Page 45 of The Empty Throne

Thirteen

Cohea landed further away from Cremins thanhe would have liked, but there was no help for it when snow wasfalling heavily, in the midst of Endless Night, and the windfurther obscured visibility. The only reason he knew where the fuckhe was going was the mage lights that lined every major road forprecisely this reason. Even those weren't going to help him muchlonger.

Thankfully, between lulls in the wind, hecould spy the towering palace at the heart of Cremins. Soon hewould finally be somewhere safe and warm, where nobody wanted tokill him, and he could really, trulyrest.

He trudged onward, one laborious step at atime, fighting against snow and wind, the cold rapidly draining hisstrength.

By the time he reached the city gate, hecould have wept with relief. He collapsed right in front of it,abruptly depleted, the worst possible fucking time for his body togive up on him.

Voices. Frantic. Shouting. Cohea was hauledto his feet, arms draped over the shoulders of two people whohauled him off somewhere.

Then everything went still. Quiet. The windwas gone. The snow was gone. Cohea blinked to get flakes out of hiseyes, then reached up stiffly with frozen hands to do the jobfaster. "Where—" he croaked out, though he had a pretty goodidea.

"The gatehouse, sir," one of the men who'dhauled him inside said. "Saw you collapse. Don't know how youdidn't die in this storm."

Had it gotten so bad as to be a storm? Coheawas having trouble remembering anything but putting one foot infront of the other.

"Let's get these damp clothes off, sir," theother guard said, setting briskly to work, hanging his clothes onthe wall near the large woodstove that kept the small gatehousewarm. Thankfully, all his outer layers had done their job, and whenhe was finally free of them, Cohea was actually relatively dry, ifstill so cold he'd be impressed if his balls ever thawed.

"Your Grace!" the second guard said, droppingthe gloves she still held. "I didn't realize!"

Cohea laughed. "How in the world could you? Iwas covered in enough snow to be mistaken for a drift. Thank youfor rescuing me. I'm not entirely certain how I made it this far,but I'm glad you were here at the end because otherwise I wouldhave died right at my goal."

"Come, Your Grace, get warm by the stove,"said the first guard, dragging a chair over. "I'll get some teafixed up for you, thaw you from the inside and out."

"I appreciate it." Cohea gratefully took thechair, though it took some effort to move on his frozen legs.

The heat was the best thing he'd felt inhours. Days. He'd lost track of time since risking everything totravel via ocean at the absolute worst and most dangerous time ofyear. He'd survived that decision, barely. If Bittersea was here,he'd be ruthless in mocking Cohea for being brash and reckless.

Cohea swallowed, turning his right-hand palmdown so he could see his ring. The brilliant blue of the mermaiddiamonds glittered in the weak light of the stove and torches,looking nearly black. For a brief moment during his travels, they'dturned purple, but then had slipped back into blue.

He ached for the day they turned red again.When he fully intended to make Bittersea pay for being an absolutebastard when Fazekas had summoned him to help get information. Yes,Bittersea had also healed him, but he hadn't need to be such an assabout it.

Smiling faintly, Cohea let his hands drop.Soon. If he knew Bittersea, which he most definitely did, he was ator close to reaching the Lindquist manor, where he'd find the truthabout Sobeki. What he'd do from there, not even Cohea couldsay.

The female guard approached with the promisedcup of tea, and Cohea smiled as he took it. "Thank you."

"Where are you headed, Your Grace? Thepalace?"

"Yes, and I need to get there quickly, onceI've thawed enough to safely do so." As safe as it got in thesetemperatures.

"We have a caribou waiting whenever you'reready. We'd get the carriage, but it would never make it in thisweather."

Cohea smiled again. "I would never dream ofdemanding a carriage this time of year." It would be the height ofselfish entitlement to dangerously endanger people and animals thatway. "Anyone of note come through recently? Anything interestinghappen?"

The male soldier pursed his lips. "Someguards from the northern border arrived yesterday, looking franticand scared. They rushed immediately for the palace. Haven't heardanything since, which I'm taking as good news for now. Nothing elseof note since."

"Thank you. Much as I'd love to linger hereto warm up more, I think I must be on my way. Thank you again forhelping me. You quite literally saved my life."

"It's our duty to guard the gate and helpthose who need it," the woman said.

"Send your names and addresses to my officesat the royal palace, and you'll be thanked properly all the same.I'd get them now, but I don't trust me not to lose them in thechaos sure to come."

"Here, take these, your clothes are stillsoaked through." The man offered up spares of the jackets andcloaks worn by the guards, and Cohea pulled them on gratefullybefore taking the hat and gloves he offered next. "Be well, both ofyou."

Outside, he mounted the caribou waitingpatiently in a sheltered corner and rode off as the gates openedfor him. Travel through the city was slow, but thankfully he onlyhad to fight weather, not weather and crowds, as even the hardiestindividuals would not venture out in this without good cause.

Even riding a Cremisio caribou, speciallybred and raised for the brutal climate, it took him ages to reachthe palace. Impossible to tell how long exactly, but if it wereless than an hour, he would be truly shocked.

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