“I guess so.” Ralis shrugged.
“That means your father didn’t come through the gate, he was in Madaria already.”
“Me and Raigh talked about that actually. Apparently there were a few Na’tyr and half Na’tyr in Madaria before.”
“I didn’t know that.” Browen frowned at the implication.
“Breakfast is ready, you two.” Amri laughed as she walked over to the pair still seated in the dirt. “Miri caught a couple of rabbits this morning.”
“Has she already skinned and cooked them?” Browen asked, he felt queasy just thinking about it.
“Yes.” Amri laughed. “I swear you would starve if you had to prepare your own food Browen.”
Browen gave an embarrassed blush as he and Ralis stood. “I don’t need to see what my food looked like before it became my food.”
Amri rolled her eyes, a habit she had picked up from Ezra, as she moved to return to the fire. “Nobles.”
Breakfast was filling and surprisingly delicious. Miri had gotten better at cooking wild game over the fire and the blackberries she had collected the night before were the perfect amount of sweet.
“Amri how old are you?” Ralis asked between bites.
“What? Why?” She asked, flustered at the question.
“Browen and I were talking about birthdays, and it made me wonder how old everyone else was.” Ralis shrugged playfully.
“Oh.” Amri blinked then thought for a moment. “I’m not entirely sure but I think I’m about twenty. I remember my parents getting me a cake for my fifth birthday… And I remember my father saying that it wasn’t big enough for his little princess.” Amri had a warm smile on her face as she shook her head. A single tear escaped down her cheek. “That was the year that they died… I haven’t really been keeping track since. What about you?”
“Twenty one.” Ralis offered, his expression sympathetic. “I’m sorry I asked, I should have known that your birthday wasn’t a pleasant memory.”
“That one was.” Amri answered softly. “It’s one of the few memories of my parents I have.”
“What about you Ezra? I bet you had some grand celebrations at the castle for your birthday.” Ralis turned to her with a smile, desperate to lighten the mood.
Ezra rolled her eyes. “The only birthday celebration we had was what we did for ourselves. I think the Queen was determined to forget that she had children, not even Fennalee or our other teachers did anything. But me and Arze would sneak into the kitchens and steal the treats that they had made, then we would share them in our tower.”
“You didn’t say how old you were.” Ralis pushed, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“I’m not sure… Twenty I guess.” She responded coldly.
“Wait, you’re also twenty? That means you were born the year that the Chaos Gate opened.” Browen looked to her curiously. “And it opened in the fall, so you were either born before the Gate opened or your mother would have had to have been pregnant before the Chaos Gate opened.”
“So?” Ezra snapped, the fire in her eyes flickered brightly.
“It just feels strange, doesn’t it? Why would she do something so dangerous while pregnant or with a newborn?” Browen asked.
“I don’t know, she probably didn’t care.” Ezra hissed, the subject clearly a tender one for her.
“How old are you Miri?” Ralis asked, mercifully redirecting the attention.
“Oh.” Miri blushed and looked between her friends. “I did not realize that you were all so much older than me. I am only sixteen.”
“That explains it.” Ezra snickered.
“Explains what?” Miri glared back.
“Nothing.” Ezra shook her head and looked to the fire.
“Browen, you said yesterday that we should be in Esper soon. Does anyone know anything that we can use to our advantage while we’re there? I don’t like the idea of going into a new place unprepared.” Amri asked, changing the subject. “You said that you’ve been there before Ezra?”
She nodded. “Every year King-Regent Razmir holds a massive Masquerade in honor of the Queen’s victory over Esper. It was the one event me and my brother actually looked forward to. It should be coming up soon. But other than traveling through the countryside and Frellan, the only part of Esper I really saw was the castle.”
“Miri you said that you saw Frellan and the castle in your vision, does that mean we have to go there?” Browen asked.
Miri twisted a lock of her thick red hair nervously around a finger. “I do not know. I hope not, it would be very dangerous to go through such a place.”
“There might be information that we need there.” Amri noted. “All of us don’t necessarily need to all go into the city, I could sneak in easily.”
“No, we should stay together.” Miri replied firmly. “If something happened, we would have no way of knowing about it or helping you.”
“We should be careful though.” Browen added. “The Queen knows what we look like remember.”
“You should know that King-Regent Razmir has earned the nickname, the Mad King. I don’t really know the details but even my mother was getting tired of his behavior.” Ezra stated. “Maybe that’s why you saw the city Miri.”
“Perhaps.” She replied, her brow wrinkled in thought.
“Anything else?” Amri pushed, looking to Ezra.
She considered for a moment then finally answered. “The borders of Esper are strictly monitored I believe. Something to do with the King-Regent and a blood feud. I honestly didn’t really pay attention during meetings.”
“I think I remember my father saying something about that.” Browen added with a nod. “Anything coming or going through Esper would be delayed because of the border checks. My father rarely talked about work at home, but that was something that bothered him. Especially since he was supposed to be the voice of Humans for the Queen. He complained that he couldn’t do that properly with the King-Regent bogarting Esper as he did.”
