Page 14 of Frost Bound

Lia darted a glance to Adder, but he was watching the queen. There was no one here to save her. She only had herself.

“It is, Your Highness,” Lia stated woodenly.

“But he is very young for the field, and sickly from what I hear,” the queen drawled. She smiled, and it cut right through Lia as if she could see every fear she had. “That does not have to be his fate. We could be lenient.”

And there was the bait. Dahlia held the queen’s gaze. “He’s my last living companion, Your Highness. His heart is my heart. What will you have of me?”

The queen laughed, and it grated Lia’s ears. “So very bright. You’ll do just fine.” Her blood-red lips curled. “We need a spy in the Loriian court.”

Loriian.The frost giants.

Lia blanched, her palms sweating. “Me?”

“You.”

“But I’m not a spy.”

The queen waved a hand. “We need you to watch, listen, and write to us. That’s not too difficult, is it?”

It sounded simple, yet it was anything but. When her troupe had traveled near Loriia’s border, she’d seen the traitors staked at the kingdom’s edge. A warning for any humans passing into their realm without permission.

She swallowed hard. “Why me?”

“You’re the perfect fit. Now, will you accept?”

“I will … if it spares my brother.” The words were difficult to get out past the fear. “And that is what my lady requires of me.” A tactful add-on.

“It is. I assume you’re learned?”

“I am.” The words felt wrong in her mouth. “My mother taught me well.”

“Perfect. Then your training will be short.” She looked to her husband, who’d stayed silent, observing the interaction. “What say you, my lord?”

The king grinned. “It seems we have it all in hand. Basil will handle your training. You will stay here until the envoy comes for you. You’re dismissed.”

Dahlia bowed low, hardly knowing what she’d agreed to. She shot a look at the Giver, who smiled lopsidedly at her and winked. Stars, she hated him.

With slow steps, she moved toward the man they called Basil. He held the hidden door open for her, a fake smile on his face.

“Oh, and, sweet Dahlia?” the queen called. “Behave and work hard, will you? Or your brother goes to the fields.”

Chapter Seven

Dahlia

She hadn’t seenCosmos in two weeks. Each day that passed she grew more terrified. Where did they have him? Was her brother being fed? Was he warm?

The questions haunted her.

Dahlia leaned against the frescoed window frame and stared at the dwindling sunset. The colors seemed to lack luster, or maybe that was due to her mood.

Even Adder hadn’t deigned to visit. She thought for sure he’d show his slimy face to gloat in his triumph. But nothing.

Servants came and went. The only face she knew was Basil.

He appeared in her room—or cell as it was—each morning with an itinerary. She asked for Cosmos every day but was met with Basil reassuring her that he was whole. Words were a tricky thing. Whole could mean that they hadn’t cut off his head but that he was in pain, suffering, starving. Her mind found new ways to conjure nightmares each time the sun sank low.

The guilt was enough to drown her. While there wasn’t much choice when it came to the queen’s request, Dahlia had beenstuffed to the brim and pampered beyond anything she could have imagined. The silent servants even bathed her in milk each night. Exposing her body to strangers had been harrowing, but the maids never even batted an eye at the markings on her legs. They just scrubbed until Lia’s scalp burned and her skin turned pink. They’d done their best to erase any mark of hard labor from her hands and feet.

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