𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
It's the beginning of a new age when Jaylah Imperatrix seemingly returns from the dead to reclaim her throne. And in perfect timing.
In her absence, evil has be...
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Act 1 Chapter 20 ALEXANDER
By the fourth day, we were high enough for me to be sure there was smoke from a fire below. I thought I saw it two nights ago when the sky was clear, but now I was certain.
Someone was following.
That didn't necessarily mean it was someone bad, but...Daggen had to know the princess still lived, especially because I had not returned to him for the rest of my payment. And that was very unlike me.
I narrowed my eyes onto the disappearing veils of smoke. Due to the pine trees blanketing the area, it was impossible to make out who sat around the fire. Perhaps it was only innocent travelers. Or fellow assassins. Whichever it was, I would keep an eye out for them, as my motives were different than the princess's, especially now that my intentions with her had shifted into more profitable territory.
Before Jaylah suspected anything, I faced forward and kept moving. The path was widening ever so gradually, making way for the rockslide ahead. We'd have to climb to the top.
The nearer we got, the larger the cliff became. It would be difficult, but with the amount of foot and handholds, I would seamlessly achieve it. It wouldn't be the first time I climbed to impossible heights to do what needed to be done.
Fifty meters from the cliff's base, we saw our first bodies. Or rather, the lack of them. The brittle bones had surely sat here through last winter, with all skin and muscle picked clean by ravens.
"What did they die of?" I asked, kicking a skull away from the rest of the heap. "Inconvenience?"
Jaylah stepped over the bodies as if they weren't there. "I will not remain here long enough to find out."
I slung the other strap of my pack onto my shoulder. "Don't fall. Or do. It'll make my job easier." After flashing her the smile I knew she hated, I grabbed an outcropping of stone and began to draw myself to the top.
Climbing over a rockslide of stones was different from the brick walls and roofs I was accustomed to in Navrika, but my balance and grace remained. Once I had a steady pace developed, I got into the swing of it. The higher I went, the looser the stones became. When I started having to actively search for handholds more, every time I placed my hand in a nook, tiny flecks of debris fell out and into my face and hair. I shook my head, hoping my vision would be unharmed.
The ground was several meters below, but I kept my eyes up. How lucky I was to not be afraid of heights—in fact, I enjoyed them when they allowed me an advantage. My hands slipped against the cool stone, but I barely felt the pain. Between years of hard labor and working with weaponry, my hands were the furthest from soft they could possibly be.
While I pulled myself up on a particularly wobbly stone, my vision flashed over the panoramic view of the mountains. Curse my flighty attention span. But I quickly noticed one thing missing: the trail of smoke. Our pursuers were on the move again.
