A Queen of Gilded Horns (A River of Royal Blood #2) - Amanda Joy Page 0,95
singing,” he said, offering a grim smile. “What would you say if I told you I was already planning one?”
“Glad to hear it. We can offer some aid.” I told him how we’d come to travel in the company of the now-rogue Second General and his small but powerful squadron. “Each one is worth at least three regular soldiers. Aketo tells me the same is true of your force here.”
Dthazi hung his head. “Ah, I’d hoped you’d say each one was worth ten. Considering Throllo just had another two hundred soldiers transferred here, I’m afraid we are still quite outnumbered.”
* * *
We finished off the last of the dried meat and I tried to rest, but couldn’t fall asleep. The mood had shifted with Dthazi’s revelation. Aketo had estimated no more than two or three hundred soldiers were stationed at Sher n’Cai, so this changed everything. Anali ordered Kelis to return to General Mateen and inform him there might be more patrols crawling these mountains than we’d expected.
When night fell, Aketo and Dthazi rolled back the door to the tunnel. They waited until their eyes had adjusted to the thin light. After Dthazi returned from a check for any nearby patrols, we left the caves behind and finally stepped into Sher n’Cai.
The air was dry and crisp, but apart from the cliff faces that rose up on every side, we could’ve been walking on any street in Myre. Except that everything was made from the same pale limestone. Simple, single-story homes with tiled roofs lined the narrow, abandoned road we stepped out into.
I looked up to see a sickle moon peeking out behind two craggy mountains, striped with ocher dirt and patches of forest where there was no snow. The moon looked close enough to reach out and touch, like a double-ended dagger I would’ve tucked into my belt.
At Dthazi’s instruction, we jogged up the road, keeping low. I was aware just how exposed we were. All it would take was one errant soldier looking on, and we would be caught. But it was a short run to the steps, which were just as I imagined. Like the stairs that winded up the side of Asrodei, there was no railing, only an open side to a sheer drop. If one fell spectacularly enough, they could go sliding down the side of the mountain.
I nearly turned back to the cave. I would return when I learned to use my wings properly, I promised. This was just the motivation I needed, and the irony of that fact didn’t escape me. Avoid my fear of heights by learning to fly? Ridiculous.
I wasn’t ashamed to clutch Aketo’s hand the entire way up, counting each of the nearly two hundred steps. The climb was almost completely vertical, but every time my gaze strayed to the edge of the steps, he squeezed my hand and pulled me up to the next ledge.
We finally reached the zenith, a new layer of sweat cooling on my skin. I stood frozen for a long moment, a gasp on my lips.
The glowing crystals from the cave walls were embedded in the flagstones, lighting the way up a street. Small houses lined one side of the street, many stacked on top of each other like creo tiles, each facade painted a different color.
On the other side, just before the ledge of the mountain that held the Aerie fell away, tall, thin trees with silvery bark and chartreuse leaves clung to finger-width branches in cloudlike clumps. More of those flowering vines clung to the roofs of the Aerie’s small homes, along with strands of dried flowers hanging in every window. Though it was still bracingly cold, only an inch of snow had accumulated on the trees. It made little sense that the flowers still bloomed in the midst of winter, further evidence that Sher n’Cai was brimming with old magicks.
It was beautiful.
As we walked down the Aerie’s single street, khimaer spilled out of their homes, calling warm greetings to their Princes. As late as it was, I was surprised to find so many still up and about, but Dthazi explained that as soldiers rarely came up here, the Aerie still hummed with activity late into the night. In the town below, their movement was so restricted by General Sareen’s rules that they made all they could of nights in the Aerie. Faint sounds of music spilling from doorways and open windows reminded me of the Patch. I ducked my head, but besides