Page 35 of Heart of Fire (Royal Ice Dragons #3)

HANNA

I found Trissa at a pub we had once both frequented, down the street from the rooms we had once shared.

She was already seated at a table when I walked in, picking at the remains of a plate of potatoes fried with bacon. Her gaze found mine right away, and she gave me a long look. I see you .

I took the seat across from her. “It’s been a while.”

“Not that long.” Not long enough . She wiped greasy fingers on her pants as she eyed me. “What do you want, Hanna?”

“And here I thought we left on good terms.”

“You didn’t leave the Guild on particularly good terms, did you?”

“And you and the Guild are one and the same?”

“We might as well be.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Who’s joining us, anyway?”

She smiled back at me.

“I saw your signal. You were always tidy, but now you don’t use napkins?”

She sighed and tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Does it have to be like this, Hanna?”

“I’d prefer it wasn’t. I’m very tired.” I drummed my nails on the tabletop. “What do you know about Spy Guild assassins trying to kill me and my sister?”

She frowned. “Why would they try to kill you and your sister? You’re barely in line for the throne. Honor’s laid an awful lot of eggs to crack. You’re too far down the list.”

I tilted my head to one side, studying her. It was hard to tell when Trissa was lying and when she was genuinely perplexed. Also, she always sounded low-key bitchy. I’d learned not to take it personally, since she always had my back.

But that felt like a lifetime ago.

“Why do you always talk about how many kids my sister has?” It was an argument we’d had before.

“I think it’s a little weird,” she countered. “First of all, I’m pretty sure you can wear out a vagina. And she certainly seems to be trying. Second of all, why have so many heirs? A good queen leaves heirs, but so many? As if she can’t bear to risk you taking the throne?”

“I don’t want her throne. And Honor and I don’t share blood, though she has been the best of sisters.”

She pulled a face. “You’re a good sister. I don’t think she is.”

“I’m going to be queen of the Ice Kingdom.” I didn’t try to hide the flush of anger I felt when she insulted my sister.

“So the stories about you and the Ice Prince are true?” She hesitated and then said the first thing I believed she truly meant: “Prince Kaelan is a mistake.”

“Probably, but it’s a mistake I’m going to make anyway. So, do you know anything about a woman called the Lady? Hiring assassins or perhaps an assassin herself, working for the House of Restoration?”

She shook her head. “I’m not supposed to help you.”

“Tell me anyway.” I offered her a sunny smile, hoping it would remind her of all the time we’d spent together, tossing back drinks in this pub and throwing knives at the boards in the back.

“There are limits to my friendship, Hanna.”

“There are no limits to what I would do to protect my family.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No.” I leaned forward. “I don’t have time for threats. Also, I wish you would tell me who’s coming to rescue you so I knew if I wanted to talk to them too.”

“No one’s coming to rescue me. They’re coming to take you .”

“They may find that difficult.” I stood, raising my magic as I did so.

If Trissa thought betraying me in a public place was protection enough, she was very wrong.

Her eyes went wide as if she had just realized that fact too.

“You haven’t introduced me to your friend, love.” Dare’s hand fell on my shoulder as he stepped to my side. His voice was far too soothing; that was Dare playing a role.

And he was inviting me to play a role too.

I glanced at him, trying to communicate with my eyes that I had definitely not called in reinforcements. I didn’t need reinforcements.

But had he heard something I thought that brought him here? Some remnant of how precious my friendship with Trissa had once been?

Trissa’s gaze swept between us.

I made introductions; my background meant I swung into protocol effortlessly even as my mind raced. I’d been prepared to ignite the room and drag Trissa out by her hair while everyone else ran around in the flames.

Dare’s lips nuzzled my hair. “ Let your magic go . You don’t need to burn every bridge . There’s another way to do this .”

“ Does it matter how many bridges I burn when I’m going home to the Ice Kingdom ?” No one wanted me to burn bridges because they wanted to leave me here instead of letting me return home to fight alongside Kaelan.

“ Home ?” He couldn’t stop himself from speaking the word into my mind, and the echoes rippled with emotions I couldn’t quite be sure of.

My hands relaxed, my magic falling. Dare would help me come up with another plan; mayhem could wait a little longer. The unseen sparks racing along the wooden surfaces of the bar, the floor, all faded into nothingness.

“I’d like for us to be safe here instead of having an isle full of enemies, just in case Kaelan ends up eternally a prince,” he told me out loud, so I knew it was for Trissa’s sake.

