-Laelia-
My heart stopped at the sight of the bodies hanging on the walls. I couldn’t believe it. There they were—both without heads, which had been placed on spikes just above their bodies. I felt a wave of nausea but forced it down as I stared at the remains of Ashes’s brothers, Sirrush and Blaze.
This couldn’t be true… How? Had Ashes somehow defeated them? No, that couldn’t be it. The people wouldn’t be hiding if he had. But why were there no guards? What had happened?
“Ashes!” I called out, but there was no answer.
The large gates leading into the palace remained closed. I groaned, trying to figure out a solution. Ashes and my brothers had to be in there… somewhere. They just had to be, and I needed to reach them in time.
The orphans! I thought. They had shown me a way inside be
