The Lost Queen (Book 1 of The Lost Queen Series)

Chapter Seven

By the second morning in Ratha, the stares had lessened. When Kai and Kestrel went downstairs for breakfast, the inn was not as packed as it had been. There were still a few people seated at the tables, but they had their choice of seating.

The innkeeper's greeting was less enthusiastic now that he was no longer playing to an audience. He took their orders and disappeared without comment.

"I want to head back to the market today," Kai told Kestrel while they waited for their food.

"You think they'll talk today?" she asked.

Yesterday he'd learned Ratha did not have shops, but rather employed an open air market system. Although they'd tried to visit, they hadn't been able to make it there before being mobbed by more people eager to know what they were selling. Kestrel had suggested they take a walk around the city instead.

The buildings and homes they'd come across had all been in disrepair. This was not unexpected given how long the city had lived under snow. The residents had done their best to survive and improvise with what they had.

Then they'd seen the graveyard.

Marker after marker protruded from the snow, many of them with multiple names etched on them. When they'd asked a passerby about it, they'd learned of the blood fever that had ravaged the city.

"Oh, our population used to be double—no triple—what it is now," the woman had told them. "But with the snow came the fever, and there's no stopping it. It took whole families. Once you got it, you're as good as dead."

They'd also learned because of the frozen ground the markers were just that—markers. No bodies had been interred because they'd been burned.

"How awful," Kestrel said after the woman had left.

Kai had looked out over the markers, wondering if his sister's name was among them. Were they too late? He'd never know for sure because he didn't know her name. She hadn't been given one before his mother had declared her dead. Perhaps they would return home and find the council had already discovered the new heir, and there was no need to worry about their magic disappearing.

He might never know what had become of his sister.

They'd spoken to others throughout the day, but much of what they'd learned was the same. Endless snow, the fever, and a few mentions of a beast in the woods. No one wanted to dwell on their problems for long and would rather ask questions about the outsiders.

"Don't know," Kai said, "but worth a try. Who knows? Maybe we'll come across her ourselves."

This time, when they arrived at the market, they found it quiet. The locals talked amongst themselves, but only in whispers. Today, their stares were guarded, and no one approached them.

While Kai appreciated the new disinterest, he couldn't help but feel there was something he was missing about the sudden change in reception.

They decided the best course of action would be to split up and try to talk to as many as possible before their visit to the castle.

They made their way down aisle after aisle until they returned to the place where they had entered.

Kestrel poked at a pile of woven rugs in one stall, while Kai talked with a man a few stalls away. As soon as the man realized Kai wasn't interested in buying anything from him, the friendly conversation died. He'd experienced something similar with almost every vendor. The minute he turned the conversation to something besides the product, they clammed up.

Kai moved away from the stall and waited for Kestrel to finish speaking to the weaver.

"That was interesting," Kestrel said a few minutes later, falling into step beside him.