I couldn’t stay in Haven’s quarters forever. If nothing else, it was craven to hide in my own home. I had just needed time to get my edge back, my comforting cold. Now with my thoughts stirring towards Hallen’s impending visit and the ceremonial changing-over of command for his elite troops, finally back to their strength, I thought I was ready to return to my own quarters. With Erelim’s followers caught like rats in a Melody’s steel trap of a plan, it would be safe enough to maneuver Shira out of my quarters and into something of her own. That in turn would prompt fewer whispers about why she had been permitted to stay in my rooms for so long without Melody around to shape the palace rumor mill to her will.
Even though I prided myself on keeping only the truly loyal, servants needed something to talk about and it was a point of curiosity. The oversight on my part hadn’t been as problematic when Melody was posing as my handmaiden. She had an almost mystical way with rumors, always aware of just who to drop the right tidbits to in order to keep me protected. Now there was a chink in my armor, something I was very aware of when I heard the whispering in the halls.
The attention was mostly focused on Shira, of course, not me. Speak the name of the Beloved even in epithets and it might draw her ire, or so the stories went. The priestess had no such reputation to protect her. The Winter Palace was an insular place, separated from the rest of Sanctum, which gave it perhaps a more clannish feel than it needed. Even the guard recruits were not certain how to handle her as one among their number, and her silence made her even more of a target for the cruel jokes and pranks that are common among soldiers.
Perhaps that was why she treated my quarters so much as a refuge. Whatever anyone’s feelings about her, they didn’t dare bring them there. I let her have use of the space far more than I liked, busying myself in the armory and library while I prepared for Hallen and this grand, stupid spectacle instead of sequestering myself in my chambers. The problem with being out and about in the Palace meant visitors and staff alike felt entitled to my attention and there were only so many that I could menace away.
Sometimes, however, not even the armory was safe.
Near midday, the training rooms were always busy, so I knew something was amiss as soon as I rounded the corner with Vex to see an almost deserted hall leading to their doors. The regular guards were present, but no one else. “It seems the mice have all scurried away, my lady.” My second spoke casually, but she had one hand on the hilt of her sword. “Shouldn’t there be servants at least dusting in anticipation of Hallen?”
“Perhaps you can hound them down and remind them of their obligation,” I said, less concerned. An assassin would have been a breath of fresh air compared to more planning. It was rare for me to have an actual guest, but Hallen’s second had insisted his master had things to discuss with me privately, so there would be a dinner the night before the restoration of his men to his command. With Melody gone, Haven had stepped in, but he had to be reminded of seating configurations, particularly since the leeches would be in attendance at His Majesty’s request. It was meant to be a show of unity, of mended fences, but I doubted that Varys had forgotten why he’d almost roasted in the sun to death.
I opened the door to the training room. There, fresh contusions and tears on her face, was Shira. She held the armor I had requested Ember make as rusted fragments, clearly damaged by a spell. In that moment, the prophecy no longer mattered, nor did my efforts at avoiding her. I strode across the distance between us with purpose, taking a knee beside her. “Shira, who did this?”
She shook her head, gripping the destroyed armor more tightly.
“Shall I speak to the guard, my lady?” Vex asked sweetly, already anticipating whatever misery I was going to inflict on those responsible. “They would know who left the room.”
“That would be appreciated.” I reached out carefully, turning Shira’s head towards me with a firm press of my fingertips on the flesh that wasn’t bruised. Her cheek swelled, one eye was well on track to becoming black, and her lip had split from a blow to the mouth. I understood her silence: no doubt she wanted to avoid the persecution worsening. “This needs a cold compress or it will only grow more painful.”
There had to have been multiple assailants. She was too well trained to lose to one. Shira’s eyes flooded as she looked at me, confused and hurt. I can handle myself, she signed defensively.
“That is not in question.” I inspected the injuries carefully, then glanced down at the armor. “Were you wearing that when this happened?”
She shook her head. Cleaning.
“It is just armor, Shira. I can requisition you another set with ease,” I said, prying it out of her other hand.
It was a gift. I should have protected it better.
“It was meant to protect you, not the other way around.” I touched the blood on her chin. The anger that was my constant companion roiled at the sight. It clung to my fingertips, still clotting. A fresh battle, then, or at least relatively so. I set aside the destroyed pieces of armor until she had nothing more to cling to, facing her on my knees. Then I pulled a handkerchief out of my sleeve and held it out. “Dry your eyes. We are solving this problem.”
