Page 50 of Omen of ice
Insignificant human… No doubt a slip, but it tells me more than enough about the court’s true feelings. About myaunt’sfeelings.
Liani closes her eyes for a moment, and when she opens them, tears gather in the corners. My aunt has worried about me my entire life, but the spark of fear I see now is brighter than ever. “I won’t see you harmed, Valen. Not because of her or anyone else. I would kill her myself if I didn’t think it would hurt you so.”
I refuse to acknowledge what she’s just said. I know it comes from a place of love, but my bond with Tania makes the words sting. “We received word from Lunal. The druid priestess can help us. We just have to get to Ventin.”
My admission seems to lift a ten-ton weight from her shoulders. “Then that’s where you must go.” She grabs another pack from the floor and shoves it at Tania. “In ten minutes, be at the east gate, and one of my guards will let you out. Follow the road south. I will make sure Orbik’s men believe you’ve gone north.”
She throws her arms around me, and I return the embrace. “Thank you.”
“Be safe. Not because the Winter Lands need your magic or because your uncle has convinced you it can save us, but for me. Be safe so that we may be together soon.”
The woman who’s been like a mother to me turns toward the door and slips through, and I wonder if I’ll ever see her again.
We made it to the gate in time for none other than Kopic to usher us through. He offered a simplejourney wellbefore stealing into the shadows like he’d never been there at all.
Daylight fades fast, and by the time the moon breaks through the small cracks in the cloud cover, we’ve almost made it to the edge of Winter territory.
“I still don’t understand why we couldn’t take horses.” Tania has the lighter of the two packs slung over her shoulder, secured with her right hand, while the left rests on the hilt of her sword. Her eyes dart every which way, body tense and ready for an ambush. “This is going to take forever on foot.”
“I told you—the northern terrain would be impossible for a horse to navigate. If we’d taken them from the stables, my uncle would suspect Liani’s information was false.” Gods only knew what he’d do if he found out my aunt helped us escape.
Tania grumbles something under her breath, then sighs. “If we’re going to travel this way, we need to be smart. Camp at night and make as much progress as we can during the daylight.”
“Agreed.”
She stops walking and glances back at the trail behind us. It’s dark, the scant light from the stars barely reaching us through the tree cover. “Do youreallythink they’ll believe her? That we went north?”
“For a while, yes. I don’t think it will last forever, though. Eventually, he’s going to send scouts out in all directions, but we have a fair head start as long as we remain cautious.” I’ve been covering our tracks in the snow using magic, but my uncle would anticipate that. If they come this way, his men will push on despite the lack of evidence.
“I’m betting these woods aren’t friendly after dark. I don’t love the idea of going much farther before morning.”
“These woods are unfriendly any time of day.” Even forgetting about the rebel bands of Fae scattered throughout Derriga, this part of the forest houses lethal occupants. “Aside from an assortment of venomous snakes and vermin, these woods are known for having venom stalkers.”
“What are venom stalkers?”
“They look like cats but much larger and with the mandibles of a spider.”
She scrunches up her nose. “That’s…disturbing.”
“Their venom kills you slowly over the course of a week, giving the stalker time to drag you back to its nest to feed its young.” I shiver. “Trust me when I tell you, it’s not a creature you want to encounter.”
Tania is somber, her gaze trained intently on something over my shoulder. “I could have lived happily without the experience.”
The tightness in her voice wraps around me like a vise, and a chill that has nothing to do with my power creeps across my skin, penetrating deep into my bones. “Would I be wrong to assume your experience wasveryrecent?”
She sighs. Her fingers twitch against the hilt of her sword. “You wouldn’t be wrong.”
I move as she draws her weapon, and by the time I turn, the venom stalker is already leaping. I lift my hands, and the air around me chills. My fingers numb as ice cascades from the tips, encasing the stalker. It’s mid-leap, so the momentum is still there, but Tania is ready. She swings her sword, just once, and the creature shatters into a million tiny chunks of ice scattered across the forest floor.
She looks down at her hands, wiggling the fingers of her free one. “That was…odd.”
“What do you mean?”
“I felt it. As you froze the stalker, I think Ifeltit.” She shivers and sheaths her weapon. “It was…”
I know exactly how she feels. “When I froze larger things as a child, my entire body went numb for three days.” Liani had wrapped me in layers of blankets, then set me up in front of a roaring fire. She never left my side. I don’t think I would have survived the early days of my magic without her.
Tania gives her fingers one more twitch before making a tight fist. “My hands are cold but not numb. Not really.”
