Chapter 6

Ryker

I staredat my driver for a minute before shifting my attention past the thirty-foot-tall, open stone gates of the palace bailey and down the hill to the town in the valley below. Trees lined the dirt road to Nottingshire but weren't part of the Revenant Woods.

The town bordered that thick, haunted forest, but no buildings existed in the woods. The great forest covered thousands of acres of the realm.

Getting anywhere in the realm without crossing at least a portion of the woods was almost impossible… unless one opened a portal. And since opening portals could weaken immortals if done too often in a day, many amsirah chose to save their strength and travel through the woods when necessary.

From here, on top of a rise miles away, my father's newly built castle rose high into the sky. It was a monstrosity of stone, lightning rods covering the roof and peaks, and three moats surrounding the structure on all sides.

It was rumored that gargoyles once resided in Tempest. It seemed my father was determined to remind people of the legendary, murderous creatures by placing them all around the turrets and above all the outer doors.

While I was fighting a war, my father spent a fortune building his new castle next to the smaller one that had been a perfectly acceptable structure. The builders had dismantled the smaller building and used it to fortify my father's ego.

I'd been gone for over two years only to return to a monstrosity I didn't recognize, but the smaller castle hadn't been my home either. I left my father behind as soon as I could and was only living with him now because Leo's death threw my place in this realm into turmoil.

I no longer knew where I belonged in Tempest and was trying to figure it out. I knew it wasn't with that man, but his castle was a place to sleep… for now.

The Revenant Woods was at the bottom of the hill from my father's castle. Unlike many, I didn't fear the ghosts, poltergeists, and flesh-eating creatures who resided within, so I refused to avoid them when Sampson suggested it earlier.

I'd never shied away from the Revenant Woods before and wasn't about to start now. And I'd paid for that with my money.

My eyes narrowed on Nottingshire, nestled in the valley below. Smoke rose from the huts, shacks, and ramshackle buildings down there.

Lightning rods stood on top of every building. Their tall, metal spires glistened in the sun shining down on them.

Nottingshire had always been full of amsirah who only possessed one ability to control the weather… and it had some poor fuckers who couldn't do anything with weather elements. They were rare, but they did exist and didn't fare well in this realm.

Some of them left the amsirah realm of Tempest to start a new life elsewhere, but that could be more dangerous in a world where immortals craved power and survived by their strengths. With no strengths, those amsirahs were more of a target in the Shadow Realms than they were here, where they at least had family.

Some also went to live in the human realm to blend in with those nearly as weak as them. Before humans learned of the existence of immortals, they had to move often to hide the fact they didn't age, but they survived there.

This intermingling of immortals and humans throughout time created a cross of cultures between the realms. We had each picked up one another's words, arts, music, and the humans even weaved some immortals into their mythologies.

Our fashions intermingled too. I knew women who still wore corsets, but just as many had abandoned them for bras or nothing at all.

When the Lord unleashed his fury on the human realm, and they learned of our existence, this intermingling of cultures intensified. Immortals now moved freely through the human realm and spent more time there because of it.

"Why do they call Nottingshire ‘The Hollows' now?" I asked.

"Because of all the hollow bellies there, milord," Sampson answered.

I tore my attention away from the village below to frown at him. "What?"

Sampson shifted uneasily. "Things are… they're different from before, milord. The Hollows was never a place of wealth and prosperity, but the residents did well enough with little. That's not true anymore."

Dorothy huffed. "They still do fine."

Sampson's jaw clenched before he shifted his attention to the horses and petted one's head. I stared at the woman as I tried to recall why I'd decided to bring her on this trip.

She'd been visiting my father with her family, which was a fun distraction last night, but why did I extend my time with her? For the life of me, I couldn't figure out the answer to that question.

Instead, I studied the town below. When I was still in Leo's military, I'd gone to Nottingshire often. It was the place to go for answers or to go unnoticed while looking for a good time, and I'd had many of those in the village.

According to Sampson, it had gone from a place of debauchery to one of despair during Leo's absence and death. I couldn't see that from here, but I had to know the truth.

"Stay with the horses," I said to Sampson. "I'm going to Nottingshire."

There was no way I would take the carriage into town. That wasn't the way to go unnoticed in a place that thrived on anonymity.

"I am not going down there with you," Dorothy stated.

"Then it's a good thing I didn't ask you to."

I unbuttoned my coat, shrugged it off, and threw the red jacket into the carriage. I didn't bother to look back at Dorothy as I left the bailey and struck out for Nottingshire.