How?
“Those responsible will be disciplined. I feel it is only right.”
She dried her tears and rose as I did, confusion and concern playing across her face. Please don’t kill them, she signed as Vex entered the room, kicking one young man ahead of her while she dragged his companions by their faces, grinning savagely. They were all too terrified to curse my second, knowing full well what it meant if the wight was the one fetching them.
Vex’s interest could only mean they faced my displeasure.
“Here are your miserable little morsels, my lady. Shall I chew them a lesson?” the wight said, dumping her captives on the ground in front of me. All three young men were bloody and beaten, though not as thoroughly as they’d struck Shira. The two who had been dragged bore Vex’s claw marks sunk deep into their cheeks.
“No, Vex. I give you custody of the door. If they flee for it, you will strike them down,” I said coldly. I recognized all three, well acquainted with the names of even my recruits. “Before you miserable creatures begin barking, it was Vex who found you out. Shira here has been remarkably silent about who is responsible.”
“Lady Frostborn, this is a misunderstand–” the leader, Alessandro, started to say.
“Do tell me what I misunderstand about her injuries.” My voice froze him like a midwinter gale. “I would love to know how foolish and blind you think I am.”
All three stared at me in horror, comprehending now the level of my wrath. It was rare for me to feel this cold these days, a feeling normally only the gods of Light could inspire in my chest. If Shira had thought I was icy before, she now had a far more accurate gauge of how frigid I could be. My lips twitched with contempt.
“Now, unless I am mistaken, becoming a Red Sash is a privilege generously offered, not a right. Given you have greatly abused my hospitality and patronage with this behavior, utterly divorced from the duty and obedience to oaths I expect my guards to honor, I am inclined to strip you of your station and dump the lot of you back in the gutters where I found you.”If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Alessandro dropped to his knees, a move that Sydell and Tobi copied quickly. “Please, Lady Frostborn–”
All three withered under my glare as I cut him off again. “If I wanted excuses or groveling pleas, Alessandro, I would carve them out of your miserable head. You are warriors. I expect you to behave accordingly.” They straightened, but kept their heads bowed. “Your lives hang in a very precarious balance, but I will let the wounded party advocate either for or against you. It is her choice to make. I will take her words into account.”
“She’s a mute!” Alessandro blurted out.
I struck him across the face with a backhand hard enough to knock him to the ground. “Just because you are too arrogant or stupid to learn sign doesn’t mean we all are,” I hissed.
He stayed on the ground, only daring to look up at Shira. He was smart enough not to make eye-contact with me. It would have been the end of him.
Please don’t hurt them any more, Shira signed. They’ve learned their lesson. Surely this is punishment enough.
“Mercy is wasted on morsels,” Vex muttered, looking down at the three with a definite hunger in her eyes.
I reached down and grabbed Alessandro by two fistfuls of his shirt, dragging him up to his feet and forcing him to face me. “Shira recommends that I do you no more harm. She operates under the assumption that you have learned your lesson. It seems her clemency comes without punishment beyond that which you have already endured.”
The relief that flashed across his face made me even more angry, somehow.
“Would you agree that I have always been a woman of my word, Alessandro? A leader who acts justly and requires just acts from those who follow her?”
“Yes, Lady Frostborn,” he said quickly.
“Then let me be abundantly clear: every cruelty you visit on Shira here will be revisited upon you three times over. No more, no less. Once because it is a violation of your oaths and unbecoming of a Red Sash, once because you have thrown my generosity in my face, and once because you have abused someone who risks her own neck for yours even after you have wronged her.” I shoved him backwards into Vex, who caught him with eager claws. “And if this behavior on your part ever escalates, you will find yourself wishing fervently you could have been only rendered into gutter trash. That goes for all of you and your little friends who aren’t here. Get out of my sight before I change my mind and find an unspeakable horror to visit on you.”
The three fought each other to get out of the training room as fast as they could, careening out the door in the flight of those who knew my patience was expended. Vex sighed. “I could have been that unspeakable horror, my lady,” the wight said despondently.
“There’s still time, if they are fools.” I knew Shira was watching me carefully, like one would a cobra with its hood flared. “Vex, go amuse yourself. I will take Shira to see Haven.” The wight would probably terrorize the three, but I didn’t really care now that my point was made.
Why are you protecting me? Shira signed when I turned to face her. You haven’t even cared to speak with me for more than a week.
