Page 45 of By the Flames of Her Fury

We spent the evening poring over notes on taxes and tariffs, potential trade routes between Saltmourne and the Veridian Empire, and plans to widen passage through the Shattered Spine. The next day, Chancellor Bay and his assistant gave us a tour of Kharis, the capital of Saltmourne.

I was fascinated by the culture here. Back in Veridia, horses and carriages were how we traveled in most provinces. But I hadn’t seen a single carriage here. Instead, people traveled atop huge, tan creatures with humps on their backs, selling their wares from bags affixed to the animal’s neck and humps.

“Is that a camel?” I asked Chancellor Bay, drinking in the sight as one passed by with multi-colored bags strapped to its back.

“It is.” He gave me a strange look. “Have you never seen one?”

“Only in books. They’re incredible.”

He chuckled. “We can arrange for you to ride one later, if you’d like.”

“Really?” I blinked, lips tugging upward into a shy grin.

Tessa elbowed me with a laugh. “You look like a kid in a toy shop, Ev.”

I quickly cleared my throat. “I mean, only if we have time, of course.”

She smiled and shook her head, and we continued down the path. Even while taking in the foreign sights, smells, and sounds around us, I didn’t stop looking for Vera the entire time. Every building, every office, every tavern, every alleyway. When Bay wasn’t listening, I asked anyone around if they recognized a woman of her description. It was like trying to find a needle in an incredibly large haystack. And knowing Vera, even if she was here, she wouldn’t go around making herself known.

Our carriage traversed up a low, sandy hill surrounding Kharis, giving us a beautiful view of the sand dunes, gleaming towers, and waves on the shore in the distance. We stopped in front of a row of buildings made of clay and limestone, with salt-worn signs hanging from their doors.

Chancellor Bay peered through one of the windows and sighed. “The harbormaster must be out. I was going to introduce you to him and his team, since you may be working with him more in the future. Maybe next time.”

As he walked away, I peeked inside the open shutters. I caught a glimpse of bookshelves full of scrolls and maps, and a couple of desks with supplies and parchments scattered on top. My gaze snagged on the one closest to the window, and something about it made me pause.

“Ev, you coming?” Tessa called. “Bay said we can go find that camel to ride.”

I shook off the strange feeling and nodded, and we made our way back down the street.

20

Vera

SIX YEARS AGO

Footsteps made their way down the hall, and the shadow at my cell was the only warning before Mortep shook the bars. “Are you ready for an adventure, little one?” he crooned from the darkness. He unlocked the door and slid inside, his silhouette hovering above me. Shadows made his black hair even more pronounced, and his pale skin and near-white eyes glowed like a ghost.

I glared at him, unresponsive, and he brandished a key. My eyes widened as he fit it into the chains binding me to the wall. “You get to leave your cell.”

My heart raced, but not with excitement. I’d been down here for a year, and nobody had ever let me out. He would draw my blood, torture me, run his little tests in the corner of my cell, then whisk away until the next time.

This couldn’t mean anything good.

I glanced at the hole in the stone wall, desperate for a glimpse of those dual-toned eyes. They always calmed me.

Friends. That was what we called ourselves, but the word felt too small, too fragile, for what we endured together. What word was there for the person whose face I searched for after every nightmare and the last one I carried with me into sleep? For the one whose presence alone kept all the jagged pieces of me from coming apart? What word meant “home” when I had nothing left to live for?

Mortep yanked me forward. My legs felt like mush. These chains only allowed a few feet of movement, so I couldn’t remember the last time I’d walked this far. I stumbled into Mortep’s side as he led me down the hall, panting with exertion. The tunnel narrowed with each slap of my bare feet on the floor, and every shadow reached for me with gnarled fingers.

Mortep opened a door and shoved me inside a new room. The bright torchlight was so blinding, it burned my eyes. I had to shield my face as I adjusted, then quickly took in my surroundings. It looked like a laboratory. The gray and cream marbled walls were such a stark contrast from the dark, stained stone I’d been trapped in for a year. Bookshelves and cabinets lined all the walls, except for the door we just came through and another one across the room. Books, loose scrolls, glass vials full of liquid, and piles of crushed herbs littered the space.

“Why am I here?” I snapped.

Mortep grinned. “You take after your brother. So very bold. Your power gives you confidence, even in chains.” To prove his point, he rattled the end of my restraints, making me wince when they pulled at my wrists.

“Get them off me, and I’ll give you something to really be impressed by,” I bit out.

He merely chuckled. “Oh, that is exactly what I intend.”