I end up wearing simple brown leggings and a black tunic, both of which are soft and comfortable and so much thinner than I’m used to compared to the thickly woven fabrics in Sixth and Fifth. Slade gives me a cloak as well, and because of habit and precaution, my gloves are securely over my hands.
The others opt to go to the city with us, but when I try to talk Digby into staying, he just glowers at me and then walks off to get ready.
When Slade takes me down to the large open entry hall, everyone’s already there waiting. Lu is wearing her usual army leathers, while Judd is wearing a bright orange tunic that rivals the mustard of his hair, making him look a bit like a poppy flower.
Digby is wearing borrowed clothes just like me, still scowling, as if he’s ready to ward off more lectures about how he should stay here and rest.
“I’m surprised you both wanted to come,” I say as we reach Lu and Judd by the main doors.
“Of course we do. We haven’t done anything fun in ages,” Judd says. “King Rot is always dragging us around the world and making us destroy his enemies.”
Slade rolls his eyes. “Last I checked, you haven’t destroyed anyone this trip.”
“That’s true,” Judd replies, as if he’s disappointed about this. “No wonder I’m so bored.”
“Which is exactly why we need a trip to the city,” Lu puts in.
“Yep. Pub drinks,” Judd says with a wag of his brows. “You haven’t lived until you’ve been to the Burnt Cat Tavern.”
I scrunch up my nose. “They don’t serve that, right?”
“Only on Tuesdays,” Lu quips. “Ready?”
Am I ready?
I’m not sure, because I haven’t been out in an unprotected public like this in a very long time.
“It’s your choice, Auren,” Slade murmurs beside me, and I know that if I changed my mind right now, he’d turn us back around and let me stay in his rooms, no questions asked.
“I’m ready.”
Digby is at my side in a second to escort me out of the castle, just like he did all those months ago when I left Highbell for the first time. That was the catalyst, the tipping point for all the chopped trees to start falling down. The moment that changed the course of my life.
When Brackhill’s carved black doors open wide, I see a flash of Highbell’s gilded ones in my head. But instead of stepping out into a frozen night, I walk over the threshold and am greeted by the warmth of day.
The front is paved with dark cobblestones smoothed from tread. The stones ring around an impressive obelisk statue that’s straight ahead, the onyx stone pillar reaching up toward the sky and creating the perfect walls for the climbing vines to wrap around.
I turn to look at the castle, and my eyes go up and up and up. With grooved black walls, arched windows, and pointed rooftops, Brackhill looks intimidating, stately, and beautiful all wrapped up into one. The way it’s set against the mountain makes it look bigger than it is, and the moat of sparkling water on either side wraps around it like a crystalline cloak, with a small dark bridge curved right in the middle.
Slade points at the gathered horses ahead, where there’s a dark carriage at the back with a driver seated and ready. “We can take the carriage down, if you like. It’s a bit of a slope from here, but once we get past the falls, it’ll only be a few minutes into town.”
I glance at the carriage and then at the loose horses that the others are walking toward. Lu swings her leg up and over a reddish-brown one, while Judd shows Digby to a smaller dappled mare.
“Actually,” I begin, tearing my eyes away. “I’d rather like to ride.”
“Would you?” Slade asks, looking pleasantly surprised.
“Yes. I still remember riding horses when I was little,” I say. “But after, I rode quite a lot with Midas. Until we reached Highbell, and then...”
And then I never rode again for a decade.
“I don’t think I want to be stuck inside the walls of a carriage on such a nice day. At least for right now?”
He nods like he completely understands that. “Then we’ll ride.”
“I’m not sure if Digby should be on a horse…”
My guard hears me, tossing back a brusque, “I’m fine.”
When I look to Slade, he just shrugs. “You know he’s too stubborn to stay behind.”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah.”
In no time at all, Slade’s staff has brought out two more saddled horses. Slade’s monster of a stallion looks both statuesque and a bit mean, with a shiny black coat and probably a good eighteen hands high.
Meanwhile, I get a pretty buckskin horse with golden skin and a black mane, who looks far more agreeable. I walk over to get a better look at her. “A bit of a mix of our colors, don’t you think?” I ask Slade.
He smirks as he comes over to help me mount. “Her name’s Honey. She’s a sweetheart, though she’s been known to have a temper.”
I stroke a hand down her neck. “Then we’ll get along just fine.” I continue to pet her for a second, running my hands over her dark mane, but when my smile slips, Slade notices.
“What’s wrong?”
“There was a horse that I rode out of Highbell. Crisp. I don’t know what happened to him after the Red Raids, but he was a good horse.”
Of course, when I think of Crisp, I think of Sail, and when I think of him…
“I don’t know if I’ve ever really processed what happened that night. I thought you were the bigger monster,” I admit with a humorless laugh. “I was a fool. If only I’d learned to use my magic after dark back then. I’d never have let the captain…”
“Let the captain what?”
My eyes spring to Slade’s face. “Nothing.”
His gaze goes dark, and he takes a step forward, giving us more privacy from the staff and the others mounting their horses. “Did he hurt you that night?”
There’s a threat of dark promise in his tone. “Not me. Rissa. I helped her too late. By the time the sun came up…” I trail off, shaking my head. “He’s a golden statue somewhere in the middle of the Barrens, hopefully piled over with mountains of snow by now.”
The muscle in Slade’s jaw jumps, his posture gone stiff.
“I’m sorry for bringing that up,” I say with a shake of my head. “I don’t know why I did. Let’s just…move on? I want to enjoy the day and not think about that.”
He seems to gather himself, burying the anger in his eyes. “Alright. But I want a list, Auren.”
“A list?”
“Of everyone who’s ever hurt you.”
My eyebrows jump up. “Why?”
“I think you know,” he tells me, his sharp gaze cutting right through me. “And we are going to talk about all of this very soon.” I swallow hard, but I can’t deny the thrill that shoots down my back, because I’ve never had this before him—this fierce protector.
I’ve had a false one. If only I’d known what a true one looked like, I probably never would’ve been fooled in the first place.
Clearing my throat, I try to wave him off, try to lighten the mood again. “Well. We have a lot of things to still talk about. Like why everyone here wears such tight pants,” I say as I look around at all the guards. “Not that I’m complaining.”
Slade cocks a brow, but the last of the anger seems to edge out from his eyes. “The only ass I want you checking out is mine.”
I give off a lazy shrug. “I can’t make any promises,” I say breezily before I nock my foot into the stirrup and start to mount the horse. As I swing my other leg over, there’s a sharp pinch on my butt. I sit down in surprise, jolting the horse a little as I shoot Slade an incredulous look over my shoulder. “Ow!”
He gives me a shrug as he walks to his stallion. “We’ll discuss that more later as well.”
I smirk as I gather the reins.