Chains we Choose
“So, what’s the next move?” Noxie asked.
“We try to find my mom,” I said aloud for both Noxie and Nella to hear.
Nella just eyed the crow.
“He helped me save your life after the poison flower, Nella. He’s helped us more than once, and we wouldn’t have gotten this far without him. You could give him a chance, ya know.”
She huffed out a long breath but agreed.
“Great, now that we’re all best friends, what should I listen for around the city?” asked Noxie.
“Listen for anything about the rebels, anything about gathering forces opposing the king, and for my mom’s name…
Keryth. Keryth Liora.” I hadn’t said her name in so long.
It felt like a stranger’s on my tongue, and that made my heart ache.
But not for much longer. We would find her. I would get answers.
“Keryth, rebels, opposition, got it. You guys stay here, and I’ll come back with anything I find out.” Then he was off.
“Stay hidden here, Nella. I’m going to see what I can see from the rooftop.” There was a ladder on the other side of the narrow alley. “Do not move,” I told her.
“I want to come with you! I want to see more of the capital than just the walls and people’s feet.”
“Please just stay here. I’ll be quick.”
I ran to the ladder and climbed as fast as I could, feeling exposed, my already-sore forearms burning with the effort. My eyes drew level with the roof, and I looked around—empty save for more wooden crates, some garbage, and a door leading downstairs inside.
My feet hit the roof, and I ducked down to inch to the edge on the other side. The alleyway must have been at the back of this building. The front side was along the busy street we rode in on, underneath the carriage.
My first proper look at the city—it stole my breath.
Straight ahead was another parallel row of similar buildings to the one I was crouching on—two stories with large window fronts full of even more stuff than those in Greymore.
To my left, one building had tables and chairs out front for dining.
Further down was a tavern, not unlike The Flayed Pig back in Briarstead, except this one looked cleaner and bigger.
To my right was a bookshop, then a shop with paintings on display, and an artist sitting in the window, painting what looked to be a sunset from this distance.
With only one eye, it was hard to be sure.
Below me, stands were overflowing with the most beautiful, aromatic flowers I’d ever seen or smelled. I must have been on the roof of a flower shop.
Beyond the rooftops in front of me, the towering Ashthorn Castle stood imposing and threatening.
Ashenholt’s stronghold. Its gray spires rose high into the sky, surrounded by stone walls similar to those surrounding the city.
These walls seemed more defensive, stretching higher than the nearby buildings.
Round turrets jutted up all over, with open balconies, windows taller than even the building I stood upon, and gleaming pointed rooftops.
Some of the tallest towers had glass roofs, allowing the open sky to be seen by those who stood below.
Others were made of gold, reflecting the afternoon sun and sending golden beams in all directions.
The main castle was almost the size of all Briarstead.
I’d never seen anything so massive. It had a cruel, surgical beauty and gave me chills.
The people on the street below drew my attention away from the castle.
I assumed everyone out and about must be fae, or mortals serving the fae.
Most had pointed ears, visible even from up here.
Some were gargantuan, and some had hair of unusual colors, but most didn’t look all that different from mortals.
Other than the ears. And they all seemed to be muscular and fit.
I spotted a few mortals with their obvious unpointed ears and immediately noticed they all wore the same drab outfit—off-white sleeveless tunics and pants with…
chains for belts. Metal collars around their necks.
And gods, no shoes. The way the sight made my throat close up felt like I had a collar on myself.
I wondered if any of the mortals would talk to me if I could get one alone.
“It’s horrible to see mortals chained and shackled like that.”
I jumped out of my skin. “Nella! I told you not to move. Are you okay?” I turned to find her standing just a couple of steps behind me.
“I was bored down there by myself. Besides, you said you didn’t want me out of your sight.”
“That was in Greymore when we were out in the open. This is different. We’re trying to stay hidden. Let’s head back down and wait for Noxie. It’s too high up here to hear anything, anyway.”
“Wow!” Nella said, eyes wide with wonder as she crouched down next to me. I couldn’t begrudge her just a moment to take it all in. We’d been moving nonstop since we escaped Briarstead. Sure, Dolvenar was dangerous, but it was a magnificent new world to us.
“Pretty wild, isn’t it?”
