t difficult to see why. Almost everyone in the city used some kind of air transportation, from the wind tunnels that snaked between the buildings, to small flying contraptions powered by electricity.
“Why aren’t we using the wind tunnels, like everyone else?” Mavlyn wondered aloud. “It’s obviously much faster that way.”
“It’s easier for the guards to keep an eye on us,” Leap muttered back. “Even without access to my powers, I can still catch a ride on any of these wind tunnels, jump through a window, and be ten streets away before they can blink. Here on the ground, it’s much harder.”
“Hmm.” Mavlyn looked at the surface streets again. Aside from a few threadbare beggars and children, there were hardly any fae down here. And there also weren’t any doors on the ground levels of the buildings, or at least none facing the street. The entrances were at least two stories up, which meant that just like with the air temple, you had to be an air fae, or with an air fae, in order to enter.
It took them a good forty minutes to arrive at the castle, and by the time they did, Mavlyn’s eyes were burning with exhaustion. She hadn’t slept much last night, plagued by worries for Quye and also the uncertainty of her own fate. And even though their audience with Lord Oren was imminent, Mavlyn wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball in a corner and sleep.
As they entered the palace gates, Mavlyn noticed an immediate change come over Leap. He straightened his posture and held his head high, marching through the bailey as though he wasn’t shackled and clad in filthy, torn clothes. The stable staff and guards seemed to recognize him, their stares and whispers following them as they were marched up the steps and into the foyer.
It was only when the guards started leading them to a hall off the right that Leap began to show signs of resistance. “You’re not taking us to the dungeons?” he asked, coming to a stop.
Gale turned to look at us, his eyebrows arched. “Would you prefer that?”
Leap shrugged. “I don't want to be here at all. But since you've brought me back to Angtun in chains, dirty and starving, I figured my uncle was going to keep me in a cell, not give me an actual bed.”
Gale snorted. “Regardless of your crimes, you are still air fae nobility. The guards might have had a little fun with you by sticking you in a jail cell last night, but Lord Oren won’t be pleased if you’re brought before him looking like a gutter rat. He’ll see you tomorrow, once you’re clean, fed, and rested.”
“And what about me?” Mavlyn asked. “I thought I was a filthy earth fae spy, not to be trusted?”
Gale shrugged. “It’s easier to keep watch over the two of you if you’re together.”
