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Galantia
Present Day, Tidestone
Tidestone’s walls echoed with chaos and mayhem. Servants scurried like mice running from a flood. Soldiers clattered past me, their heavy boots stomping out an erratic, discordant rhythm. I pushed myself through hallways that had transformed into crowded chutes of frenzied activity, cloaked in haste and desperation. Where was Lady Brisden? Had she left without retrieving the amulet?
And if she had, should I really be surprised?
I hurried toward the stairs that would take me to our private chambers, the air thick with the scent of fear, sweat, and anxiety. It clung to me, sucking the warmth from my body despite the exertion of my pace. Above it all, the ominous thrum of impending danger resonated, like a tumultuous orchestra of clanging metal, shouting voices, and the low murmur of hurried prayers.
“Lady Brisden?” I asked whichever face I passed until I finally shoved myself in front of a soldier, bringing him to an abrupt stop. “Lady Brisden? Where is she? Have you seen her?”
“No, my lady,” he said and hurried off.
My heart pounded, keeping time with the hurried rhythm of my boots against the stone floor, each frantic beat a ticking clock. It had taken me at least fifteen minutes to reach the castle. If I couldn’t find her in the next half hour, I might—
Skinny arms clutched at mine as a maid all but stumbled into me. “Oh, my lady, I finally found you! What’s this on your face?”
“Have you seen Lady Brisden?” I blurted, not bothering to explain my shadowmarked face. “Where is she? I have to find her.”
“It was she who sent me to findyou. She came looking for you in your chamber earlier, but you weren’t there.” She glanced around nervously, her eyes wide with fear, her fingers trembling as she reached into the pockets of her apron, only to bring forth a small package carefully wrapped in cloth. “Find my daughter, she said. Find my daughter and give her this, or I’ll have a guard string you up outside for the ravens to feast on.”
I grabbed the package and quickly unfolded the cloth, my pulse pounding in time to each flicker of light reflecting on the socket of black polishedaerymel. In its center sat a white stone of salt, nearly translucent in some areas and wrought with cloudiness in others.
My core lifted.
The amulet!
The moment the maid turned away, I grabbed her shoulder. “My mother? Where is she?”
“I don’t know, my lady,” she whimpered, her eyes glistening with unshed tears before she tore away. “She left for the stables, last I saw.”
The stables. A long, unexpected exhale left my lungs.She’d escaped…
I quickly put the amulet around my neck. With my gift trapped inside it, my next destination was clear: the dungeons.
The clamor of the castle raged around me as I made my way toward the bailey. Shadows danced and flickered along the stone corridor, more ominously the faster night fell.
A bloodcurdling sound pierced the air as I stepped into the chaos of the inner bailey, like a distant thrum. My heart lurched as the earth beneath me trembled, the castle itself moaning in protest. What was that? Ravens had to be trying to invade the cas—
A rough hand grabbed my waist, yanking me off my feet. “Got you!”
“No!” I yelped. “I’m one of you! I’m one of you!”
A Raven!
The man slung me over his shoulder, turning my world upside down as the constant shift of his chainmail bit into my lower ribs, the seam of his cloak shifting over the ground at his hurried strides. Hispale-greencloak. A Tidestone soldier? But… no. That was all wrong!
“Let me go!” I writhed, twisted, and kicked. “I command you to let go of me!”
“I’m afraid I cannot, my lady,” he ground out, carrying me through the turmoil of frantic soldiers. “I am under order to bring you before you father.”
My blood froze.
No!
Anyone but him!
With desperation fueling me, I grabbed the soldier’s helmet, ignoring the sharp edge that bit into my flesh. I tugged it backward, and he stumbled, his grip loosening momentarily. I arched my back and swung my legs, using my momentum to roll off his shoulder.
