Much to my surprise, the palace of Wildewall reached less high than the temples in the city. It was evident people favoured the houses of the gods over the royal family, but the palace was still an impressive building in its own right. With stout defensive walls, it was built for fortification rather than beauty. This building would survive a raid while the spiralling, fragile peaks of the temples would crumble after the first catapult-flung stone.

"Why does the queen live in a fort?" I asked, taking in the rough, mosaic stones. The royal family had had few enemies that I was aware of since the elves vanished. I had heard none in Wildewall speak poorly of their queen either.

Endris followed my gaze. "It's not the queen who needs to live in a fort," he corrected. "It was her ancestors. They built this palace right before king Bertram declared war on the elves."

I hummed. That explained why it looked so grim and grey compared to the white stone that made up the other, richer parts of town. Though, the palace compensated for its sullen appearance with the colourful flowers in the gardens stretching out in front of it. I breathed in many sweet scents as we went closer to the open gates.

Oleander had argued the palace would be more quiet without the guests today, but that was far from the truth. An entire army of servants shuffled through the outer gates into the gardens, carrying party provisions varying from vases and heavy tables, to various luxurious-looking food ingredients.

Nobody stopped Oleander, Endris, and I as we followed the servants through the outer gates. A few of the men and women cast curious glances, only to hastily avert their eyes as they saw the mark on my chest, but none of them spoke. Oleander's gaze drifted up to one of the towers. Even from a distance away, it was clear the rocks had plenty of nooks and crannies. If Oleander could climb the smooth, white stone of the inn, he could easily scale these rugged walls.

I almost made a teasing remark about it to Oleander, but held my tongue just in time. The guards, muscular and tall, stationed near second pair of gates that lead into the palace building didn't look like they messed around. If I joked about breaking in, I'd promptly take an axe to the face. Storm-touched or not.

It didn't take long for the burliest of the guards to hold up his hand and glare at me from below a shiny helmet. "Halt!" he commanded. "You stand before the palace of Wildewall, home to the Queen of Wildewall. State your business."

In an odd way, it was refreshing to have a guard yell at me, rather than treat me like a god-touched. It reminded me of home, the folks in town, and the way they spat on the ground as I passed. 

"We have an appointment with master Dagon," I said, nodding at Oleander who was standing behind me.

"Master Dagon has informed us of no appointments with lord Montbow," the guard replied gruffly.

The other guard leaned towards the first one. "Master Dagon mentioned a man with long, silvery hair named Oleander, captain," he said in a hushed tone. "Like that other man." 

The first guard, who evidently was the captain, slowly turned to his underling. He received such an intense death glare I was glad I wasn't him. With a deep sigh, the guard captain turned back to me.

"Oleander can pass," he said. "I will escort him to master Dagon's quarters inside personally."

"And we can wait in the hallway, Wyard?" Endris asked.

I cast a glance back at Endris, grinning at him for being on a first-name basis with the guardsman.

The guard named Wyard hesitated for a moment, but then shook his head with a frown. "Our orders strictly prohibit us from letting anyone in the day before the ball. Only invited parties. And sorry Endris, you and lord Montbow are not invited."

"Can't you make an exception?" I asked. "I'd rather not let my companion out of my sight."

This one time in my life that I hoped for special treatment, the man in front of me didn't seem sensitive to my status in the slightest. The guard captain shook his head again. "I'm under strict orders that nobody who isn't invited can enter the palace the day before the ball, esteemed storm-touched."

Oleander gingerly placed his hand on my arm for a brief moment. "It's alright, lord Montbow," he said softly. "I can speak with master Dagon alone. I'm certain it will be fine."

Raising his brows, Oleander turned to the tower walls. I got the hint. Oleander had also realised he could easily climb down if needed.

"If you're certain you don't mind going alone..." I said, letting my words trail off.

"It will be fine, lord Montbow."

With a small smile playing on his lips, Oleander curtseyed and went with the guard captain. They disappeared from sight behind the gates. Part of me was grateful I wouldn't have to watch Ezra's smug face as he realised he had gotten me to do what he wanted. The other part wanted to slip inside after Oleander. I wanted him to be safe, and I knew he wasn't in Ezra Dagon's care.

I wouldn't be able to easily pass the guards, however. The moment the captain left, another man replaced him without a word. It was clear the queen's staff was very organised. Already, I felt I had made a huge mistake letting Oleander enter the palace alone. Subtly nudging Endris, I walked away from the gate. Thankfully, Endris understood and followed me.

