Page 99 of Tides of Shadows

My father came to say goodbye. “I shall stay here a few more days,” he said. “I will try to discover some leads about the heirs, then I’ll return to Thalrock. I don’t want to leave your mother alone for too long.”

Roderick, at his side, smiled a little. “And I’m going back with him. I’ll leave these adventures to the young ones.” Kael and Brenn were to ride with me to Durminas.

While the others busied themselves with the final preparations, Cassandra came to stand beside me. Our last encounter hung between us like heavy smoke. She loathed me, her gaze was set with scorn. Her eyes fell to my necklace, the one Aidenar had given me. She made sure no one was standing too close to us.

“So then,” she said coldly. “The little Veymaris fish has caught a large prey.” She paused. “Do not set your hopes too high. Aidenar may be in love with you now, but it’s a youthful feeling. His father was the same. In the end he chose what served the Family. Aidenar will understand that too.” She left me without another word.

I couldn’t wait to leave this place. We mounted our horses. Behind us lay White City, pale and tired, folded in the mist of morning. Before us the road to Durminas, a city in the mountains.

Chapter

30

Durminas lay more than a week’s ride from White City, far inland, toward the gray mountains that vanished into mist.

We followed the high road through dense forests where the leaves whispered of coming rain and the moss swallowed the sound of hooves. We met nothing suspicious. No trace of the Plague. No rot, no shadow of monsters. The farther we rode from White City, the healthier the world appeared, the more alive. As though these lands had not yet heard the rumors of the end.

I had grown weary of travel. Each night dragged me back to the same dreams full of screams, nightmares and the dark-haired man.

Aidenar stayed always at my side, nevertheless his nearness was no longer enough. I was spent. I scarcely slept, and the days passed in a haze as I swayed half-conscious in the saddle.

Whoever awaited us in Durminas had to help me. Even if it were a mountain demon. I was ready to pay any price to regain control over myself.

On the sixth day the castle appeared on the horizon, and I froze. I had never seen anything like it. Durminas was no ordinary fortress. It had been carved from the very heart of the mountain. Gray, soaring towers rose from the living rock like blades, and between them arched bridges so narrow they seemed like lines drawn against the sky. The walls melded with the cliff, forming one immense, breathing creature.

It was monumental. Unyielding.

Aidenar drew rein and simply gazed for a long moment.

“When were you last here?” I asked softly.

“Five years ago,” he answered after a pause. “We left with my parents for White City, before the Regency began. They were beginning their work to gain it. We never returned.”

We climbed the steep causeway while above us a great eagle wheeled, its wings spread wider than the sails of my family’s ships. Kael and Brenn stood in awe of the mighty fortress. In Durminas everything felt larger. More perilous. I had always pictured Aidenar raised in sun-drenched White City, though here he had grown, among these savage heights.

At the final turn we passed beneath a heavy iron gate. Its groan echoed across the courtyard. A welcoming party awaited us. Several nobles in long gray cloaks, a handful of guards, and at the center… her.

An older woman, tall and straight as a sword. Silver hair bound in a single thick braid. Her gown, simple yet regal, matched the color of the stone. She carried a stillness about her, but within that stillness lurked something keen and dangerous.

Aidenar dismounted and walked toward her.

Before he could speak, she raised her hand and struck him across the face with an open palm.

Every soul in the yard drew a breath.

Aidenar did not flinch. He bowed his head in submission.

“Five years,” she said, voice hard as flint. “Five years, and not once did you think to visit your family home? What was so important in that white henhouse that you could not spare a single journey home?”

“Mina…” Aidenar’s tone was quiet. “You are right. I failed you.”

She studied him a moment longer, then sighed. “Well. No use weeping over spilled milk. Come here, boy.” She pulled him into her arms and held him with the fierce love only one person in all the world can give.

When they parted, she looked him full in the eyes.

“And now tell me why you honor me with your presence. I know the Plague spreads in the capital, but I will not believe you rode here out of tender worry. Durminas offers neither young women nor amusements to suit your tastes.”

A mocking smile curved her lips, and the words pricked my heart. “Do you truly think I don’t know what you’re doing in the palace, Aidenar?”