Chapter 74 It Hurts

• The atmosphere is grim, and halfway through to the town, my anger dissipates. The captain of Rune’s guard—Queen Zephyr wouldn’t let me head out alone, since I am carrying the ‘royal baby’—leads us through the towns and we go from bedazzling buildings high enough to touch the skies to the ruins left behind by the Void.
• There is darkness, smoke and rot and I wheeze at the putrid stench of it all. A few onlookers notice my group as we pass by—myself, Boris and a maid who holds all of our supplies—and they watch with bleak, fatigued gazes.
• I have seen this before, and it takes me back to the plague. Shivers run down my spine as I see uniformed guards lifting the wailing children into carriages. There are burning piles and the stench of incinerated flesh greets me as we ride deeper into the village.