There were half a dozen dragons being stabled on the roof of the Kenset embassy. Our business partner so far was true to his word. He offered us two for our journey.
One glance at Talen told me he was worrying about the same things I was. He had barely moved since we stepped out on the roof.
“Have you ridden one of these before?” I asked him.
“No.” He glanced over his shoulder before answering. We were being watched, but no one was within earshot. “You?”
“Once. But it was Kevin’s, so it is very tame.” Or tame for a dragon at least. The dragons in front us did not appear tame at all. They were staring us down as though we were meat.
Talen laughed. “These do not look tame.”
“Yet you are laughing. I suppose that should be impressive.” I was still unused to his upbeat attitude. It threw me.
“We have both tackled worse situations before.”
“Indeed, we have.” I made a slow and steady path toward the orange striped dragon that had been selected for me. The dragon picked up her head and stared me down. Her large black eyes looked like endless pools one could drown in.
“Hello.” I held out my hand in the way Kevin had showed me to do it. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Talen copying my movements with his dragon.
The dragon snorted. I startled but kept my arm outstretched.
After a moment, I gently touched the scales on her side. Stronghull was watching; if we hesitated too long, he might pull out on the deal.
The dragon lowered her head and let out a low and deep purring sound. I assumed that meant she was okay with me riding her. I climbed into the leather saddle careful not to put too much weight on one spot.
“Be sure to send payment immediately and return the dragons within the week,” Stronghull called out.
“We will.” I grabbed the reins, checked to make sure Talen was ready, and took off from the rooftop. The dragon flew ten times faster than any horse could run, and the wind rushed all around me. I held onto the reins as the dragon soared through the sky toward Belgard. I knew the basic direction, but the beast seemed to know the route herself. As if she already had the destination in mind.
We flew over mountains so close we could almost touch them, and rivers so far away they looked like nothing but small lines in the dirt. I chanced a glance to my right. Talen was grinning wildly as his dragon flew parallel to mine.
Thoughts of Ainsley swirled through my head as we continued on through the sky. I needed to find her quickly, and my best chance of doing that was Charlotte. She had the ability to call to all natural beings for help. I trusted someone or something could help find Ainsley.
Before long the stone gates of Belgard came into view. I went toward Kevin’s house. He already housed two dragons, surely he could temporarily house two more.
We landed in the field behind his house.
“Is Kevin home?” Talen asked as he jumped from his dragon’s saddle.
“It does not look like it. I am sure he would have come out here already if he was.”
“It is Samantha I am afraid to see. She will probably criticize our use of the dragons.” Talen laughed.
“More like she would negotiate to keep them. She has such an affinity for them now.” We led the dragons to the stables, hopeful either Kevin or Samantha would be home soon to tend to them. Right now we had more pressing matters.
Our arrival in Belgard had not gone unnoticed, so the guards were unsurprised when we reached the front doors of the castle.
Talen gave me an encouraging look before we stepped inside.
“James!” Charlotte ran toward me.
I opened my arms, pulling her into a hug. “I missed you too.”
She held on longer than she normally did, and I let her. Finally, she released me and stepped back. “What’s going on? Is there any news?” Then she looked behind me. “Where is Ainsley?”
I braced myself and looked Charlotte straight in the eye. “We need your help.”
“Of course.” She nodded emphatically. “What happened?”
“It might be better if we all sat down for this.” I gestured down the hallway toward the sitting rooms.
“James is back?” Liam strode into the lobby with another Guardian, Nathaniel, at his side. He looked around. “Where is Ainsley?”
“I just asked him that. He says he needs our help.” Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold.
I looked at Talen before returning my attention to Charlotte. “We do not have much time, but I need to know you will help.”
“Of course I will help, but first you have to explain things. Where is she?”
“Are you sure you would not prefer to sit down?” I asked out of concern for Charlotte; I had no interest in wasting time.
“She was taken by the undead,” Talen answered before I could.
“The undead?” Charlotte paled. “How? I thought you were in the lost world.”
“They followed us there. They took her and pulled her into the ground, and we think she must be back in Energo now.” My heart rate accelerated as I thought about what happened. We needed to find her.
“But where are the undead coming from? There has to be another Cipher.” Charlotte started to pace. “None of this makes sense.”
“Maybe we should sit down for this.” Liam gently took her arm. “James made a good suggestion.”
“We have no time.” Now that I had started to explain, I was not going to stop. “We need to find her.”
“You have to tell Charlotte everything,” Talen urged me. “The sooner you tell her, the sooner she may be able to help.”
I wavered. I wanted to believe Charlotte would trust me, but what if she did something unexpected? Where would that leave Ainsley?
“Tell me what?” Charlotte stepped toward me. “What do you need to tell me? What are you hiding?”
I closed my eyes to give myself the courage to continue. When I opened them, I let the words spill out. “I have heard my father in my head. He has poisoned Ainsley, and I need to find her immediately.”
