Blood Runner: Book Three of the Empress Saga

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

It was the Fourteenth of Rose. Enfri rode Spider with Jin on her left and Ban on her right. They crested a hill approaching Leyr Ishan, the large lake at the heart of Nadia.

The Dragon's Roost Mountains to the west and the Nadian Ridge to the east defined the kingdom's natural boundaries. From the hilltop, Enfri could see expansive farmlands in the distance ahead. A herd of megarachs, seemingly the size of garden spiders from this far away, ambled through their pasture. Enfri even caught sight of far-off villages, nestled between hillsides where they'd be sheltered from the strong winds that often swept through the valley. Looming over them all like a watchful god of black stone, the Mountain City of Drok Moran came into sight.

Built into the side of one of the Dragon's Roost Mountains, Drok Moran was far more impressive than Enfri had imagined it to be. It's towers ran up the slope from the base to near the peak. The city's walls were massive. They leaned outward, further out near the top than at the bottom. From this distance, the walls appeared to be hewn from the stone, jagged and uneven. Drok Moran felt ancient, somehow giving the impression that it was older than the mountain itself and the stone had risen around its walls rather than the other way around. A forbidding city, primeval and intimidating.

"It's bigger than it looks," Ban said. He sat astride Arnln, who was covered in heavy steel barding.

"How do you mean?" Enfri asked. "It seems plenty big from here, and it's still a day's ride off."

"The undercity," Jin clarified. "The subterranean districts are twice as large as what is above the surface."

"They say only a handful of people in history managed scaling the walls," Ban said. "During the rebellion, the Nadians resisted Althandor's siege for eighty-two days. They fought off attack after attack right up until the end."

Enfri felt a curiously out-of-place emotion well up inside her. It came as a surprise when she identified it. It was pride. "My father climbed those walls," she said.

"Indeed," Jin said. "Though looking at them now, I wonder how he managed it without Deebee's aid."

"That's where my father comes in," Ban said. "House Karst provided the Merovech's strike team with alchemical gloves made from megarach silk. Adhesion spells got them to the top, but waves, Enfri, your father must have been something else to take the gatehouse with just a couple squads.

"I've been told by a lot of people he was a hero," Enfri said. "I wish I could have known him."

"Waves and tides, me too." Ban shook his head in disbelief. "And he was just barely eighteen during the siege?"

"I've met younger men who've become kings," Enfri reminded him.

"Still, makes me wonder what I've been doing with my life," Ban muttered.

Jin sniffed. "I can recall a few anecdotes of how you occupied yourself at that age."

"Try not to share them," Ban grumbled. "The less the empress knows about my escapades, the better. For some reason, she seems to like me."

Jin gave Enfri a look of vague disapproval. "Yes. At times, one must question her judgement."

Enfri felt her cheeks get warm. When she'd told Jin of her encounter with Maya and what came of it, there'd been a less than positive reaction.

"Go easy on her," Ban said. "Even you have to admit your sister's offering a lot in exchange for very little."

"That 'very little' will mean bearing arms against the Highest King," Jin said.