Chapter 27 Ban
Once Neve stops making me want to bend her over and fuck her until she screams, we use the shadows to make quick work of descending the mountain.
Zarev and Odette meet us at the mouth of the cave.
Zarev’s sharp orange eyes track me when we return, and I don’t want to know what he’s thinking as he eyes my naked chest.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Odette calls, still tucked into the cave. She looks dreadful, like she might never know how to be warm again. Her skin is overly rosy, her eyes tired. “Was it worth going into a blizzard?”
“It was… insightful,” Neve says carefully, looking between them. She hasn’t had much of a chance to speak with them until now, and her wary eyes fall on Zarev. “My apologies, but who are you?”
I know I introduced them to Neve when she first woke, but I’m positive she had more important things to think about so I don’t give her any flak as I point to Z. “My Hell Brother. You can call him Zarev. He’s another Grim Reaper. And Odette, Princess of Swan Lake.”
“I’ve never gotten to meet a royal from the Frostlands,” Odette says from the cave, smiling. “It’s a pleasure.”
“Swan Lake?” Neve asks, tilting her head. “Let’s see, that would make you… the granddaughter of King Dillon?”
Odette’s eyes widen, and she rises from her spot by the fire. “Yes, he’s my great-grandfather on my father’s side. How do you–”
“There were only so many royals a century ago,” Neve interrupts, shrugging. “We did not have good relations with King Dillon. Aside from our agreements with the Court of Cards, we didn’t have that many alliances across the land.” She snorts. “Now, it seems to be a necessity.”
“Did you know my grandfather?” Odette asks, and I shoot Zarev a look. “I heard you were sleeping before you fought with the Snow Queen. I’ve heard the rumors, but King Dillon died over a hundred years ago.”
“I see you aren’t caught up,” Neve says, peering between all of us. “We have a lot to discuss. Let’s start with how the two of you ended up here in the Frostlands. You don’t look like you planned to travel here.”
“We fell through a magical pool in the clouds and interrupted your fight with the Mad Queen,” Zarev answers easily. He has given me a summary of their time in the clouds over the last four days, and we haven’t figured out what it all means.
There’s a giant in the clouds. That’s what he told me, and I hadn’t put all the pieces together yet. A giant…
Could it be the giant I accidentally led there years ago?
“What do you want to do now?” Odette asks when Neve doesn’t have an answer.
She’s standing there thoughtfully, looking completely unbothered about her back, despite my need to check it.
She went from lying comatose to flying up a mountainside in the span of a few hours.
I wish she would rest, but from the determined set of her shoulders, I doubt that’s going to happen.
“I need to go back to my palace,” she says, her voice lacking the dread I expect. “I need to see what’s left and what can be done. Did you see any living after we fled?”
“No,” Zarev replies. “I went and checked for spirits several times, but I never saw any. Even the smaller villages farther off are largely without life. There are a few living, and fewer spirits, but not like I expected it to be.”
I press my lips together, resisting the urge to point out that the Frostlands are largely barren anywhere outside the city proper.
“It’s the capital I’m worried about,” Neve explains, staring down at her hands. “That’s where our magic did the most damage. I need to know whether what the dreamscape showed me was real.”
“Dreamscape?” Z looks confused, but that’s to be expected. I haven’t had the time to catch him up on everything.
“I’ll explain later,” I reply, glancing up. Without the heavy clouds and snowfall of last night, today is shaping up to have better weather. However, the way Odette still huddles and shivers in the cave, one would never guess it’s warmer.
“We should go,” Neve exclaims, looking between each of us before settling on Zarev. “Ban’s familiar with the palace. We can head toward the throne room and see what’s become of the place. Can you shadow hop, Hell Brother?”
Zarev scoffs, shaking his head. “Can I shadow hop…”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Neve says easily, crossing her arms. “Another strong Reaper, then. Good. I think we need all the help we can get right now. If what the Sandman showed me was correct, the palace is in ruins. The people are still frozen in death. It’ll be a mess.”
“Sandman?” Zarev echoes, crossing his arms. “Now, where have I heard that before?”
“Not now, Z,” I hiss. Neve watches the exchange with unreadable eyes, looking between all of us.
“Ban, can you shadow hop her to the throne room?” she asks carefully, nodding toward Odette. “Do you travel that way much, Princess?”
“As long as it’s not like it was in the clouds, sure,” Odette replies, her eyes looking uncertainly between us. “But I thought–”
“Splendid,” Neve replies, clasping her hands together before turning to glare at Zarev. “Let’s get packed and moving. I need better clothes, and so does she. We have things to do at the palace. Feels like enough to get done in a day.”
