CHAPTER 7

The last thing I wanted was to fall asleep, but the rhythmic trot of the stag made it impossible to keep my eyes open. Between Erix's persistent silence and the night and day I'd just had, sleep came naturally.

Until I woke abruptly to a deep chortle. My mouth was dry, likely from having it hung open like an unattractive flytrap. My neck and shoulder shared an ache from the awkward angle I'd fallen asleep in.

But the worst feeling of all was knowing how close I'd pressed myself into the hard torso of Erix's frame, as though I'd fallen asleep with my back against a wall. And his arms, those two statuesque arms, seemed to be closer now. They held me in place, preventing me from tumbling from the saddle.

"Now, I am not confident if it was your own snoring that woke you or something I may have done," Erix said, his laugh thumping through my back. "If it was the latter, I do apologise."

My heart dropped like a rock in a lake, embarrassment heating the tips of my ears.

I was acutely aware of my arm, which hung to the side of the stag, and my hand, which rested upon the muscular thigh of the fey man. Snatching it away, I wiped the back of my hand against my mouth to clear any spit that dared dribble down my chin.

"I don't snore," I said.

"Not that it matters, or proving you wrong means anything to me… But you do, in fact, snore." I felt the shift of his torso as he laughed beneath his breath.

I inhaled, and his scent of spiced cinnamon seemed to be all I could register.

"How long have I been out for?" I asked. I was still tired, and scolding myself would not change that I'd let my guard down enough to actually sleep. Even though I'd woken untouched, unharmed and with the whispering feeling of safety.

"A few hours. I thought it best to give you a moment to gain some energy and gift myself with a lack of questioning."

Was that why my head ached? Because the sleep had done little to give me reprieve? Choosing not to respond to Erix, I distracted myself by taking in my surroundings. The view around me had changed dramatically in such a short time.

We were deeper into Wychwood, which meant further away from Father. But I clung to Althea's promise of his invitation. Worrying about it wouldn't change the outcome. And I was far from actioning anything to aid in providing his invite. Pushing that thought away, I focused on the view around me.

The trees were no longer thick with different shades of green. The many branches were sparse. Only a few amber leaves clung to them as the rest fluttered to the forest bed like falling golden flecks of snow.

At first, the stag's footfalls had been muffled by moss, grass and mud. Now each step responded with the crunch of leaves beneath it. Peering towards the ground, it was covered in a bed of amber- and ruddy-coloured leaves, a blanket of autumn that stretched out in all directions for as far as I couldsee.

I also noticed the lack of a convoy. The crowd of fey who'd walked among us, and the many mounted warriors, had thinned. I could've counted the number that remained, but Erix spoke again, snatching my attention.

"You woke in time for our arrival to Aurelia."

"Aurelia?"

Erix had said it as though it was no more than a passing comment. A name without meaning. But what he must've known was I, and others beyond Wychwood, had little understanding of the lands. The place was mostly a mystery. No human cartographer had depicted what lay beyond the Wychwood barrier. Across any human map, the space was a shadowed mark, with a known beginning but an unimaginable end. All the maps revealed were the four court's names and boundary lines.

"Aurelia is the southernmost, and second-largest, dwelling in Cedarfall. The Golden City . A message arrived whilst you snored – I mean, slept. Instructions regarding our change of course. It seems news of you has reached the capital before Althea, which was not what was intended."

His comments only added to the ache in my head. I pressed a finger to my temple, massaging in small circles in hopes of easing the pain. "How's that possible?"

"Anything is possible, but I do not know who the informant, in this case, has been. I am sure Althea will find out who it was. She has a way of getting answers that others cannot obtain."

"What happens when we reach Aurelia?" I felt a small buzz of excitement at the thought of seeing a city and a fey one at that.

"You eat and drink, even rest on a bed with considerably more cushioning than me."

As my eyes widened in shock, I was thankful that no one travelled beside us. That wave of embarrassment rolled back over me just as I believed its original tide had dispersed.

"A bed that is considerably less sarcastic as well, I hope?" I snapped back, fighting the tug of my lip.

Before he could respond with yet another witty remark, a thundering of hooves interrupted him. Looking towards the sound, we both watched as we were greeted by a party of armoured fey. Instead of stags, they rode horses, and I couldn't help but enjoy the mundane nature of their arrival.

