Ice Country

Feve cracks a strange grin, dives for thesnow, somehow finds his sword, slashes at the rider, and knocks himoff his horse, which keeps on ru

But she’s not there anymore and any path isall closed up. There are so many bodies, alive and standing andfighting, dead and crumpled and broken, that I don’t see how I’llget through them all. Then I spot them, Skye and Siena and Wilde,and now Circ too, moving off to the side, looking back for me andFeve. Skye spots me.

She waves me over and I run, run, run,ignoring a fallen guard with a sword in his gut who cries out forhelp from the ground, leap over the lean flanks of an injuredhorse, which blows steam out of its nose, whi

While Siena continues to let arrows fly atanything that gets close, Skye, Circ and Wilde hack their way tothe wall. And then Feve is with us again, still gri

We move along the palace wall, only having tofight foes on one side now, which makes all the difference. None ofthe guards or riders get anywhere near me, because the others areso good at keeping them away. We inch our way forward, skirting thebattle, which continues to rage hot and fierce, neither sideseeming to gain an advantage. Small wooden supply structures burnalong the edge—the source of all the smoke we saw earlier—but werun past them, barely feeling the heat.

I’m coming. I’m coming, Jolie.

We reach the pillars that hold up the roofjust before the palace entrance. A wall of guards blocks the way,fifteen, twe

But it’s not just us. The riders want to getthrough just as badly.

A half a dozen riders charge the line.

We charge the line.

Chapter Thirty-One

An axe arcs over myducking head.

I raise a heavy boot and kick the guard inthe midsection, launching him back into a mess of other guards whoare attempting to hold off a pair of riders.

Something slices at me from the other sideand I turn too late, only seeing the rider’s sword in time to watchit cut me into Dazz-steaks.

But then he slumps over before he can finishhis swing, dropping his sword at my feet. His horse keeps ru

I search frantically for an opening in themess of bodies, but it’s all just violence and falling snow andarmor and swords and—

There.

A rider cuts down three guards in quicksuccession, splitting the wall of men in half. He charges through,riding right into the palace. He’s going for the king!

Jolie! I scream in my head as I chargethrough the gap, ignoring the killing that continues on eitherside. I’m two steps from the door, two steps from getting inside,but then I see him.

A rider, hot exhalation steaming from bothhis and his horse’s mouths, galloping toward me, sword raised. It’sthe same rider who cut down Buff’s father, who let my mother andBuff’s brothers and sisters live. The merciful murderer.

Heat flares up in my chest as I chargehim.

~~~

When we’re so close that I can see theindividual spots of blood on his sword, I dive to the side,narrowly avoiding getting trampled by his horse, which pulls upsharply, lifting its hoofs in the air, bucking at something that’sspooked it.

With a cry, the rider falls back, tumblingoff and landing awkwardly. The horse returns to all fours andgallops away, leaving a clear view beyond. Skye stands stalwart,her blade raised, her brown skin steaming in the cold as her sweatvaporizes the moment it leaves her skin.

I stride toward the fallen rider, but Skyesays, “Go. Save your sister.”

I glance at the rider, who’s struggling tohis feet, looking dazed, then back at Skye. She walks towardhim.

I run through the doorway.

Tapestries flash past me as I run, full ofblood and dark men and violence—all of it having come to life justoutside the doors. One of them, the one depicting the battlebetween the people living on the water and the riders, is shreddedin half, each side hanging limply from its frame. Sliced by therider who already came through.

Fear rises up, dwarfed only by the red hotanger that continues to pulse through my veins. As I pass thethrone room I can’t hold back the images. Wes in chains, being ledinto the dungeons; Wes holding his bloody gut; Goff on the wallholding my sister. Goff. Icin’ freezin’ Goff.

The fear disappears and I’m all anger andit’s okay—it’s okay this time. Necessary. Right, even.

The steps to the dungeon go by on my left andI keep ru

I turn a corner to find a staircase and ahorse. The horse chews on something, ignoring me, as if I’m justanother person and today’s just another day. The stairs wind up andup. A tower staircase. The central palace tower, the one thatsplits the clouds and allows the king to see the sun even in theworst storms, like the one today.

Rushing by the horse, I take the steps two ata time, tripping once, banging my knee, but scrambling with myhands to stay on my feet. Two steps, two steps, curving, climbing,around and around and around. Higher and higher, my lungs burning,my mouth dry, my hands fisted, higher and higher.

There are windows every twe

Higher and higher, around and around.

My legs are aching, not in one place, but inevery place—but that’s nothing. Nothing.

I realize I’m speaking out loud betweenragged, heaving breaths. “Jolie. I’m coming. I’m coming, Jolie.Don’t hurt her. Don’t. I’m coming.”

I don’t stop ru

I reach a landing and there’s a door, avacant room beyond. I keep going.

My legs aren’t working the way they shouldand I have to switch to one step at a time. With each stride theyprotest, but I tell them Only one more step, and then I takeit. Repeating my empty promise, I take another. And another. Andanother.

Just when I think the tower goes even higherthan they say, stretching all the way to the stars, I step onto alanding. My head’s down, between my knees, but I manage to tilt mychin enough to look up. And there aren’t any more stairs. Just astone ceiling.

The top of the tower.

A door stands open. I walk toward it just asthe screams fly out.

~~~

I’m in no shape to fight, too exhausted frommy harried flight up the stairs, which is exactly why the king isprobably hiding out here.

But I enter anyway, taking it all in with asingle glance.

The horseless rider is surrounded by guards,slashing and blocking and hacking at their spears and axes andswords, killing one with a slice to the throat, stabbing anotherthrough the gut, fighting like someone who can’t be defeated.

Small windows are cut at intervals along thewalls, barely letting in any light at all, and certainly nosun—nay, not one speck of sunlight; at the other end of a room thatseems too big to be held up this high, Goff stands in front of ahuge, stone throne on a raised platform like a god, eyes blazing,his arms around…his arms holding…