Icebound (Legends of the Shifters Book 2) (6 page)

“We
should go,” I said to Helen through chattering teeth and blue lips.

“L-let
this man pass, and
th-
then we'll leave,” she said, her
voice even shakier than mine.

I
looked toward the end of the street in hope. If he was generous, he would spare
us both a whipping. He approached us with hands in his pockets. He had graying
hair, crinkled eyes, and a carefree look about him. For a moment, I thought
that he was going to pass us by, but then he paused. And turned back.

“Why
are you out here, in the weather? You should be inside, by a warm fire.” His
voice was smooth, silky.

“W-we
can't go back to the o-orphanage until we reach q-quota,” chattered Helen.

His
face showed concern. “Why don't you both come with me? My wife and daughter are
preparing venison stew. The house will be toasty warm.” His voice rose and fell
playfully.

A
shiver tickled its way down my spine, but this time, it wasn't the cold.

Helen
let herself smile, gratitude clouding her blue eyes. “W-we would very much
enjoy that, wouldn't we, Ivy?” She looked at me, her brown tangles draped
messily over her shoulder.

I
gave a small shake of my head. “We should go back. If we aren't there by
lunchtime, we'll get a whipping,” I said.

The
man waited for Helen to make a decision. To go with her friend or to take him
up on his offer.

She
shook her head at me and slipped her hand into the man's. “How old is your
daughter?” she asked, looking up at him.

He
passed me a fleeting glance, but started to walk away with Helen. “She's
probably a few years older than you, dear.”

I
watched helplessly as they walked away. Part of me wanted to go with them, to
make sure Helen stayed safe. But I just turned in the direction of the
orphanage, wading back slowly through the snow. I was rewarded with a spanking
and no lunch.

The
rest of the day, Helen was gone. At dinner, she still hadn't returned. At
bedtime, the bed beside mine was empty. The next day they found her, buried in
a pile of bloodied snow, stiff as a block of ice. Madam Lorraine disappeared
before the law called on her, no doubt fleeing for Kislow while all the little
orphan girls dealt with their grief.

I
never told anyone that I'd let the man take her. Never met anyone's questions
with more than silence.

After
that day, my nights were so much worse.

Because
in the shadows, Helen lurked.

-C
hapter Eight-

By
the time I came back up from my trance, the darkness of the tunnel had
disappeared and we’d emerged into the misty day. Small huts surrounded us now,
dotting the crater of Redrune. Sheep chewed on the grass, watching lazily as we
passed them by.

Alyss
was holding my hand, her voice tender as she asked, “Are you okay?”

I
slipped my hand away, smiling even through my discomfort. “Yes, I was
just...caught up in a memory. Do you know what slowed us in the tunnel?”

She
nodded. “There was another carriage coming out of Redrune, but the tunnel
wasn't wide enough for us to pass them. They had to back out.”

“I
was wondering what was going on in your head,” the prince broke in. “Was it a
good memory or a bad memory?”

“A
bad one,” I said. I watched the sheep as they grazed. Watched the men as they
mended fences and the women chasing after children. Prince Matthias, with all
his riches, could do something about those people in the tunnel. I turned my
gaze on him. “Couldn't we help them?”

The
prince shrugged uncomfortably. “Most of those people are poor by their own
actions. They may have been alcoholics or gamblers.”

“Not
the children,” I said. “The children are innocent.”

“What
can we do? If we give the children money, their parents will spend it...and we
can't exactly take the children away from their families.”

Alyss
spoke up. “What about a soup kitchen? The crown could fund it.”

The
prince rubbed his stubbly chin. “My father is tight with his money, especially
now…but it’s not a bad idea. I may mention it to him when we get there.”

The
carriage started to rattle as the road we traveled on gave way to a more uneven
path. We bounced along uncomfortably until the rocks all around us disappeared,
replaced by cliff-face so close that if I opened the door, it would hit the
stone. Several minutes passed and the cliff began to distance itself. Finally,
buildings appeared again.

The
carriage stopped in front of a large castle-like building with large pillars
and a beautiful mahogany door.