“What? What do you mean?” Charlotte’s whole body stiffened. “That’s impossible.”
“It is possible. He tried to get me to help him, but I would never. Now he has taken Ainsley, and I need your help to get her back.”
“You have heard your father?” Charlotte watched me warily. “When you are awake?”
“Yes.” It disgusted me to admit it to her.
“Which means he has access to your waking mind.” She paled. “He could control you at any time.”
“He cannot control me!” I yelled louder than I meant to.
Liam stepped toward me. “Stay back, James.”
“Stay back? Are you concerned I might hurt her?” I pointed to Charlotte.
“You just admitted to having a Cipher in your mind, and a Cipher’s influence is being felt again.”
“You think it is me?” Anger flooded me. “After everything I have done for you?”
“James, you know we have to protect the people. That is what we were born to do.” Charlotte’s voice rose and she locked eyes with me.
“So what are you implying?” Panic flooded me. “You will not help?”
A look passed between Charlotte and Liam that worried me. “Please. You have to help us.”
“I’m sorry James, but this is for your own good.”
“What?”
Before I could react, Liam and Nathaniel grabbed my arms. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Talen slip out the door. I hoped he was going to find Ainsley on his own and was not only protecting himself.
“What?” I fought against Liam and Nathaniel but it did no good. The two of them were stronger. “Charlotte. No, you can’t do this!”
“As I told you, this is for your own good.” She met my eyes. “But we will find her. I promise I will take care of everything.”
Nathaniel and Liam dragged me toward the door to the cellar. Five guard
s followed them. I fought against them as they pulled me down the stone steps to the dungeon that had not been used since my father’s death.
Liam and Nathaniel pushed me into a cell and slammed the iron door in front of me.
“Stay calm, James. We will find her.” Liam turned his back and walked away.
“She needs me!” I screamed. “Why will you believe the voices and not that?”
“It is not that I do not believe you, but I believe I can fix it.” Charlotte’s voice came from right outside the cell.
“You are strong and powerful, but you cannot do everything. Do not overestimate your abilities.”
“I am truly sorry, James.” Charlotte walked into the faint light in front of my cell. Tears spilled down her face. “I hate doing this, but I have no choice. This is what’s best for everyone. Including Ainsley.”
I tugged on the bars even though I knew they would not give way.
Charlotte’s footsteps echoed as she disappeared down the corridor, leaving me in my prison cell alone.
I needed to find Ainsley. I needed to get to her. Even if the undead left her unharmed, there were other dangerous people. And there was her need for me. If everything my father said was true, the poison could be spreading.
I tried the bars again, using all of my might in an attempt to bend the metal apart but it was to no avail.
I laid down on the cold stone floor of the cell and stared up at the ceiling. There had to be a way out. I had to save Ainsley. There was no other option. Hopelessness was a foreign feeling I refused to wallow in. I returned to my feet and made a promise to myself. I would save her no matter the cost. If I could not break through the bars, I would find another way. I was out of time, and there only one option left.
20
Ainsley
Darkness engulfed me as my free-fall continued. I reached out for something, anything to slow me down, but there was nothing there. I continued to fall as my stomach did summersaults, and I struggled to remember which way was up.
Finally what felt like hours later, I landed. Something had miraculously broken my fall. My relief for landing in a soft pile of snow was short lived once I noticed I shared the snow with a decaying mound of the undead. I jumped away, rigorously rubbing off the invisible remnants of the zombies. None of them moved. They had once again returned to death.
I looked around at my surroundings. I was in a dark and forbidding forest. A thick coating of snow covered the ground, as fresh flurries flew all around me. There were tall trees everywhere but the small clearing I was in. I shivered as the snow continued to fall.
After the shock of surviving the fall wore off, a new reality hit me. I was alone in a forest. I had no clue where I was, and I was going to freeze to death if I didn’t find shelter. I ventured a few steps deeper into the trees. I could see nothing but more trees and increasingly deeper snow.
I shivered and strained my ears for the sounds of anything.
I ran through the forest as fast as I could. The snow covered tree roots were slick, and I tripped and fell hard. A sharp pain shot through my knee, and I struggled to return to my feet. I wondered if these trees could move the way the ones had in the forest by Belgard. I shivered and forced myself to start walking again.
I heard the sound of a bird. A single caw echoed through the silent woods. I followed in the direction I thought it came from. Another caw filled the sky, and I followed. I wasn’t sure where it was leading me, but it was something. It was a chance at survival, and I was going to take it.
The pain in my knee got worse, and I dragged my leg behind me as I continued on, listening to the ever louder sound of the bird. I knew that it could be leading me to danger, but I was already in danger. I couldn’t give up. If I went down, it was going to be fighting, not as a popsicle in the middle of some enchanted forest.
The faint light in the thick forest gradually increased, and I knew I was either reaching another clearing or the edge of the woods. I was filled with both elation and fear. I had no clue what I was about to face.
