A Dance of Illusion by Savanah James

Author:Savanah James [Savanah James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Savanah James
Published: 2023-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Third Era, Autumn 17491, Imperial Arreth

Kraven didn’t realize how fucked up the imperial justice system was until he sat in the back of an enforcer’s transporter vehicle with those who’d also been arrested at the riot. They were squished into the cab like a can of fish and tied to the same chain of cuffs. A few looked a little too young to have been at the riot at all.

They hadn’t even given him a hearing, like the legal statutes required. Instead, they received a written verdict from the emperor himself, and there were dozens of other enforcer vehicles filled with the rest of the captive rioters.

He hadn’t seen Valyn or Vivani since that night, either. It was now two days after, and the driver took them to the palace on the hill. He’d known the moment they turned off on a road away from the city, winding up the inclining levels to the extravagant castle. It took nearly thirty minutes to arrive, and they could see their destination from the start.

Kraven’s solitary time waiting for the inevitable was spent in silent contemplation. Everything that Kyran had told him nearly a month ago had panned out exactly as he described, straight down to how Valyn would react. It was so uncanny that Kraven was sure that his uncle was influenced by the gods.

The gods, of whom the modern Thraesian civilizations hadn’t heard hide nor hair from in many millennia. Not since the founding of the gates between worlds, when the living sun goddess and her children had passed from this world to return to their own. Kraven’s own drakkin ancestors had crafted tales of Irki’s own disappearance, coinciding around the same time.

As far as the mortals knew, that was the last of the gods to interact directly with them. Foresight and future-speaking were divine gifts, whisked away in the same breath. Never had there been reports of another in history.

If Kraven could write off every other occurrence that Kyran described, he could not with this one. Now, he arrived at the gates that led to their salvation as a man shackled many levels below the surface of this cliff, just as his uncle said.

Kraven couldn’t deny it any longer. It was as though he made history with every footstep and breath, painting the story as foretold.

Slowly, his thoughts turned away from his incredulousness of his uncle’s foresight and toward the god that may be behind it all. He couldn’t help but to pray for the first time to someone other than his forbearing deity.

Whoever you are, all I ask is that you fulfill my people’s wishes, keep me safe, and return me to Nailah. I will do anything you ask of me to make sure this happens.

The enforcers had dragged him and the others out of the cab, shoving them into a line across the concrete. The palace’s front building loomed over them, and though extravagant and pompous, life seemed leeched from its walls.

A soft breeze kicked up around him as he waited in line.

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