Chapter 42

We had eaten early that morning and packed enough food to last the rest of our journey. Cardinal City was a little less than a day away. Once there, we would go to the Kestrel’s house they owned and used when they were summoned to court.

Our horses were fresh and ready to haul us to our final destination.

I dreaded our arrival at my old home. The beautiful childhood I had in Cardinal City was now tainted by the events during the uprising.

Cardinal City sat atop a mountain. The steep rocky mountainsides protected it, and the only way in or out was through the thick, dark forest that lined it from the south. It reminded me of a peninsula, except air surrounded it, and the city was high above the clouds.

It was technically a stronghold. The northern, eastern, and western sides had fortified and patrolled walls that blended with the jagged rocks of the mountain that descended to the ocean, while the ramparts served as the first line of protection for the castle and its inner city. The