Bow and Sparrow

CH 29

My eyes snapped open, heart pounding as I looked around. I was still in the carriage and Rylan was still sitting across from me. I didn't remember falling asleep but my stiff neck told me I had been out for a while. Sunlight streamed in through cracks and holes in the carriage, casting streaks of light across Rylan's face. He pressed his lips into a hard line.

"We're almost there."

I could hear it now. The bustle of city life. The cobblestone road under the carriage wheels, smooth compared to the bumpy ride over dirt and rocks. The distinct hum of thousands of people going about their day. I envied them for they knew what lies ahead of them.

It's been years since I've walked the streets of a city busier than Dast and back then I had been in Verdana's capital, Bellevue, with my father. My trip had been cut short because my behavior wasn't deemed ladylike and I was sent back home. I did agree there were no other ladies with me eavesdropping on his meetings with me.

Rezantri's capital dwarfed Bellevue by at least a few thousands. Vinburgh had been built in the exact middle of Rezantri, atop a steep ridge with a wide river to the west that sourced the city with most of its water supply as well as form a natural barrier to outside threats. That along with the thick granite walls surrounding Vinburgh made the city almost impenetrable, creating a safe haven for its citizens. Though many people flocked to the city's walls for protection, all I wanted to do was run far away from it.

Anxiety twisted my stomach into knots. Through a hole near my shoulder, I saw fleeting glances of the outside world as it passed by. Blurs of colors and buildings.

"Does your father live here?"

Rylan nodded slowly. I answered the question on his face before he could voice it. "The commander guy mentioned him."

"My father is on the royal council." The confusion dissolved into understanding as Rylan let out a long sigh.

"Is he-?"

"A duke."

"But wouldn't that would make you-"

"Nothing. Anymore." Rylan leaned back. He meant to run his fingers through his hair but with them still bound together by the cuffs, he dropped his hands back in his lap. I stared at his clasped hands, a furrow forming between my brows.

"This is all my fault."

"It's not."

"It is," I pleaded, tears pricking behind my eyes. I covered my face with my hands. "If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened. This wouldn't be happening."

"Noreena." I looked up at Rylan through my fingers. I would never get used to hearing him say my name. "I would rather be sitting here with you than never having met you. You've reminded me there is beauty in life. So even if it is your fault, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Rylan reached across the gap between us, holding my hands in his. Our chains rattled in harmonious synchrony. He didn't say anything else and neither did I. What did one say when they were about to face death?

The carriage began its perilous ascent to the center of the city where Mortham Keep would be waiting for us. I thought back to all the pictures I had seen of the palace with its large, thin spires with small slit-like windows that reached for the clouds, towering higher than any other building in Vinburgh. A wall of solid black stone surrounded the palace set with an ornate metal gate as its only entry. I heard that some places in Vinburgh were left in perpetual darkness because the palace blocked the sunlight with its vastness. I wasn't sure if I totally disbelieved that.

The metal gate scraped against the ground when we approached. A loud piercing squeal that, even inside the carriage, split the air like a blade. It wasn't long before the carriage rolled to the stop and the thud of footsteps approached.

The door to the carriage was thrown open and after being submerged in darkness for so long, I was momentarily blinded by the bright light that when a hand reached in and grabbed me, I tripped exiting the carriage. The hand jerked me upright and though my legs protested, I was shuffled along the path to the palace doors. And I saw the Keep clearly with my own eyes.

The paintings I'd seen hadn't done it justice. I had to crane my neck just to see the tips of the spires. The castle's dark palette sucked in sunlight and it seemed to emit a dark glow if I stared at it for too long, almost as if it were alive. It sent a chill down my spine as we stepped into its shadows.

I didn't get to stare long as I was forced through the dark mahogany doors of the palace behind Polished Buttons. I turned my head to try to see if Rylan was still behind us and I got just a glance of him before I was prodded in the back and had to whip my head around to keep from falling over my own feet.

The inside of the palace was much like the outside. Dark walls, dark flooring, dark ceilings. But that didn't take away from any of the extravagant stonework inlaid in the room. The narrow windows let in very little natural light and though there were many candelabras lit inside, the vaulted ceilings were submerged in shadows.

In any other circumstance, I might have admired the pristine reflection in the polished black marble floors, but instead they made the room feel twice as large and imposing. I tried not to think about how the red veins running through the floor looked like rivers of blood as my feet crossed the floors. I wondered why I hadn't seen black marble before but it seemed that the entire world's supply had been used in this one building. How could anyone live in this palace without going insane?

Perhaps that was why the main hall was empty when we walked in, making our footsteps bounce off the unadorned walls. We were led through a maze of hallways and just as I gave up trying to memorize our path, we stopped at a pair of arched doors.
Polished Buttons pushed the door open wide without warning, marching into the room. The chatter beyond the door stopped and I was pushed through the doorway after him.

The black marble floor continued into this room, except where the rest of the castle was dark and dreary, this room's ceiling was made of red stained glass that cast the room in an eerie glow on the granite walls. 

There were people in here though. Seven to be exact and sitting on the opposite end of the room, their chairs arranged in a semi circle. Seven pairs of eyes on us, on me. Four faces wore a mask of boredom, one displeasure, one bewildered and one whose interest had been piqued. In the very center of the seven, there was one impressive chair carved from obsidian and atop it sat the King of Rezantri.

A/N
Happy Holidays everybody! Enjoy this early little present!

-T