Chapter 55 Elana Heart- POV
"At least they don't ask about my dating life," I teased, taking a bite.
Three days of dust, dirt, and the slow creak-creak of the carriage passed. The landscape changed from the charred heart of the forest to the neglected midlands.
We passed several small hamlets where the villagers watched us with hollow, suspicious eyes. The roads were in disrepair, filled with ruts that threatened to snap our axles.
"Look," Jerald said, pointing his whip toward the horizon.
Rising through the haze was the first major village before the Capital’s primary territory. It was larger than Oakhaven, but even from here, I could see the lack of banners.
No royal flags. No Merchant Guild sigils. Just the gray, stagnant air of a kingdom holding its breath.
I settled back into the carriage, my fingers grazing the pouch of stones. The "poor merchant" was about to arrive, and I had a feeling the Merchant Guild had no idea how much their world was about to change.
"Ready, boys?" I whispered to the lizards.
James let out a sharp chirp, and Xavier curled tighter against my leg. "Let's go buy some candy," I murmured. "And maybe a throne."
The iron-shod gates of the capital loomed over us like the teeth of a giant. Even from a distance, the city of Drakmor felt different, heavy, suffocating, and draped in a frantic, artificial gold.
We sat in the long, dusty queue of those seeking entry. To our left, a gilded carriage belonging to a minor noble house pushed past, its wheels splashing mud onto our wooden slats.
The noble inside didn't even look at us; to them, we were just part of the scenery, as unremarkable as the dirt on the road.
"Keep your head down, Jerald," I whispered, pulling my hood lower.
The guard at the gate was harried, his armor unpolished and his eyes rimmed with red. When he reached our carriage, he poked his head inside, squinting at my masked face.
"What's with the cloth, girl?" he grunted. "Standard plague check?"
I lowered the edge of the mask just enough to reveal the jagged, angry "scar" the healer at Oakhaven had painted across my cheek and nose. It looked puckered and raw, a map of fire and pain. "A reminder of a forest fire, sir," I said, my voice pitched in a timid, rasping tone. "I'd rather not frighten the children."
He winced, his gaze darting away in a mix of pity and disgust. "Yeah, keep it on. Two silver pieces for the carriage and the horses. Move along."
Jerald handed over the coins, precious silver we’d salvaged, and the gates groaned open.
Entering the capital was like walking into a fever dream. The Upper District was a defiant display of decadence. Banners of gold and crimson hung from every balcony, and the nobles paraded in silks so bright they hurt the eyes.
They were throwing feasts to hide their fear, the sound of violins drifting down from high windows to drown out the distant rumbles of the rifts.
But as we veered away from the marble boulevards and descended into the Lower District, the mask slipped.
The streets here were narrow, the air thick with the smell of unwashed bodies and desperation. The "Night of Teeth" had left its mark; boards were nailed over windows, and the gutters were stained with things no rain could wash away.
People huddled in doorways, their eyes darting to the sky every time a shadow passed.
"It’s like the city is rotting from the feet up," Alla whispered, her knuckles white as she gripped the seat.
We arrived at the Lower Market Square, a chaotic hub of bartering and bitterness. I stepped out of the carriage, feeling the weight of the mana stones against my hip.
Xavier was a warm, motionless pressure in the crook of my arm, hidden by my cloak, while James watched the world through a tiny slit in the carriage curtains.
I led Alla toward a mid-sized stone building with a tarnished brass sign: The Silver Scale Merchant Guild.
I didn't go inside immediately. I stood by a fountain that had long since run dry, leaning against the cold stone and simply listening.
"They say the Duke of Halloway is claiming the throne by bloodline," a fishmonger spat, his hands trembling as he cleaned a meager catch. "Bloodline! The man can’t even keep the rifts from eating his own vineyards."
"Halloway is a fool," a woman replied, her voice a low hiss. "The Duchess Valerius has the army. She’ll be the one to wear the crown. But what does it matter? A crown won’t fill the grain stores. My boy hasn't had a full meal since the Great Boundary fell."
"The King wouldn't have let this happen," an old man muttered, hunched over a pile of scrap metal. "Say what you will about the Drakes, but the fires stayed in the hearths back then. Now? Now the world is just waiting to swallow us."
Fear was the primary currency here. It was in the way people flinched at loud noises and the way the merchants looked at the palace spires with hatred instead of reverence.
The Council thought they were winning a political game, but they were losing the soul of the city.
I felt a surge of cold, dark satisfaction. They had killed the King to take his power, but they had no idea that the power was tied to the duty.
"My Lady," Alla whispered, nudging me. "The Guild is looking at us."
A clerk in a faded velvet vest was standing in the doorway of the Merchant Guild, his eyes scanning my dusty cloak and the worn-out carriage. He looked ready to shoo us away like stray dogs.
I adjusted my mask, felt the violet hum in my blood steady itself, and walked toward him. I didn't walk like a scarred girl or a poor merchant. I walked with the weight of the Forbidden Forest behind me.
"I have something your master will want to see," I said, my voice low and commanding. "Unless, of course, the Guild no longer has an interest in pure, unrefined mana stones."
The clerk’s bored expression vanished. His eyes dropped to the small, glowing pulse visible through the fabric of my pouch.
"Inside," he stammered, stepping aside. "Quickly, before the street-rats catch the scent."
As I stepped into the dim, cedar-scented interior of the Guild, I took a deep breath. The stage was set.
The "poor merchant" was about to introduce the first crack into the Council’s fragile world, and I could feel Xavier’s heart beating against mine, steady and hungry for the light.