Casteel moved back, his head turning to the door. He slid off the desk just as a fist sounded. “Come in.”
Naill entered, hand on his sword. “One of the watchers signaled that we have company, coming from the western roads.”
“Who?” Casteel demanded.
“The Ascended.”
Chapter 14
I was already standing when Casteel turned to me. “We must go,” he clipped out.
I went to move around the desk but stopped. “Wait.” Spinning around, I snatched the book and shoved it back where I’d found it, behind the other records.
Casteel noted my actions in silence, and when I came around the desk, he took my hand.
How could they have known that I was missing? It had to be too soon, especially given the storm. It had only clipped the western sides, but they would’ve expected it to slow us down.
“They’ve already entered the yard,” Naill advised as we left the library, sending my stomach plummeting.
“Be smart,” Casteel advised. And with one curt nod, Naill took off. “Come,” he said to me.
Casteel led me in silence through the dimly lit, winding halls that felt like a maze designed to trap us. We reached an old wooden door that he pushed open with an arm, and entered the kitchens. The faces of those we passed were a blur as they stepped to the side, bowing at Casteel on sight.
“The Ascended are here,” he said, and several gasps echoed. “Hide the youngest below and warn the others. Do not antagonize the Ascended.”
An older man stepped forward, thumping his fist off his chest. “From blood and ash.”
Casteel placed his fist over his heart. “We will rise.”
The people scattered before we reached the doors that led outside. We were near the stables, the air cold but still as I glanced up at the sky that had given way to night. We headed for the heavily wooded area, neither of us speaking until we were among the snow-heavy limbs. Only then did it strike me how much my life had changed.
I was running away from the Ascended.
Not toward them.
Casteel kept hold of my hand as he navigated the darkened woods.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my breath forming misty clouds.
“Just outside until I know for sure what is happening.” He caught a bare, low-hanging branch, lifting it out of the way.
I kept close as we moved along the fringes of the forest. I realized we’d moved deeper into the woods as we circled the keep and then started to move closer. Perhaps a half-hour passed before the cold began to get to me. I shivered as I curled my free hand so that it was hidden under my sleeve.
“Sorry,” he said gruffly. “I wish there’d been time to grab a cloak or at least your gloves.”
“It’s okay.”
He glanced back at me, but I couldn’t make out his expression. We continued on, drawing even closer to the keep.
Casteel stopped me. “Wait.”
The tone of his voice sent a wave of warning through me. “What?”
He jerked his chin forward. “Something is happening.”
“What?” I repeated and followed his gaze, struggling to see through the trees. “I don’t have super-special Atlantian eyes.”
“And I’m sure that fills you with wrathful envy.”
It did.
“We need to be quiet.”
I listened, which I was sure came as a shock to Casteel. We crept toward the edge of the woods, and as the trees thinned out, I could see that the yard was brightly lit, far more than I’d ever seen it.
And it wasn’t empty. Not in the slightest.
Casteel stopped once more, this time tugging me to my knees beside him. Cold snow seeped through the cloth of my breeches. Unease blossomed as my gaze roamed over the men on horseback. There were dozens, with at least half of them stationed around a windowless carriage that was nearly black in the glow of the lit torches. But I didn’t need special Atlantian eyes to know that the carriage wasn’t black, nor did I need better lighting to recognize the symbol embossed on its side. The mantles draped over the armored shoulders weren’t white, they were black.
And the carriage was crimson.
The emblem was a circle with an arrow piercing the center. The Royal Crest.
These men weren’t Royal Guards—they were the guard. Members of the Royal Knights.
“They brought knights,” I whispered the obvious, mainly because I needed to say it to believe what I was witnessing. I’d never seen a knight outside of the capital.
“Yes, they brought out the knights,” the Prince replied, his tone flat but carrying a razor-sharp edge as he let go of my hand. “So, what are you going to do, Princess?”