Crown of Fire (Book 3 in the Crown Trilogy)

Twenty-Nine

She holds up her hand to stop me. "We leave Ulric and Terro with him, and you and I go alone."

Ashavee lifts her head from her paws, and her glowing eyes dart between Greer and me.

I trust Greer with my life. She would never let anything bad happen to any of us. But the knowledge doesn't stop terror from settling deep in my stomach. Kyron was supposed to be by my side for this mission. His presence alone was going to steady me when I felt I couldn't do what needed to be done. Leaving him behind is like losing a source of my strength... a now broken source of strength.

I run my thumb over his knuckles and search his peaceful face. He needs to rest and heal so he can be the leader our people need. I'll have to fuel myself and finish what we set out to do.

"He is going to be so angry at me for going without him," I whisper, shoving down the emotion building up inside me.

"Yes. He will be, but you won't be alone in taking the brunt of it." Greer places her hand over mine and Kyron's intertwined fingers. "I promise, this is the right thing to do, Raelle."

I meet her dark brown gaze and quirk one side of my mouth. "We'll leave at sunrise."

Ashavee presses into my side, and the look on her face says it all. She will not let Greer and me set out alone. The three of us will protect each other and return with the Imperium.

*****

The day is clear with the sun brightly shining on the frigid landscape. Or at least it would be if the wind wasn't so brutal. It whips the snow up like fluffy clouds, whiting-out everything mere feet in front of us. The horses bristle against the cold, blindly pushing forward and dragging their hooves through the thick icy powder. It makes me question if we made the right choice leaving without the others.

Terro and Ulric clearly thought it was a terrible idea. They each fell into an adult-sized tantrum, with raised arms and stomping feet. Greer and I were hit with an onslaught of what-ifs. The argument got so bad that Ashavee shifted into her human form to help us combat the questions. I had to hand it to her; she kept a level head and hit back with her own arsenal of what-ifs. In the end, she gave the stronger argument, and the men had no choice but to help us ready our horses.

I hated seeing Terro and Ulric wear their concern for us like a second skin. Every look they shared, and every clipped word was laced with conflict. They knew just as well as I did that Kyron would have insisted they went with us and left him to die. It would have been an asinine demand. Our plan was the better option, but he would never see it that way. Not that he thinks Greer, Ashavee, and I are incapable of handling whatever danger that lies ahead, but there is power in numbers. And with half our party left behind, we've stacked the odds against us.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa," Greer shouts, pulling hard on her horse's reins.

As a knee-jerk reaction, I do the same. My heart races as Nortus skids to a stop. "What is it?" I shriek.

"Ice."

Ice? This entire mountain is nothing more than a frozen rock. I'd be more surprised if she found a blade of grass in this frozen wasteland.

Greer dismounts and drops to her knees. Her fingertips drip with water like a spigot with a leak. She sweeps her wet hand over the ground, brushing away a light coating of snow. Beneath lies a solid block of ice. "I don't normally feel the water unless it is a large body. By the way my gift is reacting, I'd say this is a sizable lake."

The wind hasn't let up and all I can make out is swirling flakes of snow. "What is a sizable lake? How long do you think it will take us to get around it?"

"A day. A day and a half."

"Shit," I say, pushing the loose strands of hair from my eyes.

Ashavee sits next to where Greer squats, her ears perked and tail swaying behind her. We stare into the nothingness as hopelessness settles in. I'm so tired of everything working against us—the Allaji, the weather, time. Just this once, I want to outsmart it all.

"How thick do you think the ice is?" I ask.

Greer taps a knuckle to the frozen surface of the lake, and Ashavee steps forward until her front paws are on it. It doesn't crack or even groan under the weight.

"It's solid," Greer says.

"Do you think it can handle the horses?"

Greer tips her head side to side, and I can practically see her listing the pros and cons in her head. "If we walk them across and spread out, it should be all right."

I jump off Nortus and guide him onto the ice. We take several careful steps before I look back at the others and wave for them to follow. They catch up with me and we spread into a line across the lake. Our journey to the other side is painfully slow and slippery.

My legs burn from trying to keep upright and my ass aches from falling on it hard. I can't help but wonder if riding around the lake would have gotten us to the other side sooner. I don't have time to contemplate it for long. My feet slide out from beneath me for a second time and I hit the ice with a thud. The air rushes from my lungs, leaving me gasping for my next breath. I lie on my back looking up at the sky. I silently curse the Statera. Why me? Why did it let Zek kill Micah? Why did it allow Esmeray to be so cruel, and put me in a situation where I had to spill her blood or watch her erase me from my parah's thoughts? Why was this the only way I could redeem myself? Why? Why? Why?

Nortus nudges me with his nose, and I inhale the cold air, taking several deep breaths before glaring at him from the corner of my eye. I'm too tired to keep going. In fact, I've never wanted to take a nap on a hard, cold surface as much as I do now.

"You can't force me to keep going. If I want to lie here until the ice melts and I sink to the bottom of this lake, that's what I'm going to do," I tell Nortus.

He snorts and rams his head into my shoulder.

"Ouch! I thought you were different than all the other men in my life, but you are just as annoying, pushing me to keep going when I just want to give up."

He nods like a proud steed who has done the evil bidding of his master. But I know it's not true. The damn horse has been with me through all my adventures. He made sure I got to where I needed to go, never wanting to turn around and head home. He has been a good companion on some of my loneliest nights. He won't let me down now.

"All right. You win," I say with a grunt, getting to my feet.

No sooner do I take a step and a scream fills the quiet. I search my right and find Ashavee frozen in place; her gaze locked on me. I snap my head the other way and my heart stops. Through the haze, Greer's horse stands alone. Its reins swaying in the wind, and at its feet is a hole in the ice where Greer once stood.