"We have arrived, and just in time too," Erix whispered, his voice harder than it had been before. He spoke to me as though it was a chore. Had I offended him? It shouldn't have worried me, not with everything else that had happened, but it did.

A clear difference, besides the mounts, was the armour the arriving fey wore. They were women whose hair had been braided into a whip down their backs. Their armour was shades of deep brown, with threading of gold that spun in swirls and shapes across their torsos and shoulders. The closer I got, the more I could see that those details looked like twisting, golden branches with small, carefully sewn leaves which seemed more like the scales of a gilded, scaled beast.

The stag we rode huffed with my shared excitement, raising his antlered crown as though he wanted to show off to them.

"Erix. We have been instructed to escort you to the manor," the lead fey spoke. They didn't wear obscuring helmets like Erix had, exposing faces equally mature and beautiful. Lines of experience wrinkled the corners of their lips, but their brown skin glowed with life and warmth. "By request of the Cedarfall Court."

"Then we shall follow your lead," Erix responded, his tone still void of emotion. He'd become the stoic warrior I'd expected from a fey of his build and demeanour. It almost matched what the female warriors exuded – but they had an air about them that presumed power that even Erix didn't have.

I kept silent, highly aware that they did everything not to look at me. Without sparing another word, we began to move forward again. The new arrivals spread themselves around the small convoy, equally spaced as the main lead at the front.

And all the while, I couldn't ignore that they each had a hand hovering above a sheathed weapon, all whilst studying the forest around them as well as the path ahead.

The forest soon gave way to a view of open fields. I couldn't believe how bright the late afternoon light was as we had been under cover of trees for so long. But it wasn't the sudden open space that snatched my breath away, or the fact that the forest actually did have an end.

It was what was nestled in the valley before me that had my stomach jolting wildly.

Wind swiped at my face, whipping my clothes across my chest as I stared down the decline towards the city. In amongst a sea of deep, golden-leaved trees was a maze of stone. From our perch, it looked as though I could sweep my hand through the air and pick up the city in my palm. Aurelia . The Golden City . It was clear why it had that title as it was surrounded by the monstrous trees that confirmed its namesake.

Trees of literal gold-leaf. Hundreds of them.

I soon realised that Erix had slowed our mount to allow me to take it all in. Only when the leading fey woman noticed we had fallen back did he knock his boots into the stag to urge it forward.

"It looks so small up here," I said, voice soft with awe.

"You are looking at the exposed heart of the city. The majority of it is hidden beneath the ancient trees you see, and I can assure you Aurelia is far from small."

I couldn't help but smile at the view before me.

My stomach jumped as we began our descent towards it. I felt like a child, looking upon a place I had often wondered about, but this, what waited before me, was far more than I could have dreamt up.

Erix was right, Aurelia was certainly not small. In fact, beneath the impressive golden forest, I was the one who felt tiny. Everything did.

The city was a blend of stone and wood. Buildings similar to those I was used to seeing back home lined the streets we passed through. Wide, cobbled roads broke off in different directions, exposing more pathways. A maze – an endless, beautiful maze. One that didn't solely belong on ground level. I lifted my head up, staring up into the bottom of gold-leaf trees, unable to comprehend what I saw. Wooden pathways that wrapped around the hulking trunks of trees, linking them together. Among the shadows far above, buildings of dark wood had been built onto the sides of the giant trunks, connected by walkways and bridges that glowed in the dark belly of foliage thanks to the numerous golden-flamed lanterns. Without them, I could only imagine how dark it must be to dwell far up in the reaches of the ancient trees and their thick, dense twisting of branches and leaves.

Similar lanterns had been lit along the main pathway we rode upon; they separated the road from the walkways on either side, walkways that were filled with countless bodies of people – fey – going about their daily lives in this incredible city.

I'd never seen so many people in one place before. Grove was well populated for such a small village, but nothing like this. Aurelia was large, bigger than large, and the streets were full. Likely more complex than Lockinge, the human capital.

Fey flooded in and out of buildings, threading around markets and open-aired taverns. We passed many who sat at tables, food and drink lifted to their mouths as they conversed with one another.

Life. That was what this place was riddled with. Life. A hub of it. More people than I had likely seen in my complete existence.

No one paid much mind as our convoy passed through the main street. If the king had a parade of his soldiers through Grove, it would've captured everyone's attention. But this seemed like a normal part of day-to-day life.

