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Sura's easy smile slowly morphed into a sneer. Good; the thing was done with pretense. "You don't deserve their loyalty."

Rydekar shrugged. "The hard way it is."

His men were the first to strike. Teyn, the merry jester with a ready laugh, launched at him with a scream, eyes wild. Rydekar evaded his blade, grabbed it with his glove and pulled it. Losing his balance, the knight fell forward. Rydekar swiftly sliced his throat with his hand knife, before tossing it at the thing wearing Sura's face. It dodged the blow, but only just—the line of blood on her cheek showed just how close the hit had been. Augurn and Penna were next, coming at him together, hit after hit. It pained Rydekar to kill the twins, but he did it all the same.

The nine knights left jumped him as one.

Colder Paths

They hiked from dawn to late afternoon, eager to put as much space as possible between the caves and them. Who knew what prey the predators would choose to hunt when they awoke? There was a fair chance some were already on their trail, and the last thing any of them needed was another attack.

Walking through woods so thick they appeared dark at the brightest hour of the day, Rissa was stunned when she finally discerned a light ahead. She glanced back to Khal and Teoran. "I think we're here! That's the edge of the forest."

Though Teoran nodded, neither he nor Khal seemed particularly delighted at the prospect.

Rissa practically ran. Despite the soggy, cold boots, the clothes that felt damp and sticky against her skin, her energy was renewed. They were here. They’d made it.

At the edge of the woods, she slowed to a stop. Rissa couldn’t believe her eyes. The mountain looked exactly like she would have imagined, a lone peak surrounded by hectares of hard, bare stone, solemn and strangely ominous.

She wondered what truly drove Queen Una to pick this place for her son. Far from the courts and perilous to reach. Why not let him rest in a grand mausoleum, or a castle?

She licked her lips, edging forward.

"I don't like this." Khal shook his head. "This place feels wrong."

"There's magic blocking our way," Teoran added. "I can feel it. And there's nothing breathing there. No animal."

Reina had warned her about it. "It'll let me through," she said. "Can you wait here? I shouldn't be long."

"This is a bad idea." Khal closed his eyes.

"Teoran's right; there isn't even an animal in there. Nothing to harm me. I'll be back in no time."

She stepped forward before they could further discourage her. They were here; they'd made it in one piece. She wasn't about to give up now.

The mountain was a rough, steep climb she didn't look forward to attempting, but as she drew closer, she realized she wouldn't have to: there was a doorway carved at its base. Circular and marked with sigils she couldn't read, it led to a smooth stone staircase leading up and up, and up.

Inside, the mountain was hollow. Its walls shone with bright precious stones, veins of golden dust, and the occasional icicle. The gallery was breathtakingly beautiful. She'd been hasty in assuming this wasn't a mausoleum. Except its inhabitant was alive, somewhere here.

She started the slow ascent up the endless stairs.

If she'd believed the cave was cold at its base, it was nothing to the freezing air higher up, but still she climbed.

She didn't know how long she kept going. After her legs and arms begged her to turn back, after her blood ran cold, after she struggled to breathe, there was finally a light.

She looked back. It was impossible to see the bottom of the stairs from here, but something inside her longed to return there.

Biting her lower lip, she marched into the light.

* * *

Long hadshe heard tales of the cursed prince. She'd seen dozens of paintings and statues in his effigy. None prepared her for him.

Tharsen was said to be beautiful when he was exquisite. They told of his luminous aura, when it was brighter than the northern star in the dead of the night. He was beyond gods and monster, beyond fae and man.

She'd never felt so strong a draw to anyone—anyone at all. Not even Rydekar.

They were kin, he and she. She was the daughter of his second cousin. Yet she was an insignificant sparrow and he, the strongest of eagles soaring the sky. Barely the same species. He was everything she wasn't. The dream to her nightmare.