THIRD BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘺. 𝘈 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳. 𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴.
Two sides of the same coin are brought to the light...
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The sound of metal clanging reached Xanthy's ears even over a great distance from Edgerift's entrance. They left Nanvera hours ago and had spent the midday walking past its luscious farms and galleries that seemed to pop out everywhere. Xanthy laughed a good while after seeing a sign that Canelis translated as the gallery of cheese.
June had suggested they leave the paulsaris in the inn, seeing as they could walk the rest of the way to Edgerift. Xanthy had agreed. Nanvera's peace faded behind them just as the sun crept higher in the sky. Xanthy took a deep breath against her roiling stomach.
Why did she feel like something's not going to go well? What if the High Queen throws them out of the castle? What if Xanthy was sentenced to the dungeon, or worse, executed? How was Xanthy going to explain that someone like the Heiress was out, prowling around in Umazure?
Xanthy played with her fingers until the road followed the slope of a small hill. Edgerift's tall spires jutted from the horizon, just over the hill's crest. Crimson flags flashed pink against the breeze that blew through them. Xanthy craned her neck in the sky. What awaited them in the Imperial Palace?
Soon, they crested the hill and the Imperial Palace's glory came into full view. A rectangular, two-story building carved from a slab of shiny rock flanked on four sides by tall, cubical towers that made up the spires greeted Xanthy from the base of this last hill from Nanvera.
Bridges sped from three entrances, each going off to a different city in Lanteglos. A great, gray wall punctured by huge arches to give way to the bridges surrounded the Palace. Beyond the mass of land where the Palace stood, a large moat carpeted the expanse underneath the bridges.
Xanthy swallowed against the lump growing in her throat as she followed June and Canelis down the hill and came to where the cobbled roads of Nanvera met the wooden planks of the bridge. "Okay, here goes," she whispered to herself.
She didn't dare look back to Nanvera. She might lose all her will to leave behind the comforts of the city in place of the pressure coming from the Imperial Palace before her.
Xanthy kept her hand on the bridge's rails as they crossed. Once, she leaned over to watch the water below them churn and splash. She swore she could see something dart through the greenish water. Let her hope that those animals were friendly.
The wood plating the metal braces creaked as they walked over it. Xanthy's dream about the burning bridges flashed back into her memory. Was this what it's referring to? She shook her head. The water wasn't even raging. Besides, there's no fire and the planks look like they could hold her weight.
Her chest heaved. The air in this city was somehow difficult to breathe. The sun seemed to have paled a few notches while the wind blew quietly enough for Xanthy to forget it even existed save for the light kisses it planted on her arms. Even the heat seemed to have dialed down, replaced by an electric vibe that wafted in the air.
