Gilded Serpent by Danielle Jensen (top 10 novels txt) 📕

it, the boards shuddering with the impact of their bodies as they threw themselves against the wood.

Sobs of fear tearing from her throat, she dragged over more furniture, piling it high against the door and then knocking the nearest bookshelves against it. The mess of wood continued to shudder, but there were no shouts outside, only eerie silence.

Spinning in a circle, she searched for a way out, but of course, there was none.

She went to the window and looked down, everywhere she looked, the ground was a churning mass of armed men fighting to get inside of the tower.

Screams echoed up from the windows of the lower levels, the other healers falling victim to the horde, some choosing to leap to their deaths rather than face whatever had come for them, but Lydia wasn’t ready to give up.

She circled the library until she reached the window that faced the palace, her chest tightening at the sight of fire breaking out across the city. Of soldiers chasing civilians and cutting them down, screams filling the night. Her worst nightmare come to fruition.

And there was no way out.

Then an arrow shot through the window in front of her, embedding in a bookcase. An arrow with a thin piece of rope attached to it, and terror flooded her veins.

They were coming through the window.

Bracing her foot against the shelf, Lydia jerked the arrow loose and raced to the window, intent on throwing it, but as she looked across at the neighboring tower, her eyes latched on a familiar face.

High Lady Falorn.

Dareena held a finger to her lips, then held up her end of the rope. “Tie it to something.”

And then crawl across.

The drop was sickening. Falling would mean certain death, but with the way the furniture she’d piled against the door was moving inward with each slam, there was no other option.

Going to a pillar, Lydia wrapped the thin cord around it twice and then secured it with several knots of a quality that would’ve made Teriana cringe. But she’d neither the skill nor the time for better.

Going back to the window, she nodded to Dareena, who pulled the rope tight, securing it somewhere within the tower. Then the High Lady motioned for her to cross.

Climbing onto the windowsill, Lydia lay flat across the rope, then took a breath and allowed herself to rotate under it, using her legs to hold her weight as she slowly crept across the gap.

If any of the blighters looked up, she was dead. At this height, she was well within range of a good bowman, and even with her mark, a well-placed arrow was all it would take.

From behind, she heard furniture smashing to the ground, her barricade starting to crumble. Which meant she had only minutes until they were in.

Hurry.

A cold wind whipped at her robes, her hair blowing around her face, but she kept going, moving as fast as she could. And then she felt hands grip her wrists, hauling her across the sill and into the dark tower beyond.

“Someone tampered with the water at the palace,” Dareena said softly, untying the rope and allowing it to drop so as not to leave a clue where Lydia had gone. “The whole Royal Army is turned or dead, as are the High Lords. They took Serrick prisoner.”

Lydia’s stomach dropped. “Lena and Gwen…”

“Safe on a ship. One Serrick doesn’t know about.”

A small relief. “The blighter Quindor kept got loose and poisoned the temple water with blight. They’ve killed all the healers. And … Serrick has been turned. He’s a blighter now.”

“The Six have mercy on us,” Dareena muttered. “Someone coordinated this. Someone is in charge.”

“It was Cyntha. Or Rufina, as she now calls herself.”

The High Lady stopped in her tracks. “That’s … that’s not possible. Cyntha is a healer. I’ve seen her heal people with my own eyes. She can’t be corrupted. That’s blasphemy.”

“It is possible to do both.” Fear slicked her palms with sweat, but this was no time for keeping secrets. “Because I can do it, too.”

Abruptly she was against the wall, the High Lady’s hands pinioning her wrists to the stone. “What are you saying, Lydia? Because if it’s that you’re corrupted, you know I need to kill you, no matter how much I might wish otherwise.”

“I…” Lydia took a deep breath. “Rufina said that Hegeria grants healers our powers but that it is our choice how we use them. And the Corrupter rewards those who use their marks in service of him. And it’s not only healers—it’s the marks of all the gods that can be corrupted.”

It was hard to see in the darkness of the stairwell, but Lydia could hear Dareena’s breath, feel the way her fingers flexed as she considered Lydia’s words. But she wasn’t convinced, so Lydia said, “The tenders in the Royal Army … I don’t think they all died. I think Rufina captured some of them and forced or convinced them to use their mark to create the blight.”

“Corrupted tenders.”

“Yes.” Lydia’s heart was hammering. “That’s why Malahi was taken—if Rufina’s to be believed, she was marked by Yara but kept her gift a secret. Rufina is going to force her to try to expand the reach of the blight.”

“We need to get her back.”

“Yes.” They were running out of time. “But you and I are the only two people alive who know the truth. Which means we really need to get out of here alive. Which means I really need you to trust me.”

Wind howled down the staircase, and Lydia felt Dareena shiver, then mutter under her breath, “Yeah, Tremon. Fine. I hear you.”

She let go of Lydia’s wrists. “Let’s go. We can get into the sewers through the sublevel, but we need to hurry. They’ll be combing the city soon enough.”

They raced down the stairs, finally reaching the ground level in which there was a large statue of a man on a horse, the base covered with dead flowers and other offerings from before the doors were locked. Dareena brought