“I’d like for us to be safe here, too, but it would help if people stopped trying to kill me.”

“You really think someone from the Guild is trying to kill you?” She shook her head. “There’s no reason to murder you.”

“Except for her personality,” Dare put in.

Trissa smiled. “I like him.”

“Sometimes I do too,” I said.

“I’ll look into it,” she said in a rush. “If I can tell you anything without getting myself into trouble, I will…but you never keep yourself out of trouble, so I have to look out when I’m around you, Hanna.”

“That’s fair,” Dare said agreeably.

I glared at him. How come I never heard that agreeable tone directed my way?

“Who’s coming for me?” I asked her.

“Eledora. You should hear her out.”

Eledora was the head of the women’s side of the Spy Guild, involved in an endless war with Kulak, the head of the men’s side.

“Because you’ll be in trouble if I get away?” I glanced up at Dare, curious regarding his opinion on how we should play this situation.

“That’s one reason,” she was saying, but I was really only listening to Dare now.

“You can always torture her later if you really need to,” Dare reminded me.

She had been one of the few friends I mostly trusted. Given my position, everyone wanted to be close to me for reasons that had nothing to do with me.

Dare’s fingers brushed against mine.

“I’m going to let myself get kidnapped by Eledora, if it’s all right with you,” I told him.

“Whatever you wish,” he said. “You can keep yourself safe.”

“You’re pretty much the anti-Kaelan.” Keep an eye on her for me until I get back .

His mouth turned up on one side. “I think I’d prefer if you didn’t compare us constantly.”

My lips parted. His tone was as wry as ever, but that didn’t soften the sentiment.

“I’m sorry.”

“I was merely teasing. I don’t mind.” He was lying, and Trissa was watching us curiously. “He’s the one who will be king, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure he takes the throne.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll be king of us .”

His lips pursed, but he gave me a skeptical nod.

I was going to have to change things between my men. Kaelan was always going to be a dick, but I wouldn’t bring Dare and Thorne into a relationship where they felt they always came second.

“I’m sorry,” Trissa interrupted. I could tell she wasn’t, actually. “But may I ask what exactly is going on in your love life, Hanna?”

“I’ll let you know once I do. Would it be more convenient for Eledora’s goons if I went out the front door or the back?”

“They would love it if you went in the alley, I’m sure. I was supposed to try to get you out there.” She pulled a face. “As if I could trick you into walking into an alley.”

I let out a laugh. “Were you going to steal my weapons off me first? Because I don’t think they’d like meeting me in an alley.”

“Don’t get cocky,” she warned me. “And yes. That was the plan, though I told Eledora she was underestimating you. She felt she was discovering she had overestimated me.”

Dare’s body pressed against me from behind as he reached for my scabbards. He pulled out my blades and put them on the table neatly beside each other. We were in such a reputable establishment that no one looked twice at the long, narrow daggers he had just plucked from my belt.

Since someone else had taken the blades from me, they would reappear in their scabbards. Just when I reached for them, I imagined, since that had turned out to be the case so far.

I fisted his shirt as I turned my face up toward his. “Thank you again for the presents.”

“Given how often I want to murder you myself, I figured I had better make sure no one else gets the opportunity.”

But he was grinning at me as he said it, and then his arm was around my lower waist, pulling me against his body. His lips brushed against mine, softly at first, and when I deepened the kiss, he moved with me seamlessly.

No matter how many times he kissed me, I was still breathless when we pulled apart. And so was he, though he hid it with that easy grin. I’d never seen Dare smile so much as he had since we came to the Isle.

Then, I went off to meet my old mentor.

* * *

The men waiting in the alleyway rushed me as soon as I stepped out the door.

“Let’s not.” I launched myself past them and leapt up onto the top of the narrow stone wall that separated the alley from a row of merchant shops beneath. I helped myself soar—and then balance—with a bit of my magic. The toes of my boots hung over the side as I stood there, smiling down at them.

They stared at me in surprise. Most people on the Isle thought I ran my life on borrowed magic, taking trinkets from my brothers-in-law that carried their power.

“There’s no need for you to drag me around,” I said. “I’d like to see Eledora. You can just take me to her.”

“Well, Hanna.” It was a familiar, silky voice that sounded odd coming from the bald man who had just spoken. But the bulky, shapeless tunic was a garment made for hiding, and a second later, his face melted away.

Eledora shook her long, dark brown hair out, the bald illusion spell melting away. “Showing off?”