It didn’t even sting. I was still raging internally at the three. I hadn’t stopped to examine my feelings to determine why I might be angry. “I brought you here. I promised to train you. Your safety is my responsibility.”
I didn’t ask to be made your responsibility! Shira shot back with the flicking of her fingers. Her eyes blazed, but they were tearing up as well. I’m not your property to defend, Frostborn. I’m a prisoner here. They all hate me. You hate me!
For the first time in centuries, instinct got the better of me. I grabbed her hands, stopping them from signing to buy myself time. The moment I caught her hand with my left hand, the ring melded into my bone flashed cold with magic and a vision opened up before my eyes.
–Shira and I stood in the apple orchard, but it was not as I remembered it: instead, I was the one pinning her against the tree, without a hint of him in sight. There was no book of poetry, but we were so close and her eyes looked dark as sapphires again. “Let me go, Aleyr.” Her voice was soft and hoarse from disuse, barely a whisper.
The moment I let go of her left wrist, she caught me by the front of the shirt and pulled me closer. I wasn’t expecting it at all, especially the way she tilted her head slightly as if inviting a kiss–
I let go of her with both hands, in absolute agony from both the ring and the vision. “I am not Varys!” I snarled. “Do not make me into him in your gods-damned visions!”
Shira was still reeling, slammed back into her body by the vision far less gracefully than my mind had returned to mine. Tears flooded down her cheeks. I don’t want you to be Varys!
I caught my breath, the cold of the ring still eating away at my hand. “You want me to be something I have no right to be. I am your captor and your tormentor, Shira, you have made that abundantly clear. Blurring those lines will only destroy us both.”
All I want is for you to let me in! It doesn’t have to be this way, Frostborn!
“I am the Beloved of the King in Black!” I shouted, feeling the burning in my eyes again. It matched the pain in my chest and the worse agony in my hand. “Get out of my heart, priestess! You have no place there!”
She reached out for me, lips shaping my name soundlessly, but I was finished with the conversation.
I tore out of the room, ignoring the pain in her expression as the agony worsened in my hand. My flesh was almost crimson around the ring, burning from the cold of it. “Haven!”
He must have come running, because he was there before I realized what was going on. “My lady, what–?”
I couldn’t even reply to him, my soul yanked on its tether. The King in Black had felt my distress and assumed it was danger. The summoning spell dragged my body along with my spirit, washing over me with cold necromantic energies.
I spilled out onto the cold stone within the Alabaster Spire’s Inner Sanctum, gasping for breath in the sudden chill that surrounded me. The King in Black looked down at me, blue fire burning in empty sockets. What happened, my rose?
For the first time in centuries, I felt my own eyes well. “What does it matter?” I said bitterly. “I am still loyal, still faithful, still following the commands you give me.”
A tear started to roll down my cheek, so He rose and caught it with one bone finger. I hated the coldness of His touch, the emptiness of the gesture. Why do you weep? Have I not given you everything you asked of me?
The words mocked me, though that was not His intent. He had given me oceans of suffering in exchange for my devotion. The little gestures like the apple tree were mere dabbing touches of a novice healer on the axe wounds in my soul. We were alone here, so I felt no need to censor myself. “I need you, Cassius! I need our life or an ending! I cannot content myself with the little meaningless nothings that are all you offer anymore!”
He straightened, imperious now as He looked at me. You knew what the ritual entailed, my rose. The sacrifices we made–
“I never agreed to sacrifice you!” I caught my breath in ragged pants, falling to my knees in front of him. “Not like this! I want the boy in the apple orchard, the man I loved dying by inches in my arms again! When you told me the only path to salvation was to cut out the heart of what you loved the most, I thought it would have been mine, and I was going to give it gladly! But it was yours!”
Our fates are decided, Aleyr, the King in Black said coldly. I remind you that you agreed to follow me through even the fires of Hell. Are you so inconstant that you would wish for the destruction of everything we built just because it burns?
“I gave you godhood!” I screamed, blinded by my tears. “I gave you kingdoms, I gave you children, I gave you myself, and you burned it all at the altar of your self! I don’t know where the man I loved is, because I see nothing of him in you!”
Because he is dead, Aleyr. You have lost grips on your reason. We will speak again at the ceremony with Hallen. I expect you to have regained yourself by then. I will return you to the Winter Palace if that is all you have to speak of.
If he said more, I heard nothing of it, only the resounding echoes of my own grief.