The coronation was canceled. Emilian, Helmina, and Layla Icefall were taken into custody. The strongest driving forces behind this were Old Lady Finley and Duke Deverell, better known as the Duke of the West. The former king William Icefall was not seen or spoken of much if it was not to pity him that he raised two cuckoo children."Did you always know that they were not yours? Why didn't you warn me?" Aston demanded to know as he sat opposite William on a table filled to the brim with documents, complaints, and requests from the nobles.William chuckled, his blue eyes squinting with pleasure. Overall, he looked more satisfied in his simple white shirt and trousers than he ever did with a crown on his head. "It was more amusing to see your panicked face when you stormed after me. Besides, I could not have passed him the throne if he was not accepted as my son, right? In the beginning, that was my intention. After all, the blood ceremony is only mandatory if the former king

Katherine lifted her arms to gesture at the lake around them. The knife was now securely tucked into her belt. "I would say you have enough water. Enough to completely drown in it."Ethan's dry mud hide cracked further with his scowl. "You really are not nice to me, dearest cousin.""Oh, how wrong you are." Annoyed with only a few words of him, Katherine grit her teeth. "I am much nicer and more civilized than you deserve. Instead, I wish I could fulfill the promise I gave you. You remember? The one where you lose fingers for touching me and your tongue for those poisonous sweet words like right now. But..." She paused, and her face turned ugly as if the following sentence left a bad taste in her mouth. "Sadly, you still need your tongue for a bit. And as for your fingers - I have something here to occupy them. Though you should wash your hands first. I don't want it to get dirty."When Ethan didn't move from his place, Katherine soon turned to Nathaniel. "Sweetheart,

Ethan Balder had not yet dismounted. From up on his horse, he watched the situation unfold in the distance. First, his face was blank, then a slight furrow grew between his eyebrows, and the eyes below slowly filled with mysterious glitter. Despite his lasting sunburn, he suddenly seemed to gain new energy and hummed a happy tune as he hopped down from his horse before the soldier striding in his direction could find fault with him. "Here, the reigns. I won't try to escape, I promise," he said with his hands lifted in a peaceful gesture. The bright smile on his haggard face, however, made the soldier glare at him with suspicion nonetheless. On the other end of the group, Katherine's breath was slow and shuddering, a forced calm to fight against the pain in her abdomen. She clutched Nathaniel's gloved hand until her fingers turned white, while the doctor did a swift check-up on her condition. He listened to her rapid pulse first, then carefully felt the area of he

At another place, even northerner than the northern Icelands, a ship bobbed up and down next to a half-broken rusty landing pier. Contrasting the stage, the ship was big and well-maintained, though the grey planks, white sailcloth, and silver ornaments gave it the image of an ancient snow-tipped mountain. Unmovable, cold, and ever-lasting. The other ships on the pier looked like fishing boats compared to it.The pier ended at a couple of run-down houses. Surprisingly, the muddy streets were full of people, or better to say, full of vagabonds and rogues. The blades glinting on their sides or hidden in their sleeves gave the only shine to their filthy exterior. It was hard to say if the bodies leaning against the houses belonged to drunkards or rotting corpses. Even at a mass burial, the smell could not get worse than here.With a bang, the door to a bar was kicked open, and out strode a burly man without any hair but with plenty of scars to compensate. One of which went fro

"This is it?", Katherine asked in a somewhat disbelieving tone. She didn't know what to expect, but it was not this... idyll. Maybe a dark castle or a high tower would be more fitting for the evil sorcerer she had in mind. More fitting at least than this simple town she saw on the mountainside.Maybe feeling her uneasiness, her horse snorted and turned its head left and right. The other horses seemed affected as well, scratching the earth with their hooves. Something... was wrong here. She just couldn't discern what.With narrowed eyes, she turned toward Ethan, who'd rode at the forefront the whole time. Catching her gaze, he winked at her with a bright, very bright smile and drove his horse further forward. Her stomach fell.Somehow, unbelievably so, his horse's head vanished into thin air, soon followed by its rider. It seemed as if the animal strode behind a curtain, yet that curtain turned it invisible - and Ethan as well."Hold him!" Katherine screamed and k