Page 41 of A Kingdom of Sand and Ice (Kingdom of Gods #2)

Adriana exhaled heavily and dropped down beside him, the weariness in her limbs matching his own.

‘I know,’ she said. ‘Everyone says so. I miss her more than anything else in this damned world. I’d give anything, anything , to have my best friend back.

’ Her hands clenched into trembling fists, small but fierce.

‘I used to have long hair, once. Can you believe it? Back when we were fourteen. The first time you invited me to the castle, remember? That’s when I met Haven.

She was so beautiful it made my heart ache.

When I went home, I grabbed a kitchen knife and cut my hair short, just to look like her.

It came out awful, jagged and uneven, but a few days later, she saw me and said it suited me.

’ Adriana gave a soft laugh. ‘I’ve worn it like this ever since. ’

‘I never knew.’ He reached over, gently tugging at a short strand. ‘I don’t know what to do without her…’

Adriana’s attention drifted towards the camp, her brow creased with quiet sorrow. ‘You wake up. You get through the day. You go to sleep. And you do it again. Until the pain dulls.’

‘Will it?’ Kai whispered, the weight in his chest threatening to drown him. ‘Will it ever stop hurting?’

Her fingers brushed his hand. ‘I doubt it. But we can try.’

She rested her head against his arm. Together, they watched the waking camp stir, the crimson tint of night giving way to the cold grey light of another unrelenting day. For a moment, silence settled between them, gentle and almost soothing. Until, inevitably, Adriana ruined it.

‘Why do you have a witch in your tent?’

Kai nearly choked. ‘How did you…?’

Adriana rolled her eyes. ‘Kai. It’s me. Haven and I spent half our adolescence spying on you, remember? Besides, you’re acting very shifty. I can practically smell your guilt. And you’ve placed two soldiers outside your tent like they’re ornamental statues. I’m amazed no one’s caught on yet.’

He groaned, rubbing at his face. ‘It’s complicated. But she’s offering information, real intelligence. Things we can use against the witches.’

‘A witch turning against her own?’ Adriana raised a brow.

‘Now that’s either madness or treachery.

Fine. I’ll trust you on this. But you need to move her farther out.

Keep her in the shadows. Someone’s bound to spot her sooner or later, and if they do, you won’t have time to explain before her throat’s slit. ’

Kai returned to his tent, relief trickling through his limbs at the sight of the witch lying obediently on the bed. The serenity of the image was tainted, however, by the thought of her touching his sheets. He'd burn the whole damn lot once she was dead.

‘We need to move,’ he said, strapping his hook swords to the back of his armour and tossing a few essentials into a small leather bag.

‘Why?’ Dawn asked, lifting her head with mild irritation.

‘Because it’s too dangerous to have you—’ Kai froze mid-sentence at the unmistakable sound of Keir’s laugh drawing closer.

Adriana’s voice followed, light and deliberate.

She was stalling him, likely trying to buy Kai a few precious moments.

But it wouldn’t be enough. If they stepped out now, Keir would spot them before they could blink.

‘Use your magic,’ Kai hissed.

‘Excuse me?’ Dawn scowled at his tone, lips curling in distaste. ‘Why?’

‘Someone’s coming! If he sees you, I won’t be able to protect you.’

‘How noble,’ she muttered. ‘And what exactly do you expect me to do?’

‘Turn us invisible!’

‘Magic doesn’t work like that, commander!’ Her voice sharpened with panic as her fingers began to glow faintly green. ‘Untie me!’

‘Do something, witch!’

‘I could… transport us somewhere, but it’s risky. I might send us somewhere else entirely…’ Her breath quickened, eyes wide and wild as footsteps drew closer. Kai’s hands clamped around hers, refusing to let her vanish without him.

‘Do something!’

Outside, the guards were faltering, unable to stall Keir much longer. His boots were heavy against the earth, and his suspicion was palpable. The tent flaps flew open.

But Kai and Dawn were gone.

Where they’d been standing only a lingering wisp of emerald smoke danced into nothing, curling like mist. Keir staggered into the tent, coughing on the faint dust that remained, calling out for Kai.

Kai crashed onto hard ground with a grunt, the world spinning as though it had been knocked loose from its axis. His stomach lurched, and the remnants of his supper met the grass with force. Swearing under his breath, he wiped his mouth, breath shallow as he tried to anchor himself.

‘It’ll pass,’ Dawn said calmly. ‘You get used to it after a while.’

He was flat on his back, the witch already on her feet beside him, seemingly unfazed. When he dared to open his eyes, the scenery greeted him like a slap—lush, vibrant green exploding in every direction. Sitting up too quickly proved foolish. He vomited again.

‘Stop it. You’re only making it worse. ’

‘Where in the nine hells are we?’ he groaned.

‘No idea,’ she muttered, frowning as she turned in a slow circle. ‘I don’t recognise this forest.’

Kai forced himself to breathe deeply, grounding his thoughts.

The spinning finally lessened. Rising unsteadily to his feet, he took in the vivid paradise surrounding them.

The colours were richer here, the greens almost luminous.

Petals the size of shields hung from trees with twisting golden bark.

Even in the Kingdom of Fire, with its gilded brilliance and scorching beauty, he’d never seen flora quite like this.

‘You stupid witch!’ Kai snarled, turning sharply away from her, fists clenched at his sides to stop himself from doing something regrettable. ‘This is the Kingdom of Fauna!’

