Chapter 13
Thirteen
ALLETTE
My heart batters my breastbone as I try to catch my breath.
Senan Vale is alive.
All these years, I believed him dead, and he has been here , in Kumulus, living and breathing and alive . What was with all those tattoos? And the stardust glowing in his veins?
I close my eyes, forcing myself to remember the events of the night I’ve spent so long trying to forget.
Eason had said Senan was gone too.
He saw the humans take the prince. We both assumed they’d killed him, but what if he’d fought them off? What if he’d managed to escape? If that’s what happened, why didn’t he ever come back for me?
Did something happen in the years the portal had been closed? Had he fallen in love with his betrothed and forgotten all about what we had?
No. He wouldn’t have done that.
We are mated.
There must be some other explanation.
I try to get to him, but there are too many people calling his name, pushing and shoving me out of the way. Their shouts drown out my own, leaving me searching desperately for a way through the throng to my prince.
By the time the crowd disperses, there is no sign of Senan at all.
This isn’t the end of the world. I can call to the castle once I’ve had time to rest and collect my spinning thoughts.
My heartbeat quickens at the thought of seeing my mate again.
I will find Senan and the answers I seek no matter what it takes.
Inhaling a deep breath, I turn away from the Black Hole and hurry up the hill toward my old neighborhood.
The streets grow more familiar with every step. I pass the apothecary Wynn used to visit when she needed medicine for her father. Wynn. After I see my aunt, I really should speak with Wynn’s mother down in the kitchens to explain what happened to her daughter. She’ll hate me for bringing Wynn to the human realm, but at least she’ll have closure. It’s the least I can do for my friend.
The library where I used to borrow books sits between two taller buildings, stretching into the sky. Escaping into stories helped me manage my grief when my parents passed. I never would have survived without them.
Up ahead sits the restaurant where my aunt would order shellfish farmed from the Folly Sea. Those things used to make the entire dining room reek of fish.
After what feels like forever, the base of my aunt’s tower comes into view. If I had my wings, I would’ve flown straight to the main doors on the first balcony hiding above the layer of clouds.
Without them, I’m forced to knock at the servant’s entrance.
What will my aunt say when she sees me again? Should I tell her the truth of what happened? Not about Senan. I can’t bear to speak that part aloud. But about the humans and what they’ve stolen from me. I suppose she’ll find out eventually when I no longer fly anywhere.
Hopefully, she’ll be so excited about seeing me that she’ll save her questions until I’ve had time to really consider my responses. I yawn into my fist. Stars, I’m tired. My limbs feel like they’re made of stone. I’m going to fall into my bed and sleep for a week.
The door eases open, and a servant sticks his head out. The black mask and hood throws me for a moment. I forgot how unnerving it is to speak to a faceless person.
Knowing he can see me through his mesh mask, I give him a smile. “Hello, I’m?—”
He cuts me off with a wave of his hand. “We don’t take kindly to beggars in these parts. Best be gone, or I’ll call the guards.”
His voice doesn’t sound familiar, but the only servant I really interacted with was Wynn. Still, if the man was here four years ago, he should recognize me. My hair isn’t its normal shade of blue, and I’m paler, my face gaunter, but my features are still the same.
“I’m not a beggar.” Although, from the state of my clothes, I can see why he’d think that. “My aunt lives here.”
The man’s head tilts. “You must have the wrong house, girl. There are no female Tuath in this tower.”
No females at all? What happened to Wynn’s mother and the other maids? “I’m not Tuath. I’m Scathian.”
“If you’re Scathian, then what’re you doing down here?”
That is none of his business, is it? “If you could please let Lady Marjory know that her niece has returned, I will be more than happy to explain.”
“Lady Marjory? She passed, gods, must be about two, maybe three years ago?”
My aunt is dead ? That can’t be true. She can’t be gone too. What happened? Sure, she’d been ancient, but she had been in good health. “How is this possible?”
“Caught the wasting, I believe, though it was before I started working for his Lordship.”
First the wasting sickness stole my parents, then it took my aunt as well? Such a cruel, terrible disease. I hope she did not suffer, that she succumbed quickly. That someone was at her side so she did not die alone.
I should’ve been here.
Guilt and grief run hand in hand, two sides of the same coin. She and I never really got on, and I’d rebelled against the many rules she’d tried to put in place. Now that I’ve had so much time away to reflect, I realize the woman had done her best. I will be forever grateful for the home she provided when I had nowhere else go to.
Nowhere else to go…
“Who lives here now?” I ask.
“With no living descendants, Lady Marjory’s property reverted to the crown. The king awarded the tower to Lord Hasselbeck.”
Not only is my aunt gone, so is the home I’ve been trying so desperately to return to. The only thing that would make this day right is if I could go straight to Kumulus Castle and speak to Senan. But without sleep or a bath or something respectable to wear, they’ll take one look at me and send me away.
The servant mutters something under his breath before closing the door. The lock on the other side scrapes into place.
What in heaven’s name am I supposed to do now? Where will I stay? I knew a few young women who used to live nearby, but not being able to fly to the Scathian entrance means I probably won’t be shown in.
What am I going to do?
