Page 145 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
I didn’t know the Citadel had so many people, all of them casting curious glances my way as each held a torch to light the path. My shadow flickered against the crackling fire, the only sound that accompanied my steps.
I strode ahead, all alone.
I passed the guards; no sign of Owyn. Perhaps he was home, unpacking the generous crate he’d been sent.
Then came Zandyr’s warriors. I recognized a few of them from their return to Phoenix Peak. Some still had their arms in slings and wore gashes across their faces and the shaved sides of their heads. They’d been maimed by powerful magic if the Blood Brotherhood healers hadn’t been able to mend them.
Thousands of torches.
Thousands of people.
Where had they all been hiding?
The gates to the Capital had been opened, more prying glances crowding the perimeter, but not daring to step inside Phoenix Peak. They watched in silence as I walked and tried to look powerful and unbothered. The quake inside me needed to remain hidden.
The Capital had been lit with anticipation.
For me.
Just as a harsh breath threatened to shudder out of me, I felt a comforting wave beckoning me.
Zandyr appeared, dressed in his armor, the traditional crimson robe draped over his strong shoulders. The warrior and the future king.
He kept his face impassive as he watched me approach, like we’d planned. The last thing we needed was to give Banu andValuta any hint there was something more between us than an arranged marriage we hadn’t wanted.
My fingers twitched to touch him. For one moment. One breath.
We exchanged an icy nod, even as warmth radiated off him.
For me.
To help me be as calm as possible as I faced the mighty Oracle who waited at the top of the temple stairs.
Her eyes–they were completely crimson. Deep, abyssal pools of red shadows that seemed to slash straight through me and weaken my knees.
I didn’t cower. I locked my muscles and ascended the stairs, Zandyr’s strong, comforting presence right beside me. My gaze didn’t stray from hers for a moment.
I had to be strong.
The Oracle held centuries in the wrinkles on her face, which seemed to radiate from the blood-red jewel attached to her forehead. It glowed, summoning me closer.
“She will try to intimidate you,” Zandyr had warned last night. “She has been born to detect weakness.”
The Oracle towered over everyone. The king and queen stood to her right, the advisors and Kaya to her left. Three steps below, a curious group of Blood Brotherhood members watched me approach, rheumy eyes sizing me up. They all wore ceremonial robes in a burnt orange shade, silver headdresses rising high in the air. Their rigid stances tried to come off as dignified and proud, but they gave off an eerie stiffness. They must have been the Senate members, come to see me for themselves, and they were frightened. Of me. A wisp of a being quaking in her own shoes. What poisoned lies had the advisors infected them with?
I spared them only a glance, enough to see a ripple of shivers coursing through their ranks, before my gaze returned to the Oracle.
She wore an impossibly white robe on her bony frame, its hem painted red, as if she’d walked through a river of blood. Her white hair had been twisted into twin braids that looked like horns and made her taller.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaya giving me a small, reassuring smile. She’d lost weight since I’d last seen her. Not even the heavy paint on her face could hide the bags under her eyes.
Zandyr and I stopped in front of the Oracle. My head barely reached her hands, which ended in long, black nails. He bowed the Oracle’s way and stepped to the side, next to his parents, and sent one last reassuring wave my way.
A hush fell over the Capital, as if the breaths had been stolen from everyone’s lungs. The air reeked of ritual and expectations.
The back of my neck hurt from straining to look the Oracle in the eye.
“You are different than what I expected, Blue Queen,” the Oracle said in a deep, heavy voice that sounded ripped from another world. It slid over my skin, burrowing deep into my bones. “Come.”