I continued toward the light. The cawing got louder and louder as I walked out onto the shore of an expansive frozen lake. It was exactly like my dream.
I took a tentative step out onto the crystal clear ice and gasped as I took in the sight of the frozen men. I had known to expect them, but somehow seeing them again, when the cold and pain let me know this wasn’t another dream, was altogether different.
I looked among the faces of the men. Each wore a severe and determined expression, with their eyes wide open and had a leather strap slung over their shoulder that attached to a sword. They were shirtless and all wearing dark pants.
How long had they been frozen? Surely they couldn’t be alive, but Gregor had made it sound that way. Maybe like everything else in this world it was some sort of magic.
I stepped back onto the shore. And that’s when I saw him. The man frozen separately from the rest. The familiar face had not been in the ice last time. It was the same strong jaw line. The same big brown eyes. Gregor.
I moved onto my knees and reached over to touch the ice above him. A burning sensation started in my fingertips and spread into my hand, my arm, and then my entire body. I pulled my hand away and stumbled back away from the lake, falling into a sitting position in the process.
The burning started to subside, but I could not bring myself to move when a loud cracking sound filled the air. A hand appeared where Gregor had been. And then another. I returned to my knees and looked out on the lake. It was still frozen except for the one spot where Gregor was. His large brown eyes met mine in a silent pleading. I took his hands and pulled him out onto the shore. He lay immobile on his back, but his chest moved up and down, so I knew he was breathing. I waited. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, and how any of this was possible. I had nothing warm to give him. I had nothing to dry him off or to cover his exposed chest. My own sweater was wet from the snow, and it had almost frozen against my body.
Suddenly he sat up, and then he stood. He walked over to me. His lips twisted into a smile as his eyes met mine. “Ainsley.”
“Gregor?” I asked through chattering teeth.
“How was your trip?”
“My trip?” A chill from something other than the cold ran through me, and I clamored to my feet. A pain shot through my injured knee.
“Yes. You had to have gotten here somehow.”
“You were in my dream.” I tried to ignore the pain. There were far more pressing matters.
“I told you it was not an ordinary dream.” He looked around and smiled. “You came alone. Perfect.”
“Not by choice.” Real fear surged through me as Gregor stepped closer. In my plans of finding him, I had never intended to do it alone.
“You have the eyes. That is for sure.” He leaned closer.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to release the rest of your army.” He gestured to the ice.
“My army?” I choked out.
“Yes. Every king needs a queen.”
“I am no one’s queen. You must have the wrong Ainsley.”
He laughed. It was a deep laugh that shook his entire body. He was soaking wet yet he seemed completely unbothered.
“You’re not cold?”
“Oh.” He touched his still wet skin. “The cold cannot hurt me anymore.”
“How is that possible?”
“We will do the same for you. It is only fair.” He grabbed onto both of my arms.
“Wait, what?” Nothing he was saying made any sense. My head spun, and I could feel sweat building on my forehead. It was like being back in the corridor with Charlotte again. I needed James.
“You will have the choice of kings, and I trust you will make the right decision.”
“I don’t understand. I don’t understand any of this.”
He picked me up, and I kicked at him with my uninjured leg, trying to get him to put me down. “I thought you were going to help
me,” I managed to get out between my chattering teeth.
He returned to the spot in the ice where he had just been. “I am.” He grinned, and it only made him more frightening. “Helping you achieve the strength you will need to survive this war.”
“By killing me?”
“I will not kill you. You will be our queen. I already told you.” There was an annoyed edge to his voice.
I shivered, giving up on my kicking once he pinned my legs down against him. “You will not be in there as long as I was. Remember that.” Gregor tossed me into the cold water. I struggled to tread water as I reached for the ice.
“That will not help. No reason to waste your energy.” He started to walk away.
“No! You can’t leave me.”
“I do not wish to watch you struggle. Instead I will watch you return triumphant.” He grinned.
“Help! James!” I screamed out his name even though I knew he couldn’t hear. I was an idiot. I had saved a man only to have myself killed. My body grew colder and colder until I could barely move my arms. I struggled to stay afloat and my head slipped under the water. I struggled without air and gasped as the water entered my lungs and everything went black.
21
James
I reached out for him. I knew he was there waiting in the deepest corners of my mind. He had never truly left even when I could not hear his voice. Father.
Hello, son.
I need your help. I had never needed assistance more.
He laughed. It was the laugh that had frightened me as a child.
You are laughing at my request? I eyed the iron bars of my prison cell again.
I am laughing because you truly believed this day would not come.
We need to save her. I would do anything and pay any price.
You mean the infallible Essence has failed you? He chuckled again. His voice was lighter and happier than I had ever heard it.
We are out of time. I need your help.
And I will give it.
At a cost. I knew it had to be that way.
Forged in Ice Page 17
