Chapter 19
Athin blanket was tucked around Lea’s small frame, but she looked far from comfortable. Her eyes followed the prince like he was a hawk that might swoop down at her at any moment, and her knees were tucked tightly to her chest like she was on guard.
“Lea, what are you doing here?” I pulled away from Blamore, and this time he let me go so I could approach my new roommate.
“Great question,” Lea said tartly, glaring up at the prince. “Because I’m certainly not sick.”
That was both relieving and terrifying to hear. She certainly looked well. Her color was good, her voice was clear, and her spirit definitely wasn’t suffering. If she wasn’t sick, then what reason could Blamore have for locking her away?
“The young lady was found living alone in the mountains,” Blamore explained. “My men discovered that her entire family had passed due to an illness, so naturally we had to quarantine her until we knew for certain if she was well or not.”
“I told you, I’m fine!” Lea barked, her whole body rattling. “My family passed away weeks ago. If I was sick, I would have shown symptoms long before now.”
“Fine folks don’t ramble on about the snow king like you did when you were found,” Blamore said sternly, the ice in his voice dimming the fire. “You and Safara seem to have that issue in common. It’s such a dreadful thing to see.”
She’s not like the soldiers, then...
I looked closer at Lea’s eyes, relieved to see that they weren’t glossy and strange like the others I had seen. Whatever Blamore had done to the men, he hadn’t done it to Lea.
“You shoved her in here to keep her quiet, then?” I asked, shifting in front of the girl. “You don’t want anyone seeing the truth behind what’s really going on here.”
Blamore was silent. It was the kind of silence that left space for your thoughts to wander, and I was thinking way too much about how badly we needed to leave this tent. Lea seemed to share my urgency, her breathing sharp as we both watched the prince casually slip his hand toward his sword.
“I had hoped you could be cured, Safara,” Blamore said, no longer sounding like there was a soul left in that hollow shell.
“But I’m afraid you’re looking sicker than I thought.
” He unsheathed his sword, and my breath hitched when I noticed the blade had been coated in some sort of opaque lacquer.
There were no reflections in here, not even a single icicle for me to find inside the toasty tent.
“Blamore...” I raised my palm, my hand nearly shaking as I tried to calm him like I would a mountain lion. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a mistake. Lea doesn’t know anything.”
“She knows about the snow king,” he said far too calmly. “She knows plenty. You both do.”
“I know you’re being irrational,” I said, my heart pounding as I kept my eyes trained on the sword. He wasn’t going to let me talk my way out of this, and there was no ice to help me now.
If ice can’t save me, then I need fire.
I slipped my hand into my bag, my fingers digging frantically for the box of matches until I felt the familiar box in my hand.
“I’ve never been rational, princess,” Blamore said, his sword raising. “You might have learned that about me if you’d remained betrothed to me.”
I did. That’s why we’re here now.
My fingers found a match, the fire’s smoke suddenly feeling much thicker as my clouded thoughts desperately searched for the right wish.
“I learned enough to know who the real monster is,” I said, tucking the match into my palm. He took a threatening step forward, his movements eerily calm.
He prepared to strike, and I prayed that the strike of my match would be stronger.
“I wish–”
“I wish I didn’t have to waste this!” Lea shouted in the corner, and I whirled around just in time to hear the scratch of her match against her boot.
Before I could even process what had just happened, Lea raised the small flame to the walls of the burlap tent, and the fabric immediately ignited into roaring flames. “Run!”
She certainly didn’t waste it.
“What?” Blamore staggered back, baffled by the speed of the fire as it turned the tent into ashes at an impossibly fast rate. “What kind of fire is this?”
“One that won’t be wasted,” I said turning to follow Lea’s escape.
My legs were feeling more responsive since they’d been warmed, but I still wasn’t faster than a blade.
Blamore swung his sword toward me, the blow narrowly missing me as I stumbled out of its way.
I fell through the flaming burlap, and the layers of clothing I had saved me from any major burns.
