Page 35 of The Lost Prince
But the soldiers didn’t take me to the throne room. We went down a side corridor of the palace, and they kicked open a small door.
Bright sunlight splashed across my face.
It was high noon.
I was outside.
I wasoutside!
I’d never been outside the castle; there’d never been a reason! Confusion warred with amazement as we kept going. I wanted to ask what was going on, but I was too busy staring at a world I’d never been a part of. The Seat was a bustling city with people everywhere in bright cloaks and jewels. Children ran past the guards, eyeing me with interest but ultimately caring more for their games than my troubles.
Women shouted as they haggled for meat and bread, fabrics and eggs. The smells of vendors cooking met my nose, reminding me it’d been awhile since I’d last eaten.
The Fireguards carried me to the edge of the Seat, pausing in front of a large shaft. I’d read about such things—elevators. The Fireguards used them to get up and down the wall quickly. We all crowded in, and an iron grate slammed shut behind us. Impossibly, werosestraight up into the air. It was hard to believe, even though I was experiencing it! The pulley system was intricate, but I’d only glanced over the plans I’d seen, and not studied them in depth.
If I wasn’t literally dying, I would have loved to commit every detail in front of me to memory. We were going up to the wall!
But … why?
The mood in the elevator was tense. No one spoke. Whatever was about to happen, it was clear all of them disagreed with it, but weren’t about to do anything to stop it.
Which didn’t bode well for me.
We hit the top; the platform swayed side to side in the open air as it came to a stop. Carefully and meticulously, the Fireguards stepped over a large bit of open space from the elevator to the solid rock of the wall, lifting me over with a practiced air. One wrong move could send the shaft tumbling to the side, and possibly flinging us to our deaths.
Well, falling that far would be a far quicker death than the one I was currently experiencing.
I thought about struggling and forcing them to drop me, then dismissed it. I didn’t want to take any of them with me. I didn’t have the energy or strength, anyway.
I was also still curious. I was on thewall!
The dragonsbane dome stretched overhead, the bronze sparking in the sunlight. The dark outline of the dragon was visible above us, likely sleeping or lazily bathing in the sunlight since it laid there without moving, the top of the dome only a few feet above our heads.
We paused in front of a ladder. I used the last bits of my strength to bend my head back and glance up. The ladder ended at the top of a large hatch.
A hatch to theoutsideof the dome.
“L. What are you doing? Where are we going?”
L’s jaw tensed, but no one spoke. He stayed down at the bottom of the ladder while another Fireguard climbed to the top, stopping just below the hatch. The third guard went halfway up the ladder and stopped.
The one carrying me went to the bottom and handed me up to towards the third guard in the middle.
It was at the moment I truly freaked out.
I didn’t think I had it in me, but it was all or nothing. I flopped and writhed, tried to use my nails to gouge his eyes and scratch his skin, and even tried to bite.
There was dying, then there was being eaten by a dragon.
The Fireguard slapped me so hard I saw stars.
Taking advantage of me being stunned and dazed, they made quick work of passing my broken body up the ladder. The Fireguard up top twisted the latch with quick, practiced movements and pushed up.
Hot sunlight bathed my skin, the first time I’d ever taken direct beams to my body that hadn’t been filtered through the dragonsbane dome or the archive window.
The Fireguard shoved me through the hatch, the dragonsbane dome under my skin warm but not overly hot to the touch.
The latch slammed shut behind me, then clicked with a finality I felt in my soul.
