Page 61 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
Chapter Ten:
The Captive and the Queen
Bianca paced around her room in a gown of black lace, her thick hair tumbling around her shoulders. She’d tugged it out of the elegant weave in frustration.
“Why aren’t they back yet?” she hissed at the Mirror.
“Patience, My Queen. They are coming.”
“You are certain they found the right place?”
“I am certain.”
Someone thumped on the door. “Your Majesty! We have news.”
“Enter!”
The Mirror faded back to normal as two guards barged into the chamber, dragging a man behind them, his face beaten and bloody.
“We interrupted a secret meeting,” said the guards. “Many fled, a few were killed. This one we managed to capture alive.”
“Interesting,” said Queen Bianca. “Hold up his head.”
One of the guards yanked the prisoner by the hair and twisted his face towards the Queen. She recognised it. A lesser noble.
“Lord Hammersmith?”
The man let out a sound that was half sob, half whimper. “Please, Your Majesty, have mercy! I was curious, only curious! I wanted to see if the rumours were true–”
“Rumours?” The queen narrowed her eyes. “What rumours?”
“They… they were saying that this time, the rebels had something new, something different. A tool of some kind–”
“A tool? What kind of tool?”
Lord Hammersmith blinked the blood from his eyes. “Your Majesty… Princess Eirwen is still alive.”
Queen Bianca stumbled backwards, her body stiffening like ice. “No. No, that’s not possible.”
“I saw her with my own eyes, Your Majesty. It was her. The mirror of her mother–”
“Silence!”
The guards dropped Lord Hammersmith to a crumpled heap on the floor as Bianca twitched about the room, her eyes falling to the empty mirror.
It cannot be. It is not possible. He told me she was dead, and the Huntsman–
The Huntsman.
“Guards, please escort Lord Hammersmith to the dungeons. He shall be executed in the morning.”
Lord Hammersmith whimpered. “Your Majesty, please–”
One of the guards jerked him to his feet, but the other looked uneasy. “Without trial, Your Majesty?”
“The man is guilty of crimes against the Crown. There is no leniency for treason.”
“But he is from a noble family–”
