CHAPTER 28
SLADE
The dead land ends.
After miles, it finally gives way to an earth that still lives. The border between the two is like the jagged edge of a scab. One step, it’s the ashy, unnatural silt, and the next, it’s lush grass and centuries-old trees. Birds fly overhead, insects flock to low-hanging fruits, and the air no longer carries an edge of death.
We passed two cities on our way. No doubt they flourished at one time, but they’re nothing but empty ruins now. At one point, fae tried to build a wall in front of the encroaching decay, and I could sense echoes of magic also used to try to stop the spread.
But it didn’t work. The dead lands just kept reaching.
I haven’t let myself stop to rest or to slow down. Travel has been grueling, but my bond beckons. I know she’s here and I’m getting closer, so there’s no time to waste.
The Vulmin leading the way give me a wide berth. They continue to watch me warily, and they’re wise to do so. But finally, my destination comes into view.
The sprawling, beautiful land of Lydia.
It was once just one of the many kingdoms of Annwyn. Each territory had its own ruler, culture, protections. But then everything changed, and the separate lands were ingested into the belly of one beast, bowing to a single monarch and falling under a united rule.
Across this stretch of green valley, I see Glassworth Palace where the monarch lays claim. It sits on a flat expanse of land, and a waterfall cascades off its sharp edge like syrup dripping off a plate.
The palace used to be made solely of stone that was riddled with stained glass windows to earn its name. Those stained glass walls and domed ceilings are still there, but it now has crystal spires and gemstones growing out of it. Its vibrancy spits in the face of the bereft land we just left, standing arrogant and vivid, when everything just miles away is a colorless corpse.
Even with being built up high on the plateau that overlooks the city, the palace doesn’t have much of a defensive wall. There’s only a short parapet at the front with a wide open gate that seems to be more for looks than safeguarding. It seems arrogant in its lack of defense, although Glassworth was built in a time of peace and beauty.
It’s a lack that I have every intention of exploiting.
“Lord Rot.”
The male who’s been leading the group of Vulmin comes up to my side. They call him Hare, though I think it’s a nickname because his two front teeth slightly resemble that of a rabbit. “What’s the plan?”
I give him a fleeting look. “This is the plan.”
There’s a disbelieving pause before he sputters, “What—you can’t mean to simply…walk up to the palace gates?”
“That’s precisely what I mean to do.”
“They’ll kill you on the spot!”
“I’m sure they’ll try.”
They said their king has Auren. So I’ll walk right up to those gates and start rotting everything in my path until I find her.
Hare’s eyes widen with wariness. It seems my absence from Annwyn has watered down the knowledge of my power. Otherwise, he wouldn’t look so scared for me.
The city where I once lived used to fear me , and with good reason.
“We need to go with you,” Hare says.
“We can’t go with him!” someone else hisses behind us. “They’ll kill us! We need to go into the city and get in contact with the others.”
“We can’t just leave the Ly?ri’s bonded!” someone else argues.
I feel their eyes on me, and curiosity has me stopping on the road. Their clothes are covered in dust from the deadlands, their faces weary, their packs heavy. Though their tight-lipped regard has given me little to nothing to go on for their intentions.
But I know they hate the king, hate the war, and they have some sort of loyalty to Auren because of her family name. That’s been more than enough for me to trust them to lead me.
Plus, if they did anything, I’d just fucking kill them.
But judging by the way they talk about Auren, it’s obvious she’s more than just a notable figure for Turley loyalists. They speak of her with reverence, though they’ve admitted that they haven’t actually met her.
“If you feel a sense of responsibility to stay with me on Auren’s behalf, I can assure you, I don’t need anyone risking their lives for me.”
“But you’re alone, walking straight up to the palace,” Hare argues. “If you think King Carrick has sent all his forces to Orea, you’re wrong. I know for a fact he still has plenty of protection here.”
“There wouldn’t be enough forces in the entire realm for him to stop me.”
Hare blinks. They all look at me as if the way I speak is rooted in nothing but arrogance. It’s not.
It’s fact.
“Come with me or don’t, the choice is yours. But do so at your own risk.”
“We should go to the city,” another male says—the one who possesses power to attack with teeth. He wears a string of them around his neck. They call him Fang.
My strides cut past a shallow hillside, and just up ahead, the dirt road splits off. If I continue straight, I’ll reach the cliffside where a fae-built slope leads to the top of the plateau where the palace awaits.
But noise snares my attention, tugging my gaze to the right. To where the forked road splits off, leading to the city. A tall lavender archway is there to mark Lydia’s entrance.
And the path is teeming with fae waiting to pass through.
“Celebrating a holiday?” I ask, though I have a feeling that’s not the case.
Hare and the others stop, everyone’s eyes now on the city’s entrance. “No,” Hare says, shaking his head. “There’s no holiday. I don’t know what this is…”
“Looks like fae from the neighboring villages are swarming in,” Fang adds, glancing around at the groups along the road traveling toward Lydia. Some are coming from the direction of the forest, others past the other side of the plateau.
“We should go see what’s going on,” another says.
“There could be trouble. You know Carrick has been more violent than ever,” Fang says, looking to Hare. “The rise of the movement has shaken him. He could be pressing his thumb down on the capital. Could have found some of us…”
They all hesitate. Hare looks to me.
“Go,” I tell them with a jerk of my chin. With them in the city, I won’t have to worry about any of them dying for following me.
“We could split up…”
The reluctance in their faces is actually quite profound. That they’re even considering splitting up so that some of them can stay with me. Their sense of loyalty on Auren’s behalf is shocking.
But with the fae flooding into the city, it might be the perfect time for me to walk right up to the palace gates, since the king might be distracted.
My power thrums with impatience, but I fist my hands and hold it back. “Go to the city, ensure your people are safe, and—”
Something in the distance makes me stop, and my eyes suddenly widen. My words slice off as my breath grips tight.
Then my fucking heart clenches in my chest, because there, in the city, something appears in the air.
Like a flare in the swallowed dark. A soft golden light illuminates from the city’s depths, its rays breaking through the high treetops like sunlight.
I stagger back.
Because there, Auren’s aura shines from the city’s core.
Leading me to her.
My bond doesn’t just sing inside my chest now—it peals . Thunders. Releases with a clamor that even the stars can hear. The song it plays is the perfect rhythm of her beating heart. Just like the beacon that first led me to her in the Barrens, she calls again to me now.
I nearly fall to my knees in relief and elation.
“ Auren .”
I say it like a breath. Her name yanked from the deepest parts of me. My jaw aches and my eyes burn, and I’m flooded with every emotion I’ve felt since we were ripped from one another.
My steps turn sharply toward the city road.
“What are you doing?” Hare asks, he and the other Vulmin hurrying to keep up. “I thought you were going to the palace?”
“Not anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because Auren isn’t in Glassworth,” I say, not bothering to slow down.
Fang comes up on my other side, twisting his ball of teeth at his neck. “How do you know?” he asks. “How do you know where she is?”
I glance at him.
How do I know?
Because I’d know that light anywhere, whether in the depths of darkness or in a sea of stars. Her brightness, her soul , sings a song I’d follow anywhere.
I know because she’s my other half, and her aura is leading me back to her.
I know because she’s mine.
But to him, I answer simply.
“I just do.”