Page 23 of The Shrouded Queen
Ketet, forgive me. I will not back away from your will again. I will face it. I will—
My right hand slipped free.
The world came to a screeching halt.
The red of my blood glistened under the light of the stars. It had coated my hand so thoroughly that it had taken no real effort to slide it out of the shackle.
My eyes flicked to my left hand, also slick with blood. Slowly, I pulled.
It slipped out, too.
I held my free hands in front of my face, gaping.
Run.
No, it was too easy. It was—
I looked around the camp.
The Kaldfolk’s chests rose and fell rhythmically, a couple snored. No one shouted in alarm. No one came at me with swords. It was as if nothing had happened.
Run!
I rose to my feet as silently as possible, careful not to jostle a single twig, eyes firmly trained on the sleeping monsters. The Frozen Sands’ white peaks were just barely visible in the distance, iridescent in the moonlight. I took a step—
No. No, this was not freedom, but a sign from Ketet. A sign that I wasn’t a prisoner. I was an agent of the gods. I was protecting the Gods-Chosen, protecting all of Ashorah. If I fled now… I didn’t think the Mother would forgive that.
I rubbed my hand over my chest, feeling the grooves of theXthrough my nightgown. I couldn’t run. I wouldn’t.
Iwasweak and useless and pathetic, a coward. The bottom of my nightgown was still stained with my own piss. But all I had to do to make up for it—was nothing. Sit, stay, take whatever the Kaldfolk had planned. That was all I had to do.
As quietly as I’d gotten free, I slid my hands back into their shackles and settled against the ground. Wrists aching, I pulled the blanket they’d given me all the way up to my frozen nose.
When I glanced up, Keir was looking right at me. His yellow eyes were beacons in the night. He hadn’t made a sound, hadn’t even sat up, but I knew he’d seen the whole thing.
My stomach bottomed out, knuckles white around the blanket. Something told me that if I had tried to run, I would’ve been carrion before I’d gotten very far.
Eventually, his eyes drifted closed again.
In the morning, Keir and the others gathered their supplies as usual. No one even sniffed strangely in my direction. I almost thought the whole thing had been ignored or forgotten.
Until Keir climbed into the saddle behind me. He gripped my arms and reeled me back against him. I swallowed my wince as my back twinged. “Try that again,” he growled into my ear, “and I’ll really give you a reason to piss yourself. Consider this your one warning, Majesty.”
I nodded quickly, shoulders by my ears, stomach coiling tightly.
He seized my jaw and twisted me to face him. Those gleaming eyes seared into mine. “Tell me you understand.”
“I un-understand,” I stuttered obediently.
His nostrils flared. His fingers softened imperceptibly, a strange look flashing through his eyes, before he grunted, “Good.” He released me roughly, took up the reins, and kicked the horse into motion.
It took another two days before we finally approached what looked like civilization. A place thatusedto be populated, but now the wooden buildings were in disrepair, and there weren’t enough people milling around to account for the number of buildings.
The farther north we traveled, the colder it grew. Not even Keir’s abnormal body heat was enough to chase it off. I clamped my jaw as tightly as I could to stop my teeth chattering, but it did little good.
Keir sighed in annoyance. I heard the softsnickof a clasp being undone and then warmth blanketed me. A weight settled on my shoulders. He’d draped his fur cloak around me. Heat seeped into me, mercifully warming my frigid bones, wrapping me in a spicy, earthy smell. Like a mulberry tree. “Thank you.”
Beneath the cloak, Keir wore a thick gray tunic over matching wool pants, tied with a wide leather belt around his center. A pendant in the shape of a bear hung from a cord around his neck. “Your shivering was getting irritating.” He didn’t even deign to look at me.