"Which tower is Ezra's?" I asked quietly once we were out of earshot.

"In the back," Endris muttered.

I stretched out and casually started strolling into the garden. I'd only taken a few steps, however, before a guard was standing beside me. "Where are you going?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"I just wanted to see more of the gardens," I said innocently. "They're very beautiful."

The guard clearly didn't buy it. His eyebrows knit, and he crossed his arms. "You can wait here where we can see you, storm-touched," he said with an air of finality.

I bit back a string of curses, but did as the guard said and walked back to the gate. With my family's verdict hanging over my head, I couldn't cause more trouble in this town. I needed Ezra to pull the right strings. I was ready to turn this entire palace into ash if Ezra tried to hurt Oleander, but I would condemn my family as well if things didn't end well with the trial. But giving into despair over events that hadn't come to pass yet wouldn't do me any favours either.  

Since I had nothing but colourful flora to distract me while the worried knot in my stomach grew tighter, I crouched and inspected the myriad of flowers growing in the queen's garden. Oleander must've liked them. He could tell me exactly what each flower was if I took a bouquet with me, but I didn't dare pluck even a blade of glass while the guards with no sense of humour were watching me like hawks.

From the ground, I did my best to angle myself so that I could keep an eye on Ezra's tower. I kept watching and listening closely for Oleander's scream. We had agreed he'd make noise if he was in trouble. 

A shadow suddenly cast over the flowers. Endris was standing behind me. "Lord Montbow," he muttered.

"What?" I replied, without averting my eyes from the tower.

"Laurence!" Endris hissed, prodding me between the ribs with his boot.

"What?"

I glared up at Endris, and my heart almost stopped in my chest. The two guards manning the gate had stepped aside. A willowy, tan woman donned in the finest fabric I had ever seen passed between the guards. Labyrinthine embroidery adorned the hemline of her deep blue dress, and, of course, both the bust and skirt part of the dress were ruffled. It was a part of Wildewall fashion every noble seemed fond of. On top of her head rested a golden crown that glimmered in the light.

The queen.

I abruptly stood, but Endris immediately grabbed me by my neck and forced me into a bowing position. "Eyes down!" he hissed.

"Fine!" I hissed back, keeping my gaze firmly trained on the ground as blood rushed through my ears.

Two bejewelled shoes stopped in front of me, followed by two pairs of black boots on either side.

"Here to enjoy the gardens, Endris?" a gentle, melodious voice asked.

"Always, your highness," Endris said "We also escorted a visitor to master Dagon."

Endris stood straight and cleared his throat. I didn't catch his hint until he prodded me with his boot again. With red-dusted cheeks, I rose to my feet, and finally got to look the queen in her light brown eyes for the first time. She had a friendly face, black curly hair, and she wore an amused smile, probably because of the way I stayed in my bowing position for far too long.

"This is lord Laurence Montbow, from the Thundercoast, your highness," Endris introduced me.

"A pleasure to meet you, Queen—uh" I faltered, and in that moment I realised I had no idea what the queen was actually named. She'd always been 'the queen' for me. An anonymous entity living far away in the Northern parts of the country. As an exiled boy, I had no use for learning about matters of the court, nor did I pay attention to lessons about lineages. Not enough to know the queen by name, at least.

This was I got for sleeping through classes and pretending I had read books. 

"Uh," I stuttered. 

The gods were merciful today, because while I floundered, the queen's smile grew.

"Queen Idonia," she said with a giggle.

Behind the queen, though, all guards looked like they wanted to castrate me for my insolence. I did my best to ignore them as I bowed another time. "Queen Idonia," I repeated. "Your highness, thank you for inviting me and my herbalist, Oleander, to your ball tomorrow. We were most pleasantly surprised."

"And we were most pleasantly surprised as well to hear from the Montbow family after years," the queen replied. "I was sorry to hear how it ended with the dragon for you. But you seemed to have found your fortune in another way in the mountains in the herbalist. A most peculiar tale. One I want to hear from your and Oleander's mouths. A good reason to summon you to Wildewall."

The queen carefully skirted round knight commander Ytel's death, and I would gladly follow her lead. "Most certainly" I said. "It was fortunate smiling on us that Oleander turned out to be a talented man who can create rare antidotes."

"And so acts of kindness can change one's future," the queen mused. She looked skyward at Ezra's tower. "I will see you and Oleander both tomorrow at the ball, then. I bid you farewell, gentlemen."

"A pleasure to see you and farewell, your highness," Endris said. He bowed, so I mimicked him. 

