Page 49 of Season Warriors & Wolves

“We have not spoken to your husband since you were taken. Father did not permit it after he found out what Otis had done.”

“You have my permission to contact him. It is important you do so. We cannot afford for my father to strike another deal with them and lose the support of the unblessed.”

He nodded and slowly began retreating away, signalling his soldiers to turn around when I entered the castle.

My whistles were the only sound around the massive halls as I searched for my prey. “Where are they hiding you?” I crooned, skipping along the massive library room. I halted and turned my ear toward the farthest end of the shelves, listening and not taking a single breath till I heard the slow hum of a heartbeat disturbing the flow of electricity in the air. The way it dared beat with such force. While hers...hers had stopped. “There, there.”

I pushed on the light oak wood and the secret door revealed another room. My smile stretched from ear to ear at the little present already wrapped up for me in white and gold. “You must be a fan of hide and seek. It is my favourite game.”

He shot to his feet and looked around the empty room as though the lingering spirits around us could be any help for what I was about to do to him.

He backed further away from me. “War will ensue.”

“Terrifying” I stepped forward and he took one away from me. “First, I will tear your mouth from corner to corner and then I will sew it up with your own intestines since you cannot hold from spilling your guts to just anyone. Hm, how about that?” Unsheathing my dagger, I took another step toward him. “I will do it so prettily, I’m a knitter, you see.”

“Do you not want to know why I did it?”

I clicked my tongue. “No. Not really.”

The second I bolted on top of the Highwall, my chest expanded with both fear and far longing. The brush of warm air was too thick, too familiar, too reminiscent of what I wanted to forget.

Soldiers gathered around me in no time, it took them a moment of surprise before they all fell to their knees.

Larg stepped forward and I took five steps back.

“My queen,” he called hoarsely, reaching a shaking hand to his chest and bowing to me. “You’ve returned.”

“Not for long.”

All hope slipped from his face. “How did you—”

There was not much time, and I was too afraid Kilian might come near enough to be caught in whatever trick Melanthe had planned. “I need you to bring someone to me. Quietly.”

“Who?”

“And her? What did you promise her?”

“She asked for the Night King’s affections and that I could not grant considering his taste in women. But I did offer to take you out of his life and that seemed to please her enough.”

My lips curled up. “Nesrin. Bring me Nesrin.” I turned to the other soldiers. “Don’t let your king come anywhere near me. It is an order.”

Chapter fourteen

Black Kingside Castling

Kilian

Moregan will be our help inside. She has agreed. Everything is set. That was all written on the note Elias had sent us.

We only had a few days to set a route on how to get both Snow and Mal out, except now we actually help from inside the walls as well. The only thing missing was the correct window of events.

The shift of wind was very slight, almost unnoticeable but it made everyone on the meeting table suddenly very still. Every head turned towards the massive windows framing the city of Amaris that was slowly being engulfed by a wave of dark grey clouds rolling at a terrifying speed over the city skies. Every hair on my body rose when the air charged with electricity. When the earthy scent of autumn turned soft and flowery.

“Snow.” The moment her name was out of my mouth, I faded by the alaar and ran the distance over river Nyx toward the Highwall.

And there she was, perched on the roof of the wall, swinging her feet back and forth while she fed the cloud of crows hovering around her pieces of…flesh. Overwhelm crowded my senses. To have her back in my arms, to hold her, to smell her, to keep her safe. Six months. She’d been gone for six months that had felt like six lifetimes.

Longing had choked me to the point that I’d missed the blood stains on her face and hands, and the stone-cold look she had pointed to the ground while she cut chunks of meat to throw in the air at the death bearers.