Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
The incline of the tunnel floor and the steps should have been easier than climbing the mountain’s slippery slope, but it wasn’t.
Fedra’s legs still ached from the day before, and within minutes of starting out, she already needed a break.
Instead of asking for one, she pushed on, knowing her muscles would ache no matter what she did.
Marcus guided the way, carrying the torch high to shed light in the seemingly endless darkness.
Everywhere she turned, the light seemed to have been sucked away.
They stepped over discarded helmets and armor.
Even a shield or two. Someone had wadded up and tossed aside a tunic, leaving it behind.
There were signs that the inside of the mountain had once teemed with life.
Now, it felt as if someone had snuffed it out.
“How much farther?” Fedra asked during their third break.
She was out of breath and barely staying on her feet. She had no idea if dawn had come or if it was still night. The thick mountain walls prevented anything from the outside world from getting inside. She wasn’t even certain if they had gained any elevation in their ceaseless walking.
“No’ long.”
Her gaze darted to Marcus to see him looking ahead on their path. He would likely already be there if not for her. She was holding him back. But she refused to feel bad about it. He was the one who had brought her along for this idiotic plan.
Fedra stared at the back of his head. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was purposefully refusing to tell her what kind of magic he had.
No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t fathom why it would matter.
Unless he was a Dragon King. The minute that thought floated through her mind, she discounted it.
There was no way a King would get near her after everything she had said.
Besides, if he—or anyone at Iron Hall—were a Dragon King, they would’ve made themselves known the instant she revealed her plot.
Their gazes met when he turned around. He studied her silently, then asked, “What’s that look for?”
“Nothing,” she lied. “Let’s continue.”
He pivoted and resumed walking with her two steps behind him. At least he couldn’t see her pained expression.
“I’ve been wondering something,” he said.
She glared at his back. “About what?”
“The man who helped you.”
“I think we’ve discussed things long enough.”
Marcus halted and slowly turned to look at her over his shoulder. “You had your question last night. It’s my turn.”
As childish as it seemed, she wanted to deny him. She didn’t want to be here with him any longer, but she couldn’t find her way out alone. If she weren’t so tired, she never would’ve gone into the mountain the night before. But she was stuck with him. At least for now.
“Are you refusing to answer?” he asked.
She lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m waiting for the question. You’ve given nothing but statements until now.”
“You know the question, but if you must have it, fine. I believe there’s something dubious about your realm’s benefactor. I think you’ve started to believe it, too.”
“I still haven’t heard a question.”
He snorted, his lips curving into a cold smile. “Did you hear any of the scientists around you say anything about him?”
Fedra was shaking her head when a hazy memory surfaced. She blinked, frowning.
“What did you remember?” he asked.
“Maybe nothing.”
He turned toward her. “Or maybe something.”
She looked into his eyes, shadowed by the firelight. There were times—like now—when she thought they were friendly, but he had made it abundantly clear hours earlier that they were enemies. “Why should I tell you anything?”
“Do you want the truth about what happened?”
“You’re so sure that it’s different than what I’ve told you.”
Marcus shrugged, spun back around, and began walking again. “All right, if that’s how you want it.”
“I was there. I know what happened,” she stated, trailing behind him.
“You saw only a fraction of what happened, and you were under duress. I’m no’ saying that what you saw was wrong. I’m stating that, from experience, there is always more to it.”
She rolled her eyes. “You just want to find a way to clear the dragons of any wrongdoing.”
“If I were you, I’d want the truth. I’ve already said that dragons wouldna attack like that without cause. Either someone provoked them, or someone sent them there.”
“You said yourself that the dragons of Earth attacked the humans there. That was without cause.”
He briefly paused as he took the next step. “You doona see the difference in attacking one or two humans and going after an entire realm?”
“An attack is an attack, no matter how you look at it.”
“That divide between us is getting deeper and wider.”
She kept climbing the stairs, using her hands on her thighs to propel herself forward. “Because you can’t see anything but your side.”
“I do see your side, lass. It’s you who can no’ see mine.”
The retort she had been ready to fire back died on her lips at the sound of his soft voice. There was no anger or heat in his words. Only a deep-rooted sorrow that instantly made her eyes fill with tears.
When she dared to look up, she saw sunlight peeking through. Fedra leaned to the side and peered around Marcus to see an opening ahead. Knowing they had finally reached the top allowed her to take the last two dozen steps faster than the others.
She burst through the doorway after him and slumped over, gulping in air as she braced her hands on her knees.
Meanwhile, Marcus hadn’t even broken a sweat.
She shot him a heated look and straightened after catching her breath.
Her mouth fell open at the opulence around her.
She walked to one of the enormous pillars and put her hand on it.
“What is this made of?” she asked.
“Red sandstone that was carved from the mountain.”
She turned in a circle, her head tilted back to take in the soaring ceilings, the massive, arched windows that let the chilly winter breeze come through, and the intricate details in everything from the floors to the ceilings, banisters, and even the steps.
Despite the eerie feeling of the abandoned place and the scattered, overturned furniture, it was still awe-inspiring.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured.
Fedra straightened when she heard the sound of his bootheels walking away and followed. She wanted to explore, but he took her up yet another flight of stairs. These were wide and even, making the ascent easier, but after all the steps she had climbed, she didn’t want to take another.
