The gates of Halmun opened like the jaws of a beast. Ornate, gilded, wide enough for ten carriages to roll through side by side — and still, it felt claustrophobic. The guards didn't speak, didn't blink, just stared as Peri and Amalia passed through. One even gave a grin, teeth bared like an animal's.
Peri had to fight the urge to roll his eyes.
"Oh no, a creepy city with a creepier lord, how original," Nihil thought dryly. Do they hand out contracts for this kind of aesthetic or does it just come with the walls?
"Isn't it pretty?" Amalia breathed beside him, looking around with hesitant wonder.
Peri blinked. "Sure."
The buildings rose high, elegant in an eerie kind of way. Everything was made of pale stone, tinged faintly gold under the setting sun, but there was no warmth. The people walked with quiet urgency, as if under curfew even in daylight. And every corner had an eye painted in crimson and black.
"Yeah," he muttered. "Real charming."
Amalia didn't hear him. Her black-onyx eyes were alight with curiosity. For someone still recovering from a panic attack, she looked... peaceful here.
Peri walked beside her, eyes scanning rooftops, alleyways, windows — anywhere a dagger could hide. His hand stayed loosely near his rapier's hilt, just in case. He wasn't getting caught off-guard again.
He also wasn't entirely sure if Lord Skun was real or just part of the book's drama. What kind of name was Skun anyway? Was that short for "Skunk"? Nihil snorted.
"Welcome to Halmun. Our dear Lord Skun greets you with his patented Rat Smile™ and an oppressive tax code."
"You're being mean again," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. Maybe that mirror fried my brain.
The handheld mirror that had hit him from the sky two nights ago still sat inside the inner pocket of his coat — an unhelpful oracle in silver casing. It hadn't said a damn thing since that one convenient moment with the bandit chapter. Lazy magical devices. Probably unionized.
Amalia turned to him suddenly, her hood lowered for once. "You're smiling."
"No, I'm not."
"You looked like you were laughing at something."
"Thinking."
"About?"
How best to stab a noble without upsetting the economy. "Architecture."
She gave him a knowing look and skipped ahead a few steps, forcing him to follow. The girl was oddly giddy now, as if their trip into trauma-ville had never happened. That worried him.
They passed a street market filled with eerie marionette dolls. Each one had glass eyes that tracked too well, and even Peri — or Nihil, the reality-shifted void-borne bastard he really was — shuddered.
"You'd think with all this money and power, Lord Skun would afford better hobbies," he murmured.
A passing vendor tried to sell Amalia a rabbit mask made from real bone. Peri gently stepped between them, flashed the smallest fake smile, and walked her away.
"This city's a red flag buffet," he muttered. "I don't like how every wall has ears."
"You don't think it's romantic?" Amalia said, teasing. "A little mystery, a little magic..."
He stopped walking and gave her a flat look. "This place screams 'missing person posters.'"
She laughed — an actual laugh — and Peri hated how light it sounded in this haunted little city. It made the air around them feel less suffocating, though. That was annoying.
They continued to walk. A street performer sang a lullaby in a language Peri didn't recognize. Somewhere, a hawker offered "diluted dragon's blood tea." A small girl ran past with silver fangs poking out of her mouth, giggling.
And then there were the posters.
Peri caught sight of one as they passed a narrow brick alley. A huge, drawn portrait of Lord Skun — pale, with long black hair, a serpent around his shoulders, and a smile that could melt a cathedral if you stared too long. It was stretched too wide. Almost painted on.
Underneath it:
"OUR BELOVED LORD WHO NEVER SLEEPS. HE WATCHES. HE CARES. HALMUN THRIVES."
Peri scoffed. "We should sleep with knives under our pillows."
Amalia elbowed him gently. "You're paranoid."
"Correct."
She paused. "...But do you think Jeremy will be okay here?"
The name hit him like cold water. Right. The other childhood friend. The one who should've been here by now.
Peri forced a calm smile. "He'll be fine. You know how nobles are. They love making an entrance."
Please make one soon, Nihil thought.
Amalia nodded, tucking her hands into her sleeves. "I hope we see the famous gardens before nightfall. They say the flowers hum lullabies."
Or scream. Probably scream. But he kept that one to himself.
"Sure," Peri said. "Lead the way."
He followed her deeper into Halmun, through the twisting streets where flowers blinked and paintings whispered if you stood too close. Somewhere, higher up, an unseen figure watched them from a window veiled in black lace.
Peri didn't look up.
But his fingers curled a little tighter around the hilt at his side.