Soul of Ice

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Oh, Your Majesty, I really did think Auxerre prided herself on her security. I really did." She shrugged. "But I guess it was no match for me."

The weapons in the cupboard, Astra realized. And the uniforms. Riviera's Pelosian soldiers had impersonated the royal guards. Gods. What had she done?

"Do you know how long I've waited for this moment?" Riviera smiled down at the king. "Six years ago, you sacked my city. Finally. Finally, I get to sack yours."

The king didn't say anything. Instead, his eyes wandered past Riviera, and Astra realized he was eyeing his son, who was breathing evenly despite the proximity of his neck to the blade. Despite the blood that was beginning to run down, dripping onto his white dress shirt. Riviera noticed as well.

"Oh, and your precious little son. You lost the other three in the war, didn't you? I remember well." She smirked. "After all, my sister slaughtered one of them."

"Who are you?" the king whispered hoarsely, the silent question finally given voice. It was the same question she had asked Olan just minutes ago.

Riviera laughed again. "I'm your worst nightmare." She turned away. "Malik, take a few dozen soldiers and lead the wraith soldiers in. Make sure they don't try to make a break for it." One of the soldiers near her nodded at her order before calling out others to accompany him.

Astra stared at the back of Riviera as she continued giving orders. Her sister had killed one of the Veroa princes. She knew, in the back of her mind, somewhere, who that was. And in conjunction, who Riviera was.

Prince Anton, still being held by the soldier, scrabbled on the ground, eyes following Riviera. He knew. He had to know.

Behind her, the Solasian prince was frozen. Astra puckered her lips and tested the rope bonds that they shared. They were decent, but not very tight at all. A few dozen soldiers had just left the ballroom, which meant... she scanned the room. Less than half of the soldiers remained.

She summoned a knife of ice, barely sapping her reservoir, and began to slice through the thick cords. She kept an eye on Riviera, and she tried to hide the half severed cords as best as she could when she saw her walking around to view the line of captured prisoners from the back. A warm hand settled on her bound wrists.

"Did you think I forgot about the two of you?" she asked.

Astra didn't deign her with an answer. Instead, she grabbed Riviera's hand, breaking the last of the tenuous bonds with pure strength and adrenaline, and slammed it to the ground, sending a bolt of ice climbing up her arm.

Riviera screamed as the ice creeped up her arm. Before her soldiers could react, Astra sent two knives of ice flying toward the guards holding the Prince of Auxerre. They dropped on top of the prince.

There was a snap of fingers. Riviera was still gasping, her face white with pain and shock, but her remaining soldiers followed her orders. Almost immediately, crossbows were loaded and aimed. Astra counted them one by one. Too many, and too risky to get into another fight.

"A valiant effort," Riviera gasped, "but too little, and too late." She pointed at the Solasian prince who was now gaping at Astra. "Release me, or he gets a bolt through his neck."

Astra felt her frustration before she let that ice melt off of her. Riviera immediately tucked her limb, splotchy from the ice, under her right arm, gasping in pain as her circulation returned. A few silent moments passