Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
DAHLIA
No, no, no, no.
Lia knew that scream anywhere.
Cosmos.
She sprinted away from the fire, east toward the commotion. Her pulse pounded in her ears when she skidded around the corner and spotted a group of giants surrounding her brother. One had Cosmos lifted in the air by his shirt, his hand raised to strike.
“Tell us why you are trespassing, human,” the giant barked.
“I have something for the queen.”
“Lies.” The giant backhanded Cosmos and dropped him to the ground.
“No!” she cried, running faster.
She dropped to her knees, sliding on the ice in front of her brother as the giant raised his hand for another blow. Dahlia popped to her feet and braced herself for the pain.
It never came.
Goosebumps burst across her arms at the snarl that exploded from Neve when he caught the giant’s forearm. “You would strike the reilleve?” His accent thickened. “Your queen?”
The giant looked between his king and Lia, panic clear on his face. “I didn’t. She burst into this interrogation. We found a human spy creeping around the tents, my lord.”
“He’s just a boy,” she snapped, kneeling by her brother. Cosmos blinked up at her through a black eye, licking his split lip. “And my guest.” His pupils seemed the right size. He was hurt, but he would be fine.
“M-m-my apologies,” the giant stuttered.
Lia turned back toward him, fuming, only to find him kneeling, sword resting on his outstretched palms. She arched a brow and glanced up at the glowering Neve. Flyka and two Haunts hovered behind him like ghosts.
Lovely.
“What do you expect me to do with that sword?” she asked.
“My life belongs to you.”
Dahlia glanced up at the king, who stiffly nodded once. “Because you almost hit me?”
“Because my blow could have shed royal blood, Reilleve.”
She glanced around the circle of warriors, noting all the tension and one terrifying familiar face.
Jekket.
He smiled and her stomach plummeted to her toes. The Giver’s second-in-command, who was in league with Bacti, was here. Here. And now, he knew her brother was too. She felt sick.
Stay focused. You can get him out of this.
Her decision at this moment would make a lasting impression.
“I understand you take the security of Loriia very seriously, warrior. I can respect that. I should have made it clear that I was to have a saloes guest tonight.” A lie.
“That is my own failing, but this level of brutality is not needed. You keep your sword, warrior, but you will use it for the next fortnight to protect the humans and halflings in Mizar. There’s a lesson to be learned here.
Humans aren’t the enemy; the depravity and selfishness of the Asteran monarchy is. ”
“As you say, Reilleve,” the warrior replied, his eyes still on the ground.
Some of the tension dissipated, and Lia turned back to her brother, who’d stayed wisely silent. “Come on,” she said softly, helping him to his feet. He wobbled, and she ducked underneath his arm, wrapping her own around his waist. “Let’s get you back home, young man.”
There. No names. A simple exit.
They’d taken only one step toward the town when a politely icy accented voice said, “I would like a word with our guest, niliave.”
Dahlia closed her eyes for a moment before peering at her brother with raised eyebrows, hoping Cosmos would get the message to shut up. Slowly, they faced the Frost King.
The warriors dissipated, only Jekket slinking away with a wink. That was a problem she’d have to deal with later. Neve, Flyka, the two Haunts, Cosmos, and Dahlia stood in a snowy intersection, pathways leading away in the shape of a star.
Her husband scrutinized the two of them, and Lia’s skin crawled. She knew what he saw.
Same shaped eyes.
Same stubborn chin.
Freckles spattered across both of their noses.
The family resemblance was strong.
His expression hardened the longer he stared at the two of them.
“Just when I think you have no more secrets, you surprise me.” The accusation in his tone was clear.
She winced.
“Lia?” Cosmos whispered.
“It’s alright, Cos,” she replied without taking her eyes from the Frost King. “He won’t hurt us.” Flyka, on the other hand . . .
Her brother shook but managed to hold up his head as he stared at Flyka. She knew what he saw when he looked at them. Monsters. The horrors that plagued their nightmares.
“Easy,” she murmured, not sure to whom.
Flyka signed to the other Haunts. They eerily melted into the night, leaving just the four. An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Neve’s anger was almost palpable.
“Are we going to speak about it?” he demanded.
Dahlia’s heart pounded. She could tell he suspected that Cosmos was her brother, but surely he couldn’t know that she wasn’t the real princess, or someone would have said something before. Lia’s only value was her fake connection to the throne. If that was exposed . . .
Her mind wandered to Jekket and Bacti. They knew the truth of her brother and their heritage. But she also knew their secrets, and that was key. The question was, would Flyka or Neve believe her after all the lies if she told the truth?
“I think it best we don’t speak it out loud, my lord.”
The Frost King turned his piercing gaze on Cosmos. “Why did you come here?”
Her brother hesitated, and Lia squeezed his arm. He peered at her with his good eye, worry creasing his brow.
“What is it?” she asked.
His eyes darted to the king and then back to her as if asking if it was safe to speak.
“They are allies,” she murmured. Dahlia couldn’t quite call them friends. Honestly, she didn’t know if they were allies, but they’d struck a deal and signed it. Neve is more and you know it. “What has happened? I know you would not have come without good reason.”
He licked his lip. “It’s Lo. She’s not well.”
Dread filled Dahlia, all pretense fleeing. “What is it?”
“We thought she was okay, and the nonnae from Mizar has done as much as they can. But Loshika is getting worse, and the fevers . . .” he shuddered, his eye turning shiny.
“I wasn’t supposed to come, but Lo needed help.
It’s so bad, Lia. She looks like she’s going to die. We can’t let her die.” His voice broke.
No, Loshika could not die. The healer was going to have a long and healthy life if Lia had any say about it.
“You did the right thing,” she said, forcing herself to be strong for her brother. “I’m glad you came.”
Now, all she had to do was convince her husband it was part of their deal to care for Lo, not just spare her.
“Lae reillov,” she paused. “You and I have made a bargain.”
“Do not speak to me of deals,” he replied coldly. Neve took one step toward her, his full attention pinned to Lia. “Ask me.”
He wanted her to beg, and she would do it for her friend. “If you could find it in your benevolent mercy—”
“No,” he cut her off. “Not as your captor, king, or ally.”
She knew what he wanted, and it was far too difficult to say. The words were lodged in her throat, but she managed to choke out, “Husband, will you help my sister?”
A shudder ran through his body. “I will, wife.” There was something almost sinister in the way he said wife, his accent thickening around the human word. “Flyka.”
The Haunt whistled, and her compatriots materialized from the dark like the ghosts they were named after.
“Send a nonnae to the village and accompany him. If the giantess can be moved, she will be brought to the camp and cared for. Understood?” Neve ordered. “Send Remiche.”
Lia’s eyebrows rose. He was sending the royal healer?
The Haunts moved into action immediately, leaving them alone once again.
“Jiaell vei,” she murmured, bowing as much as she could while holding onto Cosmos.
The king turned his attention to Cos, who straightened slightly. Her brother didn’t flinch when the Frost King grabbed Cosmos’ chin and turned it to the side to inspect his swollen black eye.
Neve whistled. “You humans bruise so easily, and it’s ugly, but you’ll heal.” He released Cosmos, his eyes sliding to Lia. “The vallos can walk by himself. He will not break. He is a strong lad.”
She felt more than saw her brother perk up at the compliment. Lia slowly released her brother’s gangly form and stepped aside.
Neve held his hand out toward the camp, and the burning fire in the distance. “Let’s get you something to eat and warmed up.”
Cos peeked at her from beneath his lashes, and she nodded, feeling completely at a loss as the Frost King swept her brother away toward the camp. She stared after them, a bit off-kilter, catching a glimpse of Serenity soaring in the sky. Ever her protector.
That had not gone the way she’d expected. Lia craned her neck to stare at the town of Mizar. Godsteeth, she prayed Loshika was okay.
“I can see your mind working, Reilleve,” Flyka commented.
Lia shrugged. “Nothing has gone the way I thought it would in the last few days.” The Loriians would have both her weaknesses within their grasp.
That’s not true. You have three.
“The reillov appreciates family. Did you really think he would strike down your own flesh and blood?”
“I didn’t know what he would do,” she responded, trailing after the pair. Everything had become too murky.
“The one in which I love you.”
She slammed the door on the memory.
Dahlia couldn’t afford to think of such things. If it was true, how could she ever allow such a thing after what she had done? Neve could and would find better. And if it was a game, her heart wouldn’t recover.
Flyka matched her pace. “But you expected the worst. It seems your prejudices have been making many decisions for you as of late.”
She wrinkled her nose, little white puffs of breath fogging the chilly air. Could the Haunt be right? The thought sickened her. She’d thought she was past such things. Had she been in survival mode for so long that she didn’t realize when she was being completely unfair and irrational?
But her caution had kept them alive.
“Expect the worst, and you’ll never be disappointed or hurt.”
The Haunt hummed. “But you’re not living either. Just surviving.”
“Sometimes that’s all life is.” Just putting one foot in front of the other and soldiering on. There was no other choice.
Flyka frowned, eyeing Lia. “When you say things like that, despite everything, it makes me happy we pulled you from the Asteran court. Life must have been grim to form such a deep-seated sentiment inside you.”
Lia snickered, a little lighter despite all the uncertainty in her life. “Allium has that effect on people.”
“And your father, how do you expect to be received if a parley is called?”
With a blade to the belly.
“Hopefully with wide open arms.”
Lie.