Page 8 of Ties of Frost

“Zidra Eilmaris? Is that you? Who is with you?”

“I’m Zidra. Kyrundar Ilifir is with me.”

The woman stiffened and eased back a step. “We know we can trust you, but can we trust him?”

I could practically feel Kyrundar bristling like a porcupine at my side. “We’re Kyrmaris,” he protested. “Co-recipients of the Emperor’s Merit! If you trust her, you can trust me.”

There were so many aggravating things about that pronouncement, but I stifled my reaction and focused on the woman. “You’re not alone, either. Who is with you?”

“Other witnesses. We’re terrified for our lives.” She pointed behind her and down. “They’re in the old root cellar.”

Underground. The thick dirt explained why I struggledto smell or hear them. I resisted the urge to fidget. I couldn’t shift in a root cellar if this turned into a fight.

I turned to Kyrundar. “Keep watch up here. Don’t interrupt unless I call for you, all right?”

His expression soured, but he nodded.

“What’s your name?” I asked as I approached the woman.

“Jida. Are you going to sheathe your sword?”

My steps faltered. Sheathe my weapon and lose precious seconds if this was a trap? Or leave it out and risk panicking skittish informants into running, or worse, attacking?

“Right. Sorry. Rengir habit.” I slid the blade into the sheath with a twinge of regret and followed the woman through a black hole into the ground.

Four

Kyrundar

Rengiri didn’t panic. Before we took our vows, we spent years training and honing our reflexes. We studied tactics, tested our abilities in a variety of simulated and real challenges, and learned to read situations, people, and animals. Even after we left Harcos, we practiced in order to keep our skills sharp. When we weren’t training, fighting, or serving, we spent time praying and reading holy texts. Rengiri had every reason to be confident and relaxed.

None of that changed the fact that my heart pounded and a cold sweat slicked my skin when Zidra’s head of brown curls disappeared into the ground.

Whatever information she was looking for, if she didn’t get it because I barged in, she would never forgive me. Assuming she would ever forgive me for whatever she was already angry with me about. But I’d agreed to keep watch.Even if the urge to throw myself into the cellar in a cyclone of ice was growing, I would wait until she called for help.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t get alittlecloser, though. And call up just enough of my magic that it wouldn’t be very noticeable but would help me sense any…

My jaw went slack. From the direction of the root cellar, I sensed a trace of ice elf power—potent and vicious in a way I’d never felt before. The ice magic was active, as if someone were preparing to unleash it.

This was a trap.

I darted through the darkness to the square hole in the ground and threw a blast of snow. My magic’s light helped me see, but I also got a faint sense of the room below. A few small crates were scattered around. Only three people were down here besides Zidra, but she was surrounded. Ignoring the rickety ladder, I floated down on swirling ice crystals.

“Trap!” I shouted at the same time as Zidra barked, “Ilifir!”

She faced me, her face reddening. “What—oof!” A thin band of metal whipped around her and melded together over her chest, pinning her arms to her sides.

“Zee!” I raced forward in a blast of icy wind, ducking to avoid hanging roots.

The woman who had greeted us jerked away from Zidra’s back and looked toward me. Great. I hated fighting metalmages. They tended to break my swords and turn my jewelry against me. Thank Iskyr most of them went into craftsman trades or became guardsmen.

Before I could get to Zidra or the metalmage, one of the other assailants leaped into my path with twin daggers at the ready. His eyes flashed orange in the faint glow of my power. A shifter of some kind, but he probably wouldn’t have enough room to shift in this space.

A growl vibrated my bones. Zidra’s skin transformed to scales, and my eyes widened. The metalmage swore under her breath. Even my opponent partly turned his back on me.

“Is she out of her mind?” the shifter demanded.

Zidra grew, and the metal banding her chest snapped into pieces. In a blink, she shrank back to her human size and drew her sword. I grinned. Leave it to Zidra to pull off such a rapid and controlled partial shift.

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