“Or at the very least,mind me,” I say voice growing more stern. “If I say piss by the horse, then just piss by the fucking horse. If I say let’s go, that meansnow. If I say be quiet, then you best believe it’s for a good reason. Don’t fight me because you’re queen modesty or the sacred virgin or what the fuck ever. I really don’t give a shit. You’re notthatany longer. You’re just a nought in a world that despises noughts. You are naive,” I growl. “You know nothing of the world outside the Wall.”
“I know you’re just as awful, horrible, and evil as everything I’ve been taught.” Her voice quavers and gains stability with her ire. “Maybe even worse. I finally understand why my ancestors spent so many years building the Wall to get away from you all.”
My magic, which had been waning, oscillates inside of me, coiling to strike with the extent of my anger. The only reason I even brought her with me was out of kindness. No,pity. So the Masks or her father didn’t do Gods know what. “Your Wall is a curse upon our land,” I hiss. “And, you noughts are just as ignorant as everything they say about you.”
“Well, at least I’m not a—“
“A what? A witch?” I ask facetiously, lifting a hand to twiddle my fingers, amused when she shrinks away.
“A monster!”
“Oh, please.”
“And a murderer.”
My body feels like it’s been dipped in cold water. My fingers tremble slightly before I clench them tight around the reins. “And how would you know that?”
“Are you… actually insane?”
As if she can sense it, can see right through me to my blackened soul. I stiffen, jaw flexing.
“What? That bothers you? To be called that?Murderer?”
“I know what I am, nought.”
“You disgust me.”
Blowing out a breath, a strange calm overtakes me as my anger soars to a dangerous level. I lean down close to her ear. “You know what? I’m glad we’re getting this out of the way. No need to hem-haw around with false pretenses. Let’s not pretend to be cordial. We don’t have to like each other. I promise you, whatever it is you’re thinking I am, whatever you’ve imagined, I’m much fucking worse,” I snap, satisfaction sailing when I hear her quiet intake of breath.
“But you best get over it, nought, because we are forever bound. I’m all you’ve fucking got now. You should be grateful you have someone as deadly as me around, a murderer in the place you’re going to.”
Those words seem to shut her up for good, but my mind still roars viciously. I need the ichor. I’m desperate enough to try at whatever is left, forced to do so in front of her. Whatever. It’s not as if she’ll have any idea what it is.
I wrench my sleeve up to reveal the fading mark and slash the symbol there before adeptly dispersing the pooling blood. Even that small amount of magic feels abnormally taxing. She sucks in an audible breath, yet says nothing. Dabbing the vial against the mark, I tap it several times only to get two single drops out. I relish the sting as the liquid is drawn to the slashes in my skin and simmers into the pattern.
That single trace of bliss washes my fury away. It lasts only seconds, and then my irritation is bridling again with an annoying mixture of…guilt. Was I too harsh? No, I need her to listen to me, and if I have to scare her to do so, so be it.
I don’t know whetherto be relieved or horrified when the forest parts into a golden field and his kingdom looms in the distance, a black castle painting the landscape. The setting sun lights the sky in pink and violet behind the spindly spires that come up in sharp points like jagged teeth. Despite the fear pressing in every pulse of my blood, I can’t help but be a little amazed. I’m in another kingdom. I can see it. I can taste it in the air. No gray wall obstructing my view.
The first thing we pass is a massive building with protruding, rusted pipes that blow smoke colored in orange, green, and blue. A rhythmic hum broken by the loud clanking sounds of metal against metal emanates from the strange structure. There’s an energy in the air that stands the hair on the back of my neck.
Magic. A lot of it.
We haven’t spoken in hours, but he presses me forward as we approach the fringes of his kingdom. I stiffen as he settles something across my shoulders. His cloak.
“You have a very identifiable feature,” he murmurs as he clasps it around my neck and draws the hood up over my hair. “They’ll know who you are eventually, but we should at least try to mitigate that. Keep your head down.”
His words are soft and low, nothing like the venom he’d unleashed earlier. I remain silent. I can see the innards of the kingdom are bustling with witches moving in the distance. We cut east and make our way up vacant back alleys.
Char marks litter dilapidated buildings, and gaping holes are seared into the sides of houses. Words, painted in blood red, mar the side of a wall.The Gods have abandoned us.Every time the street we start down hosts a huddle of witches, he steers back to locate one that’s clear.
The scene begins to change. The dirt streets turn to cobblestones, and the houses grow grander and more lavish.
Everything in Eden had been plain, cold, and unfeeling. Stone castle with stone walls, and floors to match the plain, gray stone Wall. Houses, little more than square shacks with thatched hay roofs. But here, everything is ornamented in intricate engravings. Designs embellish the trim of homes that are bursting with color. Manicured gardens line their exteriors.
Strange symbols and motifs mark houses and shops. Statues decorate porches and roofs, some familiar creatures, rabbits and frogs and birds, and some more sinister ones as I would expect from witches: gargoyles and demons.
Witches become impossible to avoid as we near closer and I duck my head as their prying eyes strip across my bare face. Magic emerges in every direction. Lights flicker on and off, and items zoom through the air. My heart skitters in my chest as we approach the castle, nearing whatever fate of horrors awaits me. We steer toward an outer building I assume is the stables. Once there, we’re greeted by a middle-aged man. His and the prince’s interactions are polite, if not altogether friendly.
