Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Emilie
I’d been awake for at least an hour, drawing patterns on Ladon’s chest as it rose and fell in his sleep. Not because I couldn’t sleep—quite the opposite, actually. I hadn’t slept this well since before I’d left Dreslen.
Despite being crammed into a small bunk bed, I had Ladon next to me, and we no longer bore the weight of our secret. My life was beginning to feel like it belonged to me once again, with just one exception.
Reyna.
My stomach turned. She’d evaded us so far, but it ended here. It ended in Wyland. She wouldn’t escape this time. We wouldn’t let her.
Today was the day we made landfall in Wyland, and we were all ready to disembark and leave this cramped space behind. But it was still early, and for now, I was content to stay in bed with Ladon.
Eventually, his eyes fluttered open, and he smiled when he realized I was watching him. “Good morning, princess.”
I didn’t think I’d ever tire of hearing his sleepy inflection when he woke up in the morning. It was sexy and intimate in a way that was all mine. This piece of him was something only I got to witness, and it woke a possessive side of me I didn’t know existed.
“Good morning,” I replied.
Ladon grabbed my hand that had been grazing his chest for several minutes and slithered his fingers between mine. Then he brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “Are you ready for today?”
I nodded. “I’m ready to put this behind us. It’s weird, though.”
“What is?”
“I expected to be angrier than I am right now. Don’t get me wrong—I still want to see Reyna’s head roll. And I will do whatever it takes to make that happen. But the feeling isn’t as intense as I anticipated.”
“What do you feel instead?”
I smiled. “Hopeful. Calm. Eager to move on.”
Ladon processed this. “I feel hopeful too. Like I can feel Reyna’s end coming closer. And we will finally have a future.”
There was a knock on the cabin door.
Ladon groaned, squeezing me tight against his chest. “Go away.”
I smiled, wrapping my arms around him.
A muffled voice came through the door. It sounded like Drip. “We’ll be docking in about thirty minutes. You should gather your things and head to the deck.”
Ladon sighed. “Guess that means we’ll have to get out of bed.”
“Guess so,” I said, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. He grunted as I rolled over top of him and scrambled to my feet.
It didn’t take long to pack our things. Together, Ladon and I said goodbye to our tiny cabin and made our way upstairs.
Jade and Cyrus were already waiting on the bow, engaged in conversation.
It was nice that he was talking to someone, even if he still couldn’t look at Ladon or me.
I hadn’t given up hope that he would change his mind, though.
I couldn’t imagine cutting my own brother out of my life.
Past them, I saw land in the distance. It was foggy, but the sun was trying its hardest to break through.
The shore was mostly made up of cliffs and rolling hills, but I could see an opening straight ahead with docks similar to the ones in Sage Harbor.
Light reflected off the peak of the tallest hill, and I squinted my eyes.
“What’s that?”
“I believe it’s the Gem of Baumheim—the grandest castle in all of Wyland.”
“That’s where King Marsden lives? Gods, the view must be stunning from up there.”
As our ship approached, I could make out houses lining the hillside along with paths that snaked from the ground to the sky. There were several stunning hills, but none as majestic as the one that boasted the Gem.
Jade offered a welcoming grin when she spotted us. She jutted her chin toward the land. “I can see why Reyna would choose to come here. The mountains feel like home.”
I stared at them, but I didn’t see the resemblance. Murvort’s mountains were harsh and unforgiving. These hills were full of green and vibrant yellow flowers scattered throughout. They rolled with gentle inclines while Murvort’s cut with jagged edges.
Minutes later, we were close enough to make out the faces of those working the docks.
Our crew exchanged shouted words with a team on land, and lines were thrown to reel us in and secure the ship.
After that, it didn’t take long for us to cross the bridge and return to dry land.
My legs felt a little unstable, but the feeling wore off after a few minutes.
Unlike the bustling docks of Sage Harbor, Baumheim was serene and methodical.
There were a few ships docked and a dozen or so men and women roaming the marina, but it was missing the markets and music and conversations.
The bulk of activity in Baumheim appeared to be centered around the castle on top of the hill.
“Lead the way,” Jade said to Cyrus. He was the only one of us who had ever been to Wyland, and I wasn’t sure how long it had been since his last trip here. Had he even been here in adulthood?
He adjusted his backpack and set off toward the towering castle peeking out over the tree-covered hill. The rest of us followed in his footsteps.
The path that led to King Marsden’s castle was made of red dirt that popped against dark green foliage.
Tiny, fluffy critters scurried up the trees and peered down at us with curiosity.
From my previous studies, I identified them as squirrels.
They weren’t native to Lourova, but after seeing them up close, I wished they were.
One stared at me, and I smiled; how badly I wanted to hold and pet it!
But we kept moving forward, and soon enough, houses began to appear. Most of them were quiet in the early hours of the day, the families inside preparing breakfast or still sleeping in.
The first civilian we came across was a young mother hanging clothes on a line while her toddler hugged her legs. She waved politely and carried on with her chores.
As we climbed higher, more houses lined the path, and it was clear we were growing closer to the center of town. If the congestion hadn’t made it obvious, then the shadows from the castle would have.
Finally, we reached a tall exterior wall that appeared to wrap around the entire hill like a defensive border. It was a swirl of greens and browns like marble, but the surface was rough. I’d never seen anything like it, but perhaps it had been magically crafted.
As we approached the gate, two guards stood at attention.
They waited for one of us to make an introduction and state our business.
Cyrus stepped forward and announced, “I am King Cyrus Castelli of Osavian. I’m here for a meeting with King Marsden.
These three are with me, and I can vouch for them. ”
I quietly thanked the gods that he had put his anger aside long enough to bring us through the gate with him.
