Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Briar
“Saying hello to their parents,” Knox answered.
“Oh.” My attention shifted to Dromon. “Are yours further up the hill?”
His brown eyes slid toward me, and I didn’t think he was going to answer me, but eventually he spoke. “My parents are dead.”
“I’m sorry.”
Knox stiffened around me as Dromon’s nostrils flared. I was used to others not liking me, but their hatred was palpable.
“They would have preferred death to this,” Dromon stated.
“Do you think the roses… or shifters are aware of what’s happening to them?” I asked, horrified by the possibility.
“I don’t know. I hope not.”
“So do I.”
“The roses are struggling. Every year they wilt more and their color darkens.”
“Do they ever fall off and rebloom?”
“No. It’s the same rose always.”
I bit my lip as I shifted my attention back to the bushes and the sky. “The lack of sun isn’t helping them.”
“It’s not helping anything. All living things in this kingdom are weaker without the full light of the sun and moon.”
“Dromon,” Knox growled in warning.
“Maybe if she knows the full effects of what her kind has done, she’ll be more willing to help us. Maybe she has a conscience,” Dromon said.
“Does any caster?”
“No, but there’s always a chance.”
“Not with this one.”
I should have grown accustomed to his barbs by now, but that one stung. I almost told him to fuck off but held back. This wasn’t the time for an argument.
The door to the blue house creaked open, and Lyra appeared. She skimmed her fingers over the rose outside before striding toward us. Her boots rang against the stone, and her shoulders were back, but the puffiness around her eyes betrayed her grief.
I looked away; she wouldn’t want me to see her pain.
When Pierce returned, we continued our climb up the winding hill, and the castle on the rise came into better view. Compared to my mother’s home, it was far smaller, but my mother loved ostentatious things. The shifters loved the woods, not walls.
Perched high on the hill, the castle was as gray and washed out as the rest of the land.
Four towers jutted into the air, and from their tops, four pendants waved.
Tattered and faded from age, the dragon, wolf, and panther on three of the flags were clearly visible.
They gave tribute to each of the main species a shifter could become…
dragon, canine, or feline. The fourth pendant featured a large red “W” in the center of the white flag.
As we approached the closed double wooden doors, easily thirty feet tall, they swung open on hinges that didn’t squeak. I had no idea who or what opened the doors, but the four shifters didn’t hesitate to ride inside.
I twisted as much as I could to see the doors closing, but I still didn’t know who operated them. No one stood on the parapets.
No, that wasn’t true. Dozens of rosebushes lined the gray stone. Some of their vines had grown to spill across the pathways above and cascaded down the walls toward the ground. The thorns on the thick vines could easily take out an eye.
The roses were scattered throughout the countryside, but here, they were everywhere, and their heady scent clouded the air. My nose wrinkled at the aroma, but I couldn’t do anything to block it.
For some reason, the roses here were healthier than the ones in the town and thriving far more than the ones I’d seen in the woods. I didn’t know how that was possible, considering the ones here received the same amount of sun as the ones in town.
“What about the animals? Where are they?” I asked.
“In the stables or fields,” Knox replied.
At least not everything in this kingdom was devastated. “Who takes care of them? How does the grass grow without the sun?”
Knox didn’t answer me as he pulled his horse to a stop and slid easily from its back. With quick, jerking movements, he tugged my ropes free and walked away.
Lifting my hands, I flexed my fingers as the ropes fell. My fingers were heavy and thick, my wrists abraded by the bindings, but at least I was free.
My legs and ass were sore from the ride, but they weren’t as wobbly today as they were yesterday. In my pocket, the creature stirred before stilling once more. I’d have to find some way to set it free, but it seemed content to stay where it was.
“I’ll take care of the horses,” Pierce said. He claimed the reins before heading for the stable.
Standing in the middle of the bailey, I turned in a slow circle as I took in the detailed stonework etched with dragons, panthers, tigers, leopards, wolves, coyotes, foxes, and various other animals the shifters could transition into.
Intricate designs etched the arched doorways, and the architecture was a thing of beauty.
I’d spent a year locked in a tower with nothing more to do than admire the design of the city sprawled out below me. I’d picked out the admirable details while also taking note of the flaws, and in doing so, I’d grown a whole new appreciation for architecture.
I was turning to take in more of the bailey when an echoing roar froze me. The bellow bounced off the walls until it sounded as if numerous creatures created the sound.
When it first started, I’d sworn there was only one thing making this noise, but now it sounded like dozens of them. That roar awakened a primal fear in me that chilled my blood and clenched my bladder.
“What is that?” I breathed when the sound died away.
“The shadow dragon,” Knox replied.