Chapter 37
My feet hit the ground, and I stumble forward, but a hand cups my elbow and steadies me.
“Don’t open your eyes yet,” Kressa whispers, pulling me into her arms.
I squeeze my eyes shut and rest my temple in the crook of her neck. Her hand finds the back of my head, and she presses me closer, combing her fingers through my hair. I inhale through my nose, and the smell of the air before a storm fills my lungs.
For a moment, it’s easy to believe it could be this simple. Just me and her.
“When you open your eyes, you’re going to see something many people won’t see in their entire lifetime. They aren’t very welcoming to strangers, but as long as you’re with me and keep your head down, you’ll be okay.”
My fingers find the hem of her shirt, twisting around the fabric. “Will they be angry I’m here?”
“They won’t know.”
Her pulse thrums beneath my ear, and I count the heartbeats, pressing the rhythm into my memory. Distant voices sound behind me, and yet, I keep my eyes closed. I could fall into her forever.
She pulls back and hooks her finger under my chin, tilting my head up. There’s a hitch to her breath, as if she’s taking advantage of my eyes being closed—unabashedly studying my face.
I lean closer.
“Okay,” she whispers. “You can open your eyes.”
I blink them open, and her face fills my vision. A firelight glow pools on her cheekbones, and her lips tilt into a smile, shifting the scar on her throat.
My lip lifts at the edge. “Were you staring at me?”
She brushes her thumb across my jawline, and the air thickens between us as she drops her gaze to my lips. “I’m always looking at you, love.”
My heart forgets an entire beat—my body aware of every inch of her pressed against me.
Her pupils widen, and her chest expands on a deep inhale, as if she senses my thoughts.
“I hope you know what this means, and how much I trust you to bring you here.” Her voice is lighter than a breath.
“If anyone to find it, everyone would be in danger. This is why I need to have control over the Earth Court. Why I need to prove to the world that these people aren’t a danger to us like we’ve been led to believe. ”
My mouth goes dry, but I nod. “I understand.”
She unravels her arms and twists me around. “This is Amoren, the stronghold of the Fire Court.”
I gasp. A sprawling cavern stretches out before me, as if an entire world has been carved into the interior of the mountain. Balls of firelight hover in the air—tucked into caverns branching off from the main one, lighting the limestone walls in a crimson glow.
Stone buildings and homes cling to the edges of the rock, built into the very walls themselves. Thick lumber rails circle pathways that climb skyward and dive down, leading to upper and lower levels.
“This isn’t some recovering community,” I say, as children race each other around a courtyard dangling off the edge.
Kressa nods against my temple. “When Serinos fell into slumber, the Fire Court went into hiding and found a way to live within the mountain. For decades, they’ve convinced the world that they were all killed.”
Men and women stroll around the perimeter, crossing drawbridges suturing the sides of the cavern together. Signs hang in front of storefronts, and farther below, a wide doorway yawns open. A library.
This is a thriving city.
“And their power?” I hedge.
“When Serinos left them, she took their power with her.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “But it came back recently.”
I blink, turning my attention to her. “How recent?”
“After The Gales, when I wielded fire.”
My lips part, and I study her face, searching for confirmation of what’s been gnawing deep within my gut. “How were you able to do that? Why can you wield fire?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out.” She tilts her chin toward the library below. “I’ve spent nearly every night searching through every tome I can find, looking for an answer. But most of them are in languages that don’t exist anymore.”
I follow her line of sight. “Is that where we’re going?”
“Not tonight. There’s something a little more pressing that I need you to see. I—I can’t explain it. You’ll just have to see for yourself.”
The Sopor lingers behind us, and Kressa weaves her fingers through mine, pulling me down a stone pathway that dives deeper into the cavern. I trail my hand over a railing, my head light from the sheer drop below. But others mill about—comfortable with being so high from the ground.
Small gaps are hewn into the walls, and cool air flows out of them, cooling the sweat at my nape.
“They have technological advancements far beyond anything in Sarenia,” Kressa says, hovering her hand in front of the blowing air. “Quite amazing, truly.”
The walkway levels out, and doorways line the stone wall to my left, each propped open. Laughter pours from the openings of pubs, and potted flowers border the entrance to a bakery—the smell of bread wafting from inside.
Kressa rests her hand at the small of my back. “I’ve spent so much time here exploring, and yet, I still haven’t seen all of it.”
