Page 36 of A Kingdom of Broken Bonds

The slums.

As we roll into our destination, all my earlier happiness is dampened by the sight that awaits us. If I thought that the city we just passed through was cramped, then this is something different altogether. The dwellings are cobbled together one-room shacks, the walls made of anything they can find. Some of them are a little more structural and seem to have been here a while, and they even have walls and doors. My heart breaks as I see a young girl attempting to fix an old, torn piece of fabric that had been acting as a tent wall. It can’t possibly offer her much shelter, yet that is everything she has.

It’s not only the sights and smells that shock me though, but also the sounds that hit us. There are no calls of merchants trying to peddle their wares or the general hubbub of city life. No, the noise here is a cacophony of suffering.

Horrified by what I’m seeing, I lean back in my seat, a heaviness passing through my body. I don’t know where to look, glancing from one sight to the next and struggling to process what I’m seeing. We hear how bad the conditions are in the slums, yet those reports are nowhere near enough to portray how truly awful things have become. Being here now, everything hits me in a sudden rush.

I had slowly been going mad in the castle. With Havoc refusing to see me, Finnik barely talking to me, and no obligations to keep me busy, I decided to do something useful. Helping rebuild in the slums had been Felix’s idea, one I felt was a perfect distraction.

Felix has ventured into the city several times since we arrived and discovered that part of the slums was washed away after a flood. He makes friends wherever he goes, his happy demeanour making him easy to like and get information that locals wouldn’t usually give to strangers. This meant that he was able to find out that there were citizens who need aid. There was a group of volunteers helping, but there weren’t enough of them.

As soon as he told me this, I knew I found the perfect opportunity to assist. There is nothing for me to do in the castle, and I feel utterly useless, unable to complete my part of the prophecy while Havoc continues to refuse me, and I want to do something good with my time. If the prince gets his priorities sorted and marries me, then I shall be living here.

Unfortunately, it had taken a lot of organisation and permission gathering before I was finally allowed to go. The king and his advisors had not been keen on the idea of me wandering around in the city alone. The slums were considered dangerous, so in order for them to agree to my little mission, I require an escort with me at all times. One of the city folks has also been hired to liaise between me and the other volunteers to keep things moving smoothly.

The wheels of the carriage start to groan as the ground becomes broken and uneven. While I didn’t need a carriage for this journey and would happily have walked into the city, it was part of the agreement I had to sign before I was allowed to leave.

“Are you regretting your decision now?” Geoff’s voice is tight.

Glancing over at the male, I struggle to hide my amusement at the look of discomfort on his face. He clearly doesn’t want to be here, yet he insisted on coming with me when I told him about my plan. He winces as we pass a pile of debris that someone had obviously been living in at some point.

My amusement dies as I follow his gaze.

“I told you that you didn’t have to come.” There’s no accusation in my tone as I state the facts. This is not for the faint of heart, and I knew it would be something Geoff would struggle with.

His snort catches my attention, and as I look over, I see him pulling a cloth handkerchief from his jacket pocket. Looking offended, he dabs at his face with the material before tucking it up his sleeve and narrowing his eyes on me.

“As if I am going to let you waltz into the slums alone.”

Geoff is like a father to me, and I feel very affectionate towards him, but he is going to be a fish out of water once we step from the carriage. In a political situation, I would not want anyone else by my side. Here, I fear he’s going to be more of a hindrance. We are about to help rebuild in the slums, and he’s wearing his finest clothing.

Raising my brow, I gesture out the window to the guards that surround the carriage. “I am hardly alone.”

“Those meat heads…” He mumbles something under his breath that I don’t catch, but a smile pulls at my lips anyway. Geoff has never been a fan of the king’s guards, preferring our own. This was another condition of working in the slums though—we could only take the king’s guards as our escort, not our own. Most likely so they can share our every move with the king.

My stomach drops when I see the devastation of the flood that washed away part of the slums. It is chaos. There are people everywhere, both humans and denizens from the other realms, all crushed together as they pick over the debris of what once would have been someone’s shelter. The smell here is atrocious, a mixture of waste, stagnant water, and rotting food. It seems to permeate everything, and I know I’m going to struggle to remove it from my skin later.

“Look at the state of this place,” I murmur in horror, my eyes wide. “How can the king allow his citizens to live like this?”

My heart breaks for these people. They had to carve out a life for themselves in a place like this, and then that was ripped away from them, leaving them with nothing. Nausea washes through me like the flood that destroyed these homes, consuming me whole. I have to do something.

I’m not really expecting an answer, my question more of a stunned statement that I couldn’t keep within me, but when Geoff sighs, it’s full of regret.

“The castle and his life are a long way from here, and royalty tends not to see further than the nobility who follow them. As long as the rich are happy, then all must be well within the city.”

Anger makes me jerk back from the window. “That is just arrogant blindness.” I throw my hands into the air as I fight my exasperation. I have to be careful of what I say. Any insult to the king is usually dealt with swiftly and forcefully.

No. This is something I will not keep quiet about. Should the king discover what I have been saying and decide to punish me, then so be it. I speak the truth.

“He cannot bury his head in the sand and pretend none of this is happening! If he wants to be the ruler of the continent, then he needs to take responsibility for all of his subjects. They are owed that much at least!”

Eyes widening in alarm, Geoff leans forward with a stern hiss. “Keep your voice down, Anthea. While I do not disagree with you, we are not alone, and you know his dogs will report anything they hear.”

“They should,” I retort, feeling reckless with my anger. “Maybe he would do something about it then.”

Geoff’s eyes flash with warning, but he doesn’t argue with me, just continues to watch me carefully as though he’s not sure of my next move. I look back out of the window, my emotions turbulent within me. This is so much bigger than one person, so my help is going to be like a drop in the ocean compared to what is really needed.

Letting out a long, exhausted sigh, Geoff rests his hands in his lap, glancing out the window. “While I am not defending the lack of assistance in the slums, this is an issue that goes far deeper than the king ordering aid.”

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