Page 119 of Scourged
Mariah hummed, searching for any hints of something more sinister lurking within the decrepit structure. She saw nothing, and even when she sent a simple, slender rope of magic twisting out toward the building, not a single trace of the evilness she’d felt in the pillars clawed back at her.
“Very well,” she said, turning to the captain. “Will you help my Armature open the doors?” She gestured behind her at the double entryway, beyond repair and boarded up.
The captain paled. “Your Majesty … I do not …”
“We’ve got it, M.” Sebastian’s voice held a hint of amusement as he and Andrian brushed past, each carrying a bundle of rope.While Mariah knew that Andrian’s magic could certainly remove the boards—hers could too—she also knew it was good to give her Armature a moment to teach the captain what it meant to investigate a call.
Especially one carrying allegations as serious as this.
Moving as one, Sebastian and Andrian tied their rope to the boards, then led the other ends to their waiting horses. Looping it around their saddle horns, they spurred their warhorses forward, muscles straining against the taut rope.
It only took a few strides from the two beasts to pull the boards free, wood and nails clattering to the ground. They dismounted, retying their horses to the post in the street where Kodie and Ryland’s horse stood, and rejoined her.
“Shall we?” She gestured with a flourish to the captain.
His face paled further, but he nodded shakily, pushing back his shoulders as he stepped toward the newly revealed doors.
Sebastian brushed past her. “Stop terrorizing the poor kid,” he whispered in her ear.
“Kid?” Mariah responded with fake indignation. “He’s older than me. Wasn’t he one of my Marked?”
“Yes.” Andrian stepped to her other side. “His name is Ryland. And he’s a good kid, if a little slow on the uptake.” Over her head, he and Sebastian shared a grin.
Mariah swung her gaze between the two of them, astonished. “Stop getting along. It’s unnerving.” Before either of them could respond, she followed Ryland into the abandoned building.
The interior was much the same as the outside. Dirty and crumbling, and it smelled a bit like rotten food. Mariah wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“Gods,” she breathed out. “When was the last time this place was occupied?”
“At least five years.” Ryland lifted his hand, a small orb of fire cupped in his palm.
Mariah eyed the flame, then let her own light spill from her palms, twisting and winding through the crumbling space.
Andrian flashed a grin, and Sebastian chuckled under his breath.
“Do you know what happened?”
Ryland, watching her light spill and twist throughout the room in awe, quickly closed his fist, snuffing out his flame. He turned to face her again, cheeks a bit flushed.
“I think it was an outbreak of the pox. Swept through the building like the plague. The City Guard eventually had to close it down and evacuate all the residents to different areas of town.”
“Hmm. The pox.” Mariah looked around again, her magic still searching. “A bit of an unusual disease, isn’t it?”
“Now, certainly. But a few years ago …” Ryland shrugged. “Maybe a bit more common than we thought.”
Mariah glanced first at Sebastian, then to Andrian. Both their faces were carefully schooled, held in perfect neutrality. They all knew pox hadn’t been prevalent in the kingdom for at least two hundred years; it was allegedly one reason Ryenne had closed the borders at the beginning of her reign. No better way to stop foreign diseases from running rampant through vulnerable communities.
Which meant Ryland didn’t know a thing.
“Ryland, you can wait here. Watch the entrance, make sure no one sneaks in after us. My Armature and I will inspect the main floor.”
Ryland nodded emphatically. “Absolutely, Your Majesty. My pleasure.” With a renewed vigor, he turned to the door, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword and shoving his shoulders back.
Somewhere, wreathed in shadows, Andrian snorted.
Her lips were tugging up into a grin as she let her magic continue to poke and prod through the main floor of theabandoned building, searching for something, anything that felt even remotely like?—
That.