An Affinity For Fire

12. Heleonne

Having grown up half way up a mountain in the notoriously icy kingdom of Dormis, Leo thought he understood what it was to be cold. He was wrong.

His father had warned him to pack plenty of blankets, claiming that Aestasan nights could be as brutally cold as the days were hot. Leo, however, had rejected this advice, thinking the claim to be paradoxical and dismissing it as a myth. As he folded up his meagre blanket, limbs stiff from a sleepless night curled in a ball, he felt decidedly stupid.

The remainder of the Red Road took them through yet more wasteland. It was a welcome relief when, after a morning of riding, they arrived at the Lashes, the thick cluster of villages on the outer edge of Aestas. The streets were alive with the restless bustle of Aestasan nameless citizens going about their days. The thriving markets stood in deep contrast to the cold, empty streets of Dormis with which Leo was familiar.

It was said that one could never tell someone was an Aestasan just by looking at them. Glancing around, Leo could see that this was true. He saw blonds, who could only have originated from Dormis; red and copper hair, most likely from Ocassus; rounded, bronze faces, in indicator of Ortusian origins; people of the Southern Cities whose rich brown skin did not blister and burn under the sun. Even one or two with the ivory complexion and smooth, jet hair of the Dzitan Islanders. Aestas was famed for being home to more travellers than any other kingdom, all beguiled by stories of the ever-expanding mines. All the realm had Aestas to thank for their diamonds, rubies, emeralds and opals. The constant flow of new arrivals, searching for work in the mines, had given the Aestasan citizens a reputation for their remarkable hospitality towards strangers.

Leo could only hope it was a trait shared by the Aestasan royal family.

It took a while for the castle itself, the Eye of Aestas, to become visible. Much of the castle was underground, built by expanding and hollowing out existing caves. The part that was visible was, as a result, deceptively small and disappointing.

"Wait, that's it?" Clover asked when Leo pointed out the squat, black clump of towers. "I was expecting the kingdom of gems to have a castle a little bit more ... grand."

"Don't let the outside fool you," Heleonne said. "Think of it like a mole hill. The part you see might be underwhelming, but there's an impressive, complex structure underneath."

"You ever been inside?" Tarragon asked.

"Not personally," Leo admitted, slightly flummoxed by the fact that something other than an insult had left the scrawny boy's mouth. "My Father has been a few times. My sister was here twenty years ago, actually, when they hosted the Quarternal Festival, but she doesn't remember much about it since she was only four."

"I didn't know you had a sister," Clover said. "Why wasn't she at the engagement party?"

Leo bristled at the question, images of blood and screams flashing through his mind.

After the first two attacks, they should have been more prepared. But his family's arrogant refusal to identify an obvious pattern had led to further preventable bloodshed.

She's alive, he had to keep telling himself. Ellery is alive. they got her, but they didn't kill her. The physicians had kept trying to tell her that she should be thankful. Her wounds could easily have been fatal. She was lucky.

Understandably, she didn't see it that way, and neither did Leo.

"She's unwell," He answered gruffly, hoping Clover wouldn't pry any further.

They stopped to buy fresh bread from one of the market stalls, eating it as they rode. Clover gave the remainder of the rabbit she'd caught the previous day to the yellow-eye'd wolf, who still refused to stop following them.