Page 142 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

Show time, Bryn thought bitterly.

“Enter,” she commanded, the cool and unyielding face of the Lieutenant General slipping into place.

The soldier belonging to the King's guard opened the door and silently handed her a letter. She took it without looking up from her work and slid a finger under the edge. She began to tear open the letter when she sliced through the pad of her finger, bright red blood staining the edge of the paper.

Ignoring the cut, she opened the letter to find the summons she had been expecting. Above where her name was printed, the blood from her finger dripped onto the paper and ran into the black ink. A heavy feeling settled over their chest before she could even read the words printed on the paper in her uncle’s fine hand.

The crimson color of her blood mixed with the ink and blurred the title that belonged to her. An ill omen if she ever felt one.

She tried to ignore the feeling settling over her to read the short summons:

Lieutenant General,

Report to the War Council immediately.

Signed,

General of the Kingdom of Flame.

What a warm letter from her dear uncle.

Bryn crumpled the letter and tossed it into the burning fire in the corner of the room. The soldier did not notice how the letter then floated above the flames and was shielded by a firm wall of air to keep it from burning. They exited her office, and Bryn made her way across the palace to meet with her father.

The solid red walls of the palace towered over her from either side of the small alley between the buildings that Bryn walked through. Known for its tall golden-tipped spires on the eastern and western towers and black exterior, the Palace of Wind and Embers was reported to be the biggest palace in Ahland.

Its black stone, unlike the rest of the buildings in Logi, was chosen for its construction due to the hot tempers of fire-wielders. The large obsidian bricks were made in the fire belonging to fire wielders, molding them to whatever shape was needed for the palace walls.

King Helvig had rebuilt the palace once her grandfather died, and he rose to power, ordering the inky stone to be placed over the red exterior. He had stated that the black and gold of the palace would remind the kingdom's citizens of who the real reigning power in Logi was as if they could ever forget.

Bryn found the existing red walls that were now only seen inside the palace much more appealing. The monstrosity that was the Black Palace hounded the city, standing apart from the people of Logi rather than uniting them as it should be.

Bryn rounded the corner of the palace where the entrance to the main building would lead her to her father’s War Council when she came face to face with Revna. They both froze, eyes wide.

“What are you doing here?” Bryn whispered, pulling Revna into the seldom-used alley.

“I was summoned by King Helvig an hour ago,” Revna replied, voice low as she scanned their surroundings. “He asked me about why my shieldmaidens were raiding Engate.”

“What did you tell him?” Panic seeped into every nerve on Bryn’s body.

“That we heard ofvitkiescaping the city and went to check,” Revna said, finally looking at Bryn again.

Bryn let out a quick breath, her body relaxing only slightly. It was enough to cause small tremors to rack her body. Revna pulled her further into the alley, finding a small, forgotten alcove where some night-blooming jasmine lay asleep in the daytime. The spiced scent wrangled a memory forward, but Bryn couldn’t quite grasp it before it slipped away again.

“He was not suspicious and mentioned no letter from a soldier, my love,” Revna said, brushing some of the copper hair that had come loose from Bryn’s braid.

“You don’t know that,” Bryn said, grabbing Revna’s wrist and holding her hand to her face. “I’m heading there now; I was summoned to the War Council.”

“We are safe. This will work,” Revna said, putting her forehead to Bryn’s. Her midnight hair, loose down her back, slipped forward in a heavy curtain and shielded them from the outside world.

Bryn relaxed a bit more in her lover's arms, the musky scent of the jasmine swirling around them.

“I have to go,” Bryn said after a moment. “They are expecting me soon.”

“Don't go yet,” Revna whispered, her cool breath dancing across Bryn’s lips.

All Bryn had to do was lean forward slightly to brush her lips against Revna’s soft mouth. Bryn could already taste the sweetness of Revna’s tongue on hers, could feel the way Revna’s body would unwind at her touch. Bryn’s core pulsed, her lower belly going molten.

But Bryn had to finish carrying out her duties before she could give in to the pleasures in her life.

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