Page 43 of Blood Beneath the Snow

Soon my frozen extremities regained feeling. I relished the warmth. I’d been riding in the frigid air for hours, and my face had gone numb far too early in the journey. Hours spent navigating this hellhole hadn’t helped either.

With my body temperature slowly adjusting, I began wondering what I’d left behind. Was the battle over? Had Bhorglid been victorious? Or were the Kryllians taking my family prisoner right now?

No. If my father had managed to evade defeat for this long, one ambush would not be enough to tip the scales.

Comforted by the thought, I scooted to the side of the fire and rested my forehead against the wall. I told myself to check if the chimney was a feasible escape route once the fire was extinguished. Now, still shivering, I didn’t have the heart to even consider embracing the cold for such a meager chance at freedom. In the meantime, I’d take my chances and hope the Hellbringer would return.

I settled in for a long morning.

“Get up.”

The dark, distorted voice was becoming far too familiar for my liking. I started and turned, using my feet to scoot myself back against the wall. I must have dozed off in the fire’s warmth.

My eyes scanned him from toes to head, taking him in. On second, closer look, he appeared more terrifying than I had first thought. His black boots had soles two inches thick and were laced up his calves to protect him from the snow. Dark plated armor covered his legs, arms, and torso, glinting dangerously in the light of the fire. Gloves covered his hands, and the neck of his shirt concealed any skin that could potentially be exposed between the armor and the mask.

I swallowed. The mask. The skull had wide, gaping hollows where the eyes should be, two carved nostrils, and teeth bared in a wide, hideous grin. When I’d seen him on streets that were familiar and not in his domain, the helmet hadn’t felt nearly as grotesque. But here, it was my worst nightmare come to life.

He crossed his arms over his chest. The thick cloak fastened across his collarbone shifted along with his feet as he took another step toward me. “Get. Up.”

I pushed down my dread, forcing it to lie still in the pit of my stomach long enough for me to stand. He wouldn’t see me cower.

At my full height, my eyes barely reached his chin. I copied his stance, crossing my own arms and widening the space between my feet to stabilize myself. Everything in me wanted to fight, but with his godtouch there was no point.

“Kill me fast,” I said. I couldn’t tell where his eyes were, but I stared into the eyes of the carved skull. I held back a shiver. I clenched my shaking hands into fists to hide my trembling. Dying wasn’t what I wanted, but I knew it would be better than the alternative: torture, ridicule, starvation. I could only imagine the horrors in store for me at the Hellbringer’s hands.

There was a swift beat of silence that felt like an eternity. “I am not going to kill you,” he said.

I furrowed my brow. “Well, why not?”

“My queen has other plans for you, Princess,” he said. “Yourcooperation is necessary for her success. Killing you now would be foolish.”

My thoughts raced. Maybe this was why he’d been searching for me. “Plans?” I asked.

He didn’t respond, and after a moment I realized he was taking me in the same way I had looked him over upon waking. I wondered what he assumed, who he thought I was. Why he’d been looking for me when there were far more powerful people who could accomplish his purposes.

He turned toward the small table I’d noticed when I first walked into the room. “Come eat.”

I didn’t move. This man was responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of my people.

Any fascination I once felt regarding him was gone. Anger coursed through me until I burned with it. He had slaughtered my people but not me. Gods be damned if he thought I would sit and eat anything he provided.

I had to be quick. Taking him out would require my life, but I’d willingly give it to pay him back for his crimes. His back was turned, and as he moved to sit at the table, I pulled my sword from the sheath at my hip and lunged for him.

There wasn’t time to blink before his own blade parried mine. I twisted, lunging out of his sword’s range before attempting to strike again. The sound of metal on metal filled my ears.

I scowled. But before I could move, he pushed his full strength against my sword, bending me backward until my wrists shook with the effort of staying upright.

The sunken eyes of the mask bored into my own. I swallowed. At least when I died it would be fighting. There was no greater honor.

He spoke, his voice eerily soft. “Did you think it would be easy?” he asked quietly. “Did you presume I couldn’t wield aweapon? That my Lurae was my only skill? That you’re the first one to attempt my assassination?”

A bead of sweat dripped past my eyes. Gods, he wasstrong. I gritted my teeth, trying to summon the effort to keep my wrists from snapping under the pressure. My spine was beginning to ache from bending backward at such an unnatural angle.

Without warning, he dropped his stance, sheathing his blade once more. My breath came in ragged gasps and the point of my sword hit the ground. But I refused to lower my eyes.

He wouldn’t even kill me.

“Coward,” I growled.

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