Silver Shackles

Chapter 13

Everything seemed to be going just fine, even after we entered the beautiful city of Sanctum. Through our Bond I knew Baal was okay. Despite that, I was still a little uncomfortable with the idea of him going into the enemy's nest with no backup in his direct vicinity.

Walking through the bright and joyous streets of Sanctum, I appreciated the display of rustic housing and shops. Like Baal had once said, the Silver Clansmen weren't fond of tall buildings. The tallest building on the street was no more than two stories high. The only one that actually broke this rule was the royal palace itself as it rose on top of the city with three towers barely reaching four stories. Height wasn't a problem though, the buildings still had an amazing view of the valley the closer you got to the Palace. Tree branches would form bridges above the streets, sprites hid amongst them and every now and then they'd try to catch a peek of us.

Right now we could be headed into a trap, but I refused to show anything but nonchalance in front of Eshir. If it did turn out to be a trap Baal would know instantly, and that would ensure his safety.

We finally arrived at the Palace's gate, a simply adorned gold-composed gateway with two armored knights on each side. Eshir stopped by it and looked at Freckles with a grin on his face.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it, Aleksandr. I still have a patrol to run, welcome back home and welcome to our beloved city of Sanctum, Milord Luke." The man bowed his head before turning on his horse and leaving back through where we had arrived.

Freckles sighed and nodded at me. From here on out all we had to do was pray we didn't tread upon Naomi.

"Your servant can wait by the stables while we speak to Milord King and Milady Queen." Freckles spoke and immediately a palace guard clad in silver armor asked Erin to follow him.

"That's fine with me, go on, Erin." I spoke as show for the guards on the gates. At this point I guessed Naomi could tell something was amiss with her future seeing powers. "I'll send for you if we are to take too long."

I was surprised when Erin nodded and didn't show a trace of fear in her face. Despite being so shy, the adrenaline of the moment must've gotten to her, so we trusted she could pretty much deal with the situation of being alone in the Palace.

Freckles lead the way through the Palace's gates and across the front garden that contained many types of plant life from all around Iris. Some of the plants I hadn't seen in centuries, for they had only existed on Old Iris. The elegant entrance to the Palace was covered in vines. Two silver haired Fae knights had been posted to guard it. Faes were creatures with half transparent wings on their backs and with a great dominance over mana much like the South's elven people. They were a rare sight, like that of a fox Lisitsa. Freckles said hello to them in the Ancient Language before they allowed us inside.

The halls of the Silver Clan's royal Palace oozed with elegance and delicate power. The light colors decorating the walls gave off a nice atmosphere. Thanks to it, one would mind the staring guards standing by each doorway and branching corridors. Freckles looked lax, yet I knew by now that this type of lax meant he was only thinking of a dozen escape plans. I was confident that if this was a trap we were about to be well served this deep inside our enemy's territory.

"Oh my Goddesses, Sasha!" A female voice used the Ancient Languag, its owner looking at us as she stood some feet in front of us.

By the majestic doors to the throne room, stood a woman with pale, technically going white, long pink hair. She wore a fancy long, purple dress to match her own dark purple orbs, her neck covered with golden chokers. Her pink hair had gold stardust scattered over it, giving her a glowing appearance. She was a lot taller than Baal, but obviously they had to be siblings. Their face features were practically the same safe for the fact Naomi had a peculiar mole on the left side of her lips. This couldn't be good; my whole being knew something was wrong.