Page 63 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
Red River.
Meet me after.
Her brain stumbled through the possibilities of what those words meant. Clearly, he wanted to meet her after the council meeting, but the Red River meant very little to her. It wasn’t a place anywhere in the city or the country.
And then it hit her.
It must be the password to the golden gondolas that floated up to the palace.
Twenty-Three
If Quinnevere thought the city danced with magic before, it was nothing compared to Castle Hill. To reach the massive palace at the city’s center, surrounded by cliffs on three sides and an enormous incline on the other, she had to ride a sky gondola that moonlighted as a star. Made entirely from molten silver with gold accents, the carriages carved through the sky like diamonds cutting glass.
Quinn rode a gondola every day to and from University Square, but those carriages were nothing like the ones streaming up Castle Hill.
The only other way up the cliffs surrounding the fortress was a narrow, sharp, zig-zag road that had so many turns it made drivers vomit from motion sickness. Thirty-three turns in all. The crooked, deadly road. Almost no one chose to take that path these days. Not with flying coaches.
But even the beauty of the moment couldn’t dissuade the panic pooling in her stomach. Quinn fiddled with the fabric of her skirt as she rode alone up the midnight cliffs, the anxiety springing up her throat. Her hands were clammy, and her entire body constricted.
Every sound of the gears made her jump and squirm. All shewanted to do was enjoy the magic and scenery, but the closer she got to the top, the more unsettled she became.
And she was alone.
Alone.
Giselle was late . . . again. She was always late, but this time it mattered. Because now Quinn had to figure out how to do everything.
The plan was to meet Giselle at the gondolas at the stroke of eight. Which would give them plenty of time to make the meeting by nine—its official start time.
When Giselle wasn’t there after thirty minutes of waiting, Quinn had no other choice but to face her biggest fears—alone. So, she gave the operator the password and got into a flying carriage.
As the doors opened, she stepped out onto a glittering path leading to the palace. If she’d thought the gondola and road were impressive, it was nothing compared to the palace itself. A massive external rotunda acted as the entrance, with its domed ceiling carved from jade. Pergolas lined with colonnades snaked around the rotunda like a labyrinth of wonder. Lacing the palace on one side was a serene lagoon, and on the other was a garden of disorienting hedge mazes.
Quinn’s heart pounded like exploding fireworks as she jumped behind a bush, trying to avoid the presumed council members on their way to the meeting.
Oh, shattered mirrors,this was bad.
She waited too long to take the gondola, and now carriage after carriage arrived, making it impossible for her to sneak anywhere.
It felt like hours passed as Quinn waited. Finally, after watching seven empty carriages arrive, she felt safe enough to try and enter again.
“There you are.”
Quinn’s heart jolted, and fear spiked through her body, bone by bone, sinew by sinew, and vein by vein. She was caught, and itfelt like death—like her body would completely give out on her. Quinn hated getting in trouble with every fiber of her being. Her throat tightened, and she couldn’t breathe.
It was too much. She gasped for air but didn’t feel any flowing into her lungs.
Panic consumed her.
Small hands clutched her face. “You’re okay. I am here. We’re in this together.” Giselle’s gentle voice soothed the fear tangled in Quinn’s limbs. “I’m sorry I was late.”
When the panic attack settled, Giselle stepped back, also panting, and clutching her side. Quinn hadn’t noticed the exhaustion in Giselle’s voice before. But she was a mess, her clothing ripped and disheveled. Branches and leaves poked out of her hair, and mud laced her boots. She looked like she’d run through the Nature District to rescue her friend from a dark monster.
“Did you run up the crooked street?” Quinn asked.
“Yes. You never told me the password.” Giselle’s face hardened, and storm clouds gathered in her eyes. “Quinnevere Igretta Ashelle, you disappeared and rode the gondola alone.”
Quinn swallowed, her neck growing tight with shame. “I’m sorry. You were late—”
