A Storm of Silver and Ash by Marion Blackwood

Author:Marion Blackwood [Marion Blackwood]
Language: eng
Format: epub

22.

“G et up!” a man’s voice yelled.

Loud banging followed it. Or was it my head that was pounding? While groaning, I pushed myself into a sitting position. My tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of my mouth. Working it loose, I looked around while also trying to blink sleep from my eyes. Okay. I wasn’t in the holding cell that I’d been locked in last time. This was a room. And not just any room, one of those rooms that are built for people to live in, it would seem. Besides the well-stocked bed I was currently occupying, there was also a wooden desk with a chair, some shelves and cupboards, and a nightstand with an unlit candle. A colorful rug covered the floor and a large chest occupied one of the corners. Curious. The door crashed open.

“I said get up!” Elaran boomed across the room.

“I am up,” I snapped, glowering at him.

“Then why aren’t you answering?”

I clicked my tongue and sighed. Always the charmer. He was standing in the light that spilled in from the open door with his arms crossed over his chest. I knew that I’d messed up last night and that I had probably said something I shouldn’t have said. Studying his face, I tried to figure out the amount of trouble I was in. That customary, disapproving scowl he usually wore when he looked at me was still there but I couldn’t detect any outright hostility. So, no more trouble than usual then. I surmised that if I’d accidentally let slip that I was here to kill the Queen, I would already be dead. Shrugging, I stood up.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Come on, we have work to do.” He turned on his heel and strode out.

Seeing no reason to argue, I followed him out the door. Blinding sunlight met me outside the room, or at least it was blinding to my poor, hungover eyes, so I stopped to let them adjust.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed once I realized where I was.

Rope bridges floated before me like giant vines. Both above and below me, beautifully carved houses clung to their tree trunks. I stepped forward to the edge of the bridge and looked down. Hundreds of people moved about on the different levels and the ones on the ground were no larger than my hand.

“Are you afraid of heights?” Elaran asked behind me.

“Am I afraid of heights? I’ve spent most of my life running across–” I began before realizing that sharing my expertise on rooftop running might not be such a good idea. “No, I’m not afraid of heights.”

“Good,” he answered and jerked his head. “Then let’s go.”

He took off down the narrow suspension bridge and after a short sprint to catch up, I fell in beside him. I desperately wanted to ask him where we were going, because I hate not knowing what’s going on, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction so I kept quiet. Instead, he broke the silence once we had cleared half of the bridges on our way down.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.