Page 21 of The Vanishing Throne

Before I can blink, Aithinne grabs hold of me and I’m airborne. I let out an undignified yelp and grip her coat so hard that my hands ache. The air rushes around us, a deafening surge in my ears. We plummet down and down until I feel weightless, until it’s as if we’re flying and mist envelops us, thick and blinding white.

When I finally land, it’s so much softer than I expect, just a light jolt. I roll down a gentle grassy slope and open my eyes to a cloudy grey sky.

A frigid wind blasts through the delicate material of my shift. It’s still winter, then. It seems like I was gone so much longer. It smells of rain; the drops stick like ice to my skin.

Home. It smells like home. I made it.I made it.

I open my eyes with a smile – until I see the flat slope behind Aithinne. I frown. The ruins of St Anthony’s Chapel used to be there.Didn’t they?I rise slowly and ignore the dizziness as the blood rushes to my head.

‘That’s not right,’ I whisper, unease slicing through me. ‘It doesn’t look right.’

It doesn’t look like home.

The Queen’s Park has changed since the battle. The landscape is altered – there are slopes in the hills where there shouldn’t be, pockmarks across the land. The dirt path through the park is gone, and grass has grown tall over it, withpatches of scorched, ink-black earth where the grass hasn’t grown back; remnants of the battle fought here. Jagged rocks have risen up from the once flat meadow below Arthur’s Seat.

I knew it would be different. I had been braced for it; I had told myself that if I ever escaped, I would have to be prepared to see the Edinburgh Lonnrach had only let me glimpse.

I’m not. I’m not ready, and I doubt I ever will be. But Ihaveto see the rest.

‘Falconer, I—’

Aithinne’s words choke around her vow and I don’t wait for her to try again. I take off running. I sprint up the slope for the view of the city.

The entire way, I replay the vision Lonnrach showed me. I prepare for the feelings that will lance through me – because what he showed me was a mere suggestion of the destruction. My thoughts are a litany of reassurances. I tell myself that I’ve seen it. That I’ve prepared. That I’ll be all right.

I stumble and fall. Sharp rocks slice into my bare legs, but I haul myself up and keep going. Making it to the top of the crags is all I care about. I don’t focus on the cold, or how my slippers can barely grip in the wet dirt. I slide down and keep going. I use my fingernails, sinking them into the mud to climb. When my slippers stick in the wet sludge, I leave them there and make my way up barefoot. My preparations are spoken aloud in harsh breaths.It’ll be all right. It’ll be all right. It’ll be all right because you’re safe now and—

I reach the top and drop to the ground on my knees. My chant sticks in my throat. None of it makes a difference, because no matter how much Ithought I’d prepared, I’m not ready for what I see.

Below me, the city of Edinburgh lies in ruin.

Chapter 9

Ican do nothing but stare at the sight below.

Whole buildings have been smashed; some are entirely gone and others left only partially standing. The once towering tenements of Old Town and Holyrood have been flattened, leaving nothing but piles of rubble.

Edinburgh’s castle – a stronghold that survived siege after siege in this country’s history – was once an imposing presence atop its own cliff at the centreof the city. Now it’s been left in a pathetic state, with only the half-moon battery at the front still standing.

Below that, the damage in the newer parts of the city where I once lived is even more sporadic, some buildings left whole and others in various states of decay.

The battle is long over. So long, that nature has begun to claim the city. Weeds and grass and moss have grown throughout, a sign of the time that has passed. The disaster here – the Wild Hunt – was not recent. The city has beenabandoned, grown over and left to crumble. ThedaysweeksmonthsyearsI spent with Lonnrach in theSìth-bhrùthwere slowed down in comparison to the time that has passed here. I dare not wonder how long it truly was.

I wasn’t prepared for this. The vision of Edinburgh Lonnrach showed me was an immediate aftermath; the shower of ash from the sky and the thick smoke from theburning buildings was proof of that. It was a mere hint of the chaos.

The truth is, this is hell. Hell is seeing my home destroyed. It’s knowing I tried so hard to prevent this destruction – and I couldn’t.

The loneliness is back, an ache stretched vast inside me. I’m in the mirrored room with my various selves. My fingers press into my marks, playing each memory left behind by eighty-two teeth. Because that’s all I have left of this place the way it was before I failed all my friends.

Tears scorch my eyes and sear paths down my cheeks. I avert my gaze from the sight before me and squeeze my eyes shut.

Aithinne moves to stand beside me. ‘I couldn’t warn you.’

‘I told you; I already knew. He showed me,’ I say, swallowing when my voice threatens to break.

‘Knowing isn’t the same as seeing,’ Aithinne says softly. She rests a hand on my shoulder. ‘You don’t have to look. We can—’

I pull out of her grasp. ‘No. No, I need to.’

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