Page 120 of Realm Walker's Awakening
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Beautiful wasn’tthe word to describe this city. No word could describe it.
My eyes widened, and my breathwhooshedout as my chest became heavy.
Mom had said the Kingdom of Heaven would be all too beautiful for the human eye, but this... I would like to think this would surpass any beauty of Heaven. Maybe thiswasHeaven, but it was called Azola. There was another word Rune had used for this realm’s title, but I couldn’t remember it for the life of me.
On the city’s outskirts were little huts, like I had dreamed of when I met with Estrid. They were all bundled together like a small town would be in my realm. But the farther we went into the city were gorgeous homes that belonged in a fairytale movie. Beautiful wooden homes, covered in moss with little porches and sparkly sun catchers hanging from the overhang that covered the porch. A few homes hadBlair Witch-looking stick figures with bull skulls hanging on them. But for whatever reason, I loved it.
The gentle falling snow covered the homes in layers that shimmered like fairy dust. Which was weird because it didn’t do that before we entered the city.
I was expecting skyscrapers, cars, paved streets, modern homes with street lamps, or something. But this was... this was way better. It felt right. It felt likehome.
It wasn’t really a city from what I had seen so far, but rather a small town in a rural area of a different country like Iceland or Norway. The path we took wove around the homes, and the farther in we got, the more small businesses shops we saw pop up. I spotted butchers, blacksmiths, clothes, and even a bookstore, which made me look over my shoulder as we passed it.
The crunch of the snow under our horses’ hooves and the soft whisper of snowflakes as they fell from the sky were the only sounds that filled the silent night.
We came to a wide opening that would be considered a court with a fountain in the middle that wasn’t spraying water. When I looked closer, I noticed it was a stone figure of a woman with a horse wrapped around her, his head lowered by her shoulder, and his eyes on something ahead. Because it was dark, I couldn’t get a good look at the details of the fountain figures, but I made a silent note to look at it when it was daytime.
Sugar stopped moving and gently huffed as she stepped in place for a few seconds before she stopped again.
Rune swung off his horse, and snow crunched under his heavy boots. We met eyes while he came as close as he could to Sugar and motioned with his hands for me to come down to him.
I blew out a nervous breath.
This was it. We were going to work on getting people ready for war, and I feared more for Rune’s life than mine.
With a gentle rub on Sugar’s neck, I swung off the saddle. Rune caught me by my waist before I touched the ground and slowly slid me down his body as he helped me down. My breaths grew shallow, and I held onto his arms as he set me on my feet.
His blue eyes darkened, and he smirked as he whispered, “You worrying over me is humbling, but you don’t need to.”
I opened my mouth but was silenced as he kissed me. Before I could respond, he stepped away and grinned as he grabbed my hand and entwined our fingers. He led me away from the horses as the other men climbed off theirs and handled our steeds. I looked over my shoulder at my horse with confusion.
Why were we leaving them in the middle of the court with shops around us?
Sugar’s eyes were on me, watching with unease, and she blew out steam from her nose.
“It’s okay, Sugar. If something happens, you are free to leave,”I gently said to her, hoping she heard and understood.
She slowly blinked and nodded her head once, a large puff of steam coming from her nose again. Somehow she filled me with her adoration and friendship, confirming she understood me and would wait for me no matter what.
I parted my lips, surprised that it worked, and it was real. She really communicated with me.
Rune squeezed my hand gently, making me raise my eyes up to his face. He smiled at me and winked as he went back to leading me away from the large court and down a narrow path.
I didn’t notice the others were trailing behind us until I heard their heavy, crunching footsteps in the powder snow.
We turned in the path until we came to what looked like an updated Viking hall I had seen in shows. The building was tall, made of dark wood and had green moss covering some parts that weren’t covered with snow. Large icicles hung over the edge of the roof, giving it an otherworldly feel.
As we approached the door, it was large, but rather than wood, it was some kind of metal with a strange sigil etched in the center. Before I could get a good look at the symbol, Rune opened the door and led me inside.
The other men trailed behind and closed the door, which didn’t make a sound. The hall’s interior was an open space with old wood floors dirtied from thousands of people walking over it with muddy shoes. Hell, there were even some bloody stains—small enough that they couldn’t have been from someone bleeding out and dying.
The memory of the large pool of blood in Aaliyah’s bedroom flashed in my mind, bringing with it the echo of the stabs I sustained.
Swallowing hard and shaking off the memory, I glanced around the room again. There were three long tables parallel to each other in the center of the room, accompanied by wooden chairs. In the back was a small dais with one small step leading to a large chair covered in black and white pelts of some freakishly gigantic bears.
Nothing about this place screamed royalty, but even though there was no one here but Rune and the men—minus Hluti—the air was thick with some odd feeling that there was, in fact, royalty.
