Page 27 of Frost Bound

“This is what happens when we let them mingle among us. They cause pain and suffering,” he said. “Time for a lesson.” He lifted his other hand and Lia whimpered, scrunching her eyes closed as she waited for the blow.

“No!” her mama’s voice shouted. “Leave her alone! She’s just a little girl.”

Lia yipped as the Haunt dropped her; she hit the ground too hard, falling to her rear. She started to cry as her mother hung on the scary Haunt’s arm, glaring up at him. Lia screamed when he hit her mum and she dropped onto all fours. She scrambled toward Lia and yelled when another Haunt kicked her in the gut, toppling her onto her back. Her head made a sickening crack against the stone, and yet she still crawled toward Dahlia, until she caged the girl beneath her body.

“Mama!” she sobbed, clinging to her rough-spun dress.

“It’s okay, my sweet,” her mum slurred, the pupils of her eyes looking weird. She almost looked like a Haunt, her eyes were so black. “I love you. We’ll be okay…”

The blows kept coming until her mother collapsed, curling around Lia.

Lia continued to cry, pressing her face into her mum’s chest.

“Human scum,” she heard someone say, before a wet glob hit the side of her neck.

They were spitting on them, but she held still as her mum made a faint shushing sound. A whip cracked, and then the clatter of hooves started.

The Haunts were leaving.

They lay like that until the square rang with silence. Lia’s tears dried and itched on her face. She raised her head and stared at her mama. Blood dripped down her face.

“Mama?”

“Leph,” she wheezed, her gaze focusing on nothing. “Teg leph.”

“I don’t understand.” She scooted back and her mum cried out in pain. “I’m sorry, Mama.” Something wasn’t right. “Help.” She barely whispered it for fear of the Haunts coming back.

“Leph,” her mum repeated, and began to shake.

Lia stood, fear pumping through her. She searched the area for someone,anyone, but no one was around.

In the middle of the square lay her trampled crown.

Her mother wheezed and seized on the ground.

This was Dahlia’s fault.

All because she wanted to be a princess for an hour.

“Dahlia!”

She jerked and cringed back against the wall, the fabrics around her rustling. Lia stared at Basil, who stood in the doorframe of the wardrobe with his hands on his hips. Her heart thundered and nausea swirled in her gut.

“What the devil are you doing?”

Lia blinked slowly at him. Hiding, that’s what she was doing. And reliving the horrors of her past. Didn’t he know monsters lurked in the castle? That they’d come for her?

The steward threw his hands in the air and stomped over to her, shoving aside all the garments around her. Dahlia wrapped her arms around herself, feeling exposed, like a raw nerve. He reached down and pulled Lia to her feet. His brows slashed together as his gaze swept her face.

“You look like death.”

“Thanks,” she croaked. Fatigue crashed down upon her as she tried to pull out of the nightmare that threatened to suck her back in.

“What happened to you?” he questioned, suspicion in his tone. “Were you discovered? Did you expose us?” When shedidn’t answer, Basil grabbed her by the biceps and shook her. “Answer me!”

“No…” She shook her head. “Only the ghosts of my past came to haunt me.” Bane and blood, she was tired.

He harrumphed. “We all have ghosts, sweets. Now is not the time to let them bother you. Too much is at stake.” Basil lifted a lock of her hair and squinted at it. “Despite your little adventure last night, I was able to get your brother out of the palace.” He sniffed. “No thanks to your meddling.”

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