Page 71 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
She gave a shaky sigh. “I can do this.”
“If you’re really scared, you don’t have to. We can think of another plan,” I whispered. After all, I’d asked for her help because it was the quickest way, not the only way.
“I want to. It’s our little adventure. I’ve never been outside the gates.”
I almost missed a step. “Why?’
“It’s…complicated.”
I didn’t have time to dig deeper.
We turned a corner and neared the big gates, a dozen guards before it.
With a roll of her shoulders and Vexa’s constant vigilance not far behind, Kaya rushed forward. The rest of us stuck to the bushes.
“Help!” She waved around erratically.
The guards’ spiky helmets swiveled as one, menacing spears at the ready.
“A snake. Razorback! Out in the back gardens.” Kaya flailed her arms. If I hadn’t known better, I would have believed the terror in her eyes. I tensed, waiting.
Ten of the guards instantly dashed in that direction. The two that remained exchanged a concerned glance.
“The beast was huge, it almost tore through my dress. They need all the help they can get. Go!” Kaya commanded.
As their armors clinked away, we hurried forward. Vexa took out two gray cloaks, while Adara did a complex movement with her hand against the wall, in the shade of the flowering trees.
My veins drummed with excitement as the gates groaned open, and we filtered out from the calmness of Phoenix Peak and out into the Capital. The real one.
I turned as Adara closed the gates, no evidence of us sneaking out–besides the guards not finding a single yellow scale in those gardens.
I was out. In broad daylight. And I hadn’t even had to climb the massive walls.
“Are you sure they won’t snitch?” I asked as Kaya fussed with her hood, trying to stuff her intricate hairdo underneath the gray fabric.
“That’s the only good part about being the Jewel of the Blood Brotherhood.” Kaya shot me a smile that was anything but prim and proper. “Nobody doubts your intentions.”
“Yes, ignorance truly is bliss,” Adara said blankly, earning herself a mighty glare from Vexa. “Let’s move. We go to the docks, we leave the food, then we come back. No diversions.”
I nodded, even as my hungry gaze snagged oneverything.
A different world waited outside the gates.
We wandered between tall buildings, secluded from the street by imposing front steps, swelling flower pots, and carved gates flanked on both sides by menacing statues. They looked like copies of the Citadel statues, but without the grandeur.
As our feet left the engraved cobblestone and roamed further onto the plain pavement, the stillness was replaced with shouting vendors and children running in the streets.
A thousand different smells and sizzles, all of them mouth-watering, engulfed me. I lifted my nose as we passed a small cart selling different cuts and sizes of meat glistening on top of the coals. That dripping red sauce would have surely stung my tongue, but, gods, did I want it. Then there was the little old woman, hunched at the waist, waving bags filled with flaky pastries at us.
“Maybe I’ll get one when we come back.” Kaya licked her lips, hands running down the sides of her impossibly thin waist. “But just one.”
“I’ll take a few dozen and we can munch them over some tea at my place. Nobody has to know,” I joked.
Kaya shook her head vehemently, and muttered, “Don’t tempt me. Just one.”
A group of children ran in front of us, chasing what looked to be a ball made out of twine, with bits of twigs and leaves sticking to it.
Adara and Vexa both reached for their weapons, and then narrowed their eyes at each other as they relaxed. Those two would’ve made great friends if they’d just stopped glowering every time they made eye contact.
