Page 23 of Blood Beneath the Snow (Blood & Souls Duology #1)

23

I startled awake when someone dropped me into a patch of freezing snow.

I gasped as the cold ripped through me. My only clothes were the Hellbringer’s, a single layer of thin fabric. My armor crunched as it landed next to me.

The glare of the morning sun made it difficult to discern the person responsible for my plight, but when she bent to survey me, I recognized her. Mira.

Her face was uncovered, and I could see her mouth twisted into a scowl. A long, thick scar extended from her neck to her cheek, but I forced myself not to look at it.

“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded, pushing to my feet. The longer I stayed in the snow, the more likely I’d freeze to death.

She rolled her eyes, her blond hair glittering bright against the backdrop of white mountains. “He left you a note,” she said without preamble. “?‘I’ve always hated goodbyes.’ That’s all it says.” She crumpled the small piece of paper in her hand and tossed it into the snow.

I grabbed my cloak and threw it on, trying to piece together the information behind her words.

“Where is the Hellbringer?” I asked.

She sneered. “He told me to leave you outside of your camp. But his judgment is compromised. I’m doing what he should have done in the first place.”

My eyes widened. “Which is what?”

Mira offered me a tight-lipped smile. “Leaving you in the snow to die.”

She disappeared.

What had she seen? Had she realized the Hellbringer and I were together? Or was she making assumptions, since she wasn’t aware of the real reason he’d been training me?

I tipped my head back to look at the sky. It didn’t really matter what she was thinking. She was gone and I was alone in the frigid wastes. “What a great way to start my day.”

Being angry usually helped me focus. Today it did the opposite.

I’d been walking west for over an hour, hoping I was going in the right direction to run into someone—anyone, frankly. If I made it to a Kryllian camp and they didn’t kill me on sight, maybe I could convince them to let me see the Hellbringer. And I knew my family’s camp had to be out here somewhere.

Every step left behind a deep footprint. I wrapped my arms around myself and scowled. “Stupid Hellbringer,” I muttered, teeth chattering. “Couldn’t have brought me himself.”

Last night, when we’d taken a moment to simply breathe in each other’s arms, I found myself asking, “How do you sleep with that helmet on?” It had been over a week since he’d worn it in the prison with me. The last several nights had found him curled up next to me in bed without any armor on as we slept. It made me wonder about how he’d gotten any rest before he was willing to take the mask off in front of me.

“I don’t do much sleeping,” he said with a chuckle. “Now go to bed.”

I rolled over in his arms and touched the mask, lying on the bed next to him. The hand-carved wood was rife with ridges invisible to the eye. I studied it instead of him, working up the confidence to ask my next question.

“Do you fuck your prisoners often?”

I tried to say it in a teasing voice so he didn’t detect the uncertainty underneath. From the start, I’d known his power and political influence ensured that many wanted to woo him. Was he called for back in Kryllian?

And if he was, could I get over it?

“No,” he answered, running his hand through my unbound hair. I’d tried to re-braid it on the way back to the prison, but he’d stopped me, admitting he liked it down. “I distance myself from most people. The life I live…well, it’s not suitable for any kind of relationship. I’m sure you understand.”

I thought about Arne. How we’d kept each other at arm’s length to avoid the heartbreak we saw coming. I’d enjoyed my time with Arne, but he’d never been truly satisfied because of the emotional distance between us.

“I do,” I said. “More than you know.”

Eventually I’d fallen asleep.

Now, letting out a low growl of frustration, I watched my breath crystallize in front of me. Instead of bringing me to safety, the Hellbringer had tried to avoid a painful goodbye by letting his most trusted soldier take me herself.

Clearly an excellent decision.

As I approached the mountain looming in front of me, I sighed. Part of me was grateful we’d avoided an awkward farewell. What would I have said?

I could only hope Mira hadn’t left me too far from my family.

Would Bjorn and my father be disappointed to find I was alive? Gods, I hoped so. Imagining the look on his face provided a surge of energy for me to continue.

Luckily, the skies were blue. No impending storm to kill me quicker.

After another hour of walking, the mountain in the distance was no closer. I stopped, letting my frustration build until I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Then I took a deep breath and let out a scream.

A bird fluttered out of a pine tree as my voice echoed over the mountains. A low rumble came from the mountain as snow readjusted under the sound of my voice.

No one could hear me. No one was looking for me.

“Of all the places to die, this is probably the worst,” I said aloud, kicking the nearest pine with all my might.

I kept walking.

When the sun began to set, my worry spiked. Night brought the killer cold, and this time I didn’t have the Hellbringer to keep me warm.

Also, I was starving.

My stomach let out another gurgle and I swore. Frode, if there’s any way you can hear me, I could use your help right about now.

That’s when I heard it: the sound of galloping horses coming from the valley ahead of me.

My heart started pounding, and I ran for a patch of trees twenty feet away from me. There was a high chance the party riding toward me was made up of Kryllian soldiers, in which case I wanted to see them before they saw me. I needed some kind of advantage if I was going to convince them to take me alive.

