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Finally, I spotted the inn nestled between a brothel and a dye caster a few blocks away.
And that’s when I saw it. In the upper city, the blue, up-lit holograms stood tall and ostentatious at the inner gates of the keep. They cycled through images and tributes to the king and other members of the royal family.
First, King Eduart and Queen Tam, with their sour-faced expressions, as if they were too good to even pose for their own portraits.
The three princes followed, though only one posed with his princess.
Hawk landed on a finial atop the castle wall, and I stared at the couple in the next image.
Princess Delphinia and Prince Alastor.
Del. Princess. Tough Stuff. Heir of the Corvo Kingdom. A frozen picture of the girl I once knew beamed at me in a black and silver gown fit for a queen. Her dark curls were gathered atop her head, her silver and black-feathered crown gleaming in the uplighting that brightened her dark features. She was just as striking as I remembered.
Beside Del stood her pale husband, whose auburn hair was combed away from his grim face. He looked equally disapproving and cruel. But it was the boy that my hawk eyes lingered on the longest.
Del had a child, something I’d known for years, but to see it was gutting. She was not only a princess; she was a wife. A mother.
Meanwhile, I was much the same. Still living off the land. Still fighting to survive for only a semblance of peace. It was at that moment I realized I hadn’t changed at all. Not really. Yet seeing her up there as she was made all that had transpired in the past ten years feel more real. More lonely.
“Did you hear that, Fin?” Lyra asked, and I felt her hand on my arm.
Blinking myself from the hawk’s mind, I swallowed thickly.
“Fin!” she hissed, shaking me.
I glowered at her. “What?”
She pointed to the man walking toward us, his eyes scanning the onset of a crowd. His words drifted in and out of my ears as I gathered my bearings again. He looked like a priest from the old world, with a black cloak and a cap on his head. His gray beard was long, his teeth crooked, and his eyes were wide and fervent.
“Beware the prophecy!” he boomed. “The kingdom will fall if we don’t repent. If we don’t sacrifice! If we don’t give back to the king and queen, who—”
“What’s he talking about?” I whispered so low only she would hear. I watched the crowd thicken around him. Their faces were fearful as they gripped pamphlets in their hands and clutched them to their chests.
Lyra shook her head, her eyes fixed on the old man. “Listen.”
“At dawn, we meet at the King’s Church in Prior Square. We pray for the royal family. We pray for all our souls and future selves, for if we do not uncover and destroy the destructive force hidden under the earth in Death Valley, we will all perish!”
“What?” I blurted. Frowning, I scanned the square, noticing for the first time what rhetoric was plastered on posters and holograms projected on the sides of buildings:Join the king’s army. Save the kingdom.
“Fin,” Callon hedged conversationally. “This wouldn’t be something you’ve heard of by any chance, would it? Something Jake told you about—one of his sister’s old prophecies he loves so much?” Callon was being sarcastic. Jake loathed Becca’s prophecies. Her predictions had upended the lives of everyone he loved centuries ago, and I was beginning to understand why he resented them so much. They always came at a heavy price.
I shook my head, my heart racing as I processed how bad this was.Uncover and destroy the destructive force hidden under the earth in Death Valley. Our Death Valley, where we lived?
“That’s why they were digging,” I realized aloud. “They think their salvation is in the ground.”
“What if it is?” Lyra asked.
“Then everyone is in danger,” I said brusquely and ran my hand over my face.Fuck. “Whatever fear they’re spreading, and whatever they’re trying to find, more of them will come to Death Valley, that’s for certain.”And it will be an army.I didn’t say that part aloud, but by the way Callon and Lyra were looking at me, they already knew.
“What do you want us to do?” Callon asked. “We have to get back—to get organized. But we still need to confirm who’s behind this. I mean, the answer seems obvious, but if it’s Eduart, why hide it?” He shook his head.
Realizing my hood had fallen, I pulled it over my hat again with more force than was necessary, and I glanced around, ensuring we hadn’t caught anyone’s attention. “We go on as planned,” I told them. “We see what happens at the meeting tonight. I’ll do some reconnaissance at the pub, where minds are plied with ale and tongues are looser. See what you can learn on the street. We need to know what else they’re fearmongering here, and get all the intel we can. I want an estimate of how many soldiers might be coming and when.”
“At least they no longer have the element of surprise,” Callon offered, shedding light on the silver lining, though it felt like only a scant glimmer in the looming darkness ahead. “We can prepare for this.”
The three of us were quiet as our situation settled in.
“Did you find the inn?” Lyra asked.
