Queen of Embers and Ash (Emnar Series Book 1) by May McKenzie

Author:May McKenzie [McKenzie, May]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Carmine

I strode down the walkway.

I’d spent the last half hour on the roof, staring out over the waterfall and brooding. It was a welcome reprieve from the bleating of the court and the constant racket the Hellions made. It was quiet up there. Peaceful.

Usually, I enjoyed the company of my friends, but I was in no mood today. I needed some solitude. I yearned for peace. But my reprieve was over. It was time to emerge into the world once again.

I walked as I always did, with my back straight and head high as though I was untouchable. Surviving the court hinged on keeping thoughts and feelings hidden away. I needed to be cold. I needed to seem distant. An indifferent prince with an appetite for violence and vices.

Staying in power depended on me remaining taciturn, never yielding to feeling, never having sentiment—always seeming mildly bored. As though I was above everything surrounding me. It was a pretence. But I was well-versed in it.

My father taught me long ago that power was a delicate line. With one careless act, a dominion could crumble.

So, I walked tall with every step. I ignored the pleas of the commoners whenever I rode out on the main road, at least publicly I did. But it was becoming harder to do. Mortals were suffering throughout the kingdom, that was clear enough. Many had moved to Endame to seek a better life. Not that Endame suffered any less under the famine, but it was better guarded.

Wyvern attacks were monthly now, the beasts grouping in large packs to feast on Endolin. We were trapped inside the Veil—the stupid, senseless Veil. It was much easier to hunt prey already cornered. And they kept coming...

Besides the attacks, the Veil cut Endolin off from the ocean. We had no trade, no allies and no resources from the sea—once our prime reserve.

There were no more fish. Even the great Cerne river flowing past the palace was barren. They only found fish in the Cerne if they moved inland and away from the major cities. For a city that relied on fish, it was devastating.

When I’d been a boy, there were still small schools of fish left in the meagre strip of ocean between the beach and where the Veil rose. The memory was hazy, but I remembered it. The sailors had found nothing for a year now. It was a problem with only one solution—destroy the Veil, or... grow something else.

The common mortals were starving in the streets. Children were uneducated, running around filthy and hungry.

Over the years my father had systematically closed the schools late King Feron built, claiming that the resources were being used to increase grain production and provisions to supply the major cities. The crown could no longer afford their upkeep.

It was a lie. At best, it was a skewed version of the truth.

I guessed his reasons for withdrawing the education from the kingdom (Endame in particular) were far shrewder. It was easy to conquer and control the uneducated masses.

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.