The queen strode on, almost appearing like she was floating in her long dress, and closely followed by her two bodyguards. 

I breathed a sigh in relief. "She was a lot nicer than I expected her to be for a woman in charge of a city this snobby," I whispered as I watched the queen turn the corner. "Wait, she doesn't even mind that I don't know her name, right? Or did she?"

"Doubtful. The queen is very kind," Endris replied. "Her background is very similar to yours, actually. She was never meant to be the heir, but her older sister unexpectedly passed away after contracting an illness while on a diplomatic visit overseas. The king made queen Idonia grow up more sheltered than she should have been. It's not done her any favours in court life, but she kept her good heart because of it."

"I think she's lovely," I said.

I couldn't let myself get distracted, however. My eyes darted back to Ezra's tower. I looked up just in time to see a flash of silver descending down the tower, passing from sight behind the castle walls. 

Then, a piercing scream filled the queen's gardens. 

Endris and I didn't need words. We exchanged a glance and we ran. Behind me, heavy footsteps thumped down on the grass and blades whistled as they were pulled from sheaths. 

I sprinted around the corner of the castle wall, only to slide to an abrupt halt as the tip of a sword pointed at my throat.

"Stay back!" one of the queen's personal guards snarled, his knuckles white around the handle of the sword. Then his eyes went wide. A gurgling sound came out of his mouth, and he fell to the ground, landing face down. There was an arrow sticking out of his back, wedged in a tiny crevice in his armour. 

Every muscle in my body tensed. I had practiced with my bow for years and I'd be hesitant to take that shot. Whoever did that was an extraordinarily talented bowman. Immediately, I willed my thunder magic to vibrate through the branches of my mark. I was ready to strike down whoever had fired that arrow.

Then I looked up into Oleander's green eyes. 

Time slowed as I took in the bow in his hand and the arrow slipping through his fingers. It swishes past my face and buried itself in another guard behind me, who fell to the ground with a scream in pain.

The last remaining guard ran at Oleander with a battle cry and a raised sword, but before he could reach him, Oleander had drawn another arrow. The last guard also hit the ground with an arrow sticking out of his chest.

Four guards were down. It was just me, Endris, and the queen now. And Oleander, with his drawn bow, his next arrow pointed at me.

The cold look in Oleander's eyes sent a shiver of fear down my spine. "Oleander?" 

"What are you doing?" Endris also called out.

Oleander didn't acknowledge Endris. His eyes, devoid of all warmth, stayed on me. In a flash, he dropped his bow and pulled a dagger out of his scabbard. The queen yelped as Oleander pressed the weapon to her throat, his other arm gripped firmly around her.

"Let me pass, Laurence," Oleander said.

I stood nailed to the ground. Even if I had wanted to move, my feet didn't listen to me. All I could do was gape at Oleander, unwilling to believe what I saw in front of me. This couldn't be Oleander. This wasn't Oleander. He was sweet and gentle. He had to have a good reason why he was doing this. I didn't understand why he was doing this.

"Why, Oleander?" I stuttered in my denial. "What are you doing?"

Emotion flickered in Oleander's eyes, but it was gone in an instant. He pressed the dagger to the queen's neck. A little drop of red spilled. "The queen and I are going inside together. She has something that's mine. And just know this... If you truly meant it when you said you cared for me, Laurence, you will let me pass."

The queen silently mouthed words at me, but I couldn't read her lips. I could imagine what she wanted me to do, however. Free her. Surely, a god-touched was more than a match for a man with a dagger? All I could do was kill, however. My thunder magic was limited and in its raw form, it could only destroy utterly. If I struck Oleander, I'd kill him. And I'd likely kill the queen, too.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't move.  Shaking my head in disbelief, I started shuffling backwards. 

Oleander shifted his attention to Endris. "The same goes for you, Endris," he said. "Get in my way, and all your little friends will be found."

Endris bared his teeth at Oleander in a rage I had never seen on the calm and collected tracker. But slowly, he raised his hands in surrender. "Fine," he spat. "I hope you realise what you're doing, Oleander. Even if we let you go, you're not getting out of this palace alive."

The corners of Oleander's mouth twitched. "Endris. Always concerned about my safety," he said with a wry chuckle. "Old habits die hard, don't they?"

Oleander darted another, calculated glance at me. He seemed to decide we both would not stand in his way. The queen groaned as Oleander shoved her past me, staying close to the walls as he took his royal hostage towards the palace gates.