Chains of Fate

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I lived in a world where all-powerful creatures trapped you inside your mind and told you to do the impossible because you are obviously prepared to do it. Apparently, the word impossible didn't apply to Elementals.

I put my head in my still-tender hands as I sat on the steps of the glass tower. I'd been waiting all day for Synnove or Ayacinth to pass through the busy tower courtyard, but there was no sign of them. It was almost as if they were avoiding me. Mayra denied all of my requests to go past the tower. She said Synnove was here, but that I wouldn't be able to see her because she was sleeping at an inn. Mayra also said when the army assembled, then I would be free to roam about under strict protection.

If only I could find Ayacinth... I hid the pendant away in a locked chest within my closet because I couldn't destroy it. No matter what I tried, the pendant wouldn't break. I borrowed a hammer, an iron poker from the fire place, and several other objects from the tower. I stopped asking for things when the servants started giving me strange looks. Eden would be furious if she knew the pendant was still in existence, but I had no choice.

Besides, it had belonged to Mother.

I groaned. If Ayacinth hadn't cursed it, then I wouldn't have to deal with this. But did she curse it? Several months ago, I'd thought Odelia betrayed her kingdom, but then I discovered that it was Therin's doing: he posed as her emissary and plotted the death of the Royals. Maybe Therin swapped Mother's pendant. Maybe Ayacinth was innocent. That was why I kept this knowledge to myself. Rowan trusted her, so why would she betray him by becoming a traitor? Besides, I didn't have proof that Ayacinth cursed the pendant. Titus was skeptical before when I wrongly said that Odelia was the traitor, so I needed to approach Ayacinth first to get sufficient proof. And maybe I could get my real pendant back in the process.

And then there was Synnove.

I glanced over my shoulder. The two centaurs guarding the tower entrance were engaged in conversation. I assumed they thought that there was no need for tight security in such an open and safe place like this courtyard.

Shula essentially ordered me to help Synnove, didn't she? Though I didn't know how she had the authority to do that, Shula was still an Elemental. Also, Eden told me to destroy Mother's pendant.

The orders of two Elementals were far higher than the orders of a Sylph princess like Mayra...weren't they?

I looked at the bustling streets past the courtyard and decided. A Harbinger had to do what a Harbinger had to do.

Mayra would just have to kill me later.

I extracted a cloak from my messenger bag and tied it around my neck. Standing, I stretched and surreptitiously made my way to the edge of the tower, out of the peripheral vision of the centaurs. They didn't notice me even as I walked at a quick pace toward the eastern part of the city. I made it to the marketplace and slipped into the crowd without making a sound. I didn't hear the centaurs, so I figured they wouldn't notice me gone for the next few minutes.

I moved like a ghost between oreads with rocky skin, satyrs with furry goat legs, and a hooded woman with snakes for hair. The woman must have been a gorgon. Mother's stories about those creatures turning people to stone crept inside my head. I made sure to avoid the creature, though all of her scaly little friends stared at me from beneath her hood as I passed by.

I stopped at the corner of the market when I saw a dark-haired man and a small child. They seemed familiar somehow, but since they were facing away from me, I couldn't—

"Master, Master!"

The child pulled on the arm of the man and pointed to a jewelry stall. "You should get something like those to apologize," he said, smiling up at the man. "Miss Lan always wore that sparkly thing on her blouse, didn't she?"