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Aepein crossed the room, finding herself a large enough space for her to flop to the ground, rolling straight over onto her back and stretching her legs out above her. I laughed, and Tarian shook his head, a smile on his face.Hollis, already sound asleep, was snoring lightly in the corner.
I looked at Tarian then, the purple bags under his eyes worse than I had ever seen him, and he was eyeing Hollis enviously. I clapped a hand onto his shoulder, and when he looked at me, my heart pulled in my chest.
“Go. Sleep.” My words were cut off by Aepein’s heavy snores, and we both rolled our eyes. “If you can, that is.”
“Will you be okay?” Tarian asked, running his fingers against each other, and my father’s voice came into my head suddenly.
“They will look to you for guidance, Maeteo, do not let them know you are struggling.”
I blinked, plastering a smile onto my face, and nodding at him.
“Of course, I’m going to go scout the streets above for any signs of threats. Please, Tarian, go to sleep.”
Tarian hesitated, but nodded his head, his hair starting to grow past his ears and flopping around as he did so. I waited until he had picked a cot — the one farthest from Hollis, and I internally thanked him for leaving the one next to her open for me — and once he had settled and his breathing deepened, I turned towards the metal ladder.
My hands gripped the cold steps, and, with a shaky breath, I began to climb. It did not take long, maybe acouple of minutes, until I was using one hand to keep myself steady, and the other to push the heavy cover to the side. It took more effort than I expected, and with a grunt of exertion, it finally slipped far enough to the side for me to slip through onto the street above.
The first thing I noticed was the stifling heat. It clung to every part of my body, and every inch of exposed skin was suddenly soaked in sweat. Huffing out a heavy breath, I moved the cover back over the tunnel entrance to protect my three sleeping companions and stood up straight.
In the moonlight, the city was nearly silent. The taverns were still lit up from within, and I could see the bodies heaving inside them. Pulling my hood up over my head, I stuck my hands into my pockets and began to walk down the empty street. There were no guards that I could see, and I wondered if the rest of the city was this under-guarded.
The streetlamps cast an orange glow onto the cobblestone streets, and the hot air moving through the flower planters made the petals move together. Every inch of the streets was decorated with white and gold banners. They were strung from streetlamp to streetlamp, and from store fronts to tavern signs. I knew instantly that they were wedding banners, and my stomach soured as I stopped in my tracks, staring at the offending banners.
I did not notice the sound of someone coming up behind me until I felt their hand on my shoulder, and the hilt of their sword on my temple.
13
Kira
Aheavy knocking on my chamber’s doors roused me from a deep sleep.
I had been dreaming of flying. On Aepein’s back, high above the Earth countryside, with Gavrun at our side and three tiny, freshly hatched baby dragons underneath us. The wind had been cool through my hair, and I had been smiling as we started to move through the Lides mountains.
Then the rumbling began.
The heavy thuds that caused the mountains to crack and split, rocks falling and cascading to the ground miles beneath us. Aepein screamed, a painful, devastated sound as a rock took out Gavrun and one of her babies, and Igasped as I threw myself up in my bed.
It took a few seconds to realise that the noise was not, in fact, the mountains crumbling, but was someone knocking relentlessly at my chamber door. Throwing my duvet off myself, I grabbed the fluffy robe that was hung on one of my bedposts and wrapped it around myself as I made my way through my living area. Throwing a glance at the grandfather clock in the corner, my eyes widened when I saw it was nearly three in the morning.
The knocking did not relent until I had unlocked the door and pulled it open. Cyrus stood there, hair mused and his eyes rimmed red with sleep. He still wore his sleeping trousers, but he did not have a shirt on, and I blinked in shock at the sight of him.
“Cyrus? What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep as I pulled the tie of my robe tighter, “Do you know what time it is?”
“I know, Sweetheart, I’m sorry.” Cyrus sighed; his own voice rough as though he had been woken as suddenly as I had. “There is…somethinghappening, and I need you to come with me.”
I stared at him for a second, my brain taking its time catching up to the words he had spoken. What was happening so urgently at this hour?
Nodding, I stepped out into the hall and closed my door behind me, making sure it was locked. Cyrus stepped backwards, keeping his eyes on me, and letting me passhim before following close behind. I was incredibly conscious of his proximity, the heat from his chest radiating right through the fabric of my robe and onto my skin.
The castle staff were running in the halls as we passed through them, and I frowned at the commotion. What could be bad enough to send the whole castle into an uproar at such a ridiculous time of night? My heart started to pound in my chest as a small woman I had only spoken to once or twice hurried past us with a mop bucket; the water inside was stained a deep red.
Gracie appeared from the entrance to the East Wing. Her hair piled on top of her head and her eyes heavy with sleep, she held her own robe around herself, watching the chaos unfold in front of her.
“Your Majesties,” she greeted us, her eyes never leaving the busy halls, “What’s going on?”
“We’re not sure yet.” I muttered, gesturing for her to follow us along the corridor we were turning down.
Cyrus’s jaw was set tight, as though he was grinding his teeth together as we walked, his hands balling into fists repeatedly. He had let Gracie walk in front of him, putting a bit more space between the two of us, and for that I was grateful. Gracie’s solid presence beside me was the only thing I could fully rely on recently.
