Page 22 of Fateless

“Wow,” Halek murmured beside me, also gazing up at the ludicrous amount of wealth and power on display. “The palace of a Deathless King. Can you imagine what this looked like when it was inhabited?”

I shook my head numbly. How had this place survived for so long without anyone knowing it was here? Well, except the Circle. Perhaps rumors that it was only a legend kept it safe. Or maybe the undead things wandering around the city killed anything that ventured too far in. Whatever the reason, I suspected my mission was about to get even more difficult.

“I bet no one has seen this place in a few hundred years,” Halek said, his voice taut with excitement. “Maybe a few thousand. Please tell me we’re going inside.”

I glanced at the gaping doors, then down at the map, just to be certain. The X hovered at the top of the map, indicating a spot past the palace doors.

“Yeah,” I said. “Whatever we’re looking for, it’s somewhere inside the palace. Through those doors.”

“Perfect,” Halek said, staring up at the palace with his hands on his hips. “And I’m sure there are no traps or curses or nasty surprises waiting for us at all.”

I could appreciate the sarcasm, even though we were probably going to die.

Eight

Stepping through the doors of the ancient palace was like stepping into a tomb.

The city had been silent; except for our own footsteps and muted voices and the shuffling, undead thing, there had been no sounds as we made our way through the empty streets. But walking into the palace of the Deathless King felt like stepping into another world. The very air was oppressive, heavy with the stillness of time and laced with the scent of death. The chamber we entered was huge, with enormous pillars marching down either side. Statues stood in every corner, though many were shattered and lying in pieces on the floor, only the feet and calves still upright on their plinths. Rubble was piled along the walls and strewn across the floor, and bones were scattered throughout, bleached and white. I caught a glimpse of a forearm with a skeletal hand lying smashed beneath a column, and shuddered.

“There are your people,” I whispered to Halek, who gazed through the door with a solemn look on his face. “At least some of them.”

“Probably the guards who lived in the palace,” Halek muttered. “Take a look at what they were guarding.”

I followed his gaze and drew in a slow breath. A massive throne on a raised dais loomed against the far wall. It was madeof marble laced with gold; even from across the chamber I could see it glimmering faintly around the back and arms. I had never seen a throne before, but this throne did not seem like the seat of a mere human. Perhaps a god had sat there once, gazing down on their tiny subjects below. A pair of statues flanked the throne, and though nothing remained but their legs, I could imagine their stony faces glaring down, warning the unworthy to keep their distance.

The entire chamber had been built to impress and intimidate, and it did that well. Goose bumps rose along my back and arms, a tremor creeping up my spine.

As I took a cautious step forward, a cold wind hissed through the chamber and a billow of thick dust rolled toward us out of the gloom. It flowed over us, heavy and choking, clogging my throat and stinging my eyes. It smelled... awful. Like bones and grave dirt and ancient, rotting rags. A whisper slithered through my head, wriggling in my ears and causing every hair on my body to stand straight up.

Leeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaave.

The wind faded, the dust cloud dispersing in the air. Halek was bent over, one sleeve held to his nose, coughing violently. I sucked in a labored breath, feeling like my mouth was coated with ashes and my throat had been scraped dry.

“Ugh.” Halek coughed once more and straightened, shaking his head. “Agh. Well, that was unpleasant. I’m assuming you heard that whisper, too?”

I nodded. “Something definitely doesn’t want us here.”

“And that’s likely our only warning,” Halek agreed. Hedusted off his hands, and a cloud billowed from his palms and drifted to the floor. “In tombs and ancient places like this, you usually get one indication that you should get out,” he went on. “After that, things get intense.” He paused, glancing at the shadow-cloaked halls beyond the chamber, and gave me a sober look. “I don’t know what you’ve come here for, but I won’t think less of you if you decide to turn back. I’ve heard the stories. If this is truly the palace of a Deathless King, anything is possible. We’re talking ancient magic, after all.”

I swallowed the scratchy dryness in my throat. Even if I wanted to, the Circle wouldn’t let me abandon the mission. My choices were simple: succeed; die here; or forfeit not only my own life, but Vahn’s as well.

More than that, I would not fail Vahn. I’d promised him I wouldn’t. “No,” I told Halek. “I can’t turn back. It’s not an option. I have to keep going.”

Halek grinned, and for a moment, his smile lit up the room. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He gestured toward the throne. “Shall we?”

We picked our way across the rocks and shattered stones. The air was heavy and stale, as if it hadn’t moved in thousands of years. I felt eyes on me and glanced over to find the head of a statue staring up at me from the floor with a flat, stony gaze.

We came to the foot of the throne and stopped at the edge of the dais, gazing up at the huge marble chair. Not only was gold laced in intricate patterns through the white, but bits of turquoise and gemstones winked at us from beneath the layer of dust that had settled over everything.

Halek shook his head. “These Deathless Kings certainly liked to show off,” he murmured. “Look at this. There’s enough coin embedded in this chair to make you a merchant prince.”

If thieves were allowed to become such things, I thought, staring at the throne. My fingers itched at the amount of wealth just paces away. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies, turquoise, and, of course, gold. What I could do with a literal fortune. I could finally buy my way out of the guild. Maybe secure passage aboard a sand strider and travel to the other side of the Dust Sea at last.

If I was willing to pry it off the throne of a Deathless King.

The gemstones twinkled in the darkness, seeming to mock me. Setting my jaw, I unsheathed one of my daggers and, before I could think too hard about what I was doing, inserted the point beneath the edge of an emerald set into the throne.

“Sparrow, wait,” Halek hissed.

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