Page 27 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

“Layer these for now,” she said. “You can stitch them together later. They ought to keep out the worst of the chill.”

I noted that her own cloak was less worn, but similarly patched together from several other items.

“I guess the duke is the only one who gets nice clothes around here,” I muttered.

Adefina jerked, looking at me askance. “Don’t you let His Lordship hear you talk like that.”

“Why not?”

She frowned as if stunned by my stupidity, and then shook herhead before muttering darkly, “You’ll see.” Without another word, she turned and moved out of the kitchen. At the same doorway we had entered through the night before, she paused and glanced back at me. “Well? Get a move on, girl. We’re likely to be late already.”

My stomach clenched, but I couldn’t have said why—not at that point at least, not beyond my general horror at being carried away to what looked like a production by the History Channel and felt like the North Pole.

In the courtyard, a large group of people waited. At least, I assumed they were people. As at the market, they were all sizes and shapes, many of them obviously inhuman.

They stood in two neat rows lining the pathway leading from the circular drive up to the entrance of what I could see in the morning light was an enormous, grand house, not quite a castle, but definitely a mansion—and not like the McMansions of the US, either. More like one of those old-money houses in England or some other part of Europe. My mouth fell open, and I stared at it for a long moment before turning to examine the rest of the courtyard.

The entire space was walled in, as if it were some kind of medieval castle or something, the bright white stone glittering with silica crystal, making the whole scene look as if it had been bedazzled by some rhinestone-happy giant. In the distance, mountain peaks stretched into the hazy blue of the sky, the only thing I could see outside the wall.

Snow blanketed most of the space inside the wall, the morning sun glinting off the ice, and I shivered despite my two cloaks. A white gravel drive had been shoveled clear of snow, as had a path leading from the drive to the entrance of the mansion.

Tucked in one corner of the walled area stood a wooden structure with a single heavy crossbeam across two poles held up by a platform. The whole thing stood about eight feet off the ground.

“Quit your gawping, child.” Adefina gave my shoulder a shove.

I scowled at her, not certain what I should do, or even what gawping meant, though I assumed she didn’t want me to stare wonderstruckat my surroundings.

“Stand here,” she said, maneuvering me into place at the end of one of the two lines facing each other. “Push your hood back.”

“But it’s cold.”

She narrowed her eyes. “It’ll be worse than cold if you don’t.”

Reluctantly, I pulled both cloaks’ hoods off my head, pushing them back onto my shoulders. Directly across from me, two young women in matching, long, pale blue-and-white dresses—Oriana and Ramira, I would later learn—sneered at me and whispered to each other.

“Eyes forward, and if His Lordship speaks to you, look down and curtsy.” Adefina’s words came out at a hurried clip, and as the door at the top of the entry stairs swung open, she fell into line beside me, snapped her own gaze forward, and straightened her shoulders.

I still wasn’t certain what would be worse than cold. Except possibly sobbing and cold. I was tired and angry and terrified. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from crying, and Adefina made a tiny warning sound in the back of her throat. With a sigh, I dropped my arms beside me, my hands curling into fists.

Two young men with pale skin, white hair, and perfectly straight backs, dressed in matching pale blue-and-white fitted coats, blue leggings, and black boots stepped out of the house, swinging the double doors wide and holding them open.

I blinked when I realized they both had pointed ears, much like the duke’s.

Moments later, the duke himself stepped out, looking as rested as if he had not spent the day and half the night before dragging me here against my will. Once again, I was struck by how unbelievably beautiful he was. But this time, I bit the inside of my lip so hard I tasted blood, determined to wipe away any admiration I might ever have for him.

“Good morning,” Ivrael called out.

“Good morning, Your Lordship,” everyone said in unison.

The duke moved down the stairs, pausing periodically to speak to someone in line while I craned my head to watch him—until Adefina pinched me hard when he wasn’t looking. When he got to the end of the gauntlet we had created for him, he glanced at Adefina with a nod.

He didn’t give me a single look before stepping onto the circular drive and turning out to face the courtyard. For some reason, his indifference to me sent acidic anger swirling through my gut.

When Ivrael moved into the drive, all the servants turned to face the same direction he was looking. I followed their lead, a beat behind their coordinated movements. Now Adefina stood in front of me, and I was glad to be able to see over the shorter woman.

“Bring out the offender,” the duke commanded—and we all waited, the air charged with an awful expectation. I glanced around, trying not to move my head too much, but all the other people—creatures, whatever they were—continued staring straight ahead.

It couldn’t have taken more than the space of a few heartbeats, but the time seemed to stretch out, laden with that painful expectancy.

---