Page 67 of The Sovereign: Part One
“I wouldn’t bother confronting her, but I can see them… the cracks in her armor.She’s stubborn, but even she can’t resist for long.”I paused, considering my words carefully.“I just don’t know where it could go.Her Veritas is quickly approaching.Roan’s a Vanguard, not some random Sovereign she could run off to The Vale with if it was love.But I don’t know.At first, I thought it was just about the chase.Now?I’m not so sure.I saw the expression on Roan’s face when they first met… one I’d seen before, but never from him.She insulted him in the most brutal way,” I trailed off, my giggles breaking my train of thought.I cleared my throat, composing myself.“You should’ve seen him.It was instant.”
“I can relate,” Maxim said, his grip tightening ever so slightly.
I glanced over at him and smiled, but my thoughts were tangled.“I want them both to be happy, but not at the cost of a broken heart.There’s no future for them in the city, and Bellam was adamant—almost furious—about my going to The Vale.”
“She was?”
I nodded.“She reminded me how long I’ve waited for you and made me promise to meet you before making a decision.”
Maxim looked down, a smile tugging at his lips.“I like her.”
We walked for a while longer, slowing at a fork in the path.One trail stretched ahead, winding toward the jagged cliffs of Smith Rock where sun-bleached stone jutted skyward.The other veered into the dense woodland, its entrance partially obscured by twisting branches and overgrown foliage, the earth beneath it less trodden, a path that seemed to vanish into the shadows of the trees.
Maxim stopped, looking down the route thoughtfully.“Do you know what this is?”
I shook my head.“No?Should I?”
“This is one of the paths that leads to The Vale.”
I scanned the horizon, my eyes searching for any hint of the distant farmlands I’d only ever heard about.The Vale remained a mystery, hidden just beyond the reach of Hyperion’s ever-watchful eye.I longed to glimpse it from a closer vantage point than the upper echelon of The Citadel, even just for a moment, but the distance was too great.“It’s so far,” I murmured.
“Maybe someday,” Maxim said as we continued walking.“They say the rocks here are sacred.After the revolt, Aurens spent years trying to carve something out of the land until the rocks themselves refused to yield.In the end, it was earth that shaped them, not the other way around.”
I glanced up at him, surprised by the depth of his knowledge.“Is that in the archives?”
“It is.”
I frowned, unsettled by how intimately The Citadel knew The Vale’s lore.
Maxim stopped walking abruptly.“Did I offend you?”
“No.”I shook my head.“Not at all, I just don’t want Hyperion to erode the untamed spirit of The Vale.The Citadel should mind its own affairs and stop trying to control a world that isn’t theirs.”
Maxim exhaled.“When those in power have nothing left to dominate, they search for something new to bend to their will.”
“Don’t they know?That was what caused the downfall of the old world.”
Maxim held his palm to my face, his thumb gliding over my skin.He didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to.I had spent my entire life believing in Hyperion’s foundation, as an adult, dedicating myself to refining its policies from within.But with each new revelation, that certainty fractured, unraveling piece by piece.
“C’mon, we’re almost there.”He gently tugged on my hand, leading me forward.
Smith Rock was closer now, towering above us with a rugged grandeur.It was a place steeped in history, its rocky face weathered and worn by time.I glanced up at the looming formation ahead, its surface jagged and sun-bleached, nothing like the artificial climbing walls I was used to.
“That’s… a steep cliff.”
Maxim’s lips curled at the edges.“I also mapped out the best way to climb Smith Rock based on your ability level.”
Even with the mapped-out route, it was still unpredictable.Sheer slabs weren’t programmed for safety, nor designed with hidden safeguards.There were no synthetic grips, no engineered holds, no calibrated resistance to match my strength.Every ledge, every crevice, was shaped by nature, not intentional design.
A slow thrill coursed through me.With nothing between me and the raw cliffside, I felt something Hyperion had never given me—something uncertain, unfiltered,real.
I smiled.For the first time in a long time, I felt human.
Chapter Sixteen
My arms trembled as I reached for the next handhold, fingers brushing against sun-warmed stone.The climb had stripped me of any illusion of ease, every muscle burning with exertion, every breath an effort.The smooth, synthetic walls I’d trained on had not prepared me for the unpredictability of natural rock, the uneven footing, the way my body had to learn and react in real time rather than relying on preprogrammed expectations.
I slipped.
