The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash 3)

Square, squat buildings with colonnades as wide as a city block gave way to gray and ivory buildings built far closer together than they had been at the Cove, but they rose higher into the sky, forming elegant towers and spires. Like Saion’s Cove, there were patches of green wherever you looked, strips surrounding the graceful, sweeping structures, or covering the roofs of smaller, shorter buildings. Throughout the city, Temples shimmered, reflecting the afternoon sun. My throat dried as my gaze settled on the west end of the city, where a massive structure made of shiny black stone sat upon a raised hill, the wings of the building ending in circular porticos. Numerous domed-glass ceilings and spires shone brightly in the sun as the center wing flowed into a Temple constructed of the same midnight stone as the ones in Solis. Kneeling along the Temple’s steeple were stone soldiers, their sable heads bowed as they held shields to their chests and swords stretched out, the stone blades streaks of black against the sky.

Stunned, I dragged my gaze from what I could only imagine was the palace and looked out over Evaemon. My nostrils burned, along with my eyes, as I soaked in what I had once believed had fallen.

Where Saion’s Cove was nearly the size of Solis’s capital, Evaemon was triple the size, stretching on as far as I could see to the west and to the east, where specks of white grazed in open pastures. Past the heavily wooded area that followed the Mountains of Nyktos, and in the face of that mountain, were eleven statues taller than the Atheneum in Masadonia. Each figure held a lit torch in his or her outstretched arm, the flames burning as bright as the setting sun. When I asked who the eleventh statue was, I learned that it was Nyktos’s Constort.

They were the gods—all of them—watching over the city or standing guard.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how those statues had been built to that size and raised onto the mountain. Or even how those torches were lit—how they remained burning.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Casteel didn’t need to ask. It was the most beautiful city I’d ever seen. “Nearly all of the buildings you see before you were built by the deities.”

Gods, that had to mean they were thousands of years old. How anything lasted that long was beyond me. How a city could be so stunning and intimidating was also beyond my realm of understanding.

White-winged birds flew overhead as we crossed the bridge, soaring over the wolven who prowled in front of us. I glanced at the large wheels in the water, wondering if that was how they fed electricity to the city. Carsodonia used a similar technique, but not on such a grand scale. Ahead, I could see sails of small ships in the canal.

“I have so many questions,” I whispered.

“Not a single person is surprised to hear that,” Kieran remarked, and Delano chuckled.

“But I can’t even formulate words at the moment,” I admitted, clearing my throat.

Casteel drew Setti closer as he looked over at me. “Are you…crying?”

“No,” I lied, blinking the tears from my eyes. “Maybe? I don’t even know why. It’s just…I’ve never seen anything like this.”

A bell tolled, startling me and sending birds flying from the belfry as it rang in a quick succession of three—which was different than the bells that tolled in Saion’s Cove to tell the time.

“They’re just alerting the city to our arrival,” Casteel reassured me, and I nodded.

Emil looked back at us, his gaze finding Casteel over my shoulder. He nodded, guiding his horse to the front. Nudging his mount on, he galloped ahead, passing through the structure at the end of the bridge.

“Where is he going?” I asked.

“Ahead to the palace to let them know we’ve arrived,” Casteel informed me. “We’re going to take a far more discreet path. There will be people, but nothing like the route Emil is taking.”

Needless to say, I was grateful for that. My senses were already overwhelmed, and I really didn’t want to greet the citizens of Evaemon as a blubbering mess.

The wolven remained with us, along with Naill. Soldiers among the Guardians waited in the shadows of the entry building, bowing at their waists as we passed. My heart thumped heavily as we turned to the east, entering an empty road outside the long colonnades I’d spotted at the mouth of the bridge.

“What are these buildings used for?” I asked.

“They house the machinery that converts the water into electricity,” Casteel explained, keeping Setti close. “You’ll see several of these throughout the city.”

“That’s amazing,” I murmured as, across the street, where doors slowly opened from sandstone buildings, curious faces appeared.

“And boringly complicated,” Naill stated from behind us.

“But you could recite each piece of equipment and what the purpose of it is,” Kieran replied.