Knights of Alana Book 01 - Daughter of Fate by Aaron Hodges

Author:Aaron Hodges [Hodges, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780995120273
Publisher: The National Library of New Zealand
Published: 2019-06-02T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Pela and her companions reached Lane late in the afternoon, two days after setting out from Townirwin. By then the city was alive with the news, and even with sunset approaching, the streets were clogged with people and wagons.

King Braidon was dead and no one knew what that meant. What would become of Plorsea now? With the king’s son not even passed his fifth birthday, who would lead their armies, who would keep them safe? And what of Lonia? Would their war-faring neighbour turn its sights south?

Tens of thousands inhabited Lane, for it sat on one of the main trading routes through Plorsea. But if war came, the city would be one of the first to fall, for its walls were in disrepair and most of its buildings constructed of wood. Many stood five or six stories tall; a fire within the city would be terrible to behold.

Struggling through the crowds, Pela and the others tried to make sense of the news. Some claimed the king had been slain by rogue Lonians, others that it had been the Baronians, and still more that a great storm had swept his ship to the bottom of the ocean, that his sister had reclaimed his soul, or he had somehow suffered the wrath of the Three Gods.

The only thing for certain was that Braidon was gone, and the world had forever changed.

Devon led the way through the twisting streets. He had denied the news at first, but as it was repeated by each passing stranger, his face had darkened and he’d picked up his pace. It was even worse for Caledan. Pela knew of his agreement with Devon—that her uncle was to give him an audience with the king—but no one knew what he’d wanted from the man. Now he walked with shoulders slumped and eyes fixed straight ahead, as though he no longer had a purpose in the world.

Pela didn’t know where Devon was taking them, but within a few blocks she was lost. The buildings here were far larger than in Skystead or even Townirwin, and the streets were unpaved. Rainwater pooled in the grooves left by the passage of wagons through the mud, and the stench of sewage wafted from nearby alleyways.

Pela could not have imagined a fouler place. Townirwin had been chaotic, but at least the canals had flushed away the occupants’ waste with each outgoing tide. Turning to Caledan, she tried to draw him out of his stupor, to bring life back to the sellsword.

“Why would they create such massive buildings from wood?” she asked.

The sellsword did not so much as glance in her direction, though she was sure he’d heard her. She swallowed, preparing to try again, but Genevieve answered in his stead.

“Lane was never meant to grow so large,” she said. “Once, Sitton was the main hub for trade between Lonia and Plorsea. But it was destroyed during Archon’s second coming, and eventually turned back to forest. Even then, the Jurrien River was still used to ferry goods.

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