She lay down on her stomach at the building’s edge and rested her chin on her hand.
I looked around nervously once more, and seeing no one on the rooftops, I laid down beside her and decided we could stay for a little while.
“It’s not home, but it sure beats the home we left,” Nella said.
I let my lips curve into a smile at how right she was. I watched a fae male below us, clad in all green silk, grow a bright red rose in the palm of his hand for the female he was walking next to and tuck it into her jet-black hair.
A beautiful display, a stark contrast to the ugly truth of how mortals were treated and enslaved here.
I didn’t dare let my guard down, but somewhere in the back of my mind I was beginning to feel like we were on the right path—whether that was because we’d finally broken free of Cassius and Aemilia, or because, in my bones, I believed my mother was here somewhere, I wasn’t sure.
“Do you think the rebellion is real? That your mom is in it?”
I thought for a moment, my smile fading.
“I don’t know, but this”—I inclined my head toward two mortals walking side by side with their shaven heads down, following behind a female fae in a frilly yellow gown—“this is worth rebelling for. Caedryn has given mortals in Ashenholt every reason to fight back. So yeah, I think it’s a real possibility that it exists and that’s what she’s been doing.
It’s bigger than me, and seeing this, if it’s all true…
I think I’m beginning to understand why she left. Even if it sucks.”
Nella laid her head on my shoulder, and we watched the busy street in silence.
Everything seemed so beautifully cruel—the fae, their magic, Dolvenar’s extravagance, all wondrous to behold, and all terribly ugly underneath. Because underneath it all, the mortals— my people—suffered.
Maybe I, too, was a rebel at heart.
* * *
The sun was setting by the time Noxie came back with very little to report. It was frustrating, but I guessed mortals didn’t discuss topics that could get them killed out in the open. Fae probably didn’t discuss the mortals at all.
We agreed the rooftop should be safe to sleep for the night, but for added protection, I barricaded the single door leading down with some wooden crates.
Noxie flew off every so often to circle our building and check for drunks stumbling home or late-night arrivals that may, for some reason, seek a rooftop.
We had finished the last of our rations, so we needed a plan fast. Moving around unnoticed here would be difficult unless…
Unless we had the uniform of mortals. We would need to swipe two from somewhere.
That was tomorrow’s problem to solve.
So for tonight, we would sleep.
* * *
The city woke early and bustling, waking us with it. The sun was just over the horizon when the first shops opened their windows and doors for the day.
Each rooftop had an exit from the homes and shops below, so we couldn’t stay up there during the day in case anyone came out.
Instead, we hid in our alley corner, Noxie bringing back small food scraps he could carry with his beak while looking for mortal uniforms in windows, on clotheslines, anywhere.
Until we could walk the streets disguised as mortal servants, it was impossible to learn anything about, well, anything.
“Naci! Naci! I found the uniforms! On a clothing line a couple of streets from you. And you can get to them from the rooftops.”
“Do you think it’s safe to cross the rooftops during the day?”
Nella had grown used to our silent communication, so I always filled her in afterward.
“If you stay low and I keep an eye out from above, I think you can make it.”
I told Nella the plan and she agreed, her determination making me smile.
We headed up our ladder and onto the roof. From there, Noxie helped us navigate, gave directions, and, if the coast was clear, confirmed we could move to the next connected roof. Fortunately, we had yet to run into anyone up here.
We got to the roof connected to the clothing line Noxie had found and, after a look around and below, pulled the line to inch the uniforms our way.
Once we secured two tunics and two pairs of pants, we headed back the way we came, feeling triumphant. It wasn’t until we got back to our alley corner that my stomach sank on the realization that we didn’t have chains or collars…
Those weren’t likely to be sitting around, hanging on clotheslines.
“I saw a blacksmith shop two streets over, maybe we can find them there,” said Noxie when I voiced the issue.
After a short loop around to the blacksmith and back, Noxie confirmed that what we needed was there. Would it be smarter to ask the smith for them or try to steal them?
Definitely steal. Not smarter, but more my style.
“You up for more chaos, Noxie?”
“Always,” he replied with a caw.
We removed our cloaks and boots, stored them in a broken crate, and put on our uniforms, immediately feeling shame for pretending to be something that many mortals in this town actually were—servants.