I
looked forward to going inside, but before I could follow the others, Sir
Lochlan stepped in front of me. “We need to go see my family,” he said, his
face pale and grim.

My
heart sunk as I thought back on Roland's death and the promise I'd made him.
Now it was time to keep that promise.

I
followed him to the chestnut mare and hoisted myself up, waiting patiently as
Sir Lochlan adjusted the stirrups to match my height. When he was done, he
swung onto his roan and we were off.

We
continued through the rest of the city. It didn't take very long. While Redrune
looked quite impressive from the outside, it wasn't as big as Achron. More huts
began to dot the hills as the larger buildings faded away.

The
farther we got, the more spread out they became until we sidled up to a small
cabin with a sizable garden. Nearby, a few wooly faces peeped out of a shed in
curiosity. A chilly mist began to fall from the sky, seeping the cold down to
my bones. Even though the glow of a warm fire flickered invitingly in the
window, I dreaded going inside to meet Roland’s family.

“This
is it?” I asked, stopping my horse beside Sir Lochlan's.

He
nodded. “Seems a little small for a family of seven doesn't it?”

I
didn't reply as I dismounted the mare. Sir Lochlan followed suit. He led the
way up the stairs while I cowered behind. Before he could even knock, the door
was flung open. Golden light outlined a silhouette of a thin woman. “Loch? Is
that really you?”

“Yes,
Mother.” He stood in front of her awkwardly, his head lowered.

She
choked out a cry and wrapped him in a hug. “Oh, Lochlan, you have no idea how
much I've missed you.”

She
pulled back and seemed to see me for the first time. She squinted her eyes. “Is
this the fiancée you wrote about? I thought you said she had black hair.”

Sir
Lochlan shook his head. “No. Celia is back at the castle.”

It
impressed me to hear about Celia. I didn’t think Sir Lochlan had much of a soft
side, but apparently, he did.

“This
is Ivy,” Sir Lochlan said. “She went to the Crescent Isle Conservatory.”

“Oh?”
his mom asked. “You must know Roland then.” Worry lines etched into her
forehead when I looked away quickly without a reply.

Sir
Lochlan looked past her, into the house. “Is Father or any of the others home?”

“Your
father is out at sea,” she replied. “Brent is upstairs, he’s here for the
weekend, and
Kayta
is here with her son while her
husband is building their house in
Silvonville
. Jake
is at the castle, of course, and Roland...” she trailed off as her eyes flicked
to me. She wrung her hands nervously.

Sir
Lochlan swallowed tightly and let out a strangled breath. “Roland is why we're
here, Mama.”

“What's
happened?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sir
Lochlan placed a hand on her shoulder and led her back into the house. I
followed hesitantly. At the sight of Lochlan, a woman—who I assumed was
Kayta
—stood up, holding a sleeping newborn in her arms.

Her
mouth formed into a small smile until she registered the grim facial
expressions on both her mother and brother. “What’s wrong?” she asked. She
looked at me, her eyes narrowed in distrust.

I
heard more footsteps sound above us. They became louder as they descended the
stairs. A man that looked exactly like an older version of Roland appeared at
the bottom. He studied each face very carefully until he came to mine.

“What
is it?” he asked, his fierce eyes boring into my own.

I
opened my mouth, but closed it again before I said something I'd regret. Why
had he asked me? Why not his brother? I looked at Sir Lochlan for help.

“I
asked the girl,” Brent snapped before Sir Lochlan could say anything.

Sir
Lochlan pressed his mouth into a firm line, his eyes narrowing at his brother
before he turned back to me. Every eye in the room was on me, save the
newborn’s
.

I
took in a deep, steadying breath. “Roland and I were sent on a quest to the
Isle of Ginsey. When we got there, the natives shot us with darts dipped in a
sleeping draft.” I cleared my throat, not wanting to get choked up with
emotion. “Roland had an allergic reaction...he didn't make it.”

My words
were met by shocked silence. There was one more thing I needed to say. “He
wanted me to tell you that he went to live in a place without fear or worry or
anguish. He even got a glimpse of it before he died.” Tears pricked my eyes.