“I don’t work for the Guild anymore. I don’t have much to hide.” She could assume that I meant I didn’t have to hide being trained to be more than a spoiled princess. But I’d hidden myself within the Guild too.

I’d buried my real personality and powers under so many layers of lies, beginning in childhood, that I wasn’t entirely sure who I really was anymore. Even with my sister and her mates, I had tried to become the person they wished me to be. I’d tried to be a shadow of Honor, really; then I had given that up and tried to be her protector, which had meant more lies.

But maybe that had been the way I was most comfortable anyway, wrapping up whoever I really was in so many layers that no one could ever see me to decide I wasn’t worthy. Now I wanted to be seen.

“Why don’t we go for a walk?” I asked, leaping down. “No need to kidnap me.”

“Of course there’s no need to kidnap you. You made your vows to the Guild, and they didn’t magically expire when you left the Isle.”

Which was unfortunate.

The two of us began to walk.

“I’ve been disappointed to learn how many in the Spy Guild are not loyal to the Guild,” she said suddenly.

When I glanced at her quickly, she waved her hand. “I’m not referring to you. Let’s be honest, Hanna; I knew you were never loyal to the Guild. You weren’t quite desperate enough to have signed up for life as a spy.”

“I was?—”

“You don’t have to lie to me. I don’t care,” she interrupted. “I assume you were working in some way for your sister. Well, I’m not asking you now for anything that would harm your family. Quite the opposite. I’m asking for your help and in doing so, you will protect them.”

“I’m listening.”

“Half the Spy Guild has turned their loyalty to a cult.”

As if the Spy Guild didn’t try to be a cult itself. “Why not make them take vows like the one you had me take?”

“Still bitter, mm?” Her lips twisted. “Well, I’ll give you a better reason to do as I ask than those vows. You asked Trissa about The Lady? I’ve been looking for her as well. She’s supposed to be a priestess of the House of Restoration.”

“A priestess?” My heart pounded to have more information about The House, though she wasn’t telling me anything Honor’s men hadn’t relayed to me over dinner. But I wanted to keep Eledora talking, because she might very well know things she hadn’t shared with her queen.

“They believe that the gods have been stripped of their powers and need their temples to be raised again.”

I gestured vaguely toward the temple in the city, its golden roof gleaming under the moonlight. “Given that I spilled coins on an altar to beg a god to give me the right to shift, I thought they were doing rather well.”

“The adherents to The House believe that magic belongs to the gods and should be returned to them. They would clip all our wings.”

“How exactly would that work? We all have magic.”

“They’ve been stripping my spies of the vows they’ve made and their magic along with it. It turns out that once the magic leaves them, there is no consequence for breaking their vows.”

“Because our magic is a gift and a curse all at once.” I supplied. For me, it had always felt that way. “So they would take away Honor’s power too.”

“Once they do, her children are too young to wield any magic. They would grow up in a world without it and so even if they held onto the throne…they would be under the control of The House.” Her smile was humorless.

The world didn’t yet know about Briden’s gifts, the ones that must be inherited from Zehr. Otherwise, the House would be more eager to kill him than they must already be to destroy my little nieces and nephews.

“Why would anyone want to surrender their magic?”

“The priests and priestesses would be the ones to wield magic on the gods’ behalf.”

“There it is,” I said.

“There it is, indeed. I don’t know what the gods think about it all, if they exist. But somehow, these fools are indeed stripping magic from people.”

“And are they giving it to their ‘priests and priestesses’? I can’t imagine any spy would gamble on losing their magic if they weren’t assured they would get something for it.”

“I imagine you’ll figure that out when you find the Lady.”

“Who might wield powerful magic to murder me in some interesting way.” That bit of danger explained why Eledora would send me instead of going herself.

“Well, I do know you, Hanna. You’ve never liked being bored.”

“Since you have indeed offered me a good reason to work for you, there’s no need?—”

“I’m still tasking you with an official guild mission. And you will speak of it to no one. I know there’s a man waiting for you in that pub. While you may certainly tell him what you’ve learned about the cult, you will not tell him that you are using yourself as bait. You don’t need any interference from obsessed lovers.”

“He is not an obsessed lover.”

She clearly thought that I was lying. “Make it back alive, Hanna, and I will release you from your vows.”

I studied her. “They are going to try to strip me of my magic to give it back to a god, aren’t they?”

“Almost certainly.”

I’d never had the chance to be seen as powerful in my own kingdom.

If I made a mistake now, maybe I never would.