Page 59 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
I couldn’t let it happen.
I needed to escape.
My gaze finally left my sad reflection and breached further into this strange, frozen land.
Where in the bleeding stars was I?
The Commander’s feared fortress, yes. Butwhere?
Beyond the white, spiny tops of the trees shaking in the wind, I could barely make out grey, jagged roofs stubbornly reaching for the dark sky. Icy snow pelted everything in its path, blocking my view.
In the distance, I could barely make out a dark wall much taller than any mortal hand should have been able to build.
I kicked off my useless shoe and marched to the door, fully expecting it to be locked by some kind of weird Blood Brotherhood magic. If they could freeze people where they stood–a reality I couldn't dwell on too much right now or mypanic would do the job for them and numb me–then surely their magic was more fearsome than any of us had feared.
The brass doorknob looked to have been crafted for giants. It took both of my shaky hands to turn it.
But it clicked open.
The Commander said I wasn’t a prisoner.
Not-prisoners were free to roam.
I chanced a look up and down the massive stone hall that greeted me, the air decidedly chillier than the stuffy, embered room at my back.
Empty.
No guards, no spears, no arrows.
I didn’t hesitate.
I rushed out of the room, my bare feet helping me move soundlessly despite the chill quickly seeping into my soles.
Stairs.
I needed to find stairs and the highest tower to get the best vantage point.
We were surely somewhere in the mountains, I just had to detect the range. Look at the stars’ position if the heavens allowed it and mark my location.
Then I’d find my way back home.
Somehow.
Stony hall after stony hall greeted me.
All of them empty.
All of them cold.
Perhaps everyone was hiding behind the massive wooden doors, huddled around fireplaces.
Or this was a trap and they wanted me to run away unimpeded.
My heart beat fast enough to wind me as I finally, mercifully reached a set of stairs. My foot had already touched the firststep when my instincts roared past the haziness still keeping my mind captive.
This staircase was too grand, the wooden banister too ornate and too glimmering. This lead to somewhere important. To power.
Throne room, war room, the Commander’s room.