Painted murals cover the smoothed walls, and fresh water trails down vertical divots, pooling in stone bowls punctuated along the pathways. Drinking water, at their fingertips.
“Who rules over them?” I ask.
“They nominate leaders, then vote on them.”
My eyes widen. “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
The corner of her lip quirks. “Like I said, they found a way to exist once their goddess fell into slumber. And, as you can see, no one is lacking. No poverty, no hunger. They have schools, community, a thriving economy. Down here, they don’t know war.
” Her smile disappears. “Which is why I fear their time of peace is coming to an end.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because Caelus knew they existed.”
The book he had in his study—the one he said was written in the beginning of the Fire Court. The same book that is likely in the hands of Callum now. “But how?”
She shrugs. “I tried to figure that out in the time between the trials, but I never discovered anything. Luckily he was more interested in power than finding the Fire Court, but the fact is, the people here are in danger.”
A sour taste fills my mouth. If I inadvertently lead Isolde here, then—
“What the fuck are you doing?” calls a voice behind us.
The hair lifts on the back of my neck, and Kressa sucks in a cheek as we turn.
“I told you not to bring her here,” Nicole says, a muscle feathering in her jaw.
“I promise, it’s okay.” Kressa shifts closer to my side. “I trust her.”
“I don’t.” Nicole’s eyes shift to me, reflecting the fire lighting the cavern. “And it wasn’t that long ago when all you could talk about was how badly you wanted to kill the Princess of the Sea for what she did. How you were leaving to scour the world for her.”
“She won’t betray us,” Kressa says. She turns to me and lifts a brow. “Right?”
I press my expression into stone and bottle up the panic rising in my chest. “Of course not. I’ve spoken at length with Kressa, and we all want the same thing.”
The lie slips off my tongue too easily, and my stomach churns. A sprawling metropolis spreads out around me—one that could be too easily decimated if it landed in the wrong hands.
But while it’s only a matter of time before Isolde shows up and attacks Ignata, I’ll be sure she never finds out about Amoren.
Nicole’s face hovers in front of mine, and she tilts her head. “Kressa’s judgement may be clouded because of the bond you two share, but make no mistake. I will never trust you. The woman I see before me is nothing but a waste of space.”
I blink, averting my gaze as I bite down on the flesh of my cheek.
A shadow billows behind her, then manifests into a solid being. My breath catches, and I step back as a Sopor materializes, looming over her shoulder. Its hood hangs far over its eyes—only the bloodless tint of its lips visible.
“Do not speak to her like that,” it hisses in Nicole’s ear, its voice unnatural. Otherworldly.
Chills sweep across my shoulders, and her face pales. Her throat works on a swallow and she nods, casting her gaze to the ground. “Understood.”
The Sopor fades and, as if it never existed, disappears.
Kressa watches me, reading the question on my face. “They may hold elections for positions of power, but everyone answers to the Sopors.”
I nod, but pull my lip between my teeth as I stare out into the cavern. Caelus didn’t answer to the Sopor during the second trial—in fact, he used it as a weapon.
“So she’s coming, then?” Nicole says to Kressa, breaking me out of my trance.
Kressa nods. “She needs to see it. But we have to hurry, before anyone back in the castle notices her missing.”
“See what?” I say, but my words go unheard as Kressa grabs my hand and pulls me down the walkway, deeper into the depths.
Nicole follows in our tracks, and my skin prickles, as if she’s glaring at the space between my shoulders—right where the base of my skull meets my spine.
The storefronts fade behind us, and we pass small houses pressed into the rock walls. Children peer through the windows, followed by fathers and mothers, and I dip my head deeper into my hood.
It was long before I was born when the Fire Court collapsed, but I can’t be too careful. Word of my appearance could have made it this far.
The path quiets, and the space between the balls of light lengthens as we enter the mouth of a narrow cavern. Shadows cling to the edges of the ceilings, and my eyes strain against the dark. Kressa presses against my side, and warmth billows from her, warming my skin as her fingertips brush mine.
Comfort sweeps over me, but I resist the urge to lean into her. Not until I know what’s going on.
A breeze whistles through the cave, and Kressa spares a glance at Nicole. “Did Nora say how long it’s been like this?”
“Only about a couple days, but they’re getting stronger. We can only keep it a secret from everyone else for so long, and people are already starting to ask questions.”