“My men will meet us there,” Fay added.
“Us?” Ryl asked.
Fay grinned. He bowed low to Breila. “Thank you, my lady, for your kindness.” His voice was genuine. He stepped back before turning and striding toward the exit to the illuminated square.
“Aye, Ryl,” he called. “You can’t have all the fun on your own.”
Ryl shook his head. There would be no talking Fay out of the decision he’d already made. Acceptance, though bitter, was the only option.
“Thank you as well, Breila,” Ryl said with a nod. “I’ll be back for Aelin before long.”
“I’ll watch over him,” she called as Ryl hastened after Lord Eligar.
He joined the eccentric lord as he crossed the threshold of the illuminated square. Fay was confidently strapping a sword to his left hip as he walked. The surprised look on Ryl’s face must have shown, as a chuckle bubbled up from inside the young lord.
“My life has not been relegated to banquets and relaxation, you know?” Fay spoke in jest. “Though I’m no expert, I’m more than capable with a blade. Andr was a fountain of knowledge from which I drank freely. I have no qualms adopting his less than proper fighting style.”
The darkness of the night swallowed them as they moved down the drive leading to the main road. Ryl could see the shadowed figures of Breila’s guards patrolling stealthily across the open expanses of land around them.
“I’m glad you’re here, my friend,” Ryl admitted. “If who I seek is there, we will part ways at the bridge. I will need my focus, my concentration for what lies inside those walls. Your presence will serve only as a distraction.”
Fay opened his mouth to argue. The quiet inhale of air was audible. Ryl cut him off before he could continue.
“Take no offense to the statement,” Ryl added. “There are but a few of those who I would willingly allow to accompany me. One is whom I seek to rescue. Even Andr, as trusted as a companion, friend and warrior, would not be one of them.”
Lord Eligar seemed to chew on the idea for a moment as he exited the darkened lane to Breila’s estate, turning right, westward on the Kingsway. Fay nodded, ordering a short command to the pair of his guards mounted on horseback by the entrance to her estate.
The sensation Ryl had felt throbbing in his arm escalated as every step brought them closer to the garrison. The looming darkness that appeared at the extent of his vision remained. Though it stayed tantalizingly distant, its size and scope frustratingly undefined, he could feel its focus. Whatever evil lurked in the garrison was aware of his presence.
It beckoned him to it.
Ryl longed for concrete verification that Kaep was present. That she was unharmed. The alexen in his veins churned with growing ferocity as he approached. The burning escalated as every passing scan with his mindsight failed to reveal her signature. He had grown so accustomed to the welcoming warmth of her presence, the emptiness without her was profound.
He shook off the chills that blanketed him. He rubbed his hands over the exposed skin of his arms to stave off the gooseflesh that covered them. Fay appraised him curiously. The lord motioned with his arm as he disappeared into the shadowed void created by the newly snuffed-out lanterns of the Kingsway.
Ryl spoke before the confused lord was able to form the words.
“It is wise that you remain in the shadows, my friend,” he said. “My presence is well known. Those who watch this road are aware of my approach. There will assuredly be battles ahead in which your blade will be needed. This is not one of them.”
The pair walked in silence after Ryl’s explanation. The wide cobblestone road made for easy travel, even as Fay lingered in the shadows along its edges. The silence of the night was nearly absolute. For a time, only the light thumps from their feet padding on the stone roadway broke the monotony of the calm. Even the insects seemed to pause, watching in quiet anticipation as they passed.
A gust of wind jostled the flowing cloak that stretched out in Ryl’s wake. The regular, calm, cooling breeze from the sea seemed to shift as the heated gust of air pushed from the west. The salty brine from the water was replaced with a stagnant aroma that made his nose scrunch in disapproval. Much like the day, the night had been clouded with thin wisps of clouds. The quick-moving haze blotted out small sections of the star-filled sky before dissipating or moving leisurely wherever the wind took them.
To the west, a pair of bright flashes of light in the distance illuminated the horizon and billowing masses of clouds hovering low over the landscape. Ryl snarled at the approaching storm, pulling his hood up over his head. The rain wouldn’t stop him.
If Kaep was there, he’d soon know.
Together, they passed by several entrances to estates bordering the northern and southern sides of the Kingsway. Though hidden in shadows, private guards of the households they protected were present at each. Ryl and his companion left them be, so they paid them no mind. The wind grew, forcing itself upon them as they proceeded to the west. The whistle of its passing drowned out the sound of their footsteps on the pavers. The sloshing of fast-moving water rose as the wind created turbulence in the delta.
A flash of lightning lit the sky. The jagged bolt tracked from the north to the south, lighting the clouds as it went. It stabbed down to the earth far off to the west.
The sudden illumination temporarily exposed the structure that, to this point, Ryl had only seen from a distance. The complex spanned several hundred meters across, protected on all four sides by a substantial wall of stone. Though not nearly the height