Each time they reached a floor, she expected him to stay so she could look around. And every time, he continued up the stairs until they finally ended. Every floor she glimpsed had been prettier and grander than the last. But none could compare to the top.
Sheer white drapes billowed lazily in the breeze. Cut-up clothing and pillows littered the floor. Fedra carefully stepped over them while Marcus paid them no heed as he headed deeper into the enormous room. Her steps faltered when she saw the bed with more sheer curtains hanging around it.
She had never seen anything so pretty before.
Fedra walked to the bed, drawn to it by some unknown force.
She pushed aside the curtains and looked down upon the white and gold bedding.
The rest of the palace—and even the room—was in disarray, but the bed was perfectly made, without a single wrinkle. She reached out, wanting to touch it.
“Careful.”
Marcus’s voice stopped her. She turned her head to find him watching her. “It’s just a bed.”
“This was Villette’s room, and the last place Eurielle was seen,” he told her as he walked toward the balcony. “Keep your eyes open for anything.”
“But…it’s just a bed. What’s the harm in touching it?”
He didn’t reply, which only infuriated her.
Fedra dropped the bags and squatted next to the bed.
It looked soft and comfortable. If they had to remain in the palace, she was definitely sleeping in it, but she wouldn’t touch it until she was in clean clothes.
She straightened and headed across the room to the expansive balcony to look for Marcus.
The room was huge, but she found the terrace nearly twice its size.
She was about to comment on that when she found him on the opposite side talking to a woman with chin-length blond hair.
The woman’s eyes darted to her, and Marcus glanced at her over his shoulder.
They were too far away for her to hear their discussion.
“Well, then,” Fedra mumbled under her breath as she huddled in her cloak against the cold. There was nothing like being dismissed.
She walked to the right until she reached the railing and looked out over the land.
She would rather know who the woman was and why she was there.
Was she someone from Iron Hall? Marcus said they had a plan, so the woman could be from there.
If so, she had probably used magic to reach the palace well before them.
Fedra would have to ask later, because the curiosity was killing her.
The view from the top of the mountain was breathtaking. Mottled gray clouds blocked the sun, allowing the wind a frigid hand as it brushed against her cheek. She looked down and spotted trees that had been snapped in half. Was that where the battle with Miena had taken place?
The wind began to howl, the force of it snapping her cloak around her legs.
She held the edges together and lifted her shoulders so the fur covered more of her face.
It was cold, but she wasn’t ready to give up the view.
She didn’t know how long she stood there before she became aware of Marcus standing beside her.
She glanced his way, but his gaze was directed to the landscape.
“Who was that?” she asked, trying not to sound offended that he hadn’t introduced them.
“Lotti.”
She rolled her eyes when he didn’t say more. At least she recognized the name and knew Lotti was from the city. They must have been discussing something important, and since she was more enemy than anything else, it stood to reason that they didn’t talk around her. Though, it still hurt.
“How long do you think you were in stasis?”
His question surprised her. She shrugged. “I was told it wouldn’t be more than a thousand years because that was how long the power source would last. You got me out beforehand, so less than that, obviously.”
“What would you say if I told you it had been considerably longer?”
“I’d say that my scientists had no reason to lie to me.” There was a note of unease in his voice that made her heart miss a beat. She turned to him. “Why? What did you find out?”
He drew in a deep breath, releasing it as he shifted to face her. “You’re right. The pod can only be powered for a thousand years.”
“But?” she pressed when he paused for too long. Anxiety twisted in her stomach.
Marcus licked his lips as he glanced down. “Ryder has been taking apart the pod to study it. That’s when he discovered that…”
“That?” she asked, her voice rising in frustration. The longer he drew this out, the worse she felt. “Just tell me. Please.”
“Once the thousand years are up, everything transitions to…” He shrugged, as if searching for words. “Membranes. At least, that’s what Ryder calls them.”
“I don’t understand.”
“When the power runs out, the membranes take over. It would leave you hovering at death until the power source recharged.”
She stumbled back in shock, her mind refusing to believe what she’d just heard. “How is that possible?”
“Lotti shared Ryder’s findings, but you’d probably feel better hearing it from him.”
“And h-how many times did that happen?”
Marcus cleared his throat nervously. “Ryder is trying to figure that out.”
“He gave you an estimate. I can tell by your face. How many times?” she demanded, her anger now taking over.
Though she wasn’t sure why she was upset.
Maybe because she had been lied to. Actually, they hadn’t.
The scientists had just left out the part about the membranes and her being on the verge of death.
“Over fifty.”
She blindly reached out and grasped the railing as her knees buckled. She turned toward it, holding on with both hands. “That’s…”
“A verra long time.”
“He’s wrong,” she said, turning her head to Marcus. “He miscalculated somehow.”
Marcus shook his head once. “It coincides with the other piece of intel we received.”
She waited for him to say more, unsure whether she wanted to hear it.
“Tyren was attacked by dragons. The time period coincides with what Ryder found in the stasis pod’s mainframe. We know when and where it all happened.”
Had she really been in stasis for that long? Was that why she was still so weak? Was that why she had been blind when she woke? “And the dragons? What did you find?”