“Who is this King-Regent?” Amri asked with a snap.
Both Miri and Ralis shared her confused expression.
It was Ezra who answered, in a cool matter of fact tone. “He rules Esper in the Queen’s name. He’s a Na’tyr and I heard that he used to be their King before they bowed down to the Queen. In turn, the Queen gave him Esper to rule while she focused on Madaria.”
“The Na’tyr have a King?” Ralis tilted his head in curiosity.
“Had.” Ezra corrected. “I don’t really know anything else though.”
“It is something at least.” Miri sighed. “We should get moving, we still have much ground to cover.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ralis
It had been several days since they fled the Carnival of Dreams, but Ralis still felt that ache in his heart when he was alone at night. It fit in nicely with the guilt and despair that he still felt over his mother’s death. He forced himself to maintain a smile and his usual cheerful demeanor however, he didn’t want his friends to worry about him. Regardless, he didn’t seem capable of fooling Browen and the pair got into a regular rhythm of chatting in the early morning, then spending an hour practicing swordplay. It was slow going, but even Ralis had to admit, he was getting better. While his blocking improved, he was still terrible at striking. He could not imagine intentionally hurting someone ever and he doubted that he would ever find himself capable of doing such a thing.
He had to admit however that their morning routine had proven effective in chasing away the nightmares. That, and he enjoyed Browen’s company. Even still, he didn’t think he could take another heartbreak. He felt powerless and dreaded whatever the universe had in store for him next.
It was raining heavily that afternoon as they continued their course. Thankfully it was
a warm summer rain that washed away the dirt and sweat from days of walking in the woods. The tree line was thinning, but not because of civilization or any road. They realized the reason as they came across the widest river Ralis had ever seen. He guessed that he could likely have fit the entire town of Wrenwood within its murky waters. To the north and south it continued to flow as far as they could see. The other side was thick with farmlands being busily tended to by Human workers.
“The Endarin River. The other shore, that’s Esper.” Browen said, almost breathlessly as he drank in the sight.
“How do we get over there?” Amri asked, looking nervously at the water.
“I think it would be inadvisable for us to swim across, especially with all of our supplies.” Miri offered as she looked up and down the river. “If we continue along it, I’m sure we will find a narrow section through which we could travel.”
Browen shook his head. “The Endarin is famously wide, the only way across is to either swim, take a boat, or a bridge.” He then pulled out his map and considered it for a moment. “We’re not far from Endar, it’s a city that lives in both Madaria and Esper. They have the largest bridge in either country, we can cross there if we’re careful.”
“I could fly us over?” Ralis offered.
Almost as soon as he said the words, a large boat came into view. It moved unnaturally fast over the water, an odd mechanical clicking sound echoed from it, and a thick column of white steam poured from a large chimney at the back. Aside from its odd appearance, the ship was covered in Queen’s soldiers who intently watched the shoreline as the ship sailed forward.
“Hide!” Miri squeaked at the sight and ducked behind a tree.
The others followed her lead and watched the ship pass them by without incident. Ralis watched it curiously as it moved. It had a pair of massive wheels that turned on both sides of it, pushing the boat through the water, while the rest of the ship was mostly flat. He wondered how it could possibly achieve such speeds, the people inside operating the massive wheels would have to be very strong.
“I was going to say, this will be dangerous either way.” Ezra mused, brushing dirt from her clothes as she left the cover of a tree. “The river is constantly under patrol.”
“So, we wait for the right moment.” Amri crossed her arms. “How long do you think it would take you to fly across Ralis?”
“I wouldn’t be as fast as that boat, that’s for certain.” Ralis frowned.
“We’ll likely be spotted by the patrols and certainly by the farmers on the other side.” Ezra gestured down the river. “It’s not much safer but we might have an easier time going through Endar.”
“I would rather risk crossing here.” Miri interjected.
“The Queen doesn’t know we’re going to Esper.” Browen offered, his brow wrinkled in thought. “I think if we’re careful we could slip through Endar without incident. If we try to cross here someone will absolutely see us and we’ll lose that advantage.”
Amri considered for a moment, then nodded. “You’re right, it would be better to slip through undetected. Even if we get away from whoever spots us crossing here, the Queen will know where we are. Let’s cross in Endar.”
Miri whimpered as everyone but her sided on going through Endar. Another smaller boat came into view. Everyone hurried behind cover again as the smaller boat zipped passed. It looked like a miniature version of the previous boat, but with only one paddlewheel that sat at the back and a much slimmer column of steam.
“Can you be certain that we can cross the river without being caught in Endar?” Miri asked once the boat passed.
Amri smiled. “If Endar is anything like Verta then I can get us across.”
Miri conceded with a sigh. “Alright, but we must be very careful.”
They continued south along the river and kept to the tree line to avoid the seemingly ceaseless boat patrols that moved up and down the river. The rain did not let up and continued into the night and even the morning. Everyone was miserable to be so damp.
