Page 8 of Oaths & Vengeance (Realm of Zadrya #1)

Aella

I checked myself over, making certain I wasn’t missing anything.

For this excursion, I’d chosen my outfit carefully.

I wore form-fitting black pants with a belt that had two sheathed daggers, one on either side of my waist. My midnight blue tunic had tight sleeves, buttoned at the front, and flared at the hips to cover my butt and conceal my weapons.

The top had four-inch slits on the sides, though, so I could easily reach my blades.

I probably wouldn’t need them. My wind magic usually did the trick when I needed to repel attackers, which I’d done a few times during my travels when it turned out my destination wasn’t as welcoming as I’d hoped.

Satisfied I’d prepared as best I could, I moved to the side of the fireplace and stretched upward to push an ivory brick about a foot above my head.

A slight grating noise sounded as a small opening appeared on the bottom right.

It was only two feet high and two feet wide, leaving just enough space for a person to fit.

When I moved into this room eighteen years ago, the secret opening hadn’t been there, but the tunnels behind the walls had been in place.

I’d only learned about them because my cousin Tadeus had shown me how to sneak from the second-floor library to the downstairs kitchen if I wanted a late-night snack.

That was after I’d gotten caught sneaking around the main corridors of the castle by Parzival and punished severely.

It took me the better part of four months, working at night, to create the secret openings I wanted.

Most of the tunnel pathways had fallen into disuse, but my uncle and his family regularly used a couple of sections.

Thankfully, they never strayed near my end of the castle.

I’d mapped the whole place out and crafted a way to enter my garden through the system.

Since my room overlooked it, I only had to follow a very narrow set of stairs down, take a hard turn around, and walk ten steps. It took about one minute.

My only light source came from a glow stone I’d activated when I entered. I found a little handle near the floor and pulled. Another opening appeared about the same size as the one to my room. I quickly crawled through it to get outside and shut the stone door behind me.

One of the most significant advantages of my garden being so closed off was that no one could see it except when standing at the archway or my bedroom window. I maintained an open section in the back, obscured by a strategically placed trellis and creeping vines.

The ground in that part was covered in plain, flat stones, but a small zaphiriam-metal circle with the necessary algodonite stones embedded within it was also part of the pattern, creating a perfect loop.

Acquiring all I’d needed to install that had taken most of the earnings from a side job in Alavaar I did long ago, but it was my greatest investment.

I made the addition a few years after the tunnel alterations, once I’d had a chance to research how to design it.

I could technically channel a portal from anywhere if I had the right supplies and space, but the endpoint had to be at one of the permanent circles, so returning without being caught would have been impossible. Temporary setups couldn’t be receiving points.

My uncle had the ring inside the Ivory Castle keep constantly guarded. It made it hard to return without his lackeys instantly reporting me. Also, my room was too small to channel one from there, so I learned to get creative if I wanted to come and go without anyone knowing.

Almost fifteen years ago, I began researching how to make my own.

It meant sacrificing time with my sister so I could travel to the Court of Porrine while my uncle believed I was in Alavaar, but it was the only way.

The king’s court and territory encompassed a large city surrounded by farmland and forests, teeming with animals to feed the two hundred thousand fae who lived there .

It also boasted an extensive library on one end of the palace.

I researched everything I could on how to build a portal and became romantically involved for a while with one of the young apprentices who worked there.

He surprised me one day by letting me look at a tome from the private section, where I had no access.

I was able to copy all the rune sequences of the realm listed on the pages, which were considerable.

He’d been a nice man of lowborn status who at least knew how to please me, but we eventually got bored with each other.

As soon as fae reached maturity, we craved carnal pleasure.

It was part of our nature. Going more than a couple of months without it was like torture, so most of us kept at least one regular partner until marriage.

After that, it was up to the husband and wife if they wanted exclusiveness or to be open once they produced the necessary heirs.

Some fae could be extremely possessive of their partners, while others didn’t mind sharing at all.

The rare true mates never strayed once they were intimate together, and a link formed. My parents had been like that.

My copied list from the library came in handy now as I pulled out my secret stash of holmium. I held out my hand and began pulling power into me. My fingers trembled as I sent a soft golden beam toward the appropriate runes, using the sequence I’d memorized from my cheat sheet.

They’d warded the receiving circle against anyone from Therress despite the trading city being open to almost everyone else.

I pushed more magic, bypassing some of their spells and unraveling others.

By the time I finished, I’d nearly drained myself.

It would take almost two hours before I could regenerate enough to return home.

Hopefully, I could survive that long in enemy territory.

Grateful channeling hardly made any noise to draw attention, I stepped into the swimming blue circle. This trip was much farther than when we’d gone to battle, so it took about ten seconds of traversing the whirling tunnel of light before I reached my endpoint.

Darkness enveloped me as I stepped onto solid ground. An upright receiving ring didn’t affect anything, and the portal adjusted a traveler’s body position accordingly. No one was standing around the courtyard encircled by trees and benches where I’d landed, which didn’t surprise me .

Professional portal channelers only opened them at set times of day and seldom this late at night.

They wouldn’t be expecting anyone now. I’d waited until nearly ten o’clock to leave my chambers so Darrow could imbibe a few drinks before I arrived.

Hopefully, that would make him more amenable and less likely to murder me at first sight. I was trying hard to be optimistic.

After dinner, Briauna provided me with a map of the city, helping me plot my route to the tavern. It wasn’t too far. I only had to travel about six blocks in a zigzag pattern. Checking my surroundings one last time and finding no one, I began my trek onto the dark streets.

Part of me wished I’d brought a cloak, but it would have hindered my movements if I needed to fight. Thankfully, my tunic had a hood, which I pulled over my head to hide my golden blonde hair. It would have drawn attention with the moonlight shining on my locks otherwise.

All the buildings were one to two stories high in this area and consisted primarily of closed shops and private homes.

Considering Siggaya had been established nearly eight hundred years ago, it was no surprise the buildings had a worn and dated appearance with their gray or beige stone walls covered in vines and moss.

The windows were wide, but the doorways were narrow.

All the gabled roofs boasted chimneys to heat the inside when winter brought its chill.

The place felt familiar, with a design reminiscent of the larger towns in Therress, and yet, I knew I was an outsider here.

Walking through the empty cobbled streets, my soft footsteps sounded loud to my ears.

After the second block, I spotted other fae ahead as I moved into a busier area with taverns, inns, and gambling dens.

Sounds of laughter and shouting filled the air.

My nose wrinkled at the stench of sour ale and urine.

A few large male faeries walked in a group together ahead of me, with their luminescent wings drawing my attention.

They had enchanting personalities but rarely interacted with anyone other than their own kind.

Those three likely visited Siggaya for trading purposes from the Isle of Penoria, where most of their kind lived.

It was one of many lands belonging to the Kingdom of Zadrya .

I passed others going in the opposite direction. There were sylphs, sprites, nymphs, and many elves since we were the most numerous in this area of the realm. None of them seemed interested in me, for which I was grateful.

It wasn’t until I was two blocks from the tavern that two large ogres stepped out of an alley and blocked my path.

Each had clubs in their hands. I stopped about six feet from them and put my hands on my hips.

One thing I’d learned in my travels was to project confidence and never hesitate when force was needed.

“Move,” I said, lifting my chin.

The two of them grinned. “Give us all your coins, and we might not harm you…much.”

Their kind were total brutes and couldn’t be trusted. I had a few coins in my pocket, but even if I handed them over, it wouldn’t satisfy the ogres. Most of them reveled in violence and any opportunity to start it.

I laughed and began gathering my power. “No.”