Page 68 of Embers in the Snow

The physician looks down. His blue eyes widen in shock. “You did that, Your Highness?”

“Not me.Her.As soon as she drank it, something strange happened. This is what she did to the chair with herbare hands.Explain.”

Vinciel slowly shakes his head. “Ican’t.”

For the first time, I follow the direction of the physician’s gaze.

He’s looking at the polished wooden armrest. Corvan’s staring at it too.

When I gripped it, it felt like my fingers were sinking into wax.

Now I understand why.

Right there, in the dark polished armrest, is an imprint exactly the same size and shape as my hand. It’s as if the wood had turned to clay when I gripped it.

And the memory of whispering voices rings loud in my mind.

“I take it you have no idea what this is either, Finley?” Corvan asks in a low, gentle tone.

I turn to him. “Maybe I’m hallucinating. Does your blood have that effect on people?”

The Archduke of Tyron frowns. The wine must be going to my head, because I can’t stop staring at him.

He’s so handsome it hurts.

“I wasn’t aware that tasting my blood could cause one to develop the ability to meltwood,but then again, stranger things have happened.”

21

CORVAN

After escorting Finley to her quarters with strict orders for her to rest, I make my way to the mess hall.

I have a thousand questions, and there isn’t a single doubt in my mind that my father sent Finley Solisar here for a reason.

The ability to mold wood as if it were clay?

What is she?

I force myself to walk at a normal pace, acknowledging the servants as we cross paths. Their reaction to me is as expected; a pause, a deep bow, eyes downcast, body language betraying their fear.

I don’t know all of them by name. Gerent is responsible for hiring and training them. The former seneschal of my palace in Grenovia, on the outskirts of the capital, he runs a tight ship, and I trust him implicitly.

He selects the staff carefully, combing through their family ties, work history, debts, and weaknesses.

Weeding out anyone that could be compromised.

I exit the main castle through a side-door and cross the vast, empty courtyard. It’s midday. The sky is blue and cloudless.

For the first time in three years, I’m able to walk in the sunlight without hiding my face. It’sherblood that’s done this to me. I feel clear-headed and refreshed. My vision is sharper, my hearing more acute.

The terrible thirst that torments me for so much of my existence…

It’s completely gone.

And yet, her aftertaste lingers in my memory, as sweet as anything I’ve ever known.

I reach the stone walls of the soldiers’ barracks, passing rows and rows of imposing steel-and-glass windows. The stark rectangular building gives way to a hall with high walls and a tall gabled roof. Smoke drifts lazily into the air from a wide stone chimney. The aromas of beef stew and freshly baked bread fill the air.

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