Page 57 of Frost Like Night
“We won’t be defeated,” Phil echoed. “I know, I know.”
Meira stepped up beside Mather, joining their circle. Most of the group shifted at her presence, the unfamiliarity of being around their queen still making them unsteady. But there was determination behind their nerves, and even Kiefer stood with alertness.
Phil was the only one who didn’t snap to attention, instead absently studying the grass. Mather nudged him, pinching his brows into an expression of concern.
Phil shook his head. Nodded. Forced a smile again.
Angra’s torture was still too fresh. Mather almost told him to stay, but Phil made no move to leave the group, and indeed seemed to stand straighter with them around. He needed to be with them—even if that meant facing Angra again.
“I’ll put us as close to Juli as I can,” Meira said. “I don’t want to risk getting too close to Angra and having him sense my magic.”
Hollis frowned. “My queen?”
Mather stepped in. “About our journey—it won’t actually be ajourneyso much as a . . .”
Phil moaned, his head thrown back. “Kill me. Someone, kill me now.”
“Reassuring, Phil, thanks,” Mather said.
But Phil just extended his groan. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Something in his reluctance made Meira’s eyes widen, and she looked up at Mather before encompassing each of the Thaw with the same wary look.
“I wish I had time to explain what I’m going to do,” she said. “I know the only magic you’ve ever been around was Angra’s, in Spring, in the camps, and I— This isn’t the same. It will hurt, but I promise, I’m not trying to change you, or force anything on you, and I—”
“It’s all right, my queen,” said Hollis, and he offered a smile. “We trust you.”
She nodded, but she still looked loath to use her magic.Even so, she held out her hands, encouraging everyone in the group to form a linked circle. Phil was the last to enter, his hand shaking as he grasped Mather’s.
Maybe Meira can give him strength,Mather thought, but before he could ask her, she tightened her fingers on his. Mather staggered, unable to brace himself as her magic swept over them in a rush of frost and snow and sharp, stinging daggers of ice.
17
Meira
I SPLIT MYconcentration among filling the Thaw with just enough magic to combat the nausea of travel, placing us close enough to Preben Palace but not so close that we catch Angra’s attention, and keeping a shield around my mind so Angra can’t feel me coming. But he could have the entire city in a barrier of some kind, waiting for me to break through—especially if he’s already caught Ceridwen and Sir. He’d know I’d come for them, and he’d be waiting for me.
If he knows I’m coming, though, no amount of preparation will help.
The amount of magic I have to use to do everything I need saps my energy before I’ve even gotten us to Juli. The tributaries that branch off from the Feni sparkle in the fading sun, adding light against the endless orange and gold of Juli’s sandstone buildings, and as I deposit everyone in an alley on the outermost ring of Juli, I fling another waveof iciness back at myself—strength, energy, keeping myself alert through the strain that makes me want to crumple in the dust.
The Thaw stumbles as we land, each of them gaping with awe and terror. Except for Mather and Phil, who clutch their stomachs and sigh in relief at the absence of vomiting.
“What now?” Mather asks, preventing the Thaw from lingering on anything but the task at hand: saving our friends. And getting the keys from Angra.
I shake my head at myself. Saving everyone is my first priority—if we can get the keys too, then we will, but not before everyone else is safe.
I step forward to peek out of the alley. Last time I was in Juli, parties raged up and down every street, wine and music and gyrating bodies oozing from the buildings.
Now evening approaches, but already the streets around us are almost empty. Shutters bang idly against windows; unattended flames simmer in the fire pits that line the street. Across from our alley, one lone wanderer flings himself into an inn and slams the door as if evil might follow; the building next to it shows only the faces of women and men pressed to the windows, watching the street with eyes that scream fear. They look so like the people I saw in Abril, long ago—hiding from the world, hoping the problem of fixing it will fall on someone else’s shoulders.
If I had wondered before what Angra wants, the sight before me now would confirm it. He has taken the joyous,chaotic, beautiful riot of Summer and stamped it out until it resembles his controlled, fearful Abril.
I turn back to the Thaw, hands balled at my sides. “We need to get to the palace—that’s where Angra will be, so that’s our best chance of finding Ceridwen or anyone with her. And maybe, if we get close enough, I can use my magic to sense where Sir is.”
“We’re just going to traipse through Juli?” Trace’s brows pinch over his nose and he tugs at his shaggy white hair. “We don’t exactly blend in.”
My eyes drop to the ground as I think—and the answer presents itself.
