Page 24 of Shadows of Winter

“Sugar cube?” Kaylina guessed. “Or dried apple?”

That was what Grandpa’s mare liked.

“He’s not a horse,” Vlerion said. “It’s dried meat pulverized and packed into a cube.”

“Tasty.” Frayvar slid off the taybarri a lot less gracefully, his heel skidding on a patch of ice.

Vlerion caught him, keeping him from falling. “Crenoch likes it.”

Careful not to land in the same icy patch, since she didn’t want Vlerion grabbing her again, Kaylina dropped down.

He stepped closer and reached for something on his belt. A weapon?

Fear surged into her as she remembered his deadly fighting prowess, and she stepped back. She bumped into the taybarri, the creature as immovable as a wall, and felt trapped.

“What are you doing, pirate?” Kaylina blurted, trying to sound tough, but her voice squeaked on the last word.

Vlerion snorted. “Your mouth might get you killed before you make your first batch of wine.”

“Mead.”

“Watch who you call pirate—or anything else derogatory. The nobles can be prickly, especially now.”

The law about flogging came to mind, one she’d never worried about back home. “We don’t have a lot of nobles in the south.”

“The south doesn’t have much agriculture and mining or many factories. The kingdom mostly annexed it so it couldn’t be used as a staging ground by enemies or to house pirate strongholds.”

“Meaning the south doesn’t need nobles?”

“Meaning you aren’t a priority.”

Did he mean that you to be personal?

Vlerion held up what he’d been reaching for, offering it to her. Her grandpa’s sling and pouch of lead rounds.

“Uhm, what is that?” Frayvar’s voice came out even squeakier than hers had a moment earlier. He was pointing toward one of the two front towers at the corners of the castle.

Kaylina stepped away from the taybarri to follow his gaze. An unshuttered window emitted a steady red glow.

“I… don’t know.” Kaylina had seen animals and insects in nature give off photoluminescent greens and blues, and she’d seen altered plants and trees in the wild that glowed at night but not red.

“Lord Vlerion?” Frayvar’s tone was a lot more diffident than hers.

“As I’ve been telling you, the castle is cursed.” Vlerion sounded indifferent and unfazed by the glow, but he turned to watch Kaylina. “Maybe you can figure it out while you’re spending the night.”

Did he sound amused? What a bastard.

A breeze swept through, a few snowflakes floating down, and an eerie moan came from the castle. The wind blowing across an opening or maybe those crenelations, Kaylina told herself.

“We will,” she said firmly. “A little magic might be a boon. It will add to the appeal of our establishment and help draw curious customers.”

“Nobody’s going to spend the night there.”

“We weren’t planning to start an inn.”

Of course, if the meadery and eating house did well, they could expand.

“Only foolish tourists would come this close to the castle.”

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