My palms caught my weight in the snow, but something slipped from my fingers when I fell.
The match!
I dug around to look for it, barely getting a chance to even check under my hands before Lea ran back for me to pull me to my feet.
“Come on!” she shouted, half-dragging me away from the flames. “We have to run!”
I left the match behind, prioritizing survival and not letting Lea’s wish go to waste. I risked a glance behind me, expecting to see Blamore hot on our heels, but he was running in the opposite direction, his voice carried to us by the wind.
“Catch the princess! The snow king sent her to attack us all!” Blamore shouted, his lies burning my ears as I did my best to put one foot in front of the other.
“Can you go any faster?” Lea urged me, my slow pace holding her back far more than she would have preferred. “They’re going to catch us if we don’t—”
“I-I can’t” I panted, struggling behind her as fast as I was able. “Go ahead if you need to. I can’t keep up.”
“Why not?” Lea asked, still refusing to let go of my arm. “The snow’s not that deep. You just have to–” her voice caught, her grip on me tightening as she focused on the short gasps I was taking. “No...”
She’s seen this before.
“Go, Lea.” I pulled my arm away from her, pleading with her to flee. “Don’t let them catch you too.”
She bit her lip, her eyes misting over like she had aged back into a child. She shook her head fiercely, then wrapped an arm around my waist, threw my arm over her shoulder, and took on half my weight.
“Shut up and walk faster,” she said through a quick sniffle. “I can’t be the only person left who doesn’t think the snow king is the crazy one.”
Her kindness strengthened me, giving me the boost I needed to force my legs to move. The cold was brutal, but I still couldn’t find a patch of ice to speak to. This would be a great time for an avalanche if Cassian was still feeling up to it.
The soldiers’ boots were echoing on the mountain behind us, and I didn’t dare look behind me to see how close they were. We were running out of time. There was only one match left in my bag. It wasn’t how I wanted to save myself, but it might be the only hope I had left.
“They’re gaining on us!” Lea panicked, her steps speeding up as she half-dragged me through the snow. I started to reach into my bag, my hand shaking with cold and nerves as I found the box bouncing around inside.
I don’t want to use this, but I can’t leave Cassian alone like this...
As if granting me a free wish, a frozen river came into view, my heart skipping a beat when I saw the glassy surface. Cassian could hear me there!
“Get to that river!” I dropped the matchbox back into my bag urgently. “Hurry! The king can help us!”
Lea didn’t need any further convincing as she helped me hobble over to the icy surface. A light dusting of snow covered the icy river, but with one glance I could easily see my own face.
“Cassian! Can you hear me?” I banged my palms on the ice, the pressure cracking it slightly. “Cassian, we need your help. Blamore, he’s—”
A scream tore through me as Blamore ripped me away from the river with a yank of my cloak. The garment pulled me up by the neck, choking the air out of me as I turned to face the bloodthirsty eyes that had killed me once before.
“B-Blamore, don’t!” I coughed, my voice choked by the grim sight of the sword in his hands. “Don’t do this.”
“You did this to yourself when you joined forces with the enemy,” Blamore growled. “I’ll take good care of Rothen for you.”
He raised the blade to my throat, still holding me up by the ties of my cloak, and I closed my eyes, preparing for my second taste of death.
“Let her go!” Lea shouted at the top of her lungs, and Blamore let out a painful grunt just as a rock fell down from his back. “Taste Douglas!”
Actually, it was one of Douglas’s relatives, but I couldn’t have been more grateful for their contribution. Blamore turned to address the troublesome girl, but the second he looked, another rock hit him square in the jaw.
“Ack!” He dropped his sword and me with it as I fell backward without his grip on my cloak. My legs tried to catch me, but the frozen riverbank was too slippery and my limbs too unsteady.
I fell back into the river, crashing straight through the ice.
My eyes were open on the way down, and right before it all went black, I saw Cassian’s face one last time.
He looked so scared and alone.