CHAPTER 28

Dawn washed across our travelling party with the breeze of frigid air. The flame-jewelled lanterns dimmed, no longer needed to light the way from Aurelia to our new destination. The very sky felt tense, white clouds threatening to unleash hail or rain at any given moment. Maybe snow.

Winter was truly upon us. Whereas the many fey who travelled with us pulled fur-lined coats around their necks and hugged arms around their bodies, I hardly felt the cold anymore. And what chill I did feel felt oddly calming.

It'd been night when we vacated Aurelia, perfectly timed under cover of darkness. The familiar trot of the stag had me falling asleep long before we left the cover of the ancient trees. I woke with Erix pressed close behind me, mouth dry and neck cramping with an awkward ache.

"Now that you are awake, can I suggest talking as a form of passing the time? Might help make the journey feel quicker," Erix said, tightening his hold on me as I sat before him on the stag. "Or we can continue sitting in silence. At least I would have your snoring to keep me entertained."

"I'm tired," I replied, scanning the crowds to make sense of my slight disorientation. "And if you make one more comment about snoring, I swear you'll not have the luxury of seeing me sleep again."

Erix leaned in, whisper tickling my ear. "There are many other things I can imagine that sound more highly entertaining than sleeping, little bird. I have the stamina to see an entire day through if given the choice."

I shrugged him off, fighting a smile as I craned my sore neck and looked back at the crowd of mounted fey behind us. "Swallow your tongue. Someone might hear us."

My heart sank to the pit of my stomach when I caught sight of Tarron riding at the back of our campaign. Erix might've replied, but I lost all ability to listen as my eyes settled on the Oakstorm prince. Tarron's face was one I didn't expect to see in our convoy. He wasn't meant to be here. He should be with Father on their way to Oakstorm.

I held my eyes on him, waiting for Tarron to notice me, but he was too captivated by his surroundings.

Or he was purposefully trying not to meet my eyes.

"Robin, what is wrong?" Erix's hand found my shoulder and squeezed gently. "You have been oddly distant since our… interruption yesterday. Have I done, or said something to offend you?"

"Nothing," I said, snapping my attention back to the procession before me. "It's not you, it's–"

"Let me guess what is coming next," Erix interrupted, looking ahead, mouth drawn tight. "‘It is me.'"

"Well, yes." I scrambled my way out of the awkward conversation. "It is me. Because the ache in my arse is terrible, and my mouth tastes like the bottom of a birdcage."

I wasn't ready to tell Erix why Tarron's presence concerned me. And from what I could see, Father wasn't with him. There would be a time to question Tarron, but in the presence of so many fey, now was not it.

Erix leaned into my ear and whispered again. "Do not fret, little bird.IamconfidentI can assist with your first concern. The latter… that's what you get for snoring with your mouth wide open."

I nestled into him until all I felt was the warmth of his body through our travelling attire. It was as much of a distraction from Tarron's presence as I could afford.

"I'm beginning to think you have a fetish for men snoring, you bring it up so much."

"Not men who snore, little bird. Men who enjoy having their mouths open–"

I jolted him in the ribs, conjuring a breathy laugh from Erix.

Althea rode ahead of us, her face turned to the side, ears twitching as though she listened in. The smirk across her face suggested she'd heard, but it could've been from the young woman nestled on the stag before her. Briar. My Taster. I'd not noticed her before but felt a pang of happiness that she was healthy and well – for Althea's sake as well as her own.

"Is there not something thrilling about sharing such thoughts among a crowd?" Erix asked. "It gives the sense of being rather…"

"Don't say it, Erix." My cheeks flushed as I bit down on my lip to stop the giggle that threatened to expose me to those who rode close to our sides. Gyah was one of them, constantly scanning the surroundings of the forest and beyond for threats. Her hand never strayed far from the handle of the sword that bounced at her hip. She offered me a quick grin, one that hardly lit her golden eyes.

"We still have a while to go until we reach Farrador. But I'm afraid to admit, all this bouncing in the saddle is making me lose my head a bit." Erix's large hands gripped on the reins, leather gloves crunching as he did so. Then he rested both hands on either of my thighs, his touch sending a bolt of excitement through me as a shiver shot up my spine.

