Solace Curse: Part I

20 - Lay to Rest

It wasn't grand like I remembered. Buildings stood tall, but cramped together. The colorful and inviting storefronts were overshadowed by neat, cut stone apartments stacked above them. The people bustled everywhere like bees on orders from the queen. No guards could be seen overseeing the crowds, but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was always watching.

I finally caught sight of a friendly face.

"Finally, thank goodness you made it!" Andrin slung a long arm across my shoulders. "The Aelrein didn't like us, but they did let us in eventually."

"They found the amulet on me." Koren's eyebrows were knit together. For him, that meant downright panic.

"Yeah and that's why they've got you in chains right now. Stop being so paranoid." Tally rolled her eyes.

"They knew. How could you not see it in their body language? They all stood straighter, they did a double take on all of us... especially Andrin."

The hair on my neck pricked up. "How could they know though? Unless Berrha..."

Maeldok cleared his throat loudly to cover the name I let slip.

"Let's walk guys, we need to get in the gates. No turning around now, they would definitely not let us leave this soon. Get on the streets, we can figure out what to do."

"A wise word, Koren. We must lose ourselves amongst the crowds."

I clutched the hem of Andrin's cloak to keep from getting lost. Maeldok was behind me without such reassurance.

The carefully paved street carried us ever deeper into the city. Everything was white and neat, there were columns decorating every structure, and people were always hurrying past us no matter how fast we walked. Space between buildings began opening up too, allowing dark, skinny alleys to peek from between them.

Koren and Tally argued in front of me without looking at each other.

"...isn't a normal day in the city, or else maybe I wouldn't think so." Koren was saying in an overly light tone. It didn't reach the tension in his shoulders.

"They would've stopped us if they thought it was a big deal. Who knows how many people the guards are looking for, you have no idea that it's us." Focusing on the spring in her step, Tally flipped her braids carelessly.

They were both overcompensating, and now I felt it too. The city didn't feel safe. Maybe it was Koren's worry about the amulet, but every step felt like we walked deeper into the open maw of some beast. The buzz in the streets wasn't masking our voices, but anticipating them somehow. Like the city was waiting for us to make a wrong turn. As much as it pained—no, starved—me, I held myself back from reaching out to the currents. Anyone could be sitting inside any number of buildings not thirty feet away and sense me reaching for them.

I bet the Aelrein have eyes everywhere in this city.

Koren pulled Tally into an alley and we ducked in quickly behind them. We were all five swallowed in the dark in seconds.

"Tally I don't know if you've noticed but the Aelrein at the gates wasn't a good sign to start with." He was deathly quiet, I almost couldn't catch everything. "I don't know a lot about this place but I know Aelrein walk the streets in gold slippers. Something is going on here, and if it has nothing to do with us or the Ska'al, we probably have two huge problems instead of one. If it does have to do with us, they know exactly who we are and where we are now. Either way we might've made a mistake coming here. We need to do what we need to do, fast. Where is Rune being held? Can we make our move soon?"

"I can find Dresdin today, he'll tell me exactly where she is."

Koren was already shaking his head. "So it's like it sounded—you don't know she's actually here."