Deception

9 ¦ Master of Darkness

Pushing me forward, Darius escorted me through the inner courtyard until we approached another patrol. Two giant Dragonborn guards crossed their pikes over the main entrance. Massive horns extended from their heads, and their reptilian eyes narrowed at me.

I recoiled from them with a gasp.

"Who goes there?" the larger one demanded.

"It's a Halcían wench--look at her clothes," the other said before I could respond. He hawked up phlegm as though he wanted to spit at me. With a grimace, I turned my face away.

"Consider your next action very carefully," Lord Darius told the guard as he approached.

Both guards flinched at his voice, which boomed across the entire courtyard. Civilians and guards alike halted mid-step to stare agape at us.

The barbarian swallowed whatever grotesque gunk he had gathered in his mouth. "Just clearing my throat, my Lord," he muttered under his breath.

"A wise choice." The implied threat hung in the air like dead weight. "Let us enter without delay."

"As you wish, my Lord."

The powerful muscles of the Dragonborn guards rippled with effort as they opened the twenty-foot-tall wooden doors at the castle entrance. Lord Darius glared at the guards as he strode past them with me in tow.

"So, you have an audience with Death?" the smaller guard said with a sneer as I walked past. "Good luck."

"You're gonna need it," the other guard said as they both sniggered behind my back.

Once we'd entered the foyer, Darius raised his hand. Confused, I came to an abrupt halt and gave him a quizzical look.

The barbarians doubled over and screamed in pain. I jumped back in shock. When Darius lowered his hand, their cursing ceased, and they dropped to the ground.

Right before the doors shut with an ominous thud, I caught a glance of new sentries carrying away their injured comrades while others guarded the entrance.

"Magic has its benefits, as you will soon discover," the Shadow Rider whispered to me. "I desalinated their blood and gave them crippling muscle cramps."

"Why would you do that?" I asked, wide-eyed.

"No one disrespects royalty, minor or not," he replied. "Besides, they repulse me."

Darius grasped my wrist, and a chill crawled up my forearm, through my neck, and to my head. A headache burst inside my forehead as though he had frozen my brain.

"That being said, if you put so much as one toe out of line from here on out," he said with a vile hiss, "I will freeze you forever."

"I didn't do anything!" I said with a furrowed brow. "I swear! It was the guards."

"Just remember my words," he said, shoving me away. My headache vanished as quickly as it came. "An eternity of boredom is probably the worst kind of punishment for you."

I gave him a defiant stare.

"Walk," he ordered as he gave me a gentle nudge forward.

He ushered me through the foyer, adorned with ornate woolen rugs and polished wooden décor. The walls were made of pure oak and shone under the light of a hundred beeswax candles ensconced in wrought-iron chandeliers.

I'd never seen such luxury. Not even in my own home. When Lord Darius opened the giant wooden doors to the Great Hall, I gasped in shock.

Two stone tigers were rearing onto their hind legs, teeth bared in a ferocious display of aggression. In their right claws, each tiger gripped a metal chain leading to a tethered dragon. In their left claws, they squeezed a frantic falcon as it fought to break free.