Chapter 48
Forty-Eight
A Bond Beyond Understanding
Krissaph blew a kiss at me and Schula before turning to pull something from a basket by the door.
She slipped on one of the body-length veils the Winter nobility wore and held it in place with a delicate silver headband.
But while the outfits I had seen previously seemed to be in competition with one another to wear as little as possible under the veil, Krissaph won by a landslide by not wearing a stitch of clothing at all.
Her ensemble was topped off by an ornate lace masquerade mask, presumably for the ball.
“I don’t understand,” Schula said skeptically. “Why are you helping?”
Krissaph shot her a cheeky grin as she answered.
“Despite whatever animosity we have between us, I like Wren. Or rather, I like her more than I dislike you. When her little birdie came calling with a note promising to stir up the winter solstice, well, of course I had to come be a part of the mischief. By the way, Wren, love the new look. Haven’t seen your kind in centuries.
I’ll bet there is a delicious story there. ”
It was an uncomfortable reminder of what I was going to have to deal with from now on, assuming I got out of Icehold alive.
Schula looked at me, holding my hand a fraction tighter and biting her lower lip.
Her eyes roamed over me, taking in my new shape.
I knew she had seen me when she’d unleashed the witch seal from my back, she knew what I was, but she hadn’t seen me after my ears grew and my body took on a few more subtle changes.
She looked more unsure than I had ever seen her, and I hated it. Schula was the strongest female I knew, but I would have to be the one to step up and get us through this. She was on rocky ground and had just gone through so much; it was my turn to be the strong one.
“Krissaph, we need to get out of here. Do you know if there is a safe way to do that?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m certain there isn’t,” she mused. “But if you mean to avoid the ballroom, I can point you in the right direction.”
I sighed in relief. “Great.”
“Although . . .” She tapped her chin and looked up toward the ceiling in thought. “There are all those soldiers roaming around looking for you.”
I looked over at Schula, who still wore nothing but my padded training jacket.
The cuts and bruises stood out starkly on her skin, though they were healing now that she was off that tower and out of the elements.
And I was dressed half as a servant and half as a warrior.
There was no way we were going to walk down the hall without being accosted.
“Schula,” I muttered. “Do you remember how to get out of here?”
She shook her head. “It’s been a long time, and a few things seem to have changed since then.”
I nodded and squeezed her hand, then turned to the succubus. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“Well, I plan on going to the ball,” she said. “I’m certain it’s going the be the best place to view the aftermath of your escape.”
I could feel Schula’s annoyance through our newly formed connection.
“Well, we need a way out, and we need it fast,” I said. I looked around the room. There was no more clothing or veils in Krissaph’s basket, and there wasn’t anything else in the room to wear unless we wanted to steal the bedding.
“The kitchen,” Schula whispered. “We can’t be far from the kitchen. I don’t know if anyone I know is still there, and I don’t think they’ll help, but I don’t think they’ll call the guards on us either.”
“Perfect,” I said. “And is there a way out from there?”
“There’s a shaft that goes to the surface,” Schula said. “It’s used for raising and lowering large orders of food from the farms to Icehold. If it’s still running, we can go out that way.”
“A solid plan,” Krissaph mused. “The last pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Now you just need a handsome male to escort you there safely, and I think that can be arranged.”
Schula immediately shot her a skeptical look, and I had to admit I was tempted to do the same.
“What do you mean, Krissaph?” I asked.
“Just listen,” she said.
We did, and I heard him. Thain’s grunts were coming down the hallway, and he must have been in bad shape.
I ran to the door and flung it open, not thinking about who else might be on the other side until it was too late. Luckily, only two living creatures were in the hall, and one of them was Thain.
He looked like he’d been on the sour end of a fight, but he was well enough to walk, which was encouraging. What I wasn’t expecting at all was who was helping him down the hallway. In a fresh white Spring Court waistcoat with his long hair neatly braided down his back was Caldon.
Caldon’s eyes widened as he took in my appearance. A problem I’d undoubtedly have to address later.
“Thain!” I hissed and ran to his side. “Caldon, what happened?”
“Inside first,” Krissaph chirped from the doorway.
We pulled them inside and shut the door tight. Schula ran to Thain, and they embraced in a tight hug, Schula on the verge of tears.
“You came,” she whispered. “You, and Wren, and now you’re hurt.”
“Shh.” Thain, arguably the one in worse condition, comforted Schula in his arms as Caldon helped them sit on the edge of the bed.
“What happened?” I asked again.
“Some of the warriors got around me and went after you,” Thain said.
Krissaph nodded. “Yes, they’ve been here and gone.”
