Page 14 of Of Steel and Scale

“Glad to be safe and alive, Father. It was touch and go for a while.”

“We’ll need a full report?—”

“Notbefore she bathes and sleeps,” my mother cut in curtly.

“One of these days, Marin, you’ll let me finish a sentence.”

“Miracles are not unknown,” she replied, amusement evident.

He snorted. “As I was about to say, it can wait until tomorrow. Damon should be back?—”

“Where’s he gone?” I asked.

“Like mother, like daughter,” Rion muttered. “Bless the gods for only giving us one—I’m sure I would have lost the capacity to speak had we any more.”

“When you get perfection the first time, there is no need for others,” I murmured.

Mom laughed. “A truth I have often stated.”

“He is,” my father said, the amusement in his eyes belying his severe tone, “still with the party searching the accessible shoreline for more survivors.”

“They’ve found no more?” Mom asked.

“One, though he has lost a limb, and it is unknown whether he’ll survive. But that is not unexpected.”

Because the Throat rarely releases those she claims.

We rode through the gates and into the deep tunnel that ran under the walls. Portcullis slots were placed every twenty feet, and there were regular murder slits in the ceiling. If the Mareritt everdidget this far, they’d be greeted by boiling liquid.

Once out of the tunnel, we wound our way through the military section then on through the various public levels until we reached the main keep. It was a vast building built into the sheer rock face and made of the same black volcanic stone. The palace was a rather grim and unadorned structure that really didn’t fit the name.

We rode underneath the secondary wall—another huge structure that hosted not only the war room, but also all the administrative facilities for both the military and the city—and came into the main courtyard from the tunnel.

I halted, dismounted, and rubbed Desta’s ears as a stable boy approached. “I promised her plenty of carrots, Mik.”

“More than her daily ration, then, Captain?”

“Double it. And add an apple. She deserves it.”

He nodded and lightly grabbed her mane. “Come along then, my girl.”

As the two of them disappeared, I turned and followed my parents up the steps to the palace’s vast metal doors. The entrance hall was small but bright, thanks to the heavily fortified light wells cut into the ceiling, and the colorful tapestries and paintings adorning the walls. A grand black stone staircase dominated the central space and swept up to the accommodation quarters, both private and those for guests. To my right was the grand hall, and to the left, the kitchens, buttery, and stores. Tucked behind the staircase was our private chapel.

It was only when we reached my apartment and were totally alone that my father wrapped me in his big strong arms and held me tight.

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. It was all there in his hug, and in the kiss he eventually brushed on the top of my head.

“Rest as long as you need to. The report can wait.”

I wasn’t so sure that it could. I pulled the metal feather from my pocket and handed it to him. “Ask the smiths if they know what this is made of and whether they’ve ever seen anything like it before.”

He accepted it with a frown. “Why?”

“Because one of these things sliced Oran’s face in half. I found this one in the pouch of a Mareritt.”

His gaze shot to mine. “You think this is part of a new weapon they’re developing?”

I hesitated. “I don’t know, but we were a long way out to sea when the attack happened.”

---