Faerie Forged by L. R. Braden

Author:L. R. Braden [Braden, L. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Published: 2020-01-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

A BLAST OF COLD air swirled around me. I squeezed my eyes shut against it, clinging to the solid warmth of Mica’s body as we both plummeted toward the ground. Except, we didn’t.

The howling whistle of the wind eased. The rush of air pulled back like a drawn breath.

I cracked open one eye in time to see Mica’s feet come to rest on polished stone like a feather drifting to the ground. He set me on my feet, but I kept one hand on his shoulder to steady myself as I looked around.

We hadn’t gone down so much as sideways. My balcony jutted from the keep wall a little above and thirty feet to the right, outlined dimly by the warm glow of the city lights beyond. The path we were on was thin, with a sheer drop below and a towering wall above. A door at one end led to the keep. In the other direction, the path hugged the cliff face, fading into darkness.

I’d left my hair in the intricate braids Tess had arranged for dinner, so despite the mini tornado we’d traveled through, only a few windblown wisps of hair tickled my face. I tucked them back, finally releasing my hold on Mica. “Impressive.”

He shrugged and turned toward the keep door. “It’s not for nothing that I was thought to be Bael’s heir. I might not be an imbuer, but my enchantments are first-rate.”

Mica led us through the door and down narrow, darkened corridors, dusty from disuse. We didn’t pass any courtiers, or even any servants. Wherever we were, these tunnels seemed long forgotten, and we drifted along them like specters in the silent night.

Eventually, light bloomed ahead. Mica pulled to a stop just shy of the lit intersection, staying out of the lantern’s glow. Turning to me, he pressed a finger to his lips.

I glared. I hadn’t spoken a word since reentering the keep. Did he think I was about to start singing now that we’d reached the dangerous part?

Crouching low, he pressed his fingertips to the white stone and mumbled another unintelligible phrase in that haunting whisper. The light seemed to dim slightly for a moment, but other than that there was no change.

He motioned me forward and stepped into the intersection.

When I passed the safety of the corner, I froze. A little way down the side corridor was a heavy set of wood panels with silver bars crossing its surface. Sidhe guards stood to either side. I assumed this was the entrance to the dungeon . . . until Mica passed it by with barely a glance.

He continued straight. I trotted after, glancing back once before rounding the next corner to ensure neither of the guards had followed. The hallway remained empty behind us.

First-rate enchantments indeed.

Mica wound through a labyrinth of uniform stone hallways. Smokeless lanterns cast even illumination over the halls since we’d passed out of the unused section. Occasionally, plain wood doors would break the monotony. Sometimes voices drifted through the stagnant air, but we didn’t see any more guards.

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