Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Dahlia
Three months of hiding in plain sight and no one had found them.
“Another ale!” a frost giant shouted in her direction, lifting his dented mug up into the air and shaking.
Dahlia nodded to him, hustled back to get him a drink, and swept past the old wooden bar that had seen better days.
It was clean, well-kept, and had aged nicely, much like the owner, who had a sharp eye and an even sharper tongue.
She glanced at Diaz, who sat behind the bar, absently polishing the cup in her hand as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
A small smile curled up Lia’s lips.
No doubt the giantess was eavesdropping.
She turned her attention back to the ale and slowly poured the brew into the silver mug.
The hair at the back of her neck stood on end at the feeling of eyes roving over her person.
In the last few months, Lia had developed a six sense when it came to the interest and notice of others.
Even with the disguise that Loshika had concocted for Dahlia, she never felt safe.
For a moment, she stared at her light blue hands and black lacquered nails. Her focus moved to the silver mug that reflected her blue face and black hair. The old Lia had died with her mother, and Holly the half giantess had been born out of necessity.
Lia shook her head, dispelling the thoughts that threatened to lead her into a dark place.
She schooled her expression and sailed to the giant’s table.
Dahlia gave him her best smile, set his mug on the table, and took his old one away while sidestepping his groping hand.
Lia shook her pointer finger at him, a fake coy smile plastered to her face.
The whole table chuckled at the giant’s expense, and her stomach tightened in unease.
It was a delicate balance between being overly friendly, which invited more attention, or being so grouchy that one’s actions bothered the patrons.
While being friendly and a little flirtatious led to more coin, Lia didn’t want to garner too much attention or make any new friends.
Everyone was a potential enemy. If anyone found out who she was, they’d turn her in immediately.
The reward for any information on the missing queen wasn’t something to sneeze at.
Her right heel smarted as she made it back behind the bar.
Lia reached inside her too-large boot and pulled up the worn sock over her blister at the back of her ankle.
Dahlia grimaced as she picked at the sole of the boot. It was coming apart. Again.
They were two sizes too big and in constant need of repair. Despite the rags she’d stuffed into the toes, the boots still slipped as she took steps. They’d had to trade her fine boots for a place to sleep when they’d arrived in the town of Mizar.
She jerked to a stand when a giant shouted.
A vision of her mother filled her mind. The screams she made right before she died.
Lia shook her head to dispel the image. Her heart raced, and she tried to calm down as her pulse thundered in her ears.
Everything made her jump these days, especially so close to the border between Loriia and Astera.
While it was the easiest place to hide, it was the most dangerous.
War waged between the giants and humans.
Another shout cut through the air that made her shoulders lift until they practically reached her ears. She barely managed to smother her glare at the lively group of giants playing cards in the corner. The loser threw his massive purple hands in the air, clearly unhappy at the outcome of the game.
Dahlia slumped onto the tall counter, sweat trickling down the back of her neck.
It was warm, even for her.
The tavern was packed tonight. Probably because of the horrendous weather for the last few weeks.
Everyone had been cooped up. The break in the weather finally gave the villagers the chance to leave their homes.
Hopefully, she’d make enough tonight to pay for a new coat for Cosmos. He’d grown again.
Lia fanned her flushed face and touched her warm cheek carefully before looking down at her fingers. They shimmered the tiniest bit silver, but none of the blue had come off, thankfully. Dahlia was paranoid that she’d sweat the dye right off.
Hiding along the border had not been easy as a human while tensions were high between the two kingdoms. While there was a population of halflings that lived along the narrow strip of land between the two kingdoms, they weren’t treated as well as full-blooded giants, but much better than humans.
Since the Asteran attack, humans were a target.
Bless Loshika for being the amazing soul she was.
Without her, Lia didn’t think she or Cosmos would have survived.
The nonnae had been able to create a temporary dye that they could bathe in that dyed their skin a shimmering light blue.
Dahlia blew a thick lock of black hair from her face.
Every time Lia spotted her reflection in the copper wall behind the bar, it shocked her. A mini giantess looked back at her.
The small vain part of herself mourned the loss of her rose-gold hair. Her hair had been her one true beauty, and the royals had even managed to take that. Disgust curled in her stomach along with the ever-present guilt. What was hair when it came to Cosmos’ or Loshika’s lives?
Deep down, Lia knew she wasn’t going to survive what was coming.
One way or another, her choices would catch up with them all. Dahlia’s only hope was that she would be able to get her friend and brother to the Fire Kingdom before that happened.
She stumbled to the right, almost losing her balance as the adorable halfling Jaiix bumped her generous hip against Lia’s. She tossed her shiny periwinkle hair off her shoulder. Even being only half giant, Jaiix still towered above Dahlia.