“That left few enough that I was able to finish them off,” Thain said. “It wasn’t long after that when I was yanked into a room and hidden by this one.”
I bit my lower lip, remembering the last conversation Thain and I had had about Caldon.
Or rather, about what it meant that Caldon had given me the necklace and how Thain felt about it.
Caldon seemed to sense my thoughts, and he looked over at me with that gentle smile that had enticed me those weeks ago in Dwellonmar.
Had it only been weeks? It felt like years.
“After we heard from your bird, I came with Krissaph to the solstice. She’s rather fond of you, and I’ll admit you’ve piqued my interest too.
It was lucky we’re staying in this corridor because we were nearby to hear the soldiers running.
Of course, our first assumption was that it was your doing, so I came to help, and Krissaph stayed to watch for signs of what happened. ”
“You came with Krissaph?” I asked, surprised.
The room looked at me, each with knowing eyes that suddenly made me realize they knew something I didn’t.
“Wren,” Caldon started, “Krissaph and I—”
“Oh, hush now, lovey.” Krissaph rushed to Caldon on the bed and sat in his lap, draping her arms around his neck. I blushed, remembering she was naked under the sheer veil. “Don’t spill all our secrets at once.”
Caldon rolled his eyes and lifted her off his lap. “I’ve told you not to do that, you’ll make people think things.”
Krissaph cackled and walked back over to the doorway, leaning on the frame.
“Relax, Cal.” She turned her attention to me. “Caldon and I are triquetram.”
To say I was surprised was an understatement. A small, amused grin tugged at Thain’s lips, and Caldon seemed a touch frustrated with her antics.
“Right.” Caldon sighed. “So of course we came, and I’m glad we did. From your letter, it sounds like I’ll be needing to make a report to King Diamid about DuVarick’s current state of stability.”
I bit my lower lip. “And that report would include my newly found heritage?”
Caldon looked at me softly for a long heartbeat, then shook his head. “No, it won’t.”
I let out a slow breath. “Thank you.”
“That’s all well and fine,” Krissaph said. “But you should keep moving, and we should get to the ballroom before we’re missed.”
“Thain, we’re going through the kitchen to a cargo shaft unless you’ve got a better plan,” Schula said.
“No, our plan has already changed too much to recover it. Let’s go through the kitchen,” Thain agreed.
We whispered our goodbyes and snuck out the door. Krissaph blew a delighted kiss to us as she hooked an arm around Caldon’s elbow, and they walked to the festivities as though nothing was amiss.
Thain took the lead, Schula followed, and I trailed at the back as we wound through the halls. Thain had been to Icehold, and Schula of course had been familiar with it decades ago, but neither of them had more than a gut feeling that we were going the right way.
I was astonished that we didn’t run into any servants for the first few twists and turns. Presumably they were all occupied by the solstice ball. It wasn’t until we turned a corner and the smell of roasting meat hit me that I realized they were right, and we were by the kitchen.
“Keep on your guard,” Thain whispered.
Schula pushed ahead of Thain silently and took us through a small doorway. A few fae, a dryad, two sprites, and another creature I couldn’t name paused what they were doing to look up.
Schula held her head up and looked one of the sprites in the eye. They had some kind of silent conversation before the sprite finally looked away as though she had seen a ghost.
“Get back to work,” the sprite growled, returning to her cleaver, which was breaking down a lamb on a large butcher block. “There’s nothing to see here.”
I was so relieved that I thought my knees would give out, but I recovered and quickly followed as Schula took us through the back pantry to an old brick shaft full of pulleys and ropes.
“Stars, it’s still here,” she sighed.
“Can we pull ourselves from the inside, or does someone need to stay here and work the ropes?” Thain asked.
“It will have to be one at a time, but we can do it from inside,” Schula said. “I got caught more than once doing it as a child.”
“Get in then,” I said nervously. “I won’t feel any better until we’re all far from here.”
We helped Schula in first. She began to pull herself up, and Thain gestured for me to go next. We watched her slowly rise to the light above.
I looked back at the kitchen workers, all of them quietly doing their jobs with their eyes glued to their stations.
Good. They owe her that much.
Schula was nearly to the top when the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.
Something was very not right.
Thain was one step ahead of me. He whirled around with a low growl, and in that instant every sound of kitchen work stopped except the crackle of the fires.
Every servant scattered to the nearest exit.
Through the doorway stepped a gray fae that I had never wanted to see again.
With a nasty smirk on the burnt, scarred remains of the left side of his face, the eyes of a true enemy bored into me with intense hate.
Asher.