Chapter 5 Aurelia Prime
Ahead, the road curved toward a larger settlement. Walls of pale stone rose against the horizon, and beyond them, the glint of something massive and golden.
"What is that?" I asked.
Captain Aldric straightened in his saddle. "The city of Meridian. One of the largest trade hubs in the Aurelian Kingdom. We'll be stopping there for the night."
"The night?" I perked up. "It gets dark here?"
He turned to stare at me. "Of course it gets dark. The sun sets."
"The sun sets?"
"It... goes down? Disappears below the horizon?"
I blinked. "I thought it just stayed up there forever, torturing people."
Captain Aldric opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "You truly have never seen a sunset?"
"I have never seen the sun, Captain. Until today." I tilted my head. "Is a sunset nice?"
He looked, for a moment, almost human. "It is... yes. It is nice."
"Then I look forward to it."
We rode toward Meridian, and I tried very hard not to think about how many miles already stretched between me and home.
\-———————————————-
Meridian was, I had to admit, impressive.
Not Hel impressive, nothing could compare to the bone-spires of Nyxara or the obsidian majesty of the Palace of Ten Thousand Shadows, but impressive in its own gilded, over-lit way. The streets were paved with pale cobblestone. The buildings rose three and four stories high, their facades decorated with intricate carvings of sunbursts and flowering vines. Markets lined every square, vendors hawking everything from silk ribbons to roasted meats to tiny glass bottles filled with something called "perfume."
And the people. So many people. Hundreds of them, thousands, all of them normal, all of them staring.
At me.
"Is it always this crowded?" I asked Captain Aldric as we guided our horses through the main thoroughfare. The royal procession had attracted a crowd, because of course it had. Golden-armored soldiers didn't exactly blend in.
"The city is a trade hub," he said. "Visitors from across the continent."
"Hmm."
I could feel their eyes on me. The whispers followed us like a second shadow. Who is she? Why is she cloaked? Is that the Hel Princess? Look at her eyes...
I had stopped wearing my hood an hour ago, because the sun had finally begun its descent and the light no longer felt like needles in my skull. My face was bare to the world. My violet eyes, the mark of the Morrigan bloodline, were unmistakable.
"Princess," Liriel murmured, drawing her horse closer to mine. "There's a group of children to your left. They've been following us for three blocks."
I glanced over. A cluster of small, grubby-faced children stared up at me with wide eyes. They couldn't have been older than seven or eight.
I smiled at them.
One of them screamed.
Not a bad scream. A delighted scream, the kind children made when they saw something scary-but-exciting. The kind of scream that said I'm going to have nightmares about this but I'm so happy about it.
"Is it true you eat hearts?" the boldest one shouted.
"Only on Tuesdays," I called back. "It's Monday. You are safe."
The children erupted into giggles. Their parents looked significantly less amused.
Captain Aldric made a pained sound. "Princess, please do not tell the citizens you eat hearts."
"Do they think I eat hearts?"
"That is... a common belief, yes."
"Then who am I to disappoint?" I nudged my horse forward, leaving him sputtering behind me.
\-———————————-
The inn where we stopped for the night was called The Gilded Stag, and it was the most aggressively golden building I had ever seen. Gold trim on the windows. Gold lettering on the sign. Gold-flecked candles on every table. Even the beer, when Liriel brought a mug to my room, had a distinctly golden hue.
"I'm beginning to sense a theme," I said.
"The Aurelians are very proud of their aesthetic," Liriel agreed.
We had been given the largest suite in the inn, a gesture of respect, or perhaps a way to keep me contained. The room was spacious and well-appointed, with a massive bed draped in cream-colored linens and a window that looked out over the city. The sun had fully set now, and Meridian glittered with torchlight and lanterns. It was, I admitted grudgingly to myself, almost beautiful.
Ash had claimed the largest pillow and was kneading it with his claws, purring like a tiny earthquake.
Thalia, the second handmaiden, was unpacking my trunk. Sera, the third, was inspecting the room for threats, a habit I appreciated. Liriel stood by the window, her expression thoughtful.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The people in the street," she said. "They're still talking about you."
"Let them."
"Some of the things they're saying..."
"Liriel." I crossed the room and stood beside her. Below, the street was still crowded with evening traffic. Merchants closing their stalls. Couples strolling arm in arm. A group of young men who kept glancing up at our window and then quickly looking away. "They will say what they say. They will think what they think. I cannot control their tongues."
"But..."
"I am the Princess of Hel. I have been called monster, demon, soul-eater, and worse." I met her eyes. "It has never once stopped me from being who I am. Do not let it stop you, either."
She was quiet for a moment. Then she nodded.
"Yes, Princess."
"Good. Now." I turned back to the room. "Who wants to teach me how to braid my own hair? Vesper made me promise I'd learn."
The three handmaidens exchanged glances.
"This may take a while," Sera said.
"I have all night."
\-————————————————
The next four days blurred together in a haze of sunlight and saddle sores.
We passed through villages and towns, forests and fields. We crossed rivers on ancient stone bridges and rode along cliffs that overlooked the churning sea. We saw a human kingdom from a distance, its castle a hulking gray thing, its banners snapping in the wind, and Captain Aldric quietly informed me that the humans were "allies but not friends."
"Why not friends?" I asked.
"They're not to be trusted."
That told me everything I needed to know.
The landscape changed as we traveled north. The rolling green hills gave way to denser forests, ancient oaks draped in moss. The air grew cooler. The sunlight, mercifully, became less intense, filtered through layers of cloud and canopy.
I spent the journey observing. Learning. Every detail of this realm was a weapon, if I knew how to wield it.
But the truth was, I was tired.
Not just physically, though my body ached in places I hadn't known existed, but deeper. A bone-deep weariness that had nothing to do with the journey and everything to do with the growing distance between me and home.
At night, when the others slept, I held the obsidian pendant Eris had given me and felt its warmth pulse against my palm. One use, and I could be back in Hel. One use, and I could see my brothers, my people, my city.
But I couldn't. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Three uses, Eris had said. Use them wisely.
I tucked the pendant back under my shirt and stared at the ceiling until dawn.
\-————————————————————
On the fifth day, we reached Aurelia Prime.
The capital city rose from the plains like a mirage. Walls of white marble ringed the city, gleaming in the afternoon sun. Towers of gold and ivory pierced the sky. At the center of it all, visible from miles away, stood the Royal Palace, a sprawling masterpiece of domed roofs and sunburst spires, every inch of it gilded and glittering.
"It's..." I searched for the right word.