Page 20 of Frost Like Night
Mather whipped his head back around the doorframe. Brigitte stood next to the dais looking no less than the severe opponent she was. All of Raelyn’s attention was on Jesse, who shifted toward his mother, his fists trembling.
“What would I do, dear husband, since you know me so well?” Raelyn asked. “How would I reward traitors? Would I reward them likethat?” Her hand shot out, pointing to something in the front corner of the room, to Jesse’s left. Jesse turned, but Mather couldn’t see anything from this position. Whatever it was sent a spasm of horror over Jesse’s face.
“What did you . . .” Jesse stumbled backward. “Why, Raelyn?”
“Trophies of our victory. The old ways are dead—and Spring has come. And now I have one more to add to my collection! Well, four more, actually.”
Soldiers swept into the hall, and before Mather had time to do more than swear at himself, he and Phil had been yanked into the throne room behind Jesse.
Mather could see them now, Raelyn’s trophies. The sight made his stomach clench.
Bathed in shadows, three men loomed between the pillars in the back of the room, and at a glance it appeared as though they were merely soldiers hovering out of sight.
But they were far from soldiers. They were far fromalive.
Spikes propped the bodies upright. The Summerian king’s head cocked to the side, congealed blood wrapping around his neck in a thick band. Summer’s conduit had been taken off his wrist and sat at the base of the spike, even more prominent a trophy. Beside him, Noam’s neck bore a smaller slash, the mark of the chakram Theron had thrown. And next to him—
Mather hardened. Garrigan stood at the end of the row, Meira’s chakram still in his chest.
“Aren’t they marvelous?” Raelyn sighed. “A bit morbid, yes, butsosatisfying.”
“Raelyn . . .” Jesse’s voice died as he finally realized Mather and Phil had been discovered. Phil kept his eyes fixed on the floor, shoulders pivoted away from the trophies, and though Mather wished he had the good sense to do the same, he couldn’t.
He didn’t know the Summerian king and cared little for his death. Noam he had hated, and he couldn’t deny the gratification he felt at knowing the man was dead. But no one deserved to be paraded like this—no one except maybe Raelyn or Angra.
But especially not Garrigan.
Mather’s eyes latched onto the chakram in Garrigan’s chest.
“Now, who’s first?” Raelyn’s shoes clicked on the dais as she walked toward Brigitte. “You will be a wonderful addition to my collection, Duchess.”
Jesse took a threatening step forward, but one of the soldiers met him before he could go far. A fist to the gut, and Jesse crumpled.
Phil hissed in warning, but Mather was already moving, drawing step by step toward the bodies as if they mesmerized him.
“Stop,” one soldier grunted, his fist ramming toward Mather’s stomach. Mather sidestepped, acting the part of the dazed prisoner as he stumbled closer to the bodies.
Raelyn’s attention moved to them now. She had her arms out, fingers extended. He could practically taste Angra’s evil radiating from her.
The soldier stomped toward him. Mather leaped the rest of the way to Garrigan, springing into the shadows between the columns and wrenching the chakram from its bloody holster. He tried not to think about the grating sound and the fleshy resistance that dragged against the blade. Using the same momentum that had flung him toward Garrigan, Mather swung back and sliced through the soldier’s cheek, severing half his jaw from his face.
“No—” Raelyn’s scream bit off as the old queen slammed into her, sending her toppling off the dais.
Brigitte whirled. “RUN!”
Mather let Meira’s chakram soar, nicking the arm and chest of the two soldiers who held Jesse. Phil ducked to grab the now free Ventrallan king and hauled him toward the doors as the chakram returned to Mather. He caught itand used it at close range now, slicing enemies aside as Phil managed to wrestle a dagger from a soldier and slash back, hand flailing in jabs and frenzied thrusts. Jesse gaped at his mother still.
“Come on!” Mather shouted and gave him a solid shake. Raelyn could regain her composure at any moment—
Before Mather could blink, Jesse peeled the mask off his face, snapped it in half, and dropped those halves on the room’s swirling marble floor.
“May this be one of yourtrophies,” Jesse hissed, and swung around, sprinting out of the room. Mather tugged Phil along, both of them taking down the remaining few guards before they launched into the hall and hurled themselves after Jesse.
Not more than half a dozen breaths after they left, a scream pierced the air. Jesse faltered, losing his pace long enough that Mather caught up to him, hooked his arm through his, and hauled him on.
“Don’t let her sacrifice be in vain,” Mather said.
Jesse’s face paled. “Turn . . . ,” he managed. “There’s a servants’ entrance. . . .”
