A Court of Three Stars

45: The Red Valley

Eyoross, Adhira, Solarea

Ruhn

"This is a lot of soldiers," I murmured, my voice nearly lost to the wind.

From the Command Keep, I could see everything—a city of warriors, a machine of war thrumming with movement and life. The Keep itself was a towering structure, at least by this world's standards, offering a vantage point that allowed me to see the entirety of the territory below.

It was a hell of a lot different than Aelius. A hell of a lot more like I had expected from this world when I'd first imagined it.

Just villages and barracks and forge fires, soldiers moving in tight, efficient formations, their armor gleaming beneath the sun. Gold-plated chest plates stamped with a blue Adhiran crest.

There was a beauty in it, somehow. In the symphony of their movements, the way everyone worked in harmony, the way everything was bursting with life and sound and preparations.

It should have been overwhelming—the sheer number of them, the relentless energy pulsing through the streets. But instead, it was mesmerizing. Like watching a symphony unfold, each note struck in steel and sweat and battle cries.

Somewhere down below, no more than a blue speck with fire red hair walking through what looked to be a central courtyard of some kind, was Lucien. Preparing a legion to go to the Northern Rift. Baxian, Hunt, and Bryce had all disappeared somewhere, muttering something about a pegasus.

I hadn't asked. I'd just followed Azriel. Memorized his movements.Tried to figure out how the hell his mind not only wrapped around all of this- but planned it. Commanded it.

Ruled it.

Somehow, it felt a lot more real than watching the Autumn King the same way ever had. Less like I'd one day be cursed with this life and more like I wanted to figure out how to live it.

Even with the wars and the pressure and the sheer magnitude of everything they did, I found myself wanting to be like them more and more with every passing day. As if choosing to stay, choosing this life- this version of myself, had unlocked something in me. Cleared away some fog of indecision and replaced it with the desire to know more. To see more. Learn more.

Rhys had already departed with Minka for... wherever they were going by the time we left Aelius. I didn't know where Leur, Cassian, Nesta, and Tamlin had gone either. Off to plan whatever battle would create a standstill with the Hewn City, most likely.

We had winnowed with Xian and Amren to some docks in Anil first. All magical warships and towering cliffs crashing with waves, the scent of saltwater and pine tangled through the fog. We'd seen them off, watched as that ship literally vanished from where it had been docked in the harbor.

And then we'd wound up here.

Azriel hadn't spoken much. I'd come to realize that was normal for him, especially when he was focused.

There was something calming about it. In the removal of the tension to be constantly making conversation, able to just exist in silence with no expectations.

And still—I couldn't stay silent. I didn't mean to disrupt him, but I wanted to know everything. Needed to know everything. Every name, every purpose, every forgotten history buried in this land that I had come from but barely understood.

Az never seemed irritated by my questions, though I would have been in his position.

I glanced at him now, watching as his sharp, scarred fingers traced the detailing carved into the stone railing, though his attention remained locked on a distant mist-laden treeline beyond the farthest village.