Page 31 of A Bond of Ice and Glass
Nymala has always hated Loch, since the first moment they met. I turn around, and every time I rest my eyes on the witch, I see her standing in a pool of my father’s blood. Her hands drenched in his blood, the smirk on her face, the shock in her eyes when she saw me. I have never seen any regret in them. Not once. She kneels in front of the fireplace and begins to light the wood there. Once she is done, with the fire lighting up the gold markings on her skin, she begins to brush ash into a dustpan. Sometimes I feel shitty for making her do all this extra work, but if she’s tired, she’s not rebellious, and that’s a good thing for the witch. Especially one as powerful and useful as her.
“I’m concerned about our queen,” I admit through gritted teeth. I won’t call her princess unless I have to. She is a queen until the day she dies, and even when we end Erax, she will still be his queen. Nymala turns, arching an eyebrow. I clear my throat. “You’re close to her. What do you think?”
“You want my counsel?” I can hear the surprise, along with the amusement, in her voice. “I’ll answer honestly as long as you don’t punish me for it. I’m not scrubbing the castle walls again.”
I still remember when I made her do that. At the same time, I had my guards punished for even thinking about touching her, and I would’ve killed the one who tried, but she took care of the situation…effectively. I didn’t want her to see their punishment, to think it was about her when it wasn’t. She’s my prisoner, and she does what I command of her. But it’s also my duty to protect my prisoners.
“Honesty is free in this room only.”
She’s quiet for a moment, then she laughs.
“Oh, the rose princess has all the men here in her grip, doesn’t she?” I don’t answer. Her smile fades. “Your brother has crossed over to a side of the ether that I’ve only ever heard of. The only way to stop what Loch is doing now is to get her away from him, as far as possible. The ether is controlling your brother now and feeding on her, too. She’s too good for this place.”
Nymala looks into my eyes as she stands up. “What do you think will happen when she does remember every secret you’re keeping from her? What do you think happens when she realises how much magic has been used to smother her all this time? Control her? Because to me, she’s like a storm. You can smother a storm all you want, but eventually, it’ll break and explode in front of you. She’s a dragon rider and a queen. Maelena has a king looking for her, who’s the best dragon rider there is. With fire and ice, they will burn this kingdom and freeze it to the ground. I pray tomygoddess that when she remembers, she spares my life. She will not spare you and your evil brother. That you can be sure of.”
Nymala walks out the same way Loch did. I quietly watch her leave, realising that she might be right. I only did this to save usall, but sometimes, I see the betrayal in Erax’s eyes. The fact I called him my brother. Betraying him was always the plan from the very start. From the day my father sent me there. But the more I got to know him, the more I actually started to like the bastard. But he’s never been what’s right for this kingdom. He takes too much.
I turn back and look out the window at the sky, feeling my dragon hiding nearby. I can’t fly her yet, not while unsure if her loyalty is to me or to her king.
But one thing that is for sure… I’ve made a mistake trusting my brother, and I need to fix it before he takes us all down with him.
Chapter 10
Snow falls around me, shimmering like flecks of glass.
They land on the balcony outside my childhood room, where I stand alone, my breath fogging the air in front of me.
But it’s not the cold that makes me shiver.
It’shim.
I smell him before I see him, feel his presence before I hear it.
He steps out from behind me. Tall, menacing, dressed in black-gold armour. The crown on his head—myfather’scrown—drips with blood. His cloak whips behind him, frost-bitten and bloodstained, as he stops in front of me. I look up at him, to finally see his face… but he moves away again.
“I waited while you forgot me.” His voice rushes over me from behind. “I bled for you. Burned for you. No more waiting.”
A pause, his hand touching my skin, lifting the hair from my neck.
The snowflakes turn to ice, cutting my skin, but I don’t move. Don’t breathe.
“You… are my wife, and I’ll bring this world to its knees if that’s what it takes to make you mine again.” His lips pressto my skin, kissing the side of my throat. “I’m coming for you, Mist. I’m bringing you home.”
My breath hitches, and the runes form on the ground, burning in the fallen snow. Runes I don’t recognise but feel deep in my soul, like they’ve been written there all my life.
His lips move up, slowly trailing a path to my mouth, until they’re pressed against mine. His kiss scorches me, searing right down to my bones.
No, this isn’t a kiss. It’s a claiming.
A promise I don’t understand yet somehow accept. And I still crave it.
Until fire blooms behind my eyes, and I wake up gasping for breath…
Sirens wail in the distance.The air reeks of smoke when I open my eyes and wince at the sound of horns bellowing outside my window. What in the gods is going on?
I stumble out of bed, sweat clinging to my body, my fingertips numb from the cold. Except the room isn’t cold. It’s roasting and filling with smoke. For a moment, I’m paralyzed with fear, with the memory of waking up in a castle full of smoke as Erax took me all those years ago.
But this isn’t the past and there shouldn’t be a fire.
