Page 95 of Destiny Redeemed
Chapter 23
We trudged through the snow toward the official building, the only structure in this godforsaken place with actual glass windows and stone walls that didn’t look ready to collapse. My feet ached, and the emotional exhaustion from earlier left me feeling hollow.
“I suppose we’ll be staying there?” I nodded toward the imposing building.
“Unless you prefer that charming patch of frozen dirt where your hut used to be,” Anderic replied, though his teasing lacked its usual bite. The events of the day had sobered him too.
A familiar screech split the air. I froze mid-step, my heart leaping into my throat.
“That sound again—”
Before I could finish, a massive golden eagle swooped down from the darkening sky, its wingspan casting a shadow over us as it circled once, twice, and then descended gracefully onto Anderic’s outstretched arm. The bird’s talons gripped him with surprising gentleness for such deadly appendages.
“Hello, old friend,” Anderic murmured, his voice uncharacteristically soft.
I watched as he untied a small scroll from the bird’s leg. The eagle remained perfectly still, its intelligent eyes fixed on Anderic as if waiting for a response.
Anderic unrolled the parchment, his eyes scanning the contents rapidly. His face transformed before me—the playfulness vanishing, replaced by something cold and dangerous. A muscle twitched in his jaw.
“Fucking hell,” he cursed, crumpling the parchment in his fist.
“What now?” I asked, dread pooling in my stomach. “More bad news to add to our delightful collection?”
He looked up, his blue eyes dark as a stormy sea. “They have joined forces. Their armies are marching toward the capital as we speak.”
“All of them? Together?” I couldn’t hide my shock. “That’s unprecedented.”
“It’s coordinated,” Anderic snapped, already turning toward the official building. “I need to speak with Commander Maxwell immediately.”
I grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. “Wait. Before we rush off, I need to know something.” I locked eyes with him, refusing to let him look away. “Who are you suspicious of? You mentioned someone at court—who?”
Anderic hesitated, glancing around as if the very trees might be listening.
“Chancellor Darian Thornwood,” he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper.
My blood ran cold. “The Chancellor? But he’s—”
“The second most powerful man in the kingdom,” Anderic finished. “Which makes him the perfect traitor.”
I released his arm, my mind racing. Suddenly, the pieces began falling into place—the sabotage, the gold smuggling, Maxwell’s accusations.
“We need to talk to Commander Maxwell,” I agreed. “Now.”
Together, we sprinted toward the official building, the eagle soaring above us like a golden harbinger of war.
Commander Maxwell’s quarters were sparse but warm, a stark contrast to the freezing hellscape outside. He stood behind a large wooden table, his weathered hands spread over a map of Aetheria. When we burst in, his head snapped up, eyes narrowing at our disheveled state.
“Your Highness,” he acknowledged Anderic with a slight bow before his steely gaze fell on me. “Lady D’Arcane.”
Anderic tossed the crumpled message onto the map. “The traitors have united. Chancellor Darian is the mastermind. He joined forces with that ragtag gang and Prince Callum.”
Maxwell’s face remained impassive as he unfolded the parchment, but I caught the slight tightening around his eyes as he read. “Fifteen thousand men.”
“How many defend the capital?” I asked.
“Seven thousand at most,” Maxwell replied, tracing a line on the map with his finger. “My forces here in the north number six thousand.”
I did the quick math. “So if we combine—”
