Page 56 of Wings of Ice and Steel

A stray wisp of silver hair escaped Nieve’s braid, clinging to her cheek. She swept it behind an ear, annoyed.

‘Look.’ She tilted her head and the hair drifted free. ‘First of all, I didn’t appreciate you thinking I could hurt Melixanthe. Not when you should know I’d never hurt someone you care about, even if I don’t fully understand why, since she seems to be part of the reason this is so bloody hard.’ She gestured between them.

Ariadnne bowed her head. ‘I won’t apologise for caring for her. She tries. She’s the only one who ever has.’

‘I’m trying.’ Nieve’s steel eyes softened.

‘I know.’

A lump formed in Ariadnne’s throat. Nieve was trying. She hadn’t turned away, yet.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ariadnne repeated. ‘I saw red—not that that’s an excuse. I’m still struggling to believe it was an accident.’

‘You think someone hurt her on purpose?’

Ariadnne nodded and Nieve’s brows drew close, crinkling her forehead into three neat little lines.

‘I could look into it? See if anyone has been grumbling about her?’

Ariadnne’s breath caught. ‘Really?’

‘Of course. If Melixanthe matters to you, she matters to me.’

The last remnants of Ariadnne’s anger dissolved. Her cheeks heated; Nieve was too good for her, in so many ways.

‘You said ‘First of all’?’ She nudged Nieve’s boot with her toe. ‘Was there a ‘Second of all’?’

Nieve shifted. ‘What did Leth mean?’

‘What?’

Nieve’s eyes hardened. ‘In the yard. I thought I heard him—’

‘—say I’m to breed with a varan. Yes, I heard that too,’ Ariadnne spat.

Nieve’s voice dropped low. ‘They wouldn’t…’

‘They would.’

Nieve took half a step back. ‘I won’t let that happen.’

‘How? They own me, Nieve. They’ve treated me like a commodity, tortured me and contained me from the moment I arrived. This is no different.’

Nieve’s eyes grew wide. ‘Tortured…?’

‘Did you think all my scars are from a few border skirmishes?’

Horror crept across Nieve’s face.

‘I was a difficult youth,’ Ariadnne continued. ‘They broke me the only way they knew how. I don’t know how it is for the others, but that’s how it was for me. How it still is if I ‘transgress’.’

From Nieve’s incredulous stare, Ariadnne guessed things were different for the others. Or at least their training wasn’t public.

‘I didn’t know… I’ve never asked Lucius what his life was like…’

Ariadnne’s lip twisted as Nieve stepped forwards to take one of her hands.

‘I swear, I won’t let them use you like that.’