Chapter 14
Jessiah
Iwas a fool. The biggest fucking fool alive. Worse than a fool, actually. And Rummy only made it worse.
Fuck, even the scent of her incapacitated me.
It dulled yet heightened my senses in ways that made me act like an absolute idiot.
After the morning came, I’d scrubbed my skin over and over again, letting the water scald me.
Letting it burn me raw in hopes that I could burn the memories of her from my mind as well.
But it was no use.
The thought of her still swarmed inside my mind as we got ready to leave the inn.
It took more energy than usual to keep my gaze averted as we readied the horses.
The town was quiet this morning. Empty. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and birds chirped in the distance.
It was nothing like mornings in Scarlata. From the moment I rose, I was busy. We were all busy. I didn’t mind it. Being busy meant moving forward.
The quietness here… it stirred a disquiet inside me.
The memory of Rummy in bed last night only amplified it.
“How is she?” Xavier approached, an apple in hand. “She run away in the night and leave our sorry asses yet?”
I finished securing my saddle with a tug. “Much to my dismay, no. She’ll be out here soon. Whatever that healer did to her seemed to work well enough.”
He nodded, but he eyed me suspiciously. “You two sleep okay?”
I rolled my eyes.
“What!”
“You really thought something would happen after you left?” I bit out. “Are you playing matchmaker now?”
He took a bite of his apple and chomped on it before responding. “Me? How dare you accuse me of that. Our room didn’t reek of blood and rotten flesh, and I figured you two could use the privacy. Did my curiosity get the best of me? Perhaps. But that is no reason to throw these accusations around!”
I stared him down. “Right.”
He held my stare for a few seconds before breaking out into the biggest smile I’d ever seen from my friend. “Though it would do us all some good if you just made your damn move already.”
I nearly choked on air. “Are we talking about the same woman here?” I asked. “Because Rummy wouldn’t let me near her with a fucking ten-foot pole. Women like that aren’t good for anyone.”
A cough behind me jolted my attention. “Morning, boys.”
Shit.
Stomach bottoming out, I spun. Rummy stood a few feet away, a hand on her hip and her hair still wet.
“Morning, Rum. We were just talking about you.”
She smiled sideways, as if she hadn’t just heard everything we were fucking saying. No shot.
She’d heard it all.
“Really?” she asked. “All good things, I hope.”
Now that she’d changed and rinsed all the mud and blood from her skin, she was damn near unrecognizable. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed she’d been on the verge of death just yesterday.
“Always good things.” Xavier strolled over to her and kissed her on the cheek, which naturally made my stomach drop even further. “You sleep okay?”
“Good as ever,” she chirped. “Right, Jessiah?”
The two of them looked at me. “Right,” I ground out.
Goddess fucking kill me.
“You three ready for this?” Matthias came trotting through the doors of the inn with his bag slung over his shoulder and determination in his eyes. “This day won’t be easy. But if we play our cards right, we might all make it out alive.”
“Can’t wait!” Rummy clapped, feigning excitement. “Let’s go meet this king!”
She approached one of the horses, and Matthias did the same.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I held my hand up to stop them. “You can’t really think it’s going to be that easy. If we tromp right up to the king, we could be killed on sight.”
Matthias took a long breath. “King Cornelius is an egotistical man. As guests from Scarlata, you’ll be treated like royalty. Not threats.”
“Then how do we do this?” Xavier asked. “What’s our next move?”
Matthias turned back, and the four of us devised a plan, if it could even be called that.
The heart of Pericius wasn’t far from here, according to Matthias.
We’d ride through the streets like regular citizens—doing our best to avoid areas that had been damaged during rebellion skirmishes—and we’d be at the castle gates before sundown.
So, yes, we were essentially riding directly into the kingdom, directly into the heart of the chaos, with no real strategy other than to stay alive and avoid the rebels.
But we were tired. And we were so damn close.
So when Matthias led us toward the kingdom, then through the streets, we followed.
As we made it into the city, the quietness slowly morphed into something dark. Sinister.
The sun was still shining, but a thick layer of clouds rolled through the sky. The lush, lively trees that had flanked the path from the inn thinned out, many decaying or already dead like an eerie foretelling of what was to come.
Shortly after, we encountered wanderers on the side of the road. The first several didn’t look particularly troubled, but they did not look to be in great spirits, either. The next, though, appeared to be begging for money.
As we made it into the city completely, the streets filled with citizens begging and scavenging.
The citizens of Pericius were starving. Impoverished. Struggling to survive. As our horses trotted forward, I had to fight the urge to stop and give these people everything I had.
How could the king let this happen?
These people did not look violent. This did not look like a war being waged against the kingdom.
They needed help.
“Keep moving,” Matthias ordered from ahead. “We’re almost there.”
Rummy straightened, her face a mask of concern, but she said nothing as we pushed forward. None of us did.
We marched and marched, forced to ignore the pleas for help—for what could we do for them? We had no extra supplies or food—until a massive wall came into view ahead. This had to be the castle, though we couldn’t see a damn thing over the towering barricade.
As we approached, the king’s guards stormed upon us, surrounding us. There had to be at least fifty—each with their weapons drawn and pointed directly at us.
“Dismount from your horses. NOW!” one of them ordered.
“They come from Scarlata Empire!” Matthias yelled. “They are here to see the king!”
The guards didn’t flinch. “On the ground!” they ordered again.
I dismounted my horse and obeyed. Rummy and Xavier did the same.
“From Scarlata?” One of the guards approached me, surveying my wings and the sword strapped at my hip. “You’ve come a long way.”
“We received a letter from the king. We’re here to speak with him.”
Stiffening, he regarded me more closely, as if warring with himself. But eventually, he waved his arm. “Follow us. Just you three.”
I shot Matthias a look, but he just nodded.
This was all part of the plan.
So when the guards cleared a path to a small opening in the castle wall, we followed.
I fought the urge to glance back at Rummy as I followed the man who’d spoken to us.
She would be fine. We would all be fine.
The pounding in my heart was due to the adrenaline flowing from me.
This close to the new king, it was natural for my defenses to be up.
That was natural. At least that’s what I told myself.
The instant we slipped behind the castle wall, the chaos of the streets vanished completely. There were no beggars here. No citizens at all, actually. Just guards hustling around the perfectly groomed grounds.
“Kneel,” one of the guards ordered.
We made it two damn steps inside the wall before we were being shoved to our knees. I resisted at first, until I remembered what Matthias had said.
King Cornelius is an egotistical man. Of course he would make his guests kneel before him.
This time, I did glance at my companions. Rummy raised a brow at me, then slowly lowered herself to her knees.
Xavier and I did the same.
I kept my focus on the ground until the sound of boots approaching caught my attention.
Perfectly shined, hardly worn boots.
The owner of the pristine footwear stopped just a few feet in front of us. “Friends, friends!” he called. “Welcome to Pericius. It’s an honor to have you here, though I must say this was quite the surprise.”
“And who are you?” Xavier said through gritted teeth.
The man laughed slowly, the sound raising the hair on my arms. “I’m King of Pericius. But since you all are my new friends, you can call me Cornelius.”