Lake of Sorrow by Lindsay Buroker

Author:Lindsay Buroker [Buroker, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lindsay Buroker
Published: 2024-07-29T00:00:00+00:00

19

If you don’t have a purpose in life, someone will use you toward their purpose.

~ Lord Professor Varhesson, Port Jirador University

The tower at Stillguard Castle was glowing purple, its window visible over the courtyard wall.

Kaylina bit her lip. She and Frayvar had come through an alley a couple of buildings down the block and stood in the shadows, peering toward it from across the street. She longed to charge straight in to investigate—and to see if the druid honey would affect the plant even more than Grandpa’s had—but her instincts told her to be wary. Between the guards looking for her and the mauled corpses appearing in the city, she dared not assume it was safe to enter the castle.

“Interesting.” Frayvar gazed at the tower.

“Yes. It must take some time before the honey fertilizer affects its glow.”

“But it didn’t take any time for the plant to attack and brand you.” He glanced at her hand.

Even though he hadn’t been there, she’d shared the details.

“The first time, it didn’t do that. Last time, it was… perkier.”

“Perky like a hungry viper?”

“A hungry viper with a branding iron, yes.”

Kaylina looked up and down the street, peering into the dark shadows. As usual, there weren’t any streetlamps lit near the castle, as if the city workers responsible for the duty didn’t want to encourage anyone to visit this particular block at night. Or ever.

It was on her second perusal of the area that Kaylina spotted a human-sized shadow against the wall a few buildings away. It was on the same side of the street as they were, opposite the castle. The man wore a cloak with the hood pulled low while watching the front gate. Was his job to alert someone in case Kaylina returned? Since it was well past midnight, the watcher had no other reason to loiter there, facing in that direction. Someone else might be keeping an eye on the back gatehouse.

Kaylina pointed the person out to Frayvar.

He pulled her back into the alley. “It’s too dangerous for you to go in. They’re probably expecting us to visit.”

“Because the inherent appeal of a cursed castle naturally draws people.”

“It’s drawing you,” he grumped. “Let’s go visit the glassmaker. Or paint-poison maker. And then we can find someplace to sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“I am too.”

“Are you sure? Two days ago, you were in a funk deeper than Braleor Bog. Now, you’re perkier than that plant.”

“I’m… on a mission.”

“The wrong mission.”

“Just help me with it. I’ll explain everything later.” Kaylina paused. “I’ll explain most things later.”

She peered out again, catching movement in the street near the castle, and didn’t hear her brother’s reply, other than to note its sarcastic tone.

The person watching the gate had disappeared, but four people with lanterns were heading toward the gatehouse. They also wore cloaks and hoods, but Kaylina glimpsed a braid of long brown hair hanging down one person’s curved chest. A woman.

Her first thought was that Jana Bloomlong was visiting the castle for some reason, but she had gray hair.

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