Page 169 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“No,” I smirk. “We need to make a little detour and meet with a very angry bear deity.”
“Then, let’s go. We don’t have any time to waste,” Favian says. He gives Elio one swift hug, leaving him with a few instructions before he follows me out of the castle. There, he finally shifts to his dragon form, and for a moment I am rendered speechless. The sun is setting by now, yet his golden scales shimmer in the light of the setting sun and rising moon. I have never seen such a magical creature before.
What’s wrong, little princess?A female voice coos, in my mind.
“Favia! You are here, too!”
Of course I am. When Favian shifts, his dragon spirit can merge with me and become stronger. Though technically, I can also merge my power with his in his human form, too.The golden dragon lowers itself to the ground.Favian and I are both taking the lead today, which is rare, but we need each other’s strength. So, where are we heading to?
“To Artio,” I say. “He is roaming around no-man's land close to the village at the borders.”
Ah, he will be easy to find. She snickers.And, the bitch in white will follow on her own?
“She will,” Cailleach says, her voice suddenly appearing next to me. She is a deity, so I’m not surprised she was able to listen to our mind link, but I’m surprised that she remains unfazed by Favia’s insult. “Lead the way, Princess of the Sun.”
fifty-three
The General’s Plan
*SHAYAN*
I’ve spent hours distracting Penelope. Ever since Noemi disappeared, I went all out in making sure to keep Penelope busy. Never in my life have I been more stressed. There is no holding back now, though. Either Tynan arrives with backup tonight or Royan and I will be dead. I’m not going to stand by and watch him get tortured another night.
I even took advantage of Rona being around, though she is surprisingly quiet. I carefully poked her and Penelope for details about their training and how they spend time with each other. To my relief, Penelope loves the fact that I’m interested in her person and indulges me a bit. I explained to her that eventually I need to be of help to her, and need to know the surroundings better. Another fact that seems to please her. She and Rona once more show me the underground area of the cult. This time I try to be much more aware of my surroundings, noting how the door opens to hers or Rona’s spells, but that other members enter with a bracelet they carry.
I have no plan, yet, of what I’m going to do to help Royan, but just in case a brilliant idea strikes me, I want to know how to get around here.
It's late afternoon when Penelope decides she wants to visit Royan again. “You are coming with me,” she tells Rona, her tone cold. Her eyes glint like it brings her joy to hurt her own sister that way.
Rona just nods, her lips quivering slightly.
“Shay,” Penelope turns to look at me. “You are free to accompany me or go your own ways for the remainder of the evening.”
I furrow my brows, pretending to think about her offer. “I will accompany you for now,” I say. I need to check on Royan and intervene in case things get too bad. “If it’s alright with you, Madame, I might leave you in between your questioning and try to learn more about this place on my own.”
“I like your dedication to the cause,” she says. “And how you want to be one of us. Very well,” she takes the arm I offer her. “Let’s go.”
The walk down the staircase and to the dungeons is one I dread. It reminds me of how my friend and ally is here, and has no chance to defend himself. When we finally arrive at his cell, the blood in my veins freezes. He is pale, his pallor sickish. I want to close my eyes or turn my head to look somewhere else like Rona is doing right now, but I don’t. This is my punishment. I should have watched out for him more. He is so much younger and less experienced than I am, and I had a bad feeling ever since he met his mate, yet I didn’t warn him. This is not the best I could have done to protect him.
I stare at him, hoping he will open his eyes to look at me, but they are still closed. Next to me, Rona clenches her fingers into fists.
Two men bring Penelope a chair to sit down on. Once she has sat down, she takes the doll out of her pocket again. “Let’s see if we can wake Sleeping Beauty up,” she sneers.
My blood runs cold by the chilly tone of her voice. There is not a hint of empathy in it, nothing kind, just pure hatred and despise… and joy. She likes to bring terror upon others, she enjoys the pain she brings them.
A smirk curls her lips as she twists one of the puppet’s legs. Royan jolts awake, screaming in pain, as his leg gets twisted. Penelope proceeds with other parts and limbs of his body, until Royan’s voice is too hoarse to scream. Next to me, I can feel Rona shift slightly. When I look at her, there are tears in her eyes, her body trembling slightly. There is a scar marring half her face now where Penelope scratched her yesterday.
All she had to do was keep her mouth shut. She brought this upon her own mate, but she is not the one wielding the sword. That’s Penelope. Rona just happens to be her stupid sidekick.
Royan’s breath seems to get more and more shallow. Penelope takes a needle out of her pocket, ramming it into the puppet’s upper body. Royan’s eyes fly open. He coughs.
“No,” Rona cries, burying her face behind her hands.
“Oh look, sweet sister,” Penelope snickers. “That’s how far you went for me. You sacrificed your own mate for me. This is all your doing.”
I’m too shocked to react to her cruel words, only waking up from my haze when I realize she has sent Royan into cardiac arrest.
This is it. I’m not going to stand by and watch that anymore. I’m about to dash forward and do… something… when Penelope turns to one of her men. “Bring him back,” she says shortly. “Use a bit of the antidote for the wolfsbane.”