Looking back at the path I’d taken, I noticed my footprints, clear as day in the fresh powder.

I swore under my breath. I would never be able to outrun horses, especially in the thick snow. Whoever was coming was about to find me.

Pulling Aloisa from its sheath, I crouched behind a tree, hoping it would provide me enough cover to remain unnoticed. The element of surprise might be enough to give me the upper hand.

The clatter of hooves slowed to a stop. I couldn’t see them, but from what I heard, there were at least three or four riders, possibly more. The only sound was the horses snorting and shifting. Boots crunched in the snow as a rider dismounted.

I took a deep breath to steady my racing heart. This was it. The true test of what the Hellbringer taught me. I shifted my grip on the hilt of my blade. The footsteps came closer, until I knew the person was on the other side of the tree.

I lunged, aiming my blade for my unseen enemy, but they were ready for me, parrying my blow without a second thought.

“Maybe try being quieter next time you’re hiding from an enemy,” Frode said with a wry smile.

Relief flooded through me, and I couldn’t stop the tears from pricking the corners of my eyes. I dropped my blade and without a second thought threw my arms around him.

“Frode,” I gasped. “How did you find me?”

He hugged me back, squeezing tight. “You think loudly, little sister. Loud enough that I heard you from camp.”

A laugh burst out of me, filled with emotion words couldn’t convey. But then he leaned in. “Everyone came with me,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll talk to you later, but, for now, don’t tell them anything of substance. Understand?”

You know I do. I pulled away from him and looked up to see my father and my other brothers watching us from several feet away. They’d remained on their horses while Frode came to retrieve me.

None of them spoke. Jac offered me a small grin. He, at least, was happy to see me alive. Bjorn sneered, the only expression he was capable of making nowadays, and my father and Erik remained stoic.

“Nice to see you all again,” I remarked as I climbed behind Frode on his horse. No one answered, but Jac reached out and clapped me on the back. I smiled. From him, the gesture meant more than words ever could.

“Let’s go,” the king called, and they turned their mounts as one, moving back toward the valley.

I looked up to see the mountaintop far above us as we entered its shadow. Wherever we were headed, it wasn’t the campsite I’d visited a few weeks ago. “Where is the camp, anyway?” I asked.

Frode glanced back at me. “Through this valley. We moved there two days ago. Didn’t want to stay in one location for too long.”

I sat back and sighed, wishing I believed in any gods so I could thank them. The Hellbringer’s map must have been of the old campsite, so Mira had inadvertently dropped me closer to the new one.

“You’re probably right,” Frode mused. “I started hearing your thoughts about an hour ago. I wanted to come get you myself, but the rest of them insisted on joining me.”

Not for sentimental reasons, I presume.

Frode chuckled. “You know them well. Father thought we might find the Hellbringer with you. I told him you were alone, but he wouldn’t listen.”

A sharp pain went through my chest. I already missed the Hellbringer. The memory of kissing him flooded my mind unbidden.

I felt Frode stiffen in front of me.

“Please tell me you aren’t thinking about what I think you’re thinking about,” he seethed quietly.

Shame burned my cheeks. Not because it happened, but because the time that had been so special to me was no longer mine. Frode knew about it, too.

One of his hands held the reins firmly, but the other drummed fingers against his thigh. “Revna, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re an absolute idiot. Do not, under any circumstances, tell Father about this.”

I’m not that stupid.

He slowed his horse enough that we fell behind the others and turned slightly to hiss, “Then next time you’re a prisoner of war, make better choices .”

The comment stung like a slap and I fell into silence, seething internally. He didn’t know anything about what I’d been through.

It took all of my willpower to keep my thoughts empty the rest of the ride. When we finally made our way to the largest tent over an hour later, Frode dismounted, clutching his head. As I walked alongside him, my legs almost collapsed under me. My ankles had supported my weight in the snow for too long. I let out a groan from the aches traveling up to my hips.

“Is your head okay?” I tried to sound normal, but my voice was stiff.

Frode pursed his lips. “I’m going to lie down. When you’re done, come find me. We need to talk.” He stalked away without another glance back at me.

I crossed my arms over my chest. A gust of wind toyed with my hair, still loose from yesterday. Frode and I rarely fought. I hated it when we did. But I was more than justified in my feelings for the Hellbringer. When I went to see Frode later, hopefully he would be more understanding.

“This way.” My father grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward the canvas tent. I stumbled with the force of it but managed to catch myself before I fell. I wrenched my arm out of his grasp.

“I’m capable of walking myself,” I snapped. I pushed the flaps of the tent open.

Inside was warm. A fire blazed in a metal pit and the smoke escaped through a series of small holes in the top of the tent. To one side was a table with a map on it and three chairs. My father grabbed one and pulled it over to the fire. He gestured for me to sit.

