Reign of Darkness (The Story of the First Archimage Book 3) by Michaela Riley Karr

Author:Michaela Riley Karr [Karr, Michaela Riley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-02T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“H er name is Sabine.” Luke’s voice trickled back to me from our voyage back across the ocean nearly a month ago. “She’s Dathian’s daughter and the only heir left to the Auklian throne. She disappeared over a decade ago when her mother left Dathian and the Archimage Palace.”

“If she disappeared so long ago, how do you think we could ever find her?” My response echoed in my ears. “She could be dead for all we know.”

Luke had simply shrugged. “In my experience, you can’t assume someone is dead until you see the light leave their eyes yourself.”

A month had passed since that conversation. Once arriving back on the mainland, we spent a few days in Canis before discovering that very few of the people there were remotely interested in joining our cause. Canis’s economy was booming between the fish trade gaining customers throughout Nerahdis as Rhydin struck down trade laws and tariffs and the massive influx of travelers paying their ships for passage to Caark.

People couldn’t have cared less about anything beyond their city and didn’t believe us when we claimed that Rhydin was sinking their ships. He was too much of a “hero” for that. I wondered how long it would take before Rhydin thoroughly made sure they all knew that he was in charge.

When we left Canis, we began cycling back and forth over the border between Lunaka and Auklia. We searched for random settlements and other secret Rounan compounds on our way to Rondeau, a small town in northeastern Auklia. With every stop, we tried to discover any interest in a rebellion against Rhydin as well as any leads on what happened to Lady Sabine. Sometimes there was some interest due to older folks’ nostalgia for the old ways. Sometimes there wasn’t, due to the “good” things people still believed Rhydin to be doing, but there was never any information on Sabine. I was beginning to wonder if both of our tasks were impossible.

I let myself fade back into the present moment, which I had purposely left to let my thoughts ramble for a reason. The sun was beating down on the top of my head, roasting my scalp. Sam, Evan, and I stood in the middle of a crowd of Rounans at yet another small Rounan settlement at the base of the mountains dividing Lunaka and Auklia. They had listened to our speech intently, as most Rounans did due to their experience with Rhydin, but the conversation afterward had taken a nasty turn from a polite debate of pros and cons for stepping forward against Rhydin.

“If we oppose Rhydin, won’t the Royals step back into control?” one portly man bellowed. “Nothing will change for us! Rhydin hunts us down and so do the Gornish!”

“No, things will change!” Sam tried to say. “If we succeed, we will make sure that Prince Frederick and Prince Xavier are placed on their rightful thrones, and both of them have sworn against ever allowing Rounan persecution again!”

“That’s what you think!” an old, scrawny woman in a threadbare cap called.

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