Page 18 of A Cage of Magic and Darkness

Still, he doesn’t move. He speaks without facing me.

“The King’s Tower has come down, Princess.”

I widen my eyes and shake my head in disbelief. “What? No.”

He finally steps out of the way, revealing the view beyond. “You can see for yourself. I’m so sorry.”

I run to the window, once more short of breath. My pulse races, and I’m dizzy and sick with shock.

I stare out, my heart in my throat.

Where the skybridge once linked the King’s Tower to the main part of the castle, created to keep armies out if the city were ever to be invaded, it now hangs in pieces down the castle wall.

The place where the King’s Tower once stood is now an empty space. Dust hasn’t yet settled, and the cloud is illuminated in the moonlight.

“The rot,” I manage to say.

The ground that had been beneath the tower has been swallowed, too. All that remains is a gaping hole.

My knees buckle, and I drop to the floor. I cover my mouth, but it doesn’t stop the wail of utter grief that rises through my chest and bursts from my lips. The sound is inhuman and comes right from the soul.

There is no possibility of any survivors. The tower hasn’t just fallen—it’s been swallowed by the very earth it stood upon.

I clutch my hand to my chest as though I’m trying to hold my heart in place, to prevent it from breaking. The King’s Tower is where my mother and stepfather, the king, reside. If it’s gone…

My brain can’t take the severity of what that might mean.

My mother and stepfather are dead.

“No, no, please no.”

I clutch my face in my hands and shake my head. I’m barely aware of Skylar crouching on one side of me, and Balthorne the other, both trying to offer me comfort. But how can anyone make me feel any better? The King’s Tower is gone, my mother and stepfather crushed within it. I think of how terrified they must have been, how their final moments would have been spent in utter terror. Iunderstand how frightened they’d have been because I felt that way myself only moments earlier, and that was with the floor remaining somewhat solid beneath my feet. I picture the slabs falling away instead, dropping through the sky, the walls and ceiling, and us along with it. Of falling and falling, and then finally agony. Had my mother died instantly, or had she suffered? The thought only makes me sob harder.

“You’re in shock,” Balthorne says. “I’ll fetch you some sweet tea.”

“I think she’s going to need something stronger than sweet tea,” Skylar snaps. “I think we all are.”

Something else occurs to me. If the king and queen are both dead, and I am their only heir, then the kingdom is mine. Wailing on the floor is no place for the next queen of Highdrift.

I manage to nod. “Yes, something stronger. Please. I need it.”

Balthorne leaves my side long enough to retrieve a bottle of liquor from the cabinet. Distantly, I think to myself that it’s a sign of the carpenter’s excellent workmanship for the bottle not to have broken in all the chaos.

He pours me a shot glass of the liquor and hands it to me. I drink it down in one, the syrupy aniseed flavor coating my tongue, the alcohol burning my throat and warming me from the inside.

I motion to him. “Another.”

I catch him shooting Skylar a look, followed by her briefest of nods. They’re wise not to argue with me right now.

He hands me a second glass, and I take my time with this one. I’m still shaking all over, the drink vibrating inmy hand. Tears continue to run down my face, but the alcohol seeps through my veins, offering me a layer of numbness that is much needed.

Pulling myself together is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but the people of Askos need me. They’ll be looking toward the castle for guidance. How far will the news of the monarchs’ deaths travel? Will rulers of other lands consider us weakened and an easy conquest? Or, if they hear the rot has made it as far as the city, will they decide it’s not worth their bother?

I put my hand out to Balthorne, and once more, my guard helps me to my feet. I go to the window to take in the destruction with fresh eyes.

I stare across the countryside of Askos, which lies beyond the city and castle of Highdrift. The castle isn’t the only place that’s suffered. Several fires have broken out, black smoke rising into the air. People will have lost their homes. They’ll have nothing. When news of the king’s death spreads, there will be days and weeks of mourning.

And everyone will want to know who is ruling them now.

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