"What has gotten into you?" I said through the corner of my mouth, looking around to see if anyone else listened in.

"Perhaps it is my desire for you or the fact that this journey has you bouncing before my crotch which has made me rather… starved."

I suddenly became aware of the movement of our stag, and tried everything to stiffen my body by clenching my stomach muscles and clamping down with my thighs. "One more word, and I'm pushing you from this mount and leaving you in the dust."

"Is that a threat?" Erix purred, tongue brushing the nape of my neck.

"A promise," I replied, unable to stop my skin from erupting in gooseflesh. "Now shut it."

Erix chuckled deeply, leaning back from me and lifting his hands from my legs. I suddenly felt the urge to scold him and return his touch upon my legs but decided against it because he was not the only one who felt starved. I was famished.

"Tell me about Farrador." I thought it was best to change the conversation. And quickly.

"What is it you desire to know?"

I sighed, trying to conjure an image of the mysterious city. Was it built into the side of a mountain like Imeria? Etched into the stone as though it belonged there without question? Or was it burrowed beneath monstrous, gold-leafed trees like Aurelia?

"Well," I began. "Do you really believe it's safer for me there?"

"Queen Lyra believes it, and so do I. The gryvern have never ventured that far, and the city is… well guarded." There was something in the way he said those last two words that made me tense. "It is the home to the Cedarfall family, and the power within the family's veins also fills the city. Gryvern are stupid monsters, but smart enough to know where their attempts are wasted."

"And what about the people of Farrador? What's to say they'll not try, as others have, to kill me? To them, I'm the biggest threat to their hopes of war."

Erix pondered my question in a moment of silence. I looked back at him, catching the glint of his serious, silver-gleaming eyes. "Because those who are against the idea of war are the soldiers themselves. And the city is full of them, and their loved ones. Those who risk their lives and put futures on the line are the very same who would pray for an excuse to not leave their families with the uncertainty of never returning."

"Makes a lot of sense," I muttered, feeling a sense of ease rush over me.

"I am full of sense." The return of Erix's thick, sarcastic tone broke the seriousness of the conversation. "And other things, of course."

"Did you forget about my promise to push you off?"

"I am merely seeing if you are good with your word."

I nudged him with an elbow, driving the air out of him as he wheezed a surprised laugh. "I will take that as a yes."

"Remind me how long I have until the Passing?" I asked, the question sprang to my mind quickly, like a cat stalking a mouse. The Passing was still a topic that interestingly skipped most conversations, although it was the most important. Since I'd left my father, I felt as though my heart was made up. Even though my mind still pondered the option of leaving the Icethorn Court unclaimed.

I knew what I had to do.

Father's words repeated in the back of my mind . "I am proud of you… and she would've been too."

"Not long." Gone was the sarcasm from his tone. In fact, it was my turn to sense his body stiffening.

"Care to elaborate?"

"The festivities begin within the week." I looked ahead at the straight backs of Queen Lyra and her husband as they led the campaign, flanked by their own guards.

"Within the week, and I still don't understand what is being asked of me."

"I would not worry. Queen Lyra has informed me of the preparations over the coming days. Your days, although limited, are going to be full of lessons and council. The other ruling families of Wychwood will be arriving for the Passing, which will keep the Cedarfall family preoccupied. I have been informed the very best scholars and historians will be reporting to you daily to shed light on what is required of you."

"Is that what you believe?" I asked, not caring if anyone listened in. "That I'm required to claim the Icethorn Court? And who requires that of me?"

"Every living soul both sides of the Wychwood border. They require it."

"And what do you require?"

I couldn't see Erix's expression as he replied, but I could imagine how his eyes narrowed as though he was in pain. "For you to survive, and thrive, far beyond the Passing."

The city of Farrador was far different from anything I could've ever imagined.

The dense forest thinned at the end of our journey just as the day darkened with the arrival of night. Or at least, that was what I first believed was the reasoning for the shift in daylight. What actually shadowed our final stretch was not, in fact, dusk, but the towering wall of polished stone that shot up into the sky before us. A wall, endless and proud, travelling as far as the eye could see into the sky whilst also wrapped around the city. For as far as my eyes could see, there was a slight curve to the wall, but no end in sight.

