Page 9 of The Raven Queen

“Fin’s been around a while,” Callon explained, and I braced myself for some theatrically embellished account of a scrape I’d likely forgotten. “He’s quite the rebel—his hair ain’t that color for nothing, you know. He’s got a fire in him that’s gotten him into a few tight spots over the years.”

Lyra’s eyes widened minutely. “I never thoughtyouto be reckless.” There was as much awe as there was reproach in her voice.

I smirked at that. “I’ll be the first to admit I belong on no pedestal.”

“He keeps it under wraps now that he has to set a good example and all.” Callon sobered a little. “But trust me, someone will recognize him if he’s not careful.”

“That’s enough,” I told them as we neared the gate, our bags and sacks slung over our shoulders to fill with market goods, like anyone from outer lands coming for a routine trade would do. I lifted the hood over my hat for extra precaution and continued inside.

The air was buzzing with chatter and commotion once past the gate, and I felt my muscles tense in preparation for the next few hours. In and out—that’s all we needed to do. We had hundreds of people relying on us back at the settlement, and we couldn’t afford any missteps.

I thought about Callon’s mom’s missing eye from the Feral attack she survived as a young woman and how her hands shook from nerve damage, making it harder for her to work in the garden every morning. Callon was her only light left in this life, and without him, she had nothing. I thought about Lyra’s father, hunting and skinning his kills to help put clothes on our backs and food in our bellies. They were both waiting for us back in Shoshone and relying onmeto bring their children home, safe.

In and out.I breathed as I thought the words, exhaling the ever-present knot tightening my shoulders. We only had to last the night and could leave at dawn when the gates opened again.

The guards patted us down, and after a few grunts, they nodded for us to be on our way. The sun was setting behind Ironwood Keep, casting the city in evening shadows. Men and women wearing red robes moved along the streets, the colored attire marking them as Elementals as they expertly flicked their flames to light the torch lamps lining the alleyways.

Lyra paused, taking in the sight before her. Watching her, I could almost appreciate Mantis as if I was seeing it for the first time. Almost. Having lived off the land most of her life, moving from one settlement to another after being run out by soldiers and Ferals, Lyra had never been to a city like this one.

She peered up and down the flagstone streets. Stretched out before us, on the top of the mountain and surrounded by a forest of pine trees, was Ironwood Keep, a granite monstrosity that lorded over the city below. The roads wound their way up the foothills like riverbeds, carving out a cliff face. They stopped at the city’s inner walls, dividing the castle grounds from the rest of us.

Callon’s eyes lingered on the Communication Dome, its rounded glass ceiling rising above the townhomes in the distance. He knew as well as I did that Mantis liked to collect powerful Telepaths for their communication efforts across the kingdoms, and I could practically feel the chills raking over him as he tore his gaze away.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing that place,” he muttered.

Lyra glanced at both of us.

“Just keep to the city streets,” I told him. “And don’t draw any attention to yourself. I’ll null us as much as I can.” While most people only had one power, like Lyra and Callon, there were some of us with a stronger, purer lineage and two Abilities, a combination of our ancestors, like I had. I could null others’ powers like Jason and had animal telepathy like Dani, my great-great-grandparents. “We’ll be fine,” I reassured them, and with a warning glance at Callon, I focused on our surroundings again.

Mantis was much like any other capital within the Seven Kingdoms, congested and bustling, but the buildings were uniform, and the streets were clean. Guards were posted on nearly every corner, which was strange, yet I wasn’t entirely surprised either. This place wasn’t feared for no reason. There were as many laws to follow as there were creative punishments for breaking them.

The streets were teeming with people. Some men and women rode vehicles powered by Elemental slaves with metal collars on their necks, boasting wealth and status. Other traders hauled their goods in creaking, hand-drawn wooden carts. There were robotic and whittled toys, herbs and paints and scarves. Traders and merchants bartered with customers, and children ran through the alleyways, some playing while others haggled for coin.

The old world met the new as we made our way deeper into the city. Ancient artifacts filled crates and bins. Some contraptions I’d seen before, like handheld communication devices with cracked and shattered screens, were obsolete but a part of history for which collectors paid exorbitant amounts. There were booths displaying handmade jewelry, with rings made from old keys that would never open anything again, and boxes of photos long forgotten but fascinating nonetheless. There were food booths, which caught Callon’s eye, and there were furs, silks, and woolen blankets hung from clothing lines.

Wide-eyed, Lyra took it all in.

“A bushel of sage, my lady?”

I glanced over at Lyra.

A young girl with blonde braids, a dirty but tailored red dress, and matching torn stockings stood in front of Lyra, offering her herbs with a wide smile. “It will chase the evil spirits away and bless your stayrooms during your visit. It’s only a quarter-piece, miss.”

Lyra opened her mouth to say something, but I shook my head at the girl, knowing what scheme she was playing. “I can smell the hawthorn from here,” I told her.

The girl’s open, smiling expression dropped. She no longer looked young and innocent but twice her age and thwarted. She scowled at me, but just as quickly, she locked eyes with her next victim, her smile returning as she hurried away.

“Hawthorn?” Lyra asked, her brow pinched in question. “Was she trying to kill me?”

“Only sedate you,” I explained. “They follow you to your stayroom, wait for you to light the ‘sage’ before you pass out, then they rob you blind.”

Lyra’s mouth hung slightly open. “But...There are guards everywhere. Why would they even try such a thing?”

Callon snorted. “Guards are in on the take,” he grumbled. “And probably the king as well,” he added under his breath.

“I need a moment,” I told them, stepping off to the side by a milliner’s shop while I searched for a pair of willing bird eyes above to help me locate the Silver Bow Inn.

Vaguely, I could hear Lyra and Callon talking, but I was too busy scouring everything through hawk eyes, looking for our midnight meeting place. There was no short supply of taverns and inns, and my hawk gaze narrowed on the signs and banners as I flew over the darkening city.

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