IT TOOK ABOUT eight days to reach Zeporia.

Days that Ravenna spent mulling over her interaction with the Blood Knights. Their descriptions of her soldiers haunted her. The idea that her soldiers were going against her will, abusing the townsfolk, made her stomach churn with uneasiness. The only solace had been the outlandish descriptions that the knights provided. Even with Vyses's additional armor and spells, the descriptions were too insane to be truthful.

The whole ordeal made Ravenna nervous.

"This city won't be as easy to take over," Vyses remarked quietly as they approached the outskirts of Zeporia. He glanced over at Ravenna and pursed his lips. "Do you think you will be able to create more soldiers faster?"

"I'll manage," Ravenna responded. She glanced around. Zeporia was unlike anything she'd ever seen. The street that they traveled on was constructed of smooth cobblestones. Bushes of wildflowers grew on either side, weeded and perfectly maintained. Fenced in fields filled with greenery stretched out beyond the bushes, toward the horizon. In the distance, Ravenna could see a massive stone wall. Several watchtowers were built into the front of the wall, complete with colorful flags on the rooftops, fluttering in the wind. As they approached, Ravenna could see spikes adorning the top of the wall. Her stomach heaved. Human heads were attached to the spikes, in various stages of decomposition.

A handful of guards patrolled the wall. Even more lingered on the ground, stationed in front of the massive iron doors of the entrance gate. Said gate seemed to remain open, allowing a glance inside the wall.

"Is there another wall behind this one?" Ravenna whispered to Vyses as she peered through the open gate.

Vyses nodded. "There is only one way into this city and one way out. It's heavily guarded. The outer wall is more for show, though. It's meant to scare intruders or attackers away. It would be hard to get through, even with our soldiers, but the inner wall would be completely impenetrable. The inner wall was created with magic. It exists purely to protect of the citizens. We need to lay low until we've made it through both walls. Then we can decide how to proceed."

"We will be unable to use magic inside the city," Lyth announced. "Magic is forbidden, as in the Capitol."

"We will have to leave our horses out here," Vyses added. "The spells that I put on them are too powerful and will be instantly detected."

Ravenna frowned. She dismounted her horse and moved closer to Vyses. "Will they be able to detect magical items? Or the spells that we've used to disguise ourselves?"

Vyses pressed his lips together. "Possibly. They haven't been able to in the past, as I've snuck in plenty of times. But with all of the gossip and fear floating around, it's possible that they've increased security. We are just going to have to play it by ear and see how far we can get. Removing our disguises will get us instantly killed."

"Do you honestly think that will work?" Ravenna asked. Annoyance surged within her. "Don't you think it would be suspicious if several magically disguised individuals approached and tried to enter the city? There is no way they'd let us in."

"If they can detect it," Vyses said. "There is still a good chance that they won't be able to."

"We need to be certain before we attempt this," Ravenna snapped. "If it fails, we could be killed."

"Relax, lass," Vyses told her. He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "We will be fine. Even if they do detect our disguises and try to attack, we will be alright. It's just a bunch of humans. We can take them."

Ravenna wasn't quite sure that she believed him. Her anger bristled beneath her skin. She clenched her jaw and allowed him to lead her toward the entrance. Just in front of the open gate, a line of people waited.

As they neared the end of the line, Ravenna realized that everyone in front of her seemed petrified. Their fragile bodies trembled, hushed whispers rushing past their lips. She glanced at Vyses, concerned. "What's wrong with everyone?"

"Zeporia is the safest place in this kingdom," Vyses answered. "Most of these humans are probably from towns that haven't been attacked yet, that have heard the whispers. They're scared that the rumors are true."

"Are they?"

Vyses squinted at her. "What do you mean?"

Ravenna sucked in a sharp breath. "Before our last massacre, I managed to get a lot of information from those Blood Knights. Including the fact that they seemed to believe the ice soldiers are even worse than the guards that were there beforehand."

Vyses made a face. "How so?"

"According to the rumors, they've been abusing the townsfolk. A lot," Ravenna said. She watched his reaction carefully, waiting for anything that gave away his feelings about it. "Way worse than the guards had been."

Vyses blinked at her. "Ravenna," he said, his brows furrowed. "It's only natural that the knights have been told stories about our soldiers, painting them as awful creatures. Our soldiers are supposed to be their enemy. The king had to tell them something to get more knights to sign up for the fight."

Ravenna's gaze dropped. That did make sense to her. The knights she'd spoken to had even admitted that a bunch of guards had been turned into Blood Knights. It made sense that the king, or his officials, had spun wild stories about the evils of her soldiers.

She glanced up as Vyses tensed up beside her. Her jaw clenched as the people in front of them were examined by the guards. Her gaze shifted to Vyses. He tried to smile reassuringly. "I'll do all the talking," he whispered.

She nodded.

The humans in front of them were granted entrance through the first gate. As they shuffled away, the guards turned their attention to Ravenna and Vyses. Each had a hand on Lyth's shoulders, as he stood between them, staring up at the guards with wide eyes. Two guards approached. The rest remained behind them, lingering with their weapons at the ready.

"Names and business, please," one guard barked.

Vyses glanced at Ravenna. "I am Sellion and this is my wife, Hael, and our child, Lyth. We seek refuge within the city, safety from the wicked that curses this land."

The guards shared a look. "No magic is permitted within the walls of this city," one of them said. His gaze flickered over them once more.

Vyses didn't even blink. "Of course. We cannot use magic."

Ravenna stiffened when she noticed the guards share another brief look and the men behind them lift their swords.

One of the guards lifted a hand. In it, was a small stone, glowing faintly with a red light. "Do you know what this is, sir?"

"I do," Vyses remarked, his tone matter of fact. "It's a glowing rock."

"Not just any glowing rock," the guard responded. "This thing has been spelled to detect magic."

"How fascinating," Ravenna said.

The guards pinned her with a narrow look. "You see this red color? It means one of you three are using magic. And that means you are lying to us."

hey sweets!

I'm so unbelievably sorry for the long delay in updates, both on Wattpad and on Tapas. These last two months have been nothing but pure frantic scrambling to find a job and a place to live and a new car and honestly so much personal craziness that I literally just haven't had time to write. I'm now working two jobs, while also volunteering at my mother's school because I'm actually thinking about becoming an elementary art teacher? My life is just kind of chaos right now. Anyways, enough with my mess. 

How are y'all doing? I miss talking with you. I miss Wattpad. I miss writing. I can't promise consistent updates, but I promise that I am doing my best. Thank you guys so much for being the best readers in the universe and for sticking with this book. Your continuous support genuinely means the world to me. 

Thank you so much ❤