The Queen of the Dawn by S. M. Gaither

Author:S. M. Gaither [Gaither, S. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-26T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Early the next morning, Cas and her friends gathered in a small room tucked away in a dark corner of the palace, its features bland and unremarkable save for the black door centered in its back wall, which had all manner of different symbols carved into it. At a glance, they resembled many of the divine marks she was familiar with, but upon closer inspection Cas could see that most of them had been altered in small—but significant—ways.

Through this door, the Antaeum Point awaited.

Two Mistwilde elves joined them—Anwyn, as well as an older male who introduced himself as Kylian, a Master Keeper of Records and Laws of the Realm.

Kylian looked considerably less enthusiastic than Anwyn about what lay ahead of them.

The king himself would not accompany them for this task; it would be a dark journey into the very depths of the palace, the path narrow, tight, and potentially full of wayward pockets of magic—not unlike the unpredictable magic they’d contended with in Mistedge. This was not an oft-traveled path, aside from a few well-trained scholars, and dangerous things festered in unused spaces. Kylian was one of those well-trained travelers, but he made no guarantees regarding their safety or return.

Cas herself was prepared for anything at this point, her blood still racing from the events of the day before. But she was worried about others in their group—a concern that only heightened when she felt Silverfoot brush against her leg. She took Rhea’s arm and pulled her aside, but she only managed to voice a few syllables of concern before she was cut off.

“We’ll manage,” Rhea insisted.

“Are you sure?”

“I once promised you I would follow you to the end of the world, didn’t I? And now we’re off to the center of it, it seems. Makes no difference to me and Silver.”

“I just—”

“Leave it at that, love,” Rhea said, gently but firmly. She reminded Cas of Asra whenever she took on that tone, and her heart clenched, squeezing away the words of protest she’d started to say. They were the only two people who had ever managed to quiet her arguments so completely.

“You criticize my stubbornness,” mused Cas, “but I’m growing convinced that at least some of it was inherited directly from you.”

Rhea smiled. “You’re welcome.”

So they all went together, as promised, with Kylian leading the way and Anwyn bringing up the rear.

After descending at least ten levels of winding staircases, they came upon a second black door. Kylian pressed his palm to a strange symbol of interconnected circles in the center, and it slowly swung open.

“Only an elf from Mistwilde can open this,” he informed them, “and only certain bloodlines, at that. If anybody else tried it, they would meet a very painful end.” His gaze lifted to the ceiling, where Cas thought she saw…something moving. She felt an uncomfortable pulling on her skin—a pull that she had learned to associate with backwards elven magic.

Anwyn huffed at the dramatic tone of Kylian’s voice, waving their attention away from the questionable thing above and urging them through the doorway that led below.

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