Page 96 of Blood Beneath the Snow

My father leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “What did they ask? What were they trying to find out?”

I shrugged. “They wanted locations of any hidden camps. Specifics on what attacks we were planning. What camps of theirs we were targeting. They wanted to know if we had any undercover godtouched. Anyone like the Hellbringer with a unique ability to turn the tide of the war.”

“At the risk of being…insensitive,” Erik said, “why didn’t they kill you on the spot? Why would they risk anyone finding you?”

Hmm. I hadn’t considered that.

Thankfully, with what they believed about the Hellbringer, the lie came to my lips easily. “The Hellbringer and his soldiers found it amusing that I would die in the wilderness without them needing to lift a finger.” I looked at my feet, hoping they would think it a sign of shame. “They said it wasn’t worth the effort of killing me.”

“Yet you were worth the effort of taking to a remote location and dropping you off to die?” Björn scoffed. “I don’t believe it.”

I scowled. “I don’t know what effort you mean. It took the soldier less than ten seconds to teleport me there, drop me, and teleport herself back. Besides, aren’t you the ones who have been telling me Kryllian people are savages? They found sport in leaving me to die a slow, agonizing death in the freezing cold.”

“Stop arguing.” Father turned to me, his jaw working. “Was there anything else? Anything at all to lead us to the Hellbringer?”

I shook my head. “I’ve told you everything I know.”

The fire had thawed me and was starting to make me sweat. It was too warm for comfort now. I wanted to go back outside. The cold would distract me from the hollow place inside my chest where my loss resided.

I missed Søren the same way I would miss a limb.

“Can I go now?” I didn’t hide the emptiness in my voice. “I have nothing more to tell you.”

“Maybe we find a truthteller,” Björn suggested. “Are there any in this camp with that particular godtouch? Make sure she isn’t lying.”

My stomach twisted painfully, but Erik shook his head. “There are none at this campsite. And despite Revna’s shortcomings, she knows better than to lie to us. Frode will be able to hear her thoughts, and if he notices anything amiss, he’ll let us know.”

My father sighed and stood, moving his chair back to the table. His expression of disgust and disappointment was familiar. “Go,”he said. “You’re as useless to me as before. I wish we’d found your frozen body in the snow.”

Before my abduction, before the Hellbringer, I wouldn’t have hesitated to fire back at my father. But now, instead of my blood boiling, defeat made my limbs heavy. I’d left Søren behind, only to return to this?

The sooner I won the Trials, the better. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with constant condescension and insults.

Then I could order my father killed.

24

Frode found me an hourlater, sitting by the fire at the center of camp. I’d re-braided my hair and taken to polishing my sword with enough fury that despite the frigid temperatures outside, I remained alone by the hearth.

The camp itself was bigger than I expected and the people who passed included not only soldiers but healers and the occasional priest as well. The tents were pitched in ever-expanding circles around the central fire. The snow around us was packed down by endless boot prints.

I wasn’t blind. I saw how the eyes of soldiers who passed me widened and how they whispered behind their hands. As night had fallen, I’d become the main attraction in the camp. Many of the soldiers were from outer provinces, far from the capital, and had never seen the infamous Nilurae princess before now.

Frode touched me lightly on the shoulder to announce his presence. I turned to glare, but when I realized he wasn’t a gawking soldier, I relaxed.

“You’re out late,” I said. The fire illuminated his face in the darkness as he sat beside me. Around us, the camp quieted. Most soldiers were in their tents, with a few posted as sentries.

“As are you,” he replied. His green eyes glowed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I hated that he knew I was lying; he would always know.

“I suppose it’s not as nice for you as it is for me.” He smirked. “What did you tell them?”

I pulled the memory of the interrogation to my mind and walked through it, allowing Frode to see everything that had happened during the questioning. When I finished, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Father is determined to find the Hellbringer before the Trials. He says it’s to help ease the transition of power, but we know it’s so he can get the glory.”

I leaned back, examining my sword. “He won’t get far. I’ve never seen anyone protect a secret the way the Kryllians protect the Hellbringer’s identity. I doubt anyone in the army knows who he really is.”

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