Page 70 of Winter's Fate

When they reached the courtyard, the watchman was just opening the gate to admit the newcomer. Not a threat, or so Callum hoped. Thaddeus should really let him come and train the poisonkeepers in proper security protocols.

The man who staggered into the courtyard was tall, with auburn hair and an unruly beard that looked as if it was usually kept neat. He braced himself upon the wall, his chest heaving with the effort of making his way up the hill.

“Regent Riennad,” Hawk said, stepping forward to meet him as Thaddeus called for a cup of water. “What happened?”

Regent? No, it wasn’t possible. An imposter, at best. Callum eased himself between the king and the newcomer, motioning the guards a step closer. “I left this man an hour’s ride behind me,” he said. “On the road.”

The man was shaking his head, water dripping from his chin as he tried to catch his breath. He did look like Declan Riennad. The man was dirty, disheveled, and exhausted. But it was him.

“What happened?” Callum asked. “Where’s Laena?”

“Laena,” Declan repeated, shaking his head. “She’s why I’m here. I have not seen her since she left Riles.”

Callum wanted to lift the man off his feet until his feet dangled in the air. “You were just with the queen. I left her with you.”

“No.” Declan wiped the water away. He looked as if he was about to collapse. “A shadow only. A heart-tithe. I came here to warn you. The queen intends to kill her sister.”

CHAPTER 29

Laena had not expected to open her eyes again.

The stars were fading when she did, their light still cool and bright even as dawn washed them from the sky, as if they wished they could use their light to soothe the pain that radiated from her core.

She’d seen Callum’s face, the hardness in his eyes. He’d asked if she trusted him. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of his arms around her, the desperation to tell him… something. Where was he now? Her thoughts were slippery, her memory fogged. He would not have left her, surely.

Laena rolled over, retching bile into the grass, the soft blades brushing her cheek.

“That’s it, sister. Take it slowly.”

She startled as Katrina touched her shoulder with a gentleness that sent a surge of suspicion shuddering through her mind. Katrina was many things, but gentle had never been one of them.

Laena was trembling, her body aching as if one more spasm would heave the pain from her core. It took a monumentaleffort to slide her elbow under her body and work her muscles just enough to tilt herself at an angle so she could look up.

Katrina should not be here. It made no sense. And yet here she was, golden curls shining in the early-morning sun, a smile crinkling the skin around her mouth. As if Laena were the younger sister, and Katrina the indulgent elder.

Why did she not have an entourage, a guard of soldiers? And where was Declan?

Questions. So many questions, and only one that mattered. Laena coughed, and her throat spasmed in pain. “Where… where is he?”

Katrina sat on the grass in front of her, reaching forward to caress her cheek with the back of her hand. “He,dear sister, has abandoned you. Just like everyone else.”

“He wouldn’t.”

Katrina stroked her cheek gently, the back of her nails skimming over Laena’s skin. Her hand felt cool, though Laena suspected it was only in contrast to her own fevered heat. “And yet he did.” Katrina might have been putting a child down to sleep, for the soothing, sing-song tone in her voice. “He was all too eager to leave you here on the side of the road. All too eager to leave you in my care.”

“Because I told him I trusted you.”

“What an egregious mistake.”

Laena’s head was spinning. Her thoughts tumbled around as her fevered mind tried to put the pieces together.

Katrina’s nails bit into Laena’s skin, sharp and stinging. Before Laena could pull away, Kat dug her fingertips deeper into the flesh of her cheek and dragged them down, drawing rivulets of blood down her face.

Laena scrambled back, pushing herself away from her sister and farther into the road. “What the demons was that?”

“They don’t like that term, you know.” Katrina was examining the blood on her fingertips. “They find it offensive.”

Laena squeezed her eyes shut, raising a hand to her stinging cheek.Whofound it offensive?

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