Lochlan’s
mother’s face was as white as a sheet as she held his arm in a death grip. He
led her to a chair and set her down gently.

Kayta's
baby began to wail, but
Kayta
just stared straight ahead, her eyes glassed over with unshed tears.

Brent
eyes were narrowed accusingly, and he took a threatening step toward me. Sir
Lochlan pried his mother's fingers off his arm to step in front of his brother.
“Brent, it's not her fault.”

Brent
looked at Lochlan, his lip curled in anger. Before I had time to think about my
actions, I bolted out the door, slamming it behind me. I changed in midstride,
lifting off into the air. I couldn't help the untamed cries of sadness that
escaped me as I flew higher.

Sir
Lochlan's words echoed through my mind. “Brent, it's not her fault,” he'd said.

But
I can't stop thinking that it is. If only I’d just gone alone.

It
is my fault.

-Chapter Nine-

Sir
Lochlan called after me as I flew over the rocky hills, but I paid him no mind.
The hotel wasn't hard to find. It was easily the largest building in Redrune.

I
folded in my wings and angled downward, plunging into a seemingly vacant
alleyway. I landed on human feet and leaned against the stone wall to steady
myself.

What
have I done?
Of all the times I'd thought of telling Roland's family about
his death, nothing could have been worse than what really happened. I'd kept my
promise to Roland, but I ran away like a feeble mouse at the first sign of
danger.

I
took in a deep breath and pushed myself away from the wall, walking swiftly
around the corner to get back to the mahogany doors. I gripped the handle, but
instantly jerked it away when it started to smoke. A glowing orange hand print
was seared into the metal. I took in a deep breath to calm myself and opened
the door quickly, elbowing it shut once I was inside.

The
foyer was grand, with the ceiling stretched high above my head. Blue and silver
banners with the king's insignia lined the hall. Flickering lanterns were hung
on either side of each one, to the very end of the wide corridor. I took a few
steps forward, and as I walked, the lanterns on either side of me went out one
by one. I paused as the rest of the lights went out until I was all alone in a
darkened corridor. Only the moonlight lit the way to the empty desk and the
doors just beyond it.

My
heartbeat skipped. I was still in first form, and yet somehow, power trickled
through to my human body. I was absorbing the heat. I walked toward one of the
unlit lanterns and cupped my hands around it, willing it to relight. A bolt of
fire struck the lantern, glass and metal shrapnel shooting everywhere. All that
was left was a blackened spot on the wall.

I
jumped when someone cleared their throat at the other end of the hallway. Grix
stood in the doorway, his hand still on the doorknob.

“I’m
guessing things didn’t go well?” he asked, studying the charred remains of the
lantern.

I
hid my stinging hands behind me. “No, they didn’t,” I said in a small voice.

He
shut the door and came closer. “What happened?”

I
didn’t want to talk about it. I turned away.

“Come
on, was it that bad?” he said.

“I
ran away,” I said, fighting back tears.

“Why?”

“Well,
Roland’s brother threatened me, but that’s only part of it.” I paused. “I ran
away because I couldn’t stand to see the pain on their faces for one moment longer
before
I
…” I trailed off.

“Before
you broke down, too?” Grix finished for me.

I
looked back at him, trying to keep the tears from falling. “It was hard for me
to lose him, but them? They had twenty years of knowing him, of watching him
grow from a child into a man. And I keep feeling like I could have done
something to spare them that pain.”

He
put his hand on my shoulder in an awkward gesture to comfort me. “There was
nothing you could do, or you would’ve done it. The past it over, so let’s live
for the present and the future. What would Roland want you to do right now?”

“I’m
not sure.”

Grix
rubbed the back of his neck. “My bet is that he’d want you to take a deep
breath and calm yourself…and then, he’d want you to go eat something before you
starve to death.”

I
laughed, and the tension in the room immediately lifted. All at once the
lanterns relit, filling the hall with light.

He
glanced at the lanterns and gave me a tight smile. “You’re getting stronger,
Ivy. You need to control your emotions if this is what they can do. Perhaps a
way you can cope with it for now is that question—
what would Roland want you
to do
?”