Our campaign fanned out, each stag coming to a stop in a line as we each faced the impossible wall, all but Queen Lyra and Althea, who rode ahead, side by side. I couldn't see if Briar still sat before her, nestled in Althea's arms. But I got the impression that Althea, much like Erix with me, would never leave Briar too far from sight again.

I noticed Tarron at our side, his gaze finally meeting mine for a brief moment. There was something tense about his presence, and it was likely conjured by the fact that I'd been led to believe he was on his way to Oakstorm now. If Erix noticed me looking at Tarron, he didn't mention it.

It wasn't that I didn't like his presence. There was something reassuring in knowing that the keeper of my deadliest secret was not too far away. But all I could think about was why .

A flash of deep ruby light burst from the front of the crowd. I snapped my head to see what'd caused it. Althea and her mother each raised a hand skywards, and a ball of twisting fire exploding from their palms. Up it flew, as though it was a fallen star reclaimed by the night. The flame was so large that I felt the heat from it where I sat, even at a distance. Upwards it flew, throwing deep light across the grey stone wall. Then it stopped dead in its flight, hovering in mid-air before imploding into nothingness in a shower of sparks.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"A signal," Erix replied, voice a whisper to avoid shattering the illusion of silence around us.

"For who?"

"To open the city. The Cedarfall family have returned."

A loud, earth-shaking crack sounded, and the wall began to split in two. The door to Farrador slowly opened, the grinding of metal ringing out across the night.

I expected to see a sea of buildings beyond, streets as full of life as Aurelia had been. But Farrador was void of city life, at least how I'd imagined it to be. When Father talked of the human capital of Lockinge, he'd made it seem as though the smell of cramped bodies was enough to spoil fresh food, or the noise of city life would ring in one's ears weeks after leaving. But what waited beyond the wall was not that.

It was… silence.

The hidden gate opened slowly, and Erix guided the stag into line as we all began following through. I tried to crane my neck to see more, only to be pulled back with Erix's steady hand. His low promise sent a shiver across the back of my head. "All good things come to those who wait for them."

Ash and smoke hung in the air, poisoning my lungs with each inhale. I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle it.

Campfires raged all around me. Large fields stretched as far as I could see, not the types I'd seen before, square patches of different shades of farming and land, but an ocean of tents pitched across the flat and empty land, all leading up to a tower that stretched up into the sky ahead. Trees had been cut down to make way for the army soldiers who filled the cramped spaces between.

An army. Thousands of them. Maybe more. There was no possible way of counting or even dreaming up a number.

All this discussion of war and the threat to Durmain became real at that very moment.

I couldn't focus on anything but the camp. How it stretched as far as I could see, even to the edges of the circular wall that surrounded Farrador's land. It was overwhelming – horrifying and very real.

There wasn't a single sound from the campaign as we trailed the path that cut directly through the camp, leading up to the inner wall that surrounded the many towers of the Cedarfall castle. Soldiers stopped what they'd been doing as we passed, each looking at us with blank and unreadable expressions. Some tipped their heads to Queen Lyra in respect. Others didn't. Many even bowed as Tarron passed them.

These men and women weren't only from the Cedarfall Court, that much was clear, confirmed by a quiet murmur that Erix shared with me. They were the recruits from Elmdew, Oakstorm and Cedarfall. And from the few who couldn't hold my stare, I could only guess they may've been survivors from the Icethorn Court, before the land became a death trap to any who had inhabited it.

This part of the journey, cutting between the crowds towards the castle, felt like the longest. Before we reached the end, I kept my gaze to my lap, unable to look upon the soldiers a moment longer. If the unclaimed power of the Icethorn Court was a threat to the humans beyond Wychwood, this scene prompted a far greater concern for them.

It was impossible to choose which reality was most frightening.

Long after we passed through the second circular wall that gave way to the castle within, could I hear the rumbling noise of countless people. Erix was right about Farrador being a city full of soldiers. But what he failed to reveal was it was, in fact, a city made for soldiers. Fields trampled, trees chopped down, and even buildings levelled to give way for a sea of people ready to conquer a realm, using the Icethorn magic as their key for entry.

And if I had to bleed dry to prevent the war, then I was ready to be the one to wield the blade to ensure it never happened.