Grove leaned against a tree and stared into the woods. “She knows something is up. We should have made it to the Last Fortress by now.”
The tightness in his shoulders drooped slightly. “The path was clearer before, we seem to be going in circles now.”
“Maybe we should stop and make camp,” I suggested. There was no point in exhausting ourselves further.
“We need a break,” Reva nodded as she blinked slowly. We were beyond exhausted and I couldn’t imagine how the others in our party were feeling. There were maybe ten survivors left. I blinked my dry eyes. Were there even ten? How had they managed to make it? How had we managed to make it? I honestly didn’t know anymore. With closed fists, I rubbed my eyes and blinked again. I could hardly see straight.
Leo sunk down to the ground beside me and pressed his lips into a thin line. “There aren’t many of us left.”
A few of the last couples lay down on the ground and stared up at the sky. I wrapped my arms around my knees and rested my cheek against the tops of them. Sleep didn’t come to me, nor did it for the rest of my friends. We all stayed like that until the night descended and it was time to unfold our creaking, broken bodies from the hard ground.
I rubbed my eyes again with the backs of my hands and accepted Alric’s outstretched hand. What I thought was a simple gesture to help me from the ground, turned into a heartwarming embrace. I held onto him as if he were my lifeline and maybe in that moment he was. He was the only thing tethering me here and maybe he’d seen the vacant look behind my eyes and knew I needed something, anything to keep me going.
My friend and spymaster ran his hand down the back of my head. “We will get there today.” His gaze was hard as he looked out to the path as if he was going to will it so. Maybe he could. I no longer cared. All that mattered was getting to the Last Fortress.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
JUNIPER
Alric did indeed will it so. I didn’t know how, I didn’t care but after what seemed to be a few hours, Reva found an old wooden sign shaped like an arrow pointing us forward. The top of it was slightly crooked and there was caked mud and there were even some icicles hanging from the bottom of it, even though it hadn’t snowed since we’d made port at the beach.
Reva reached forward, with her sleeve covering half of her palm, and began to clean the surface of the worn wood. Alric’s lips curled triumphantly as each letter was revealed.
Oakhaven.
A man stepped forward with a frown. “Does that mean we’re almost there?”
Reva could only grin. I was too tired to even know what my face was doing. Maybe I was smiling. Maybe I was frowning. Maybe I was just as confused as the man beside me. I no longer knew and it took too much effort to really care.
Alric rubbed a circle on my back. “That wasn’t there before.”
As much as I wanted to remember the time before when we’d traveled this way, my brain could only do so much and that time included Ryven. Which meant I couldn’t focus on those memories for long.
I closed my eyes and strained my hearing. There it was, in the distance. The sound of a crashing waterfall. The icy cold water cleansed me before. I didn’t know where I got the strength from, but one moment I was standing there shell-shocked and the next I was running as if my life depended on it. It probably did, but I didn’t care. The burst of energy was all the rest of the party needed as well and soon they were all catching up with me.
We broke through the trees and there she was. Oakhaven in all of her glory just as she’d been before. The rushing waterfall still sat across from the massive looming castle. There were just a few differences this time.
The massive, stone doors that sat in the center of the castle were wide open. Torches cast a soft glow down the entryway and if I squinted enough I could see that they stretched even farther. I placed my hands on my knees and sucked in lungfuls of air as I frowned. Had others made it here before us? Was the Fraud Queen here? Was this a trap?
A whisper of wind wrapped itself around my tangled braid and tugged. It was clearly the magic letting us know it was safe to continue. Reva and Grove had their weapons extended while Leo and Alric tried their best to reassure the rest of the party behind us. This did seem rather ominous. Even more so when the smell of cooked food floated out. I placed my hand on Reva’s shoulder and shook my head before I made my way to the castle.
The unwelcoming castlewe’d known before was gone. The moment I stepped into the grand entryway, I noticed the doors down the hall and even a fireplace beneath the winding stairs.Warmth touched everything in this stone fortress and I felt my body sagging under the comfort of it all. A door to my right swung open and revealed a chamber fit for royalty.
I turned on my heel and grabbed the first couple that reluctantly followed me into this magic-filled wonderland. “This will be your room for the night. We need to rest and regroup in the morning.”
They protested and said it was too grand but I couldn’t hear it. I wouldn’t hear it. They’d trusted me. They’d risked their lives. They had nothing left. This was the least I could do for them.
The next door silently swung open and I did the same thing again and again until everyone besides Grove, Reva, Alric, and Leo were left. A weight settled in my chest as it came rushing back to me that Ryven and Ash would never see this. I swallowed back the emotions as no more doors opened and we were pretty much led up the stairs. With a finality I could feel in my bones, the massive doors swung shut behind us and we were essentially trapped within this magical place.
The castle we’d found before was gone and replaced with something different. We’d been led through corridors and haunting places before. But now the castle was buzzing with magic and life. Fireplaces roared all around us and I found that I couldn’t stop shaking, no matter how hard I tried. It was like we were in a completely different world. A completely different space and it didn’t sit well with me. Would we go through this every day? Would the magic let me have control? All of these questions swirling about in my head never escaped my lips because as much as I wanted answers, I also wanted a bath and a meal and rest.
The conversation with the gods or the magic or whatever it was could wait for me to be rested enough to comprehend it. Maybe it knew that. I didn’t care. Another door opened to the side of us and I shoved Leo into it. I knew the last door would befor me and my people wouldn’t stop unless I forced them to it. One after another, until only Alric was left standing beside me. The door at the end of the hall was still closed and it wouldn’t open until my friend went into his chambers.
He eyed the room with suspicion and curiosity. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Eventually,” I found myself saying. It wouldn’t be tonight. It wouldn’t be tomorrow but I would find peace with this kingdom and I would find peace in fighting for the people that never had anyone fight for them before.
He ran his rough, cold hand down the side of my face and I watched as a single tear slid from his eye. He nodded and disappeared into his own chambers. It wasn’t until his door clicked closed that mine opened.
