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The arrogant prick still hadn’t opened his eyes, hadn’t moved from where he lounged in the hot soapy water while she sat in her filthy, damp clothes.

Strong of mind, strong of body, strong of heart. She tried to ground herself with the meditation. And failed.

‘Fuck this,’ she snapped, jumping to her feet. ‘You move, I’ll kill you.’

At that, Hawthorne opened his eyes and fixed her with his silver stare. ‘We both know that if you wanted me dead, Althea Zoltaire, that arrow would have hit my heart, not my shoulder.’

Thea held back a gasp, her gaze dropping to the thick, raised line of jagged pink skin above his pectoral.

‘Don’t say my name… Don’t ever say my name again.’Those were the last words she had said to him in those woods, in the moment before she’d let that arrow fly.

‘Next time, I won’t miss.’

‘You didn’t miss, Thea. You hit me exactly where you wanted.’

Thea couldn’t stand it anymore. Rage pounded in her ears, and with a scream of fury, she yanked the door open and left the traitor in the tub, slamming the door closed behind her.

She was so enraged that she nearly barged straight into Kipp, the ends of his hair wet.

‘It’s going well, then?’ he asked with a grimace.

‘Don’t even fucking start, Kristopher,’ she ground out. ‘Tell me there’s more hot water?’

He had the good sense to get out of her way with a flourish. ‘Level below, second door on the left.’

‘You’ll watch the traitor?’

‘He’s not really my type.’

‘Kipp.’

Her friend raised his hands in surrender. ‘I’ll guard the door, but we both know I’m useless. I’ve got no chance against that behemoth if he wants to get past me.’

‘In case you were wondering,’ Hawthorne called from behind the door, ‘the walls are really thin. But rest assured, I won’t be going anywhere until I’ve said my piece.’

‘Oh, I’m so fucking assured,’ Thea muttered.

Kipp simply shrugged, as though the word of a known traitor was good enough for him.

‘For fuck’s sake,’ Thea sighed, and headed for her bath.

Although it was on her own orders that they were back in their saddles in the freezing cold, Thea mourned the loss of the giant tub she’d submerged herself in, and the perfectly adequate feather bed she’d left untouched in the inn.

‘We’re not taking the main road,’ she said, clenching her teeth to stop them from chattering.

‘The main road will get us to Vios faster,’ Hawthorne countered from atop his stallion. ‘Or do you want to spend more time with me, Princess?’

‘A former Warsword will attract attention on the main route. That will delay us more than uneven terrain —’

‘Couldn’t we have had this discussion by the fire?’ Kipp moaned, pulling his hood tighter around his face. ‘Rather than in the middle of a fucking thundersnow?’

‘This isn’t a fucking thundersnow. You said so yourself: there hasn’t been one in centuries. And this isn’t a discussion. We’re going through the forest,’ Thea declared, starting her horse towards the icy treeline.

She caught Hawthorne’s shrug from the corner of her eye, as though he’d known she’d make that choice all along. Had he only suggested the road so she’d dig her heels in on the idea of the alternative route? Was he playing games with her? Her body tensed at the thought of him humiliating her again. She refused to let that happen.

‘Move out,’ she ordered, squeezing her mare’s sides with her thighs, desperate to put some distance between herself and the fallen Warsword, the image of him in the bath still seared into her mind.

The days were getting shorter, reduced to a few fleeting hours of light hemmed in by the dark. Night had long since fallen, and Cal and Kipp carried torches to illuminate the barren trees and snow falling in earnest around them. Checking her compass, Thea led their small party from the main trade route of Aveum into the frozen forests, taking the less travelled path. They made for the capital, Vios, where the rulers of the midrealms would soon gather for the eclipse, and to decide Wilder Hawthorne’s fate.