All the King's Traitors: Highwings Book One by Keylin Rivers

Author:Keylin Rivers [Rivers, Keylin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781999008826
Publisher: Astre Encre
Published: 2019-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

It took several hours to reach the city border. Ion had followed the trading route due south, and was now closing in on the giant trade border wall. The wall spanned from the Redcliffs of the ocean-side to the bay in the east—there was no way around it by land. The journey had been nerve-wracking for Ion. The closer they got to the city, the more people he saw en route. Most stared, the armour causing him to stick out. Other soldiers would greet him from afar, but, to his great relief, no one approached them. Vincent had been right when they first met; the armour kept folks away.

Ion paused a few hundred yards from one of the city gates. As Vincent had suggested, he headed to the ocean-side entrance, which was substantially less busy than the main gate. He turned in his saddle to check on the group. They rested silently, as they had the entire trip.

Ion turned to face the giant, sandy wall once again, a coarse pit of nerves balling up in his throat. Everyone was depending on him. This was their chance to make it to the Free-Wielders, to get his parents back. This was their chance to survive. His brother and Aurelia were depending on him, and he could not let them down.

He swallowed the pit in his throat and clicked his heels on the horse, commanding her to proceed. He trotted towards the entrance, passing right by the line of traders waiting to pay their taxes to enter the city. He moved to the soldiers’ entrance on the right, where he would wait to be vetted. He passed by a few soldiers in line, stopping at the very front, right at the base of the magnificent sandstone wall. Just as Vincent had instructed him to do.

One of the guards tending to the line dropped what he was doing and marched over. “Still skies,” the guard greeted him.

“And strong roofs,” Ion replied with as much confidence as he could muster.

“As a Ninth of Sable, I command you to identify yourself, soldier.” The guard’s voice was stoic.

“I am,” Ion hesitated for a split second, of all the things he had been told to prepare, he had forgotten to pick a fake name. “Sam.” He paused, remembering Vincent’s instructions on soldier introductions. “Soldier of the Azul Eighths,” he added, lifting his chest.

He followed Vincent’s guidance. Whatever faction the border guards were in, go lower. If he said a higher faction, they would suck up to get close, hoping for scraps. If he claimed to be in the same one, it could cause a power struggle. And claiming a faction too low could lead to suspicion. Let them think they were in charge, that they were in the know.

“I request entrance to the city for an audience with Hectar.”

“Hectar? Take an audience with an Eighth?” the soldier chuckled. “I don’t know how things work in Azul, but you must have something pretty darn good to expect an audience with our lord.

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.