Flashlights bobbed as additional guards were dispatched to check the open trailer, immediately discovering us.
A bold beam of light landed directly on my face, prohibiting me from seeing who wielded it.
The entire mood shifted, then. Static from handheld communicators gave way to animated voices that spoke a language I couldn’t.
Whatever was said saw us quickly waved through the previously blocked entrance without incident. Two thick, polished signs were placed on either side of the stoned gateway. ‘Abaddon’ was engraved in bold lettering ,with ‘Kingdom of Ardent Darkness’ carved in smaller print beneath it.
As Toby chauffeured us onward, I came to realize just how fitting that was. On the surface, Abaddon looked nothing like I’d expected. Matte black lampposts illuminated our path, showcasing unblemished flagstone roads and semi-detached storefronts that appeared as if they’d been recently built.
Grueling history lessons had taught me that they’d been here since the previous realm fell, when humans were nearly wiped from the face of this earth and their predetermined borders along them.
Abaddon was said to have had the greatest technological advances since. Paired with its initial appearance, it almost looked pleasant. Unfortunately, the beauty didn’t go very far beneath the surface.
Some of the power poles providing electricity had multiple bodies strung up on them, stacked like building blocks in an almost orderly fashion. The heat had greatly worsened their decomposition, leaving them a bloated, runny mess.
A sound of disgust escaped from Jacinda’s throat as she took in the horridness surrounding us, heinous and lewd acts all taking place in the open without care or caution.
A quad of cloaked guards traveled down sidewalks the opposite direction we were heading, paying it no mind.
Each of them sat astride a chestnut gelding sporting specialized tack. The sight of the transporter wasn’t unusual for them. They paid no attention to whom it contained, continuing on their way. As they passed by, I spotted the half-mutilated corpses tethered by thick rope from ankle to saddle.
The bodies were in such bad condition that it was impossible to tell what caused their death—the dragging, or something else entirely. In a darkened alleyway, four vampires had a man down on his stomach, leisurely draining him dry. His muffled pleas became dying whispers as we passed and left the sight behind.
Toby seemed to know exactly how to get to where we needed to go. He slowed and expertly turned onto another the street, the transporter’s loud exhaust puffing out clouds of dark smoke that seemed to linger in place behind the trailer.
More guards in loyal servitude strolled around with bored expressions on their faces. What they were patrolling was anyone's guess. I suspected this was more of a scare tactic to keep the boisterous men in line.
When we finally pulled away from the heart of the town, all the light that had helped illuminate our surroundings rapidly disappeared.
From the pressure change in sweltering air, I could sense the vast open space on either side of the transporter, its high beams helping to irradiate the winding road that stretched ahead of us. Toby increased his speed and created a much-needed breeze throughout the trailer.
Jacinda readjusted her seating, leaning the top of her honey blonde head against my shoulder. It was near impossible to get comfortable due to the way we were confined. With shackled wrists, I adjusted the burlap behind me as best I could and leaned back, giving her a more solid headrest.
Staring through the trailer’s slates, I watched the rolling hills flying by. Scarlett’s voice carried above the dim noise. Her tone was ripe with exhaustion.
“Are you having second thoughts?”
“No,” I replied honestly. “Are you?”
“Not if you aren’t. Why do I get the feeling you didn’t want me to come?”
“If something goes wrong, I can’t protect any of you.”
“I feel the same. You and Jacinda are both much more important than I am and—”
“Don’t say that. It isn’t true.”
“Duvessa, please. We’re beyond the point of needing to pretend. We both know your father and a large number of your subjects gave their lives for you to survive this. Jacinda’s pride must know something we don’t, or they would have already stormed Vita to get her back.”
She shifted beside me, pressing her knees to my thigh and taking hold of my hands as best she could.
“My family may love and care for me to an extent, but I’ve always been the outcast. They won’t risk resources for my wellbeing, but you would.”
I wanted to argue and deny what she was saying, but I couldn’t bring myself to feed her bitter words dipped in nectar. She continued to speak her truth, doing her best to disguise the hurt it caused.
“You are beloved, powerful, and my best friend. One of my only friends. Family, really. You and Cin. Toby, too, even though he annoys the hell out of me.”
I smiled even as my heart twisted in my chest. I hated that it had come to this. The three of us had laughed and danced the evening away in celebration of my nineteen years, teasing one another about suitors and betrothals while many we cared for watched and smiled on. That was gone now. All those faces. The opulent ballroom.
Everything.
I wanted to bask in my anger to numb this miserable, gut-wrenching pain thrumming inside my chest, but I couldn’t. Falling apart wasn’t befitting of a queen or a princess, regardless of how powerless she was. I knew how to swallow emotion and never allow it the chance to come back up.
Squeezing Scarlett’s hand, I studied the homes with dome-shaped roofs now beginning to pepper the hillside. I wondered how many dwelled within them.
In most places, only the higher castes had the luxury of a fully functioning home. Everyone else grouped together to survive, bartering everything but their souls to get food and other necessary items.
After the housing district ended, nothing but vast, open wasteland stretched out around us once more. The Arcana Mountains that ran around the region’s outskirts stood tall and foreboding, slowly becoming more vivid the closer we got to our destination.
Not thirty minutes later, the transporter went down another road situated between thin metal flagpoles reaching towards the sky.
A snake and dagger molded with a black rose, Abaddon’s insignia embellished on the fabric in black and gold. An iron fence soon began on the right side of the road. Pointed spheres atop it dared trespassers to try to climb over. Dark trees, the likes of such I’d never seen before, stood gnarled and proud on the other side of it, blocking the Abaddon Palace from view.
Jacinda lifted her head and looked around as Toby slowed and maneuvered the massive vehicle right through a set of double gates.
“No guards?” she signed curiously.
“I think they know we’re coming. I also heard the sovereign welcome whoever makes it this far with wide open arms. You know, fresh competition to prove they can’t be usurped,” Scarlett explained, her face fixed on the passing scenery.
I’d heard that as well.
It was vainglorious, proving a frequent rumor true. The king never hid from anyone foolish enough to contend for his empire. Many claimed that he killed and tortured with his bare hands just to feel the blood he spilled running between his fingers. Others swore he did it all with his mind.
Feeling a tightening in my chest, I rolled my shoulders and shifted uncomfortably. Beyond gossip and hearsay, I knew so little about this man or those like him. He was a king that got whatever he wanted, whether by force or by charm. A beast both revered and feared.