I shoot her a look. “Neve–”
“Let’s get going.” The tone of her voice brooks no argument and I close my mouth. Neve turns, paces over to Zarev, and grabs his arm. He looks like he has half a mind to shrug her off again. “Ban knows the way. He’ll be along in a moment.”
Zarev shoots me a look, smirking. I’m pretty sure he does it to piss me off, wrapping his other hand over the backs of hers.
He takes half a second to glance toward her back, and he must know if I didn’t think he could safely move them, I’d already be in his face.
She did fine, coming back down the mountain, even if I’m not entirely sure what her plan is by having him help her at the kingdom.
He winks at me when all I do is grit my teeth, and they disappear together. I turn to glare at Odette, who is already picking up snow to douse the fire. Sighing, I drag my hand across my body and send a heap of snow on top of the flames.
She glances up, brushing back her hair. It’s tangled in the snow and wind. She doesn’t seem willing to take off the oversized mitts anymore. Her mismatched eyes peer up at me curiously. “Zarev is warm. I doubt you have that aura about you.”
“Unfortunately, Princess, I’m as cold as it gets.” I wrap my arm around her, dragging her into me, and she shudders at the chill. “Enjoy the shadows while they last.”
Odette holds onto me with one arm, shivering.
The shadows don’t feel wind or cold or snow, so it's got to offer her some type of relief, because the palace isn’t exactly a welcoming and warm place either.
They didn’t see much of it before, but I doubt the rest of the structure is in a much better condition than the destroyed throne room.
It’s easy to find Zarev and follow in their wake. Neve’s aware she can’t speak when we’re in the shadows, so I’m not sure why she chose to travel with him, except to get under my skin. I’m trying to be a nice guy and give her body a break, especially if we still plan to get into the palace.
Zarev shoots me another wink as we hop, doing his best to annoy me. At least the trip is shorter in the shadows than walking, and in no time at all, we’re back at the outer gates of the kingdom.
We drop collectively behind a bank of snow, staring ahead. Odette stuffs herself between me and Zarev to hide from the wind, but I don’t focus on her.
Where the towers of the palace once rose, there’s now an oversized banner hanging across the rubble. It’s bright red, like a river of blood cascading down the side of the broken wall. There’s an emblem across the front, a heart surrounded by a crown of bones.
“The Mad Queen’s coat of arms,” Odette gasps, looking between the red banner and the green beside it. “And… Camelot.”
“They’re a united front,” Zarev agrees, and I shoot him a look over Odette’s head. “In Tressa, the Mad Queen seemed to have forged some sort of alliance with Camelot. But I only ever saw Arthur and met Morgan later. I didn’t know the other man.”
“Lancelot,” I supply.
“Right. I haven’t heard of him,” Zarev continues. “Most of what I knew about Camelot until recently related to Arthur.”
“They shouldn’t be allies,” I agree. “Thornton stands between the lands. Have you heard from Lucius lately?”
“He didn’t report anything amiss last we spoke.”
“Where is Thornton?” Neve asks from Zarev’s other side, interrupting us. She’s wrapped her arms around her middle, wincing, and I frown as I watch her. This much movement might be too much for her body right now.
“You don’t know where Thornton is?” Odette asks, surprised. “It’s the land that divides Camelot from Wonderland and the Mad Court. It was ruled by the Lord and Lady of Thornton Palace and is now survived by their son, Lucius. He’s a friend of theirs, and about the only Reaper I have yet to meet.”
Neve gives each of us a curious look, and I almost wish Odette hadn’t shared that much.
She already has a lot to process. “There was no Thornton on the map last I knew. Camelot and the Court of Cards shared a border. Wonderland was where the wildlife roamed. I saw an updated one, but I mostly focused on the Frostlands since I woke. I should like to study a new map soon and become familiar with the lands again. Maybe I can find an up-to-date one in the library that’s travel size. ”
The three of us stay quiet, staring at Neve as she rattles off the facts like it’s common knowledge. Zarev turns to me with a frown. “You never told me any of that.”
“I didn’t know that,” I reply. “Maps weren’t common when I was a kid. I wasn’t going to travel, so what good were they to me?”
Neve winces behind his shoulder, and I know she’s thinking of what I shared about my past. Instead of commenting, she turns and looks back toward her kingdom again. “In my dreamscape, Davina–”