Realization strikes like a baton to my ribs.
This is a friend of Raeve’s. And she doesn’t realize Raeve survived her execution.
Shit.
I bring my hand up to hers, gently touching her fingers clenched around the blade. “The king’s Sabersythe … He never had any intention of actuallyeatingRaeve.”
She whips her hand away. Pushes up and stumbles back so fast she reminds me of a flitting bird. She stills before the table, legs bare, the rest of her mostly hidden within a large black shirt, though the tips of her hands are visible. Trembling.
Not from fear, I hope.
I push to my elbows, feeling a wetness slip from the stinging cut on my throat. Something her gaze darts to, her brows pinching together before she meets my eyes again.
Slowly, I shift into a crouch, aware that I’m much taller than her. If Istand to my full height, she might thrust her hand forward and give me another reason to bleed.
“Rygun carried her north, to Dhomm.”
Her lips open, the softest sound leaking out.
A whimper.
“Raeve is very muchalive.”
Her eyes roll to the back of her head, the only warning I get before her body turns boneless.
I leap, cupping my hand under her head just in time to stop it from cracking against the stone.
The heavy mist churns with the howling wind that bites to the bone, dousing the cold world in ominous tones as I stumble through knee-deep snow, using my arm to shield my eyes. Every indent I leave is smudged with blood from my torn-up feet, my hollow gut growling so loud I’m certain the chattering beasts in the distance will hear it. Will chase.
Just like everything else that’s probably chasing.
I try not to think about that. Tighten my trembling fist around the key I killed for, the guard’s blood still on my ripped tunic and wedged beneath my jagged fingernails. Still streaked through my frosty hair—stiff like the straw that filled mine and Fallon’s pallet.
A lump clogs my throat. Makes it hard to breathe.
I work to swallow it down. Come to a semi-steep incline I peer up. “This way feels right …”
The sharp rocks cut deep into the soles of my feet as I climb—thighs burning. Lungs aching.
Heart …cold.
The terrain flattens, shielded by a wall of gray rock sheltering a dense pocket of gathered snow. Perfect protection if I dig into it. Create a hole that’ll shield from the wind and anything else that might be sniffing around, hunting.
“I think we’re safe up here …”
I wait for Fallon’s response. When her words don’t come, I spin, searching the mist.
The rocky cliff I just scaled.
“FALLON!” My voice blasts, but it’s nothing compared to the heavingthumpof my heart, pounding so hard I think it might burst.
“I’m right here, silly.”
A slight shadow emerges from the pale gloom, scaling the incline in slow but steady motions.
My legs give way.
I fall to my knees, gulping breath as Fallon clambers toward me, pushing back the hood of her cloak once shefinally reaches the top. Revealing all that beautiful golden hair, like a tousled shroud around her shoulders.