There used to be an inn nearby. Maybe they’ll give me a room at a decent price for what remains of the night.
I drift toward a side street where I remember the inn being, eventually finding a wooden sign swinging above a black door. The innkeeper takes one look at me and says they’re all booked up.
Back on the street, muted morning light paints the buildings, the streets, and even the people in shades of gray. The toe of my boot catches on the threshold, and I pitch forward, falling straight into a man walking past.
“Watch it,” he snaps, shoving me off him.
I murmur an apology, taking in the now bustling street. Where did all these people come from? I’ve never seen Kumulus City as busy. Then again, I used to lounge in bed until noon and spend most of my time above the clouds. Is it always like this—and at such an ungodly hour?
I try three more inns, but all the proprietors claim they’re full.
My leaden eyelids feel too heavy as I stumble around the back of a building, desperate for a place to rest. At this stage, even the damp, darkened doorways look appealing.
Eventually, I come across a Pegasus stable. Inside, there is no sign of a stable hand, only two black-winged horses. The place smells like hay and musky hides, but I’ve smelled worse. I slip between the rolling doors and duck into the last empty stall in the line. Hay pokes my back as I curl into a ball and tuck my cloak around me like a blanket.
Everything will be all right.
Life will look brighter once I get back to my mate.
“Oi! Get up, you,” a deep voice snarls.
Something hard nudges my side. The world slowly comes into focus, and I find myself blinking up at a stone-faced man with pock-marked gray skin holding the reins of a white-and-brown-speckled Pegasus.
Memories come crashing down like bricks, striking one after another.
I’m in Kumulus.
In a stable.
My mate is alive.
My aunt is not.
I shove upright and gather my hair back from my face, finding bits of hay and heaven knows what else wrapped in the tangled strands. “I’m so sorry. The inn was full, and?—”
“And you thought you could hole up here for the day without payin’ a bob?”
“No. You’ve got me all wrong. I tried to pay the woman, but she told me there wasn’t room.”
The man scoffs.
“I did. I have coins.” I collect my pack from where I’d been using it as a crude pillow. “I went to every inn, but no one would give me a bloody room.” Tears spring to my eyes, blurring his face. “I just got back into town last night only to find the aunt I’m supposed to stay with has died, and I tried to get into an inn, but no one would let me stay and I didn’t have anywhere else to go and?—”
The Pegasus snorts, its ears flattening to its massive head. “Heavens above, girl.” The man pats the animal’s wiry mane. “Don’t start wailing. You’ll only anger the beasts.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll…I’ll go.” But go where ? Even if I wanted to go to the castle straight away, they won’t let me inside in this state.
The man stares at me for the longest time before huffing a curse and tying the animal’s reins to the post outside my stall. “Come with me.” He holds out his hand.
After what happened to my wings, I know better than to blindly trust anyone. “Come with you where?”
His eyes narrow. “Do you want a bloody room or not?”
He is going to get me a room? Hope sparks in my chest when I take his calloused hand, letting him lead me out of the stables, across the street, and around the back of a gray building with white shutters. His fist bangs against the door.
A moment later, a portly woman with wiry brown hair peers out, her bushy eyebrows lowered over coal-black eyes. “No charity,” she clips.
“The girl claims she has coins,” the man replies.
“I do.” I drag out my purse and withdraw a coin.
The woman’s eyebrows lift. “That is human gold.”
“Does that matter?” Gold is gold, right?
Although her lips flatten into a thin line, she huffs a weary sigh. “I’ve only one room, but you’ll be needing a good scrub first. Don’t want lice in the beds, ya see. And the bath will cost you extra.”
I’m so relieved, I don’t care if the bed and bath cost me a hundred coins. I drop the gold coin in her palm and drag out a few coppers for the bath. “Is that enough?”
She stuffs the coins into her apron pocket. “Should do. Come with me.”
I thank the man who brought me here before following the woman through a bustling kitchen that smells like fresh-baked heaven. With all the excitement, I realize I haven’t eaten since Eason left.
The woman swipes a scone from a tray and shoves it at me. I want to devour the warm treat straight away but manage to refrain as we climb a set of twisted stairs all the way to a room on the very top floor, where a single mattress waits beneath a window covered in cobwebs. The patchwork quilt folded at the bottom looks more threadbare than my cloak, and I have to bend down to keep my head from colliding with the beams.
An entire gold coin for this ? I don’t mean to be rude—I’ve slept in a dilapidated cottage for the last few years—but the price seems quite steep.
The woman hands me a key from her pocket. “Bath will be up in five minutes. I’ll let you stay till tomorrow morning and give you breakfast, but then you’re out.” She stomps out the door and heads back downstairs.
I only get one night? That isn’t good. Not at all.
A metal spring jabs my thigh when I sink onto the thin mattress. Nibbling on the scone to make it last, I dump the contents of my purse beside me, counting exactly how much I have to survive on until I make it to the castle.
Four pieces of gold, ten pieces of silver, and twenty coppers.
That will only afford me a handful of nights, if the innkeeper continues to provide breakfast. But I’ll need to eat more than one meal a day.
It’s settled.
There really can be no delay.
Tomorrow, I’m going to the castle.