He
led the way back to the door he’d come through. “The dining hall has been
cleared and everyone’s gone up to their rooms. I’m sure we can find something
in the kitchen, though.”

He
opened the door and let me slip past him.

Alyss
was standing right inside, a worried expression on her face. “What was that
sound?”

“It
was just me,” I said. Unsure of how she would take the fact that I’d blown something
up, I stopped there.

“She
made a lantern explode,” Grix interrupted.

I
shot him a look that he shrugged off.

Alyss’s
eyes widened as she looked back at me. “How?”

“It
was an accident,” I said. “I was trying to relight it.”

“And
because she was angry, it disintegrated instead,” Grix added.

I
glared at him and he raised his hands defensively.

“I
didn’t disintegrate it,” I muttered.

Alyss
gave me a worried smile.

“Let’s
just go find something to eat,” I said, and walked past her into a room full of
tables. A dining hall. Just beyond that was a door that I guessed led to the
kitchens.
When I opened it, the smells wafting up the stairs
confirmed my assumption. Freshly baked cookies.

When
the cook heard that I hadn’t eaten anything, he gathered together a tray of
sliced meat, breads, and fruits. Not surprisingly, Grix ate most of it, though
he claimed to have already eaten.

After
I’d finished, Alyss led me up to where I was supposed to sleep, in a room
adjacent to hers. It was nicely furnished, with a four-poster bed, a trunk, two
chairs on either side of a window, and a table lined with books right between
them. As soon as Alyss left for her own room, I sighed and tiredly headed over
to one of the chairs. I flopped down and rested my elbow on the arm as I
studied the titles of the books.

Most
of them were history books about Leviatha, but one in particular stood out to
me.
Stories of Leviatha Castle
. I reached forward, took it, and started
flipping through the pages. There were many sketches of a white castle, built
right over the water, and other pictures of different statues of sea serpents,
like Roland. I flipped a little farther through the book. There were brilliant
gardens, an aquarium, and a myriad of ships docked right next to the castle.
King
Horace IV’s personal fleet,
the last picture was titled.

I
turned the page to see a sketch of a princess on a balcony, her eyes wild with
fear, smoke billowing out from the doorway behind her. The picture was titled,
The
story of King Horace IV’s daughter, Princess
Rayna, and her new husband, Lord Vincent the Vicious.
Next to it, there was
a poem.

It flickers and flutters and sputters
and twists,

It pops and crackles and sizzles and
roars.

The mighty dance of the beast called
Fire

climbs
higher
and higher up the castle spire,

where
a
princess with a long white veil

tightly
grips the balcony rail.

Where is her prince?

Will he come to save her?

The truth is he won't,

for
he's
the pied piper,

coaxing
the flame, the cold-blooded viper.

He'll steal her inheritance,

he'll
steal her throne,

but
what
he doesn't know is that the princess isn't alone.

Fire is ruthless,

and
Fire
is his fate.

He tries to get out,

but
it's
just too late.

Their spirits leave their bodies,

their
earthly lives have ceased,

but
one
flies skyward,

above
the flame and to the feast.

The other is dragged below where he
dances,

an
agonizing dance with the Fire Beast.

I
shuddered and closed the book. The bed was starting to look really comfy. Just looking
at it made my eyes droop shut. I stood, lumbered across the room, and crawled
under the covers, letting myself drift slowly away.

My
subconscious took me back to Lochlan’s house. In the dream, instead of Brent
being the only one glaring at me threateningly, all of Roland’s family gave me
accusing looks. Even Sir Lochlan. I backed away, just like I had in real life,
but this time, my foot bumped into something. I looked down to see Roland’s
pale, cold face staring up at me lifelessly.

I wanted
to scream, but couldn’t, and when I looked back up at Roland’s family, they
were all closing in on me. There was no one there to stop Brent this time as he
wrapped his calloused hands around my neck and…

Bang,
bang, bang!
I jerked awake as soon as I heard the deafening sound of
a heavy fist slamming into the door. My heart beat furiously in my chest. I
rushed to open the door only to be met with the sight of Sir Lochlan’s livid
expression, highlighted by the lantern he held in his white-knuckled fist.