LOGINRurikI threw the tall one aside, hard, and he went down in a heap in the snow. "Don't say that!" I snarled. "It's not true. It's too early in the day to be drunk and talking rubbish." My chest heaved as I glared at them. "You should both go and sleep it off."The red-bearded one bent to help his friend up. The tall one steadied on his feet, brushing snow from his coat. "It's the truth," he said softly. "And if you don't believe me, you should go and see for yourself."I didn't answer. I turned and took off at a run, boots thudding on the frozen ground, my breath misting the air. I dashed past the man hauling his sled of wood, and he turned to gape at me. The hammer clanged from the smithy. I ran past the row of stables. My face stung from the cold, but I barely felt it.I stopped dead in front of House Kael. Two men stood on the door, arms crossed, their faces stony."I'm sorry, son, but..." one of them said.I didn't wait to hear the rest. "I want to go in.""Vidar's orders. Nobody
Rurik"Hard freeze last night," the old stablehand grunted. "Might need to herd the mares under closer. This'll be the coldest winter I've seen in many a year."I grunted back, too focused on picking the ice from my mare's hooves to make more of a reply. The cold metal of the pick bit into my palm as I worked."Frostbite," the old man said, shaking his head. "That's a poor way for a beast to hobble through life. Gives 'em sorrow."I didn't answer, not because I disagreed, but because the stablehand rarely expected a reply to his musings. They were just his way of passing the hours.Finally, after a long moment, he spoke again. "Haven't seen Kael's girl about lately, have ye?""No," I said, flicking ice clumps onto the packed dirt and straw floor.The stablehand said nothing."We had a fight," I said, after a moment.The old man hummed and nodded. "Mean to go make it right, then?"I hesitated, then shook my head. "No."My silence stretched longer than the stablehand liked, and he asked
Sera"Did you see her?" Mina asked as I shut the door behind me."Yes," I said. Amara turned and pressed her back against the closed door, arms stiff at her sides, feet shoulder-width apart.I looked at Amara, at the way she had planted herself there. She had never done that before. She met my eyes and didn't move, and after a moment I turned away.I crossed to where Mina sat in the chair by the fire. Her eyes were fixed on the flames, her face slack and empty. She'd been washed clean of the blood, in a clean, plain dress, her hair still damp. But it was her eyes that betrayed her. The spark within them, the defiant gleam, had been extinguished."And him?" she asked without looking up. "Sarn?"I took a deep breath. "He had a letter." Under Kael's seal, no less. "Asking Vidar to come quickly. Saying Kael needed his help."Mina's head snapped up. "Kael's seal?" She stared at me, working it out, then her eyes widened in surprise. "Bram sent Vidar a letter?""It wasn't Kael's hand," I sai
VidarI walked through the silence that parted before us, my boots crunching snow. "Who found her?" I asked."My handmaiden," the Luna replied, her voice steady. "Mina."I nodded. "Why was your handmaiden at Kael's door this morning?"The Luna matched my pace, keeping her eyes ahead. "I sent her. For Kael. When word came that you were at the gate."I glanced at her, quick as a heartbeat. Then, quietly, I said, "So you wanted him beside you when you met me.""Yes," she said. I said nothing more to that.Around us, silence fell. A dozen people paused their work to witness the Alpha of Ashfell crossing the yard beside Ironmaw's Luna and chief. The clang of a forge hammer set aside rang through the air. A woman snatched a child back by the arm.The only other sounds were the mountain's: wind, snow falling, the distant roar of the river.I looked at the dark windows, the cold chimney. The guards stepped aside, and the Luna opened the door.I ducked inside, head and shoulders hunched. The d
Sera"Where's my brother?" Vidar asked.The question hung cold between us, the answer Vane would not give. I straightened my shoulders, took a step forward, and answered instead. "Kael isn't in the keep this morning, Alpha Sarn."For the first time, Vidar looked properly at me. His eyes narrowed."Not in the keep? My brother invited me here."I kept my voice reasonable. "Nobody at Ironmaw had word you were coming. If they had, you wouldn't have waited in the snow.""Kael knew," Vidar said flatly, his eyes cutting past me to Vane as if I hadn't been the one to answer. It stung more than it should have, that subtle dismissal.Vidar reached into his heavy coat and drew out a letter, folded. He held it out to me. I stared at it, heart pounding in my ears, blood suddenly hot under my skin.I took the letter from Vidar's outstretched hand, my fingers brushing his. Kael's seal was broken, the wax cracked. Carefully, I unfolded the paper and read the words written on it. "Come quickly, brothe
Vidar"This makes no sense, Alpha," Gunnar said. His voice was hard. "We've been standing out here in the cold for the past fifteen minutes.""We sent no word ahead," I said levelly. "They didn't know we were coming.""Kael knew," Gunnar said. "He's the one who told you to hurry. He should have sent word to his Alpha. He should be standing at this gate himself.""Enough," I said. Gunnar shut his mouth, but the tightness stayed in his jaw.Ironmaw loomed before us, its great wall hewn into the mountain, the gate huge and iron-bound and shut. Guards stood on the wall, watching silently, none of them moving to open it.Behind me, our twenty riders and their pack horses shifted and snorted. The men were cold and restless, stamping their feet, pulling their furs tighter. The cold mountain air was heavy with the scents of horse piss and wet fur.Up on the wall, the guards changed. One of my riders called out, "Alpha, can we light a fire? It's bloody cold!""No fires," I said. "We're guests
LyraShe ignored me. She dropped to her knees, her hands sliding down to the waistband of my trousers. She shoved her fingers inside the fabric, gripping my hips tight. With one sharp pull, she dragged the pants and my underwear down to my ankles. I stepped out of them, kicking my boots off in the
Lyra"Tell the girl to step into the room," he said."Leave her out of this," I said. My voice came out as a pathetic, raspy whisper. I cleared my throat, trying to find some spine. "She didn't do anything. It was my idea to come in here.""Tell her to step into the room," he said, his eyes going d
LyraThe voice didn't belong to Nadia. It didn't belong to me. It came from the metallic object resting directly behind my hip.Nadia froze. She pulled her mouth away from me and yanked her fingers out of my body. She stood up quickly, wiping her wet mouth with the back of her hand, her chest heavi
SeraNight fell fast, and with it, the temperature plummeted. We had three fires going, but the heat didn't seem to travel more than six inches past the flames. I sat on a log by the middle fire, pulling the wagon fur around my shoulders, shivering so hard my teeth were literally clicking together.







