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Jasmine
“WHY are we hurrying?” Brigid asked annoyedly as we all rushed to pack our things. “Why not spend the night and leave early in the morning?”
“No,” Dearen replied. “Reese will figure out that I was at the trials as soon as he gets home. His daughter... She knows I was at the trials and will tell him for sure.”
Judging by the slight color that appeared on Dearen’s cheeks, there was a story there. We did not ask. Dearen would share it if and when he felt like it.
“And then,” Kieran added. “He will know who we are.”
“Yes,” Dearen replied. “He might not be able to guess that I’m with the prince and the princess of the Unseelie, but he will know that I might be with champions. Even if he doesn’t think that, he will want to turn me in to get the prize.”
“What prize?” I asked.
“I thought he was your friend,” Brigid said simultaneously.
“He is my friend,” Dearen said as he lifted up his pack and straightened. “But he’s also a thief, and his family is deeply impoverished. He could use the money.”
“What money?” I asked again.
Kieran looked up. He was done with packing and was now waiting for the rest of us to catch up.
“The queen offers an award in exchange for information about any champions,” he explained gravely. “If anyone brings a champion to her, she will give them ten thousand pieces of gold.”
To my surprise, Fiona reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. Without saying anything, she gave it to me.
What Kieran had said was terribly accurate. According to the pamphlet, the queen was calling for all the citizens to share the information they had on any of the surviving trial champions. It seemed she thought some of us could have secretly entered her realm and that we could be working together with the Unseelie ‘to undermine the crown’s efforts to protect the Light Fae from the vile plans of the dark ones.’
“This...” I mumbled. “This is horrible.”
“It is,” Dearen confirmed. “And it means that we cannot waste any time.”
I nodded.
“We might go to another inn,” Fiona suggested. “Reese wouldn’t know where to find us.”
“Other inns won’t be as safe,” Dearen said. “This one was different. Anyone outside the law could find refugee here, but I guess that changed as well.”
I knew he was thinking of the minstrel who had been taken away by the soldiers.
“Lots have changed,” Brigid said gravely.
“How do we leave?” Fiona asked desperately. “Guards are patrolling the streets. The gates are closed.”
“What gates?” I asked her.
Unlike Qam, Terlyth did not have a wall circling the city. I had always thought it was odd that the city lacked an outer wall since Terlyth was close to the in-between realm, and we knew monsters lived freely there. Now that we knew the monsters were the creation of the Queen of Light, it made sense, but I felt stupid for not thinking about this before.
It was rather obvious. The queen did not think the monsters were a danger to the Seelie, and thus she had no reason to build a wall.
All of that had changed when she declared war on the Unseelie.
“The outer wall gates,” Dearen replied. “They built a wall.”
“They did?” I asked. “How?”
“Earth elementals, probably,” Brigid answered my question and did not point out how easy of an answer it was.
“How did you guys get in, then?” I asked.
