Page 17 of Once Written in Gilded Blood

I’m not hopeful I’ll find the herbs outside the kingdom since it’s winter and everything is buried in ice and snow, but there are a few places I can look inside the kingdom as well. A tea shop or potions merchant will likely have it.

Kalel doesn’t speak much until it’s past midday, and we reach a dark bridge that crosses over onto a peninsula. Nikolai and Tessa keep me entertained with their elaborate stories about missions they’ve been on out this way. According to them, after the sun sets on Mortem’s peninsula, strange things start to happen. Like knights hallucinating or getting lost, suddenly disappearing from their groups.

They filled my head with such stories for hours. And now that we’re here, chills pebble my skin. My fingers curl tightly around the reins, and I try to stay calm. Everything will be fine.

The scent of salt permeates the air so thickly you can taste it. The sound of waves crashing against rocks far below makes me curious enough to dismount my horse to see the shore below.

Alzhor is far away from the ocean. The demigods don’t concern themselves with the sea. As far as they’re concerned, it belongs to Neptune, and we don’t have any reason to traverse it. But now that I’m here, a rush of excitement pulses in my veins.

Crows fly along the bottom, eager to find crabs and mussels. They dodge the spray of the colliding water and cliffside magnificently. Dancing with danger, one might think. It’s entrancing to see the waves and sea in person.

“You’re acting as if you’ve never seen the sea,” Tessa chides, guiding her horse to cross the bridge ahead of us.

A smile pulls at the corner of my lips. “I’ve never seen the ocean before. I’ve only read about it in children’s books. Aren’t there supposed to be seagulls? I didn’t know crows lingered here like this.”

“Really?” Nikolai quirks his brows in disbelief.

Kalel dismounts his horse and moves to stand beside me. His sharp features are enhanced by the lighting behind us, the sun hidden by the clouds, creating a haunting, bright gray halo around his face. “Only crows are brave enough to remain this close to Mortem. Other birds tend to stay as far away as they can.”

I glance up at him. “Is Mortem truly such a frightening place?”

He chuckles and pushes my hair behind my ear. “The doors are always closed, so there’s nothing to fear, Alira. Come now, we have to be quick if we want to be back to Devicit before midnight. And trust me, we don’t want to spend our time out here after dark. We need to cross this bridge before dusk.”

Oh, I’m well aware. Tessa and Nikolai made sure of that. I try to shake the ominous feeling that fills the pit of my stomach.

We mount our horses and cross the dark, bumpy bridge. It’s old and has an eerie feel. Much like old castles covered in ancient moss do. It’s the history behind it. The ghosts, long ago, who spent their lives building such things. Only to perhaps be forgotten and lost to time.

A soft flurry of snowflakes starts to fall from the sky, big fluffy balls of white that dance with the air currents from below.

My eyes follow one snowflake over my shoulder, and I look back at the solemn bridge as it begins to fade in the snowstorm. “Why is it only before dusk that we need to cross? If this place is haunted, then why only at night?”

Kalel gives his horse a small nudge to get it to trot faster, and my horse follows suit. His voice is grim as he mutters, “Because Mortem’s gates might be closed, but the dark of these lands will play with your mind. Some say it is the closest you will ever get to Mortem while you are still alive. Pluto doesn’t like people trying to disturb his realm. And at night, his power is stronger. This is his land, after all.”

“Let’s not scare her more than we need to,” Tessa says as she comes up to my left side. She offers me a slight smile. “Nik and I already saw to it.”

Nikolai laughs and reaches over from where he rides to my right and pats me on the back. “She’s not scared.”

“Not even a bit,” I say with a fake smile while biting back a nervous laugh.

My eyes are wide, and I suck in my lower lip anxiously. A shudder crawls up my spine as I worry about us not making it to the gates and back to the bridge in time.

From the bridge, it’s only an hour or so before we reach the Gates of Mortem. The peninsula is made of fields, rolling hills, and the jagged rocks in the distance that I didn’t think we’d ever reach.

The moment we crest the last snowy hill leading up to the gates, I’m overcome with the sheer size of the gates.

It looks as if a pillar of rock was deliberately erected for the entrance. The rock is arched and at least fifty feet tall. The gates aren’t located on the peninsula; they stand in the sea, a few hundred feet from the shore, water between us and the entrance. An enormous stone statue rises on each side. It’s difficult to make it out from here, but they look like a depiction of Apollo and Ares standing guard. One holds a sword that tilts inward, and the other has a hunter’s bow, the tips of each pointing to the doors leading into Mortem.

Dark ocean tides make up the background beyond the gates, only adding to the foreboding and ominous greeting they offer us.

“Oh my gods,” I whisper under my breath. The air carried off the ocean is significantly colder than it is inland, and it chills me to the bone.

The giant doors creak as the strong gusts of wind push at them. The gates are made of wood and must be centuries old, but they are still in perfect condition, with a dark stained color that very much matches the dreary vibe of the coast.

My hair lashes in the breeze, covering my face a few times, as I take it all in.

“Mortem is a place where you can physically feel the land trying to urge you inside. To open the doors. We will not go any closer than this. The gates are—” Kalel cuts himself off as his eyes widen with horror.

Tessa and Nikolai snap their attention to the gates.