Page 128 of Fated to the Frost King

I stilled, wiping the sleep from my eyes as I strained to listen again. It was hard to hear past the pounding in my skull, but steadily, the headache subsided.

And I heard it again. Soft and fractured, the high-pitched wailing of a child.

My skin turned to ice.

I dropped the vials onto the counter, then padded over to the window and brushed aside the gauzy curtains. My gaze flitted frantically over the crimson-stained snow, searching for the source of the cries.

There. Just past the ravaged stables, right before the treeline. My breath caught in my throat. A little boy was wandering barefoot through the snow. Trembling. Crying.

My pulse raced. I scanned the trees, the sky, the shadows, everywhere, for a sign of who he belonged to. But there wasnothing. No one but him, and no sign of parents, or monsters that might have chased him from his home.

I thought of the villagers at the palace. Had the monsters who attacked Wynnie’s estate gone somewhere else, first? Had any stragglers gotten away to prey on another village?

The boy was so close to the wards. Just a few more steps, and he would be safe. He stumbled and fell on unsteady legs, legs likely frozen over with cold.

My stomach twisted.

I couldn’t see any monsters, but that didn’t mean there were none nearby or that they wouldn’t be drawn soon by his cries.

If I took the time to get Draven, would I come back to another corpse?

The wing we were sleeping in was on the other side of the vast estate. No one would hear me if I yelled, except, of course, any monster that might be stalking the trees on the other side of the child.

Shards.

I was already moving toward the door. If I was quick, I could pull him inside the wards. Keep him safe and warm andalive.

I grabbed a cloak from the hook on my way out the door, throwing it over my shoulders before stepping out into the snow. My gaze flitted between him and the trees, searching the shadows for any sign of danger while I quickly crept toward the boy.

"Hey, hey,” I called quietly, in what I hoped was a soothing tone. “It’s okay. Come here. You’re safe."

He didn’t respond. Instead, he kept crying, his face crumpling when he couldn’t find what he was looking for, like he was lost in a nightmare of his own. My heart twisted. I called to him again.

He lost his footing again and fell onto his bottom, crying even harder than before. He couldn’t be more than a few years old, younger even than Serelith.

I hesitated, my heartbeat thundering in my ears, before stepping past the threshold of the wards that shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

I kept an eye on the trees for shadows that shouldn’t be there. But there was nothing. No movement, or reaction. No monsters. No sound.

And then I crossed the distance between us in a few more steps, reaching out for his hand to get his attention. He wasn’t as cold as I had expected,thank the Shard Mother,but he was trembling so hard it made my bones hurt.

My heart pounded with every step away from the wards, and I counted the seconds in my mind. It would be fast. I could grab him and get us both to safety.

His wide eyes landed on my dagger, and he took a step away. The snow crunched, and I held my breath, praying that nothing had heard.

“It won’t hurt you,” I whispered. “I promise, but we have to go now.”

He shook his head, taking another step. This time he stepped on a branch.

Frosted hells.

I set the dagger down, darting out to throw the blanket around the child and scoop him up in one go. The blanket settled over his shoulders and I tightened my grasp, preparing to lift him into my arms.

But a deep voice sliced through the night.

“That won’t be necessary.” The words came with the telltale whisper of an arrow slicing through the air. It landed in the ground at my feet right next to my dagger, familiar purple fletching stuck up proudly like a victory flag.

My heartbeat thundered through my veins, but the child didn’t react at all to the arrow embedded in the earth the way he had to my dagger. Because he was traumatized? Or because the voice was familiar to him?

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