Page 53 of Cold Hearted
They both looked at me strangely. “You know the Jewel Spring Mountains in the Eastern Kingdom are chock full of precious gems and gold. Stryker has riches beyond belief. Whoever sits on his throne controls more wealth than all of the other three lords put together.”
I gulped. Powerful, paranoid, and rich were a deadly combination.
“Well, I’ve got to try my best to get word to him. It’s a matter of life or death,” I admitted.
Both women nodded, and a somber mood fell over our little trio.
The sun had set, and Alexandria looked up at the gates. “Should we head inside? Wouldn’t want to go in after too late or they’d get the wrong idea.”
That’s exactly when I planned to go in. When it was pitch dark and both girls were asleep.
I yawned, stretching out my arms for effect. “I’m beat and I have no more coin for an inn. Let’s camp here tonight and go in first thing in the morning? Lord Stryker is probably more likely to see me then.”
They both nodded, and after gathering dead wood, Nysa used her nymph powers to make a fire. I pretended to laze on the grass and stare at the front gates of the castle, but really I was counting guards. They had two at the front, two on the wall above, and another two in high towers. Every cart or person that came through was stopped and questioned by a guard. Some of them even showed what appeared to be papers or identification documents.
Definitely avoid the front gates.
Alexandria snuggled up beside me. “Thanks for saving us, Dawn.”
“To say we are grateful would be an understatement,” Nysa agreed, as she sidled up on my other side. The sun had dropped quickly and the temperature with it. It was nowhere near freezing, but the cooler air felt nice. The fire crackled in front of us as sleep pulled at my limbs, but I forced myself to remain alert.
It was almost over. I just needed to do what my mother had originally counseled: kill them before they can even get a single word out.
Why? Because they might actually be good people?I questioned myself.
But my people were good people too, and my world was dying while they sat in their castles without a care in the world.
Okay, that wasn’t quite fair, but I was trying to psych myself up to kill Zander’s brother. Because no matter how I spun it, that’s what I was about to do. Zander was related to all of the Ethereum lords. No matter which one I took, it would hurt him, but this one might hurt him most. Stryker might be his favorite brother for all I knew.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to think of my people, of the cold black rain that battered the windows before I left. The baker’s baby was due soon. She needed a safe world to birth that child into. Master Duncan, my mother, they were probably sleeping in front of the mirror awaiting my return.
In the entirety of Faerie history, there’d never been a time when the Summer champion did not return with a heart, and I wasn’t about to start now.
I peered over to see Alexandria and Nysa, both asleep, eyes closed, mouth slack and breathing even.
With extra care, I sat up slowly and then got to my feet, careful not to make a noise. When I was sure they were in fact deeply asleep, I slipped away from them and crossed the road we’d made camp near. There were a few other fires of fellow campers passing through who’d set up for the night, so I avoided those areas and worked my way east, bypassing the front gates, hoping to find a way in through the side.
As a fellow royal myself, I knew that every castle had a secondary exit or tunnel system in case of attack.Zander’s fortress had had one, so I was sure Easteria did as well. I just needed to find it.
It was dark, and so I pulled on some of my power, focusing a diffused glow from my palm to illuminate my path. I aimed my palm at the ground, looking for a storm drain or hidden trap door, then I peered up at the looming stone wall that surrounded Easteria. Nothing. I pressed on, but an hour into looking I’d still found no way into the city.
I might have to risk climbing over the wall, but the guards patrolling up there might spot me and send word. Then I’d be sent to jail, or worse. No, there had to be another way. I was just about to turn around when I heard voices up ahead. I’d walked nearly the entire length of one side of the large square city wall and was now directly behind the castle at the back end. I slunk into the bushes and crept closer.
There was a light up ahead. I peered that way to see that there was another gate. It was a smaller one that looked like it led directly into the castle.
Two fae unloaded a wagon filled with fruits and bags of grain. A pair of guards stood watch nearby, but that was it.
Two guards and two untrained fae servants; it was my best chance. Stroking my fingers over my dagger to be sure it was there, I took a deep breath.
It was now or never.
Streaking across the forest hunched over to make myself less visible, I pulled for my power. It was dark out, but I’d charged up during the day walking in the sun. I could take out these four and still have enough juice to end Stryker.
One of the guards looked up and spotted me. I immediately grabbed my stomach, remaining hunched over to hide my midsection.
“My baby’s coming,” I wailed, blowing through my lips like I’d seen my friend Juliette do during her labor.
The guards eyes bugged out and he lowered his sword. The men carrying the supplies, into what I now saw was a storeroom, stopped as well.
