Page 4 of A Dream of Snow

“Yes,” Borea said. “He’s accepted. Until you enter the forest, he’ll be forced to stick to the rules. Once the challenge begins, there’s nothing I can do to prevent either side from deceit, but when both sides go in, you’ll be searched and anything forbidden will be taken away. It will be as fair of a venue as I can offer.”

“Then all that’s left to do is to wait…and practice,” Bran said. “Do you mind if we make use of your training stations in the guardhouse?”

Borea nodded. “You’re welcome to use whatever you need. And Bran, my hope is that you come out victorious. I cannot strike an alliance with your brother, but I can—and will—enter into an alliance with you. If you lose, I’ll insist on a proper ceremony to honor you, and I’ll take care of your companions. And your brother and his men will be sent packing, ordered never to return.”

After the meeting,Fenling, Bran, and I took a walk outside. A light flutter of snow fell, and I glanced into the silvery sky, letting the flakes fall on my face. The realization that, in little more than a fortnight’s time, we all might be dead sobered me.

“What’s Karina going to do to the forest?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. I know that she’s connected to the soil and ground and trees, and she can talk to the earth spirits. She can even calm a rock elemental. She’ll also use that magic to make sure the winter thaw holds until Karehl makes it through the pass.” Bran took my hand. “Fenling said you’ve volunteered to be one of my five.”

“I’m part of the Lorani now. I’m your betrothed. I will ride at your side, regardless of the danger. As Fenling said, I’m the best bowman you’ve got.” I turned to him. “We live together, or we die together. And I’ll be damned if we die.”

Bran pulled me in for a kiss. “I knew that we were meant to be together.” He held me for a long time as distant thunder rumbled. The storm was on the horizon.

The next fewweeks we trained, and trained hard. Every day, we put in hours of practice, with sword and dagger, with bow and hand-to-hand combat. I tried to remember that I had killed a man, one who had been out to hurt me, and that if I did it once, I could do it again when I most needed to.

On the last day before Karehl was due, Bran, Fenling, and I were heading back to our rooms from a training session. Fenling draped her arm around my shoulders.

“Are you nervous? I can feel Karehl nearing the city. The challenge starts the day after.”

“I’m nervous, I admit it,” I said. “My life the past months has been so different from my life back in Renmark. I feel shellshocked. I wasn’t unused to danger—to be a hunter means to put your life in jeopardy every time you go out. Elk can trample you, a bear can come out of nowhere to wipe out your existence. Wolves—not shifters, but wolves—might be hiding behind the trees, watching.” I gazed into her eyes. “I think you’re asking if I’m afraid of dying. That will always be a ‘yes’ but…it’s part of the cycle, and I’ve done nothing to regret when it’s my time.” I paused, then said, “I know it sounds odd, given you’ve grown up trained to fight, but what about you?”

Fenling thought for a moment. “My fear isn’t for my own life, though I’m always nervous before a mission. My fear is for Eleago. My fear is that Karehl will find some way to cheat, that he’ll kill Bran, and doom Eleago.”

“We’ll make it through this,” Bran said. “Karehl’s impulsive. He won’t be thinking straight.”

“I know his ego is his biggest downfall, but don’t forget, Karehl intends on forcing everyone under his rule into slavery. Look what he’s done to the Council,” Fenling said.

“Council? What council?” I asked

Fenling shrugged. “Eleago…the People of the Wolves, have a council of elder advisors. Even the King was subject to their decree, and if they decide that the king’s abusing his power, they can censure or depose him.”

“And what did Karehl do to the Council?”

Bran gave me a somber look. “He’s dissolved them. It hasn’t gotten out yet, but the jailor sent word to me that Karehl threatened every member of the council with expulsion from Eleago if they didn’t step down. They refused and they’ve been cast into the wilds.”

I frowned. “At least they’re free.”

“No, it doesn’t work like that,” Fenling said. “When you’re expelled from the Pack, you’re sent into the Bramble Fel Forest without any supplies, without any horse, without weapons. Even for a wolf shifter, that’s often a death sentence. The elders on the Council are past their prime, physically, so they’ll be lucky to live, given it’s winter.”

“Can they go to another village?”

“If they’re lucky enough to make it, but they may not find sanctuary, even then. If the villages answer to Eleago, they won’t be allowed to shelter the Council members. If they answer to another leader, then it depends on who’s running the Pack in question.” Bran sighed. “Either way, since Karehl’s dissolved the Council, he answers to no one.” A grim look passed over his face. “I tried to order Fenling to set this one out. If I’m defeated, she can challenge him after I’m dead.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Fenling said. “You need the best of the best with you. You know you stand a better chance if I have your back.”

“Well then,” Bran said, “I’m lucky to have the best crew I could hope for. I just hope that my brother isn’t as fortunate.”

CHAPTER THREE

The throne was sculptedof crystal and rose ten feet above the floor on a pedestal. Silver sparkles flickered from inside the quartz. The staircase to the royal seat spiraled around the base, and the steps were also translucent, with silver handrails on either side. The steps were covered with a narrow strip of carpet to lessen the threat of slipping on them, as blue as the morning sky, with gold embroidery creating an intricate scrollwork pattern.

We lined the sides of the aisle. First were the guards, ten in a row on either side. Next, the challengers—with Bran, Fenling, San, Quen, and myself on the left. On the right side stood Karehl and his four champions.

The rest of the Lorani, along with the rest of Karehl’s guards were detained behind bars in two separate holding cells. They weren’t prisoners, but Borea had segregated them off into an area that was escape proof. No magic could penetrate the cells, no physical force could break through the shields. They couldn’t interfere with the challenge and would remain cordoned off until a victor prevailed.

I noticed Karehl staring at me and I could see the wheels turning in his head. I stared back, giving him a measured, frozenlook, then turned away as though he were irrelevant. I could practically feel him seething, but I turned a loving gaze toward Bran. I knew that would throw Karehl off balance.

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