The White Sheep's Disguise ✓

Chapter 19

Exole, the capital city of Rivian, is not far from the palace. In fact, I can see the towering peaks of the palace from the swiveling streets of cobblestone. Once the large gates open, we're officially at the mercy of Exole's assassins, thieves, and every criminal built from the ground up in the slums. Cloak, like the rest, appears to be focusing on the brighter side of things.

The people.

Merchants, farmers, guards—even ordinary citizens that appear to beg for coins rather than praise Cloak for ridding the land of terrible magic. But when I look into the depths of alleyways and into shadows that the ordinary eye doesn't see, I spot the cloaked figures and hunched bodies trying to make themselves appear as ghosts. If they're Luminaries, they don't make themselves known. But, for some reason, they refuse to show their faces to the Panjandrum Corps. That leaves my imagination to explore as it pleases.

There are many things in my life I never thought I'd do. Visiting the capital without the mercy of my coin purse was one. Riding with the Panjandrum Corps never came into my mind, but now that I'm on the back of a horse with Gav Brichlart and my side and Keaya Bonesworn on the other...I still don't know how I got here. Whether I'm actually alive or if the Raven Queen stole the breath from my lungs and created an illusion to make me believe my life is not my own.

Ordinary citizens don't know who I am. No one knows who I am. They aren't aware of the Luminary abilities flowing underneath my skin, and to them, I'm a killer. I snuff magic and choke the life out of it until the land is blackened in the blood of the dead. In some sense, I'm a hero. To those shadowed figures, I'm a threat. They'll remember my face for later—for all the wrong reasons.

My nervous thoughts are pushed out by the obvious beauty of the city. Exole is the lifeblood of Rivian, and the faces amongst the crowd prove that to be true. Every beast imaginable steps forward to acknowledge Cloak, who has transformed into the killer they know him for. The black cloak rimmed with gold stitching and a twisting pattern of sparkling swirls is pulled over his head, cut specifically to wrap around his horns and hang over his face to shadow the harsh features.

I can hardly look at him without quaking in my boots. As if riding a horse isn't hard enough, I have to maintain my composure against the man that has manifested into a killer before my eyes.

The wattle and daub constructed homes line the twisting streets raising over hills and down valleys. Their tiled roofs catch the morning sun and chimney smoke spews from their tops, mixing in with the dark clouds swirling of an oncoming storm. Timber frames cut through a solid, clean layer of lime plaster only broken by arched windows and stone gargoyles. I tip my chin to the roofs, squinting past the sun to catch the shadow of those stone beasts watching the streets below.

Gav appears in my eye line and furrows his brows. "You look as if you've never seen this city before," he points out.

Watching a blonde woman scale the roofs, leaping from one to the next, I shake my head. How someone can have the mental and physical strength to possess the thrill of risk, I'll never understand. "I haven't seen this city since I was a little girl. That was years ago," I say to the sky more than him.

"Then I suppose I shall act as your guide in this lovely city. There is too much to miss, so keep up." Immediately, he points towards a building we pass. The spires extend towards the sky in shorter peaks than the palace, but still substantial compared to Gudgeon's rounded edges, almost always stuffed to the rim with plaster. "That is my favorite restaurant in Exole. They serve the finest bread bowls."

"That's because they're smothered in butter," Keaya retorts from my other side. Gav squints at her, leaning around me to do so, but she refuses to meet his eye. The hint of a smirk plays on the corner of her mouth.