The guard turned around, and I noticed a lever behind him. He pulled it, and the metal barricade began to slide to the right. Then he waved us through.
Inside the wall, more homes and shops filled the streets, made from the same marble material that mystified me. There was something elegant about the architecture that distinguished it from its countryside counterparts.
A short time later, we ascended a grand set of stairs leading to the castle’s entrance—complete with columns three stories high that held up a cluster of balconies.
Nothing was uniform here; it was all haphazard, like the castle itself had sprouted and grown limbs like a tree.
And in some places, there appeared to be actual tree limbs growing and weaving with the ornate pillars, bannisters, and window dressings. It was all stunningly beautiful.
We walked through a tall archway and into a massive entry hall. Our steps echoed and caught the attention of a tall, thin man with a bushy beard and mustache. “How can I help you?” he asked, striding toward us.
“I am King Cyrus. I have a meeting with King Marsden.”
The man pulled a small notebook from his front pocket and flipped through it, pausing to read a page. He shut it abruptly after finding confirmation and smiled. “He’s busy presently, but he will speak with you shortly. While you wait, would you like some tea? Coffee? Have you had breakfast?”
“That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.”
“There’s a waiting room this way if you’ll follow me,” he said, leading us under another smaller archway decorated with tree limbs.
As I walked underneath, I looked up and discovered that it wasn’t truly a tree. It was gemstones—emeralds and rubies crafted intricately into the design to give it the appearance of foliage. I blinked rapidly, admiring the creativity and attention to detail.
So that was how they’d gotten tree branches to grow intertwined with the castle. They weren’t trees at all.
Inside the waiting room, the man took our bags and placed them in a closet near the entry. “I’ll be right back with your breakfast and beverages.”
He left, and that gave us a chance to explore the room.
Portraits adorned every available inch of the walls, except where rose-colored lanterns hung instead.
The faces within each were so similar to one another, I was certain they must be related and most likely part of the royal family.
With as many as there were, I supposed a good portion of them were probably also deceased.
I slowly strolled while we waited for our host to return, admiring the little girl with wild blonde hair and the couple standing behind her with one hand each on her shoulders.
The next portrait was of a young man in a military uniform.
His hair was slightly darker, but his eyes matched her shade of amber.
Were they cousins? Or perhaps he was an uncle? There was no way to tell.
I moved on, observing the many portraits until I found Ladon stopped in front of the largest one in the gallery.
Two young children, around six or seven, who were almost identical.
The boy was slightly taller than his sister, with rounder cheeks and a wider smile.
The girl was scrawnier, and her long blonde hair was braided down to her stomach, with tendrils tucked behind her ears.
The boy had one arm around his sister’s shoulders while her hands were clasped in front of her.
I’d been subjected to similar sessions with Adrien—long hours where we were forced to sit still while someone painted our faces to be hung one day in a room where no one would ever see them. At least this gallery was being used.
“Are you thinking about your brother?” I asked Ladon quietly. Cyrus was on the other side of the room, intentionally avoiding us.
“What?”
“Your brother,” I said again, nodding to the portrait.
“Did the two of you have to do these growing up? I always hated them. My mother would get so mad if we moved even a little. She had to bribe us with dessert just to get us to sit down. I was usually too scared to disobey, but Adrien…” I chuckled.
“He loved seeing how far he could push her boundaries.”
I smiled, thinking of the one occasion when he’d run to play outside and dirtied his clothing and Mother had to find a different outfit for him at the last minute. She was furious, but his smile had never been more genuine.
“No. I mean, yes, we had to sit for portraits, but that wasn’t what I was thinking about.”
“Oh?”
Just then, our host returned and pressed a cup of tea into my hands.
“It’s magnificent, isn’t it? The artist did such an amazing job of bringing them to life. It’s such a shame what happened to them,” he said, the light in his eyes dimming as he viewed the portrait with a sense of loss.
“What happened?” I asked.
The lump in his throat bobbed as he swallowed.
“They disappeared almost ten years ago. No one knows what happened to them, or if they’re still alive.
The King spent years searching for them, but there was no trace, no trail to follow.
He nearly drained the family’s savings in his search and eventually had to call it off before the realm fell into catastrophe. ”
“That’s awful,” I said. They were so young. They must’ve been terrified. And the families didn’t have closure after all this time. I looked at Ladon, knowing that could’ve been our families if we hadn’t escaped. Never knowing what happened to us…
My eyes fell to his hand. He was toying with a ring I had never seen him wear. His thumb rubbed the face of the piece of jewelry while he stared at the portrait with a pensive expression.
Ladon turned down the host when he asked whether he wanted sugar or milk in his tea. Once the host was out of earshot, Ladon turned to me. “What are the odds that these two children are the ones I saw in Murvort?”
The question stole my breath away. I looked between him and the portrait. “Is that what you think?”
His gaze returned to the portrait, and he nodded. “They look a lot like the kids I ran into—if you add six years.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you only saw them once. You could be mistaken.”
“I will never be able to forget their faces, Emilie.”
I believed him. I hadn’t been there when Reyna killed those kids, but he had told me enough details. Actually, the look on his face when he returned to our room that night was enough for me to understand the horrors he’d witnessed that day.
He held out his palm, and I picked up the ring he’d been playing with. I spun it around until I could see the crest on the front—a bold ‘M’, but the lines of the letter were made of tree branches like those that embellished the castle.
I knew in my gut that he wasn’t mistaken. These twins were the same ones he’d met in Reyna’s castle. The same ones she’d murdered brutally and left nothing behind but ash. They would never come home, but maybe we could give their family some closure.
The large door to our left swung open and another castle servant, dressed similarly to our host, stepped out. “The King is ready to see you now.”