‘You think I planned this?’ she snapped, her voice pitching into a furious shriek.

‘You pressured me! I didn’t have a moment to focus.

I couldn’t even think of a destination! The magic twisted.

And now… we’re here.’ Her attention roamed across the landscape, sharpening as the truth of it struck her like a blow.

‘We are miles from my camp!’ Kai roared, his face reddening with rage. ‘How do you expect to help Ash when we’re half a world away from him?’

Without warning, Dawn bent down and flung a handful of earth at his face. Mud splattered against his cheek, stopping him mid-rant. He blinked, stunned. ‘Did you just shove mud in my face?’

‘It’s easier to look at you now,’ she said sweetly, sticking her tongue out.

‘Is this a game to you, witch?’

‘Screaming at me isn’t going to get you home any faster.’ She leaned back when he moved towards her, hands still bound but dancing out of his reach. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Send us back,’ he growled.

‘Ask me nicely.’

‘Witch, do as I say.’

She turned her face away with exaggerated elegance, chin lifted high. ‘I think I rather like it here.’

‘This is Fae territory,’ Kai bit out. ‘They’ll smell your magic.’

‘Then I’ll glamour myself,’ she replied, fluttering her lashes. ‘I’ve always wondered what I’d look like with antlers.’

‘They’ll sense your magic’s different,’ he snapped.

Unbothered, her attention drifted to the black horns crowning his head. ‘If I yank one of these, does it make you fart?’

Kai’s expression twisted into a thundercloud of fury. ‘Back. Now.’

‘I can’t.’

His voice dropped into something feral. ‘What do you mean, you can’t?’

‘Magic isn’t infinite, commander.’ Her voice had softened now, her earlier humour tempered by a grim note of truth. ‘Travelling such a distance takes everything. Two people… gods, that kind of spell is nearly impossible. It will take days, maybe even weeks, before I have enough power to try again.’

Kai let out a wordless roar and kicked the nearest tree, its bark splintering beneath the blow. He screamed up at the canopy, his frustration echoing like thunder through the emerald hush of the woods.

When silence finally fell over them, he began to walk. Of course, the witch followed, her steps light behind him.

‘Do you know where you’re going?’ she asked innocently.

‘No,’ he hissed.

‘Shouldn’t we stop and ask someone?’

‘Do you see anyone?’ he growled. ‘If you do, be my guest. And while you’re at it, ask if they’ve got a leash for you.’

She kicked him, hard, right behind the knee, and Kai stumbled forward with a grunt of surprise. The sheer indignity of being bested by a witch sent him into a tirade of colourful curses, which only made Dawn burst into delighted laughter.

‘I’m going to kill you.’

‘You can try,’ she replied sweetly, then promptly stopped walking and leaned back against a tree trunk as though it were a chaise longue.

‘What are you doing now?’ he snapped.

‘I’m exhausted.’

‘Keep walking.’

‘No. And you can’t make me.’

Kai didn’t hesitate. With a growl of frustration, he hauled the witch over his shoulder like a sack of flour. She shrieked, flailing her arms and thumping at his back, though her strength was pitiful—drained, no doubt, by the magic she’d used earlier.

‘Put me down this instant!’

‘Make me.’

‘When I get my magic back,’ she hissed, squirming furiously, ‘you’d best be prepared. I’ll turn that stupid, ugly, disgusting face into a rabbit. No woman will ever look at you again!’

‘Sounds peaceful. I’ve always fancied a quiet life.’

‘I’ll shrink your genitals to the size of pebbles! Tiny ones!’

‘They were far too large anyway.’

She writhed like a furious cat, determined to slip from his grasp, but when he gave her bottom a light slap, she froze, utterly scandalised. Then came the boiling rage. She screeched until her throat burnt, shouting obscenities and threats that would have made a soldier blush .

Kai halted and dropped her unceremoniously onto the ground. She landed with a thud and spat at his boots, seething.

‘Charming,’ he muttered as she continued to hiss like a cornered snake. ‘Will you shut up for one blessed moment? I think I know where we are.’

Dawn rose, brushing herself off with as much dignity as she could muster, her purple eyes ablaze with loathing. Kai found it… mildly entertaining.

‘You can stop glaring at me like that, witch. I’m not going to kiss you. You’re not my type.’

‘How dare—’

He slapped a hand over her mouth before she could finish, then gestured ahead. For a long, tense moment, they stared at one another, brimming with mutual contempt. Finally, she yanked his hand away and turned to follow his gaze.

‘It’s a tree, commander,’ she drawled, unimpressed. ‘Have you never seen one before?’

‘It’s not just any tree.’ His shoulders stiffened. ‘I’ve read about this place.’

‘Oh, you know how to read?’ she asked, eyes wide with mock amazement.

‘Shut up,’ he said, pointing. ‘My brother once told me about this tree.’

She rolled her eyes so hard she almost tipped over. ‘And what, pray tell, is so special about this tree that it’s got your little pebbles all shrunken?’

Kai’s mouth twitched. He nearly laughed but caught himself just in time, replacing amusement with a mask of indifference. ‘It’s not the tree, witch. It’s where the tree is.’

‘Are you going to make me guess?’

‘No. It would take all day.’

She kicked him again.

‘Go on then. Enlighten me.’

He sighed, a long, weary sound that said he was already regretting every choice that had led him here. The tales returned to him now of old warnings whispered around fires, of wanderers who had stepped into a place and never found the way back out.

‘We’re in the Forest of Endless Trees.’