Page 99 of The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom 2)

The bridge was not Ithicana. Its people were.

His stomach dropped.

Aren broke into a sprint up the hill, neither noticing nor caring if the others followed. All that mattered was getting to high ground.

The sun was little more than a glow in the west, casting long shadows as Aren skidded on the muddy path, his heart hammering in his chest.

Faster.

He hit the open ground at the top of the low mountain, racing toward the lookout tower. The steps were neglected, covered in debris, but he took them two at a time, hitting the top at the moment the sun set, casting Ithicana into darkness.

Aren snatched hold of the spyglass, but then his hand dropped to his side because he didn’t need it.

In the distance, glowing in brilliant oranges and reds, was an enormous signal fire. A sight he’d never seen in all his life and had prayed he never would.

Jor shouted from across the clearing. “What is it?”

“Eranahl.” The word came out strangled. “They’re calling for aid.”

54

Lara

She limpedalong the top of the bridge, heading south toward Maridrina.

Logically, Lara knew she should’ve stayed at Gamire Island until her injury had started to heal, or at least until she no longer felt the effects of all the blood she’d lost. There was food and shelter, along with all the medical supplies she might need.

But the thought of remaining in Ithicana without Aren was more than she could bear, so instead she’d packed what she needed and climbed the pier, not at all interested in being confined inside the bridge. Not when every breath was already a struggle.

She heard the horns relaying the message that Northwatch had been secured by the Harendellian navy, along with a series of others that she hadn’t been able to make sense of.

And what did it matter, anyway? Ithicana was free, liberated from Maridrina and her father. It was what she’d wanted, what she’d been fighting for. What she’d believed would finally lift the burden of guilt that she’d been carrying for so long and allow her to carry on with life.

Except she felt the same. Felt worse, because at least before she’d had a goal. Something she’d been working toward.

Now she had nothing left but her need for revenge against her father. But thinking about that only left her cold.

So she walked, her direction determined by the path of the bridge and nothing else. The sun slowly set in the west, but she didn’t stop. Didn’t consider where she might spend the night. Didn’t eat from her supplies or drink from the waterskin strapped to her waist.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Then a glow caught her attention, burning reds and oranges that made it seem as though the sun were reversing its course through the sky. Squinting, she peered at the glow, her pulse accelerating as she realized it was an enormous signal fire, visible only because it had been lit at the highest point in Ithicana.

And there was only one reason for the Ithicanians to light that flame.

Eranahl was under attack.

55

Aren

“Everyone who can fight, into a boat!”Aren raced down to the beach where his soldiers were already moving vessels into the water.

“We’ve got dozens of injured.” Jor was panting hard trying to keep up. “We can’t just leave them.”

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