Phoenix Heart: Season Two Omnibus (Phoenix Heart Boxsets, #2) by Wilson Sarah K. L

Author:Wilson, Sarah K. L.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sarah K. L. Wilson
Published: 2022-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The ropes were worse than slippery. They were worse than soft. It felt like wading through bread dough. It wasn’t just thick, it felt like it was intentionally trapping me, pulling me down to the knees, forcing my every muscle into effort to fight the way it slid under me like ice. I gritted my teeth, fighting with every muscle of my body to keep my feet under me. I was aching and sweating by the third step.

Underneath me, the river rushed, loud and gurgling, throwing up mist that coated my legs and made my bones ache. I shuddered, trying not to look down at the bubbling, frothing water, broken up with jagged rocks like the teeth of an angry shark.

“Hurry, Sersha!” Judicus gasped, barely over a whisper.

I made the mistake of trying to look back at him. I nearly lost my balance, my arms pinwheeling as I tried to regain it. I managed another stumbling step and then one more, my thighs and back aching from the effort to stay upright. I could feel Judicus right behind me, feel the warmth of his body even though he wasn’t touching me. I had to hurry. I was holding him back.

A shout rang out from behind us.

“Fontellrae, Duke of Chignov,” Judicus said, suddenly.

I looked back at him, confused, and he reached out to catch my hand and steady me, leaving both of us swaying wildly for one awful moment.

“That’s the person I know who might understand what the plinth was for. If we get split up, you’ll need to find him. His estates are east of here. You can ask anyone, and they can point you toward Chignov. Hurry, now, hurry!”

Why was he telling me this?

Another shout. I forced myself forward, pushing with everything in me, but the harder I pushed against the ropes, the deeper I seemed to sink, making movement more difficult.

Something clattered on the rocks ahead.

We were almost there!

It glanced off and I realized an arrow had hit them. A second arrow struck close to the first, sinking into a clump of moss.

Oh no.

They were shooting at us.

I was almost to the shore. Just a few more steps. I pushed hard, every muscle of my body screaming.

Behind me, Judicus gasped, and then gasped again, and the second gasp was more of a painted cry.

And then, quick as the sun hiding behind a cloud, the webbing of the bridge was gone, and I was tumbling through the air.

I landed with a splash, so close to the bank of the river, swift as it was, that I was caught in the branches of a cedar that had fallen over the river. I sank my hands gratefully into the fragrant branches, trying to catch my breath. Nothing felt broken. I was more shaken than hurt.

I spun, trying to find Judicus.

My eyes landed first on the archers on the far bank, a man dressed crisply in a short cape and a wide-brimmed hat standing there with them, looking down on us. He opened a palm and a rope started to roll out from it.

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