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Staring out the window, I reevaluated my plan, hardly noticing the middle-class neighborhood passing by as twilight overtook the region. Under any other circumstance, the opportunity to travel would have thrilled me, but this evening, I was too twisted up in my own head.
I needed to disappear from the Kingdom of Goldhaven—or at least far enough from the capital city of Geldon to start over. The edge of the Kingdom of Ironhelm would have to suffice if I couldn’t cross the border without raising alarms about my whereabouts. Maybe when enough time had passed, I could risk using my ID and go across, but for now, I’d stay put.
It was disappointing to know I couldn’t actually go into the Kingdom of Ironhelm. I’d enjoyed our time in the slightly antiquated kingdom when Jace and I had gone not long ago. The kingdom had endeared me, and I’d even commented to Jace at the time that I could see myself vacationing there. He’d found that terribly amusing. It appealed to me now because I didn’t think anyone would come looking for me there—again, assuming anyone came looking at all.
I’d managed to get this far, but I also hadn’t brought my cell phone with me, knowing how easily it could be traced. Privately, I’d hoped that Jace would have contacted the kingdom’senchantress when he discovered I’d fled, but he hadn’t bothered with a locator spell, either, apparently, and here I was, well on my way to becoming a nobody again just like I’d been before.
Damn you, Saint!
A fresh wave of fury enveloped me at the thought of my brother. Half-brother.
Saint was the full-blooded child of my mother and father. He’d known all along about my mother’s… what? Tryst? Assault?
I shuddered to think of what my poor mother must have endured at the hands of the Order of Souls to come out with a spawn like me. She had loved my father. She wouldn’t have strayed, but to hide my paternity until her death? That didn’t seem like something she would do, either. I still couldn’t figure out how any of it had happened or what that meant for me.
Saint had gleaned the truth for himself, recognizing the strength and oddity of my powers, and kept it not only from me, his only sibling, but his best friend and King of Goldhaven, too.
My breathing strained in my chest, and I felt like I was going to have a panic attack.
“Ironhelm Kingdom, this stop. Ironhelm Kingdom. Transfers and taxis are available.”
My chin whipped up again, and I blinked madly.
We’re here already?
The bus rolled to its final stop, the depot outside of the neighboring kingdom brightly lit but quiet at this time of the evening. My eyes immediately traveled toward the arched bridge that carried on toward Ironhelm, but I forced myself to look away.
All the work commuters had already come and gone for the day, the traveling traffic thinning as I dismounted, backpack pinned to my shoulders.
“Taxi, Miss?”
“The border’s this way.”
“Can I take your bag?”
Half a dozen voices floated toward me, different faeries asking me for money in various ways, but I ignored all of them and set off on foot away from the border before the temptation could lead me across, despite my change of heart.
Jace, my lover, and Cade, the Alpha King of Ironhelm, were friends, after all. All four kings on the continent of Mystara looked out for one another, even holding semi-annual meetings to touch base. It didn’t matter which direction I headed. As long as I remained in Mystara, there was a chance that one of their Royal Guards would find me.
And if Jace ever changed his mind—or worse, told King Cade about my tainted blood—I’d have two kingdoms’ worth of Royal Guards after me, not just one.
A chill rushed through the air and snaked down my spine, forcing my folded arms tighter around my chest. It wasn’t a cold night, and I chalked the goosebumps up to my mounting exhaustion.
“You lost, chickie poo?” a jarring voice called out from the darkness, and my eyes flicked toward the sidewalk, where an encampment of unhoused souls leered at me like I was naked and on parade. For a moment, I considered ignoring them, but I didn’t want to be rude if they were trying to be helpful. I didn’t have enough sense about these things to tell the difference.
“No,” I replied tersely.
I didn’t know where I was exactly; this area was foreign to me. Yet it wasn’t much different from the rundown area where I’d lived with Saint after we’d left the palace, before my brother had managed to get us into better accommodations in a much nicer building. Displaced residents were the same everywhere… weren’t they? No one was looking to start trouble. They just wanted some coins or food.
“You sure look lost,” he insisted, ambling to his feet.
Nope. He’s not out to help at all,I decided quickly. I shouldn’t have humored him with an answer at all.
I ignored him and quickened my steps, a familiar unsettling sensation forming in my gut. I had the sudden urge to manifest a fireball and distract him with a dumpster blaze or create a tornado, but I stopped myself before I could act on my impulses.
Absolutely not!I snapped at myself, crossing the road toward a flashing neon sign.Do not use your powers here. You came here to start over, not fall back into the same problems.
If I dared show anyone what I could do here, I might as well hop on the next bus and head out again. The whole point of coming was to blend in and fade away.
