B01786HSBM (F) by Rachel E. Carter

Author:Rachel E. Carter [Carter, Rachel E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Paranormal, romance, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781621354550
Publisher: Clean Reads
Published: 2015-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

When we first entered the city with the rest of the Crown’s progress, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Heavy, towering pines of the Iron Range gave way to coarse, earthy fields and cracked riverbeds the further east we got. Montfort was a week’s ride north of the capital, a week and a half from Sjeka and the first-year trials we had just left, and it shared neither city’s natural splendor. While not as dry as the Red Desert by any means, it was certainly more arid and cool.

But what Montfort lacked in beauty it more than made up for in mass. The great city was famous for its architects, and the moment I spotted it from the road, I knew I was in for a shock.

Even two miles from the start of the city’s residence, I could see the giant slabs of the Candidacy’s arena towering above the rest. Like a giant stone mouth that longed to tear out the sky. The raised seats and spectator towers were easily fifteen houses tall from their lowest peaks.

The rest of the city was a bit simpler in nature—large square buildings and simple housing, flat roofs and rectangular windows, heavy curtains and chipped bricks in simple sun-dried mud, and the occasional stone-and-mortar mix. One raised building stood out among the rest: a steep dome roof supported by heavily decorated columns and smoothed walls, but even it paled next to the city’s central feature.

Our horses kicked up loose dust as they made their way through the streets. I was stunned by the crowds. Every which way we moved were great herds of people, lowborn and highborn alike, flooding the markets and knocking on doors. That wasn’t all; outside the city limits had been canvas tents as far as the eye could see.

As our tracks slowed, both Paige and Darren’s guard, Henry, pressed closer to our side. The herald—who had been busy entertaining two women in our progress—broke free to blow his horn and proclaim our arrival to the crowd. In truth it did little—there was nowhere for the people to go.

“Like a bay of pigs, and just as brainless,” Paige griped under her breath.

Wren giggled as I hid a smile. In the past three weeks the young princess and I had become close.

In some ways, she was the little sister I’d never had. Sweet—always saving me the last candied figs in our evening meals—and easy to laugh in a way that I was not, especially at my guard whom she had deemed “charming.”

Wren was such a change from my loud, raucous brothers and their constant slew of insults and insatiable bellies. She didn’t seem to mind my lowborn upbringing, and preferred my company to the rest of the court. She was a bit shy around Blayne, but that could have been their difference in age. Knowing what had happened to my best friend, I’d made it a point to ask about their wedding night when we were alone, and she had all but blushed furiously in reply.

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