Jaiix grinned and flicked her eyes suggestively toward the card table. “Have you noticed how Felix has been looking at you?”
Lia shook her head, glancing through her lashes at the game table.
Felix was indeed looking their way. The young merchant had been visiting the tavern more often in the last month since he’d been cut off from the west. He never groped Lia, but he always watched her.
It made Dahlia feel uneasy. She didn’t need that much attention.
If she could disappear into the floor, she would have.
“He looks good, doesn’t he?” Jaiix teased, her purple lips tipping into a grin.
“He’s strong, capable, and good looking.
Rumor says that he’s looking for a wife.
” Lia tried not to flinch at the suggestive pause, instead tracing a gouge in the bar top.
“He’s quite the catch, and he can’t seem to keep his eyes off of you,” Jaiix drawled.
Lia once again glanced toward the aqua giant in question. They locked eyes, and . . .
She felt nothing.
He smiled at her and lifted his ale in a salute, a warm twinkle in his dark eyes.
“He’s a nice enough man,” Dahlia allowed. “But I’m not looking for a husband or bed companion.”
The halfling rolled her eyes in an utterly human way.
“You are a widow, Holly.” Lia grimaced at the lie and the fake name.
“But that doesn’t mean you have to stay by yourself the rest of your life.
” Jaiix gave her a sad smile. “I know marriage to your first husband wasn’t a happy one but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a happier future. You only have to try.”
If only Jaiix knew to whom she spoke.
Marriage to the king hadn’t been terrible. At one time, it had been terrifying. Neve had scared her, challenged Lia, but he’d made her fall in love with him too.
She squeezed her eyes shut at the thrum of pain that threatened to suck her in.
Beauty and the beast.
Dahlia was the beast.
All too soon, she’d pay for what she’d done.
Lia knew Neve.
His accusing gaze still haunted her every waking moment.
He’d never let her betrayal go.
Panic slowly clawed its way up her throat.
Dahlia gestured to the side door and pushed away from the bar, the sound in the room starting to fizzle out. “I’m going to go outside and cool off.” She spun on her heel and made for the door, half stumbling.
“You can’t run forever from love,” Jaiix called.
The words haunted Lia as she pushed out the door into the dark. The icy cold crashed over Lia, cooling her heated cheeks almost immediately. She leaned back heavily against the stone wall of the tavern, the icy stone seeping through her thin dress.
Lia welcomed it as she took large frigid gulps of air and tipped her head back to stare at the cloudless night sky.
Jaiix was wrong.
Dahlia wasn’t running from love.
She was hiding from death.
And it would be coming for her all too soon.
A sigh slipped from her lips as she stared at the sky. A flicker of light caught her eye. Lia pushed from the wall and stared as the ball of fire raced toward her, growing bigger by the second.
Her pulse pounded, and her body screamed for her to run, to cry, to move, but Dahlia was frozen to the spot. A high-pitched whistle echoed in her ears, and she tipped her head back, her eyes watering from the heat as the flaming boulder soared above her head.
The ground shuddered beneath her feet, and she was blasted forward, chunks of rock and debris pelting her skin. She hit the wall and crashed onto the ground. Ringing filled her ears as she curled in a ball, covering her head.
The city was under attack!
Smoke and dust filled the air. She coughed, pulling herself away from the flames catching on the inn at the end of the alley, blocking her escape.
Get up. Run.
Dahlia managed to climb to her feet, her head swimming.
She stumbled back toward the tavern’s exit door and wiped dirt from her face.
The bloody door was blocked by rubble. Her gaze widened, and she spun around in disbelief.
The walls were too high to climb. She spotted a large drainage pipe that ran from the roof of the tavern and stumbled over to it, only to find the metal covered completely in ice.
She faced the mouth of the alley, a pit forming in her stomach.
The only way out was through the flames.
“Help!” she screamed, her voice hoarse.
No one came.
You have to get to Loshika and your brother.
She shook as the heat grew more intense.
Dahlia knew she would die from her sins but not like this.
Get it together.
Painfully, she dropped to her hands and knees and rolled in the snowy alleyway. Lia scrubbed the snow along her arms until it melted and sank into her clothes. She forced herself back onto her feet, swaying as the world blurred. She clutched at her temple, her hand coming away slick with blood.
Dahlia closed her eyes and attempted to take a deep breath, only to choke on smoke. She tucked her damp hair into the back of her wet dress. The wall of flames seemed to grow larger. There was no time to wait. No one to save her.
Lia licked her lips and glared at the fire.
She would not die like this.
Letting out a warrior-like cry, Dahlia ran for the flames.
Praying for the first time in a long time that she survived.
If only to see her brother’s face again and make things right between them.