Page 54 of Frost Like Night
But she’s already moving past it, her eyes shooting to Mather and Phil, who hurry up behind me. Her face brightens and she tucks her hand into mine.
“Follow me,” she says to us.
Nessa takes my other hand, bouncing alongside me as we turn down another grass-trampled road. Around us the cheering has dissipated, but the news still spreads—eyes watch me with interest, people point and call to friends that the Winter queen has arrived. I’m so distracted by the spreading news that I don’t immediately realize who surrounds me.
Winterians. Dozens of them, holding bowls or food or buckets, but all turn toward me, staring with just as much wonder as I stare at them with.
“They’re here.” I tug at Dendera’s hand.“How?”
“Henn heard about the camp while we were in Summer,” Dendera explains. “He thought it would make a good safe spot for those who escaped the takeover.”
“How many escaped?” I dare to ask. “Where is Henn? And—”
Did Sir not make it out? What about Finn and Greer and Deborah?
Dendera squeezes my shoulder. “William made it out. Finn and Greer—” She closes her eyes in a soft sigh. “They’ll be free soon enough. William and Henn left yesterday morning.”
“Left? For where? Are they going back to Jannuari?”
Mather closes in on one side, his expression just as dark as mine feels. My gut starts to throb as Dendera reads our concern and shakes her head.
“Not Jannuari. They’ll be fine! You act as though they’ve never gone on a mission like this before. They went with Ceridwen and a small group of Summerians and Yakimians to Juli—it’s Ceridwen’s plan to assassinate Angra while he’s—”
The noise I make is half a scream and half a sob.
“No,” I say. “Tell me they aren’t going to face Angra. Dendera, no—”
She squints, her pride in their mission flaking off the more I shake my head.
Ceridwen, Sir, Henn, and a group of soldiers went to Juli to face Angra. Without any magical protection.
They’re all as good as dead.
16
Mather
MATHER LATCHED ONTOMeira’s plan before she’d even spoken. All she did was look up at him, and he knew—they were going to Juli.
They had to do what they could to help William and the rest, who would be walking into a kingdom overtaken by Angra’s Decay, possibly even more so than Ventralli by now. Ceridwen’s group had more than a day of travel on them and could reach Juli the next night. They could attempt to face Angra and end up possessed by his Decay before they’d even raised their swords.
Meira whirled away from Dendera, her eyes going to the sword at Conall’s waist. She pointed at it. “I need weapons,” she told him. “Enough for—”
“Eight people,” Mather cut in. “The Thaw and I will go with you.” He nodded at Phil. “Go find them. They have to be here somewhere.”
“I’ll show you!” Nessa offered, and raced away so fast Phil had to scramble to keep up. Conall dispersed as well, ducking into a tent to start gathering weapons.
Meira pressed on. “We’ll need medical supplies too—I can’t heal any non-Winterians.”
“Horses?”
“No, we’ll travel as we did from Paisly.”
Mather grimaced. “Great.”
“Stop!”
The Winterians around them watched as Dendera stood with her hands spread.
