Pax nodded. “You’ll be magicless.”
I was ashamed to say I wasn’t sure which I felt would be worse.
THIRTEEN
FALLON
Classes had been canceled for the rest of the week. Today was the day of Winter Solstice, and word had spread throughout town that I would be making some kind of statement. After the attack last night, every Gilded Citizen was acting differently. They stared at my father and me as I rode through town on Ember. My dad walked beside the horse, carrying our runaway bags he’d retrieved from Mable’s. Regular shopkeepers now had swords and maces on their belts. Guards were stationed at every block, and we’d been questioned about our credentials twice. My father now had an ID badge that would get him in and out of the West Side at any hour.
“The queen said she would get you a bike so you don’t have to walk to Mable’s inn,” I told him. A second horse was probably out of the question, and I didn’t want to push the queen’s kindness.
“I like walking. It’s good for your health,” was all he said.
He’d been quiet this morning, and I couldn’t help but feel bad that I’d displaced him so much.
“I miss Isariah,” I told him as we followed the map past the palace and into the countryside full of homes and hilltops.
My father smiled. “Floating down Dead Snake River in the summer while eating wild huckleberries.”
“Running through the village during the flower festival.” I beamed, closing my eyes. I could almost smell the roses.
“There are nice things about this city as well,” he said, and I nodded.
“Like Eden and Mable.”
He gave me a wry smile. “Yes, and flushing toilets.”
We both laughed at that.
‘It’s up ahead.’Yanric flew from my shoulder and arced through the air, heading between two weeping willows to a skinny dirt road.
Ember trotted along the lane at a slow pace so that my dad could keep up, and I peered up at the mansion on the hill. A little gasp escaped me at the sight of it. It was almost as large as the main school building at The Academy. It stood four stories high, and the structure looked like it had been carved of black stone. Sunlight hit the building, and it sparkled with a sleek onyx shine. Two black raven statues perched on pillars flanking the gate. In the center of the metal gate was a snake curved into an infinity symbol.
“How do you suppose we open i—” The gate suddenly opened as we approached, and Yanric flew overhead.
‘It opens for a Bane, or if you use the lever, which the guard standing at the top can.’
I followed Yanric’s line of sight, and sure enough, there was a Gilded City guard standing by the front garden, which was unkempt and overrun with weeds.
“It’s huge,” my dad commented.
I nodded. “Could probably house the entire village of Isariah.”
“At least half of them, yeah,” my father agreed.
‘This was once used as a dormitory where all House of Ash and Shadow fae lived to remain safe. They were hunted many centuries ago.’
Holy Fae. Hunted? That didn’t sound right.
We wound up the driveway, and my gaze went to the overgrowth of weeds and wildflowers that ran the length of it. It looked like someone had to recently cut back growth just to be able to use the road. The queen’s guards, I assumed, and whomever else she had working here at my prison. It was hard to look at this giant manor and see a home and not its other intention, which was to cage me if I went dark.
The guard nodded to me as we approached, and I dismounted Ember.
He kept his posture stiff and looked straight. “This post will be guarded at all times. You are to make yourself seen before coming or going so we can catalog your whereabouts,” he stated.
“In her own home?” my father growled, and I placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t know the extent of my agreement with the queen. She clearly wanted to keep an eye on me to make sure I was keeping my curfew, and I was okay with that.
“Okay,” I told the guard, and gave my dad a look that saiddon’t press it. If Solana wanted to waste resources babysitting my whereabouts, then so be it.
