Page 122 of Shadows of Winter

~ Summer Moon Priestess Tya

Kaylina had only been alone in the dungeon cave for ten or fifteen minutes when a soft scraping came from the far side. She lowered her lantern—and the extremely dry reading Vlerion had given her—and peered into the gloom beyond the pool. Or had that come from in the pool?

Thoughts of deadly water animals returned.

But it sounded like it came from behind the pool. Maybe on the cave wall? Or in it?

If Vlerion hadn’t said the catacombs didn’t run anywhere near the royal castle, Kaylina would have guessed Virts were back there, planting explosives, as they’d planned to do under her meadery.

Maybe those sounds came from someone tunneling in from another cave to rescue her. She snorted. Right. Besides Vlerion and her brother, Kaylina couldn’t imagine anyone bothering. Vlerion was searching for the messenger, and Frayvar didn’t know she was in trouble. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or glad she hadn’t gone to visit him before leaving to see the queen. He had a noble enough heart that he would try to rescue her from trouble, but he wasn’t strong enough to implement a plan that didn’t involve numbers and ledgers.

The scrapes stopped, then started up again, then stopped permanently. An hour or more passed without a sound, and Kaylina’s hopes that someone would break her out died. It might have been an animal moving in the little forest of stalagmites. Though if she was the anrokk that people believed, an animal ought to come over, say hello, demand pets, and filch the cell key for her.

The soft clanks of armor sounded on the stone steps leading to the dungeon. Kaylina closed the book she hadn’t made much progress in and braced herself for her next trial.

A guard walked into view, the one who’d been leering at her.

Kaylina gripped the book, the closest thing to a weapon she had, and vowed to club him if he entered her cell.

Someone walked into view behind him. Jana. Her hood was up, but Kaylina knew her cloak and furtive walk right away.

“If you’ve come to let me out to pee, I appreciate it,” Kaylina said out of a notion that she shouldn’t show fear, shouldn’t give away that her belly fluttered with nerves. “The guards didn’t make a latrine stop on the way down, and there isn’t so much as a bowl in my cell.”

“If you hadn’t been busy rubbing up against the ranger, you could have asked to go,” the guard said.

Jana grunted. “I knew they were sleeping together.”

If only…

“It was the only explanation for how she got a ranger wrapped around her finger so quickly.” Jana pressed a gold coin into the guard’s hand and pointed at the stairs. “Stand over there. Let me know if anyone is coming.”

“For the mead maven? Anything.” He winked and gave her a leer.

“I’m married and old enough to be your mother, you oaf,” she said but sounded as if she liked the attention.

Kaylina curled her lip in disgust at the thought of liking anything from that man.

“I’d enjoy you,” the guard said. “I’m still hard from watching them hump.”

“Disgusting. Over there.” Jana pointed at the steps again.

After giving her another leer, as if any of her anatomy were visible under that cloak, the man obeyed, walking far enough up the steps to be out of sight.

Jana stopped in front of Kaylina’s cell. “The problem with the ones who are amenable to bribes is they’re not exactly the best of the best.”

“Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you.” Kaylina looked toward the far side of the cave, but it had been a while since she’d heard any scrapes. Maybe they’d been her imagination.

“I told you we were competitors. Competitions can be ruthless up here.”

“I hadn’t yet made my first batch of mead when you said that. You couldn’t possibly be worried about me.”

“I’ve been to the Spitting Gull.” Before, Jana had said she hadn’t. “I don’t know where your grandmother gets her honey or the secrets of her recipes, but her mead is the most exquisite I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve tasted a lot. You will not open a meadery here. I’ve worked my whole life to establish my business, win supply contracts with the royal family and other monied nobles, and make enough to buy land for my family, to ensure my children and their children won’t grow up in poverty, like I did. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have a successful business and buy land as a commoner?”

“I’ve got some inklings.” Kaylina knew how hard it had been for her grandparents. “Are you seriously trying to get me killed because some competition might cause you to earn a little less?”

“To lose all my contracts would be more than earning a little less.”

“But I haven’t even—”

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