It was nearly evening when they spotted a massive city up ahead. It was larger than any city that Ralis could ever imagine and occupied both sides of the river with a massive bridge made of black stone connecting the two sides. Even from a distance they could see massive watch towers that rested on either side of the bridge and the unending throng of people who moved between them. What was most curious, however, was the difference in appearance on either side of the river. While both sides had familiar dark black rooftops and grey stone buildings, the Esper side was foggy with a thick smoke that clung to the tall buildings. That and it seemed to contain far more interesting architecture than its Madarian counterpart. It was hard to tell outside of the city, but some of the Esper buildings used more rounded shapes and interesting angles.
“I’ve never seen a city so big before.” Ralis remarked as everyone marveled at the sight. “Is Verta that big?”
“Bigger.” Amri smiled.
Together they approached the city. Miri pulled her hood up as they approached and Ralis tucked himself in tightly to the folds of his cloak, hiding his wings, tail and horns. Amri had pulled up her hood against the rain and Ezra made sure that her glove and sleeves covered her entire fiery tattoo, before they stepped onto the cobblestones of the city.
No one in the city seemed bothered by the rain as they carried on with their day to day activities. Thankfully they did not seem interested in the five strangers that moved through the streets. Ralis’s head was on a swivel, he had never been surrounded by such tall buildings before and the sights and smells of the city were fascinating. He only wished he could pause to enjoy it.
The streets were well patrolled by the Queen’s soldiers, all marked in the black and silver that denoted the crown. Luckily, because of the rain, everyone in the city had their hoods up and cloaks pulled tight against their bodies. In a strange twist it was Ezra and Browen without cloaks who stood out.
They passed through a massive square with an impressive fountain at its center. It seemed to depict a great hero of some sort; a man dressed as a fine warrior standing atop the corpse of a dragon. Water erupted from the dragon’s body in sprays that were likely meant to invoke a comparison to blood. Ralis almost felt nauseous at the macabre scene. Surrounding the square were several stalls packing up for the evening, and even more storefronts and taverns that lined its edges. He could hear music playing every time one of the tavern doors opened and felt that familiar longing to join in the song.
Ezra led them through the city as best she could, and after briefly getting lost down a residential merchant district, they found themselves standing before the gatehouse on the Madarian side of the massive bridge. The portcullis was open, but that did not stop the guards from speaking to, and inspecting, every person and their belongings before allowing them to pass. In addition to the blacks and silvers of the Queen’s crown, these soldiers also had an insignia of a golden tree on a purple background displayed prominently upon their chests. Ralis wondered if that was the mark of the King-Regent or of Esper.
Then Ralis’s gaze fell upon a notice board set off to the side of the bridge and he felt his stomach lurch. Clearly visible in the front and center of the notice board were five wanted posters, two of which had perfect sketch drawings of Ezra and Browen. He grabbed both Ezra and Browen’s arms and pointed towards the sign with his chin. Everyone stopped as they looked towards the memo board and Miri’s breathing became noticeable, even against the sound of the rain.
Browen acted first. He walked straight towards the sign and tore down the one that had his face on it. He looked at the page in his hands as if he had seen a ghost. Ezra followed and inspected her own poster with a sour expression.
“Enemies of the crown?” She hissed as she tore the paper down. “Extremely dangerous, contact the nearest soldiers if you have seen anyone with these descriptions or acting suspicious. At
least it says, ‘wanted alive’.”
Ralis searched the three that had no drawing and found that they instead had accurate descriptions of himself, Amri and Miri.
Amri had moved up past Browen and Ezra and tore down the remaining three posters with a glare. “We need to move, staring at your own wanted poster is something people would normally call suspicious behaviour.”
Ezra and Miri followed Amri as she made for one of the many dark alleyways that broke up the congested blocks of buildings. Browen, however, seemed frozen as he stared at himself. Ralis grabbed his arm and practically dragged him after the others.
“This is a decent reward.” Amri was saying, as Browen and Ralis joined them in the alley. “Even nobles might be tempted to join in the hunt.”
She was leafing through the three posters she had grabbed with a frown.
“This is from the family portrait we had made a few months ago.” Browen’s hands were shaking slightly as he nervously twisted the signet ring on his finger.
Ralis put a hand on his friend’s shoulder to comfort him.
“Wait? Why is mine the only one that says, ‘dead or alive’?” Amri snapped as she paused at her poster.
No one had an answer. For a tense moment the only sound around them was the patter of raindrops against the wet cobblestones. Miri then looked towards the bridge with a whimper and asked the question that they were all thinking.
“How are we supposed to cross into Esper now?”
“These are probably everywhere.” Ezra spoke in a hushed whisper, her long black hair hung wet against her face. “It’s not just guards we have to watch out for.”
“Perhaps we should leave and try to cross the river?” Miri’s eye continually flicked towards the guards at the bridge.
“We can still cross.” Amri folded up the sheets and stuffed them into her pocket. “We’ll just have to be careful who gets to see you two.” She looked pointedly at Ezra and Browen. “Come on, we shouldn’t stay in one place for too long.”
Sunken Wind Page 16