Page 43 of Winds of Destiny

Chapter Twenty-One

Cam

The Gate is fifty feet tall, made from solid slabs of dark-gray stone that some brilliant engineer rigged to open and shut and flanked by two guard towers that are barely distinguishable from the mountainside they meld into. I can’t tear my eyes off it, even though the pale gleam of the outermost wall of Huridell shines far away, high on the mountain. I’m choosing to ignore that for now.

The Gate, though.

It’s right here.

Passing through is by far the easiest way up to Huridell. A good climber could make it over the steep, rocky ridge that flanks the Gate as far as the eye can travel, or a very patient person could travel the many miles north one would have to go find another break in the mountain. For everyone else, it’s the Gate or nothing.

The range in front of us is as sharp as a cliff face, very different from the expansive mountains behind it. Perhaps Carnuatu deliberately helped shape things this way to give his people security. Perhaps it’s a geological quirk left over from when this was an active volcano, pouring new ground out onto old. Whatever carved this land, the Dellians took advantage of it.

The Gate is as terrifying as it is imposing, at least to me, and every step we take toward it now chips away another piece of my confidence.

I’m not ready for this. I’m not.

It’s awful, it’s terrible, it’s childish of me—but I’m justnot. I’m not ready to let go of Zephyth, let go of my people and my god, let go ofTuro.After last night, after seeing how he loves me and feeling the pleasure he gave me, how can I? How can I let him go?

How can I letKaigo, the lover I never expected to have, as gentle or rough as my moods demand? He’s so good to me—he’s possibly the only man I could ever see myself being truly happy with if I can’t have Turo—and now I’m about to be handed over to another. Will the prince feel the same through the pearl? I can name how Kai feels to me now after sensing him for weeks on end—he’s like a fire, warm and glowing with steady heat. When he looks at me, the heat flares just a little, letting me know he wants me. He likes me.

What if Prince Eleas doesn’t like me? What if he’s disappointed in me? What if he expects me to suffer his every whim? I know his men love him, but they’re not the ones expected to marry him.

“Camrael?” Kai’s touch on the back of my hand startles me into dropping the pearl pendant I’ve been gripping like a lifeline. I wince as I shake out my hand—the ridges of the silver setting have dug deep into my palm. “It’s going to be all right,” he promises me, not bothering to ask how I am. Of course, he doesn’t need to ask. My true feelings must be reflected crystal clear on my face, a trait I’ve often been told is unbefitting of a prince.

“Tell me he won’t take you away from me,” I whisper, ashamed to ask but needing it anyway.

“Who?”

Who else?“Prince Eleas! Please, just tell me he won’t…that he won’t…”

Kai looks surprised, like he wonders why I’m worried at all. Asshole. “The prince won’t do anything to make you feel unsafe or unhappy,” he says, unflinching from my caustic gaze. “I swear it.”

I don’t know where he gets this certainty from; no man can be so sure of another, can they? Hearts and minds are fickle things. Look at me—I’d promised myself I was going to get over Turo no matter what, and here I am more in love with him than ever.

Maybe I can persuade Turo to at least come to the city with us—in the name of intelligence gathering. If he’s to do Doric’s work, he’ll need to be up-to-date, and I know he’ll feel better if he sees me safely settled. And if perhaps he stays a little bit longer, and promises to return as soon as he can, then maybe I can weather this without losing my mind to worry and my heart to sorrow.

We’re five hundred feet from the Gate now. Turo, who’s been up in front on Lulu, inspecting the terrain, turns and rides back over to us. I’m expecting him to look serious—he generally does—but not to look…nervous?

“I don’t think the towers are manned,” he says.

Kai frowns, but Rusen speaks before he can reply. “Impossible. There’s a permanent detachment of soldiers here at all times. Even if one of the towers is temporarily empty, the other is manned, and there’s always someone within shouting distance.”

“Not right now there isn’t.”

“I didn’t hear you shouting,” Rusen says, but quiets when Kai holds up his hand.

“Look at the window on the right tower.” His voice is grim.

“It’s open. As it should be.”

“But look at the position of the shutters.”

Every Dellian goes still. I’m not sure what the significance is and look at Turo. He leans toward me. “During the day, they’re supposed to be latched open,” he says quietly. “The ones on the left tower are, but one of the ones on the right tower is out of position.”

“Perhaps someone forgot to latch it,” I say. What’s the alternative, after all?

Kai motions to Ferow, the fastest of his men. “Check the Gate.” He takes off at a run, and I look in confusion at Kai.

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