Rhone by Kelly St Clare

Author:Kelly St Clare [Clare, Kelly St]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Rhone trailed behind Monikah as she wove between the islands of the Great Stairway on the way to Glacium. He had no idea where they were but the Ire woman didn’t have any problem recognizing one bit of razor-sharp rock from the next. To him, distinguishing each island would be the same as separating identical twins—times several thousand at least.

Whatever had bothered her two nights ago still bothered her now if the distance she’d put between them was any indication. Monikah’s shoulders were sagging, her face shadowed and grim, and Rhone found it unsettling that she wasn’t her usual bounding self.

“Nearly there,” she called back.

“All right,” he replied.

She was right and soon they were soaring high above the First Sector of Glacium, back to the castle.

He took the lead, eyes scanning the ground for any company. Yarik had mentioned attacks on the Ire folk. The ground seemed empty, but Rhone kept them high above arrow range just in case. They landed on the roof of the castle in the First Sector not long after. Ire folk were meant to land in the courtyard now, but Rhone wasn’t taking the risk of flying lower with Monikah in tow.

“This is the castle?” Monikah asked.

Rhone nodded. “One of them.”

They unstrapped their Soars and folded them. Rhone kicked open the trap door in the roof and gestured Monikah through, pulling the heavy wooden door closed behind them.

“It’s very closed in, isn’t it?” she said.

He didn’t miss the nervousness in her voice. “Here it is. The levels below are much larger. The food hall has high ceilings.” Rhone listened to her shaking breath. “You’ve never been inside walls?”

“I have,” she replied. “Just not walls made of such thick stone, nor so high up.”

“You’ll be okay. Look, it’s widening already.”

She lifted her head. “So it is.”

“Remind me never to take you to the underground arenas in the Outer Rings,” he joked, then frowned. When would he ever take her there?

Monikah glanced back. “The fighting pits? That’s where Crystal works.”

Crystal was married to Alzona, head of the barracks Olina had fought for.

“Yes, those pits.” He watched her release another shaking breath, her green eyes wide with fright. “I used to fight in them.”

She blinked. “Really?” The woman shook her head. “No, don’t answer that—I’ve seen you fight. You learned it all there, huh?”

“I did. When my grandmother died, I lived on the streets for a few years, and when I was big enough I was recruited.”

Monikah stiffened. “You lived on the street? How old were you?”

“Seven. I grew to this height by fifteen and was in the pits for four years. The castle for over two revolutions.”

“Wow, that’s quite a life, and a lot of change. . . . Finding your place in all that must’ve been hard.”

Rhone exhaled slowly, feeling her words like a punch to the stomach. “You’re right,” he said after a moment. “It probably was.” Maybe she and Yarik were right and he was lost. Hell, scratch that, Rhone knew he was lost.

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.