Page 61 of Blood Beneath the Snow

“Thinking. It’s loud.”

He sounded exactly like Frode, and it made my chest ache. I already hated the Hellbringer, but his snide comment solidified my feelings.

Tonight’s meal was beef. It cooked quickly and I scarfed it down quicker. As soon as it was gone, I bounced to my feet and hefted mysword. The day’s report had left me on edge and I buzzed with pent-up energy. “Fight me, Hellbringer. Let’s get this over with.”

He stood and walked to where I waited. He didn’t draw his weapon. “It’s not exactly a fight if you can’t hit me.”

When I pursed my lips, his ensuing laugh caught me by surprise. It wasn’t derisive or cynical, as his laughs before had been. It was genuine, and it startled me how much I enjoyed knowing I’d caused it.

I schooled my features into a scowl. “What?”

“Your face is easy to read. It’s amusing,” he chuckled. “You don’t hide anything, do you?”

“Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes. “Like you’d know how to socialize properly if you tried.”

“At least I’m not trying to kill you. You can’t say that about your own family.”

“Are we sparring or not?”

He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he returned to the table and started clearing away the remains of dinner. “Your turn, Princess. Tell me something true. Do you truly believe your father would have murdered you?” he asked. There was a strange hollowness in his voice, and I hesitated. Why the sudden interest?

The callback to our moment in the wastes threw me off. It was the only reason to explain why I obliged his request and answered him honestly.

“My father has been trying to get rid of me my whole life. This is nothing new.” I sheathed my weapon. Apparently, tonight’s training had been canceled. “It would have been more surprising if hewasn’ttrying to murder me.”

“Why don’t you murder him first?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Do you think murder is the solution to all of life’s problems?”

He shrugged from where he scraped the remains of the food into the fire. “It’s always been the solution to mine.”

I tried to hold my laugh in, but it burst out of me. “Do you hear yourself?” I asked. “You sound ridiculous.”

“I was joking.” He might have been lying, but without a facial expression to read, I couldn’t be sure.

I felt myself grinning and managed to wipe it off my face.He is your enemy. Do not let him take advantage of you.

I stopped laughing and forced myself to replace it with irritation. For some reason I couldn’t summon anger no matter how badly I wanted to. Annoyance would have to be enough for the time being.

The Hellbringer was quiet for a moment. “Would your father be punished if he murdered you?” he asked. “He is king, after all.”

“Probably not, but if he were, then the priests would be the ones to execute him,” I explained. “My father holds the ultimate authority in Bhorglid, but their influence on the crown is strong. It’s been that way for generations.”

I watched as a shudder moved through the Hellbringer. “I hate your priests,” he muttered. “Their uniforms are…eerie at best.”

Another laugh fell from my lips.

“What?” he asked.

“Have you ever looked in a mirror while you’re wearing”—I gestured at him—“that?”

I waited for him to chuckle, the response I was expecting. But he didn’t speak. Silence followed him like a dark shroud. It was fitting, with the shadows dancing across the walls from the lanterns. My amusement turned sour in my stomach.

When a long moment passed without a response, I realized he was done talking. More than that, he was ignoring me now.

For the briefest moment I allowed myself to wonder where the man I was coming to expect had disappeared to. This was no longer the Hellbringer who plied me with requests to tell him something true. Who was endlessly patient when I didn’t master a new form with instant perfection during training.

No. That man had disappeared in a swift instant, replaced by the general who had kidnapped me.

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