With a big breath, I look through the scope that has a better viewing capacity to the ports. At first, I see nothing but Redwind, then⁠—

Then I see them.

The Windmills.

One after the other.

Encroaching as if they are inches away from colliding with the tank, but then gone in a blur of grey.

Awe fills my chest.

The first time I jumped into the pond at the Silk Aviary, eager to fish out a broken bird, the weightlessness of being in water that deep threw me into another reality. I remember it distinctly. The shift imprisoned my breath. And in the presence of this vast forest of powerful machines, that is how I feel.

Breath suspended.

Glee shapes my eyes.

I dart my gaze quickly between Tuscany and Ana, their attention fixed to the vision outside. Their expressions, soft and smiling, fill my heart with joy.

Healing—not healed. Merely taking a moment to appreciate a spectacular detail in the greater puzzle of The Cradle.

We watch the sky-scraping Windmills chew through the red haze; I don’t know how long we travel, from crown-light to last-light.

Time flies by.

But then⁠—

The tank suddenly slows.

I peer forward through the metal sections to find Rome with fierce brows set above dark eyes locked on me. Taking laps of my body from my hair to the swell at my hips, his stare is mine while his chin is turned. He listens to someone further down the giant machine.

His jaw muscles pulse.

Something is wrong…

Energy sparks. I don’t like it, but this could be irrational pregnancy senses, but⁠—

When Rome’s expression darkens, I realise I am not wrong. My pulse shudders in my neck. I feel I could cough up a butterfly.

Rome nods stiffly.

“There is a storm coming from due north, my queen,” the mechanical voice says, and Tuscany leans closer to the front. “We are unable to make it to the Upper-tower without hitting it head-on, so we will need to seek refuge.”

“The Trade-tower? Or follow the east coast to the Upper-Tower Port?” she asks.

My brows rise; shocked. I don’t know why I am surprised she knows the landscape. Of course, she does. Just as I know details about Rome, The Estate, the lords, and how to pleasure and provide.

She knows The Cradle.

Rome answers, his tone disturbingly even. “We won’t make it across the Red Decline before the storm hits. It is one risk”—he stares at me— "or the other.” I cannot read him. “We need to park the tank in a nearby Common community for the night.”

My eyes widen.

A Common community?

The Endigo boy’s face flashes in my mind, the stench, the meat, the wild unkempt scene.

I startle when a horrible, long scratch on the tank rooftop coils around my spine, near bringing bile up my throat. I stare up, surprised nothing has punctured the metal sheeting.

Another scratch.

And another.

Ana grabs my hand.

I turn to see her expression, eyes wide, dark hair tucked behind each ear. “Aster.”

“We will be fine,” I assure her.

“A Common community?” she whispers, before gazing at my swollen stomach. “You need to hide your belly.”

Another scratch.

Rome lifts from his seat, reaching a large arm up to unlock the hatch and standing until his head disappears through it.

“We know,” he growls. “Fly.”

Odio.

The tank veers, turning a hard left toward the west, the tracks eating at uneven terrain.

I’m looking out the viewport when a windmill comes out of nowhere— And another, and I realise we are travelling through the core of the Windmill Forest. No longer on a designated road.

Unable to keep my eyes away from him, I peer up to see his awaiting mine. Blue. Fractured blue. Far too turbulent, too menacing, to be peaceful and yet… I breathe deeply. At this moment, I realise Rome of The Strait is my gravity. The thing I seek when I am unsure. Steady ground beneath my feet. The light that guides me through uncertain darkness.

He is where I feel most safe.

If nothing else, that is hope.

“My king…” I find my voice for him, a breathy cadence, in the midst of my nervousness.

“You’re safe, little creature,” he states. No— he declares, infallible in tone. I would hate to be the man or woman who challenges it.

I nod and gaze at the space between us with disdain, swiftly hating it as much as he seems to. But there is no room to move. We occupy the cramped metal fortress in its entirety.

A roaring wind engulfs the tank like a monstrous force attacking us.

I cup my ears.

Ana and Tuscany do the same.

Gripping my head, muting the gale, I look through the port. I blink.

It’s a dense, red vortex.

Spearing my gaze into the Redwind, I make out the shape of a building, quickly coming into view as we approach at a high speed. At the top of the building is a long barb and, atop it, a symbol…

We get closer.

I squint⁠—

It’s a cross.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter Twelve

Rome

I never planned on returning to this place, least of all with her. I should burn it to the ground after we leave, mere embers for the Redwind to swallow and digest.

I despise these people.

They gifted her to me. They offered their children in exchange for a windmill and supplies, and she wonders why I cannot fault The Trade entirely. I didn’t snatch her from her father’s paws. He could have kept her, could have tried, but he did not.

They will have to pry her from my bloody corpse before I ever give her up.

So, I despise them for not fighting for her, even though their pathetic lack of protection meant she became mine. My responsibility.

My little creature.

Aster… Who loathes me.

She can loath me, scream at me, despise my very existence, as long as her moans crash into my mouth each night, and her body succumbs to sleep in my arms. As long…

I growl; I will make amends!

I climb down the tank, dropping to my heavy feet on the old abbey ground, crimson-coloured dust flying up around me. I rise to my full height, towering over everyone else as the roaring wind prowls the boundary walls.

Kong climbs from the other tank, accompanied by three Guards, rifles ready.

Jaw pulsing to the point of pain, I scan the crowd of twenty or so Common who have braved the growling night to gather before the tank, bowing and nervous—curious.

We could cut them all down in seconds with a single round from one rifle.

But they let us in.

Last-light barely claws through the storming Redwind, and the abbey walls blanket the ground, making it hard to see.

Through the dim, my eyes glow as I search the faces for familiarities— for Colt. It has been nearly two decades, but I would recognise Aster’s father if I saw him.

“Colt!” I boom, but the chaotic weather matches my force.

A man dressed in black stands below a wooden cross and signals for me to approach, gesturing toward a door.

We can’t talk outside, in this black, in the mouth of the night and storm. Fuck.

Checking the Guards are ready, Kong, too, I climb back up the tank to get my precious cargo.

The hatch opens before I get to it, a cloaked head popping up, black hair whispering across a masked face.

Teeth clenching, I hold my hand out for her. “You should have waited. I would have carried you.”

But she can’t hear me. The growling wind circles the perimeter, hunting for a vulnerability in the brick fortress.

I take her little hand in mine, remembering when I first touched her months ago. Delicate fingers. Dainty wrist.