There was a scent to the city, one that couldn't be ignored. It seemed to come from the golden trees themselves, because it started the moment we reached the bottom of the valley and entered beneath them. It coated the back of my tongue with each inhale, reminding me of the sweet and fresh aftertaste of maple. It wasn't unpleasant, but the further we got, the more I believed I'd never rid my skin of the smell. I could no longer pick up the spiced scent of Erix, who still pressed close behind me, even though a part of me wanted to.

"Welcome to my favourite place in all of Wychwood," Erix said from behind me, awe filling his voice.

So even a local was enamoured by this place.

"It's unlike anything I could've imagined," I answered.

When he spoke again, I got the impression he wasn't speaking about the city. "That is a sentiment I certainly understand well today."

The cobbled road we travelled began to slope upwards slightly towards a large building which sat waiting for us at the end. It was a blend of both stone and wood, mixing the architecture I'd seen so far into one place. It'd been built around the old trees, some even looking as though they had grown straight through the middle. Its grey stone walls rose up tall, covered in countless glass windows that glowed with inside light. A shiver of anticipation coursed over my exposed arms at the thought of getting off the stag and seeing what awaited within.

This must have been the manor the fey guard had mentioned when she greeted us. The word had originally conjured an image of a rather large home, but this was like a castle, with towering walls and a pitched roof that connected to the impressive linking of paths that went up and up into the ceiling of foliage above it. In some way, this manor was connected to every part of Aurelia, as though every road, path and floating walkway led directly to it.

Without audible command or signal, the stag slowed to a stop. Erix cooed his thanks and praise to his mount. He slid effortlessly from its side, then offered his hand to me. "It is by foot from here."

I hesitated, staring down at my bare feet as though I'd forgotten how to use them. Still in my nightclothes, I could only imagine what I looked like, especially as Erix stared up at me, his silver gaze the only thing exposed behind the helmet he'd put back on.

I didn't take his hand, instead using my little remaining strength to lower myself to the ground. The cobbled road wasn't cold to the touch, but my feet did tingle as though I stood on a bed of pins.

My focus on the city had resulted in me not realising that it was only Erix and I left, among the party of guards. No longer did the crowd of fey follow. For someone who praised himself on remembering details, I was doing a terrible job at it now.

"Lady Kelsey is honoured to welcome you to her home, Robin," one of the fey-guards announced, making me jump slightly at her sudden appearance. Until now, she'd acted like I didn't exist.

She was shorter than Erix, like me. I recognised her as the leader of the escort who greeted us in the forest. Her dark brown skin glowed beneath the uniform she wore, the gold threading across her breastplate matching that of her gaze. However, I couldn't help but notice that the length of her ears didn't extend as far as Erix's or the other guards around me. They were shorter, curved and covered in earrings of brass and silver.

"Where is our host?" Erix asked, looking to the empty stairwell that led up to the castle's entrance.

"Lady Kelsey sends her apologies for she has yet to return from her trip. Although I am sure you understand your arrival was untimely and unexpected. Lady Kelsey assures you that her home is yours and can be for as long as the court requires."

There was something inquisitive in the woman's honey-gold stare as she spoke to me. Her eyes bored into mine, looking for something. Searching.

"What of Althea?" Erix questioned, voice steady and full of authority.

"Althea Cedarfall will return shortly, but until then, you are invited to rest. I am certain you require it."

Erix spoke for me. "Thank you for your hospitality… and as you have expressed, rest is exactly what Robin requires."

The woman's lip pursed at Erix but then softened when she looked back at me. "If you require anything, please only ask. My name is Gyah, but any of my comrades would be happy to aid you during your stay. It has been many years since we last hosted the Icethorn Court, and it is our pleasure to do so again."

I fought the sudden urge to laugh. Gyah looked at me as though she knew me with more certainty than I knew myself. And that thrilled me. Because that meant she likely knew my mother. Opting not to be rude, for Father brought me up far better than that, I bowed my head as I replied. "Thank you, Gyah."

When I looked up, my throat tightened at the sadness that glazed over her golden-hued eyes. It was there only for a moment, but it was unforgettable. It halted me from saying another thing. And she seemed to catch herself, because she spun on her heel and beckoned us to follow.

I paused only until Erix's guiding hand found the small of my back and urged me forward. He didn't say anything. Had he also seen the tears that clung to her eyes?

The lingering feeling sent a great rush of unease through me. But, with the rest of my discomfort, I swallowed it and promised myself to deal with it when my world was not entirely turned upside down.