I eyed him warily but obliged. The warmth of the fire seeped into my bones, thawing me from the inside out. I tried not to let my relief show.

“Now what?” I asked.

My father pulled one of the other chairs over to face me and sat.

“Now you tell us everything,” he said. “Start talking. Spare no detail.”

Oh, I was going to spare some details.

I took a deep breath. This was going to be complicated if I left things out. I couldn’t tell him the real truth: the Kryllians wanted to put me on the throne and end the war.

But what would I tell him instead?

Might as well start with the truths I could share. “Well, the soldier who can teleport—she’s the Hellbringer’s number one. Only she can get to and from where he is staying. Where he kept me prisoner.”

And where we kissed.

I turned to see Frode’s expression before remembering he wasn’t there. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.

“And where was that?” Erik asked. He stood behind my father’s chair, pausing his pacing to ask the question.

I shrugged. “We were in an abandoned prison.” A glance between my brothers and my father showed various levels of interest in my words. Jac stood stoic in the corner. Bjorn sharpened his knife at the table, not looking up at me. “How long was I gone?”

Bjorn lifted his head and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”

“I hadn’t seen the sun until they dropped me in the snow this morning. So, no, I don’t know.” I pursed my lips and raised an eyebrow in response, daring them to catch me in the lie.

“Five weeks,” Jac supplied.

I let out a surprised laugh. “Well. That’s a while. Did you all think I was dead, then?”

“It doesn’t matter.” My father’s interruption caught me off guard, but I schooled my expression before he could see. He strode toward me, hands behind his back. His armor glinted in the firelight. “Do you know where the prison was? Could you identify any landmarks nearby? We have a teleporter in our ranks. The more we know, the closer we can get to taking out the Hellbringer.”

Keeping my face neutral proved to be a challenge as fury swept through me. He held no concern for my safety, only the information I had to offer.

I gritted my teeth. “I wasn’t able to see any significant landmarks from where I was. The mountains weren’t in sight, so probably…east? Close to Faste. He confirmed we were still in Bhorglid, though.”

“Why did they bother to take you?” Bjorn asked, continuing to sharpen his long knife. He paused to point it at me. I held my expression, and after a moment he sighed. “You’re useless. Everyone knows that.”

Heat flushed my cheeks. “Apparently not. They thought I was an easy target for information. Lucky for you, nobody tells me anything, including the locations of our camps. They had a mind reader come, and once they confirmed I didn’t know anything, they kept me in a cell for a while and then dumped me in the snow to die.”

My father leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “What did they ask? What were they trying to find out?”

I shrugged. “They wanted locations of any hidden camps. Specifics on what attacks we were planning. What camps of theirs we were targeting. They wanted to know if we had any undercover godtouched. Anyone like the Hellbringer with a unique ability to turn the tide of the war.”

“At the risk of being…insensitive,” Erik said, “why didn’t they kill you on the spot? Why would they risk anyone finding you?”

Hmm. I hadn’t considered that.

Thankfully, with what they believed about the Hellbringer, the lie came to my lips easily. “The Hellbringer and his soldiers found it amusing that I would die in the wilderness without them needing to lift a finger.” I looked at my feet, hoping they would think it a sign of shame. “They said it wasn’t worth the effort of killing me.”

“Yet you were worth the effort of taking to a remote location and dropping you off to die?” Bjorn scoffed. “I don’t believe it.”

I scowled. “I don’t know what effort you mean. It took the soldier less than ten seconds to teleport me there, drop me, and teleport herself back. Besides, aren’t you the ones who have been telling me Kryllian people are savages? They found sport in leaving me to die a slow, agonizing death in the freezing cold.”

“Stop arguing.” Father turned to me, his jaw working. “Was there anything else? Anything at all to lead us to the Hellbringer?”

I shook my head. “I’ve told you everything I know.”

The fire had thawed me and was starting to make me sweat. It was too warm for comfort now. I wanted to go back outside. The cold would distract me from the hollow place inside my chest where my loss resided.

I missed S?ren the same way I would miss a limb.

“Can I go now?” I didn’t hide the emptiness in my voice. “I have nothing more to tell you.”

“Maybe we find a truthteller,” Bjorn suggested. “Are there any in this camp with that particular godtouch? Make sure she isn’t lying.”

My stomach twisted painfully, but Erik shook his head. “There are none at this campsite. And despite Revna’s shortcomings, she knows better than to lie to us. Frode will be able to hear her thoughts, and if he notices anything amiss, he’ll let us know.”

My father sighed and stood, moving his chair back to the table. His expression of disgust and disappointment was familiar. “Go,” he said. “You’re as useless to me as before. I wish we’d found your frozen body in the snow.”

Before my abduction, before the Hellbringer, I wouldn’t have hesitated to fire back at my father. But now, instead of my blood boiling, defeat made my limbs heavy. I’d left S?ren behind, only to return to this?

The sooner I won the Trials, the better. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with constant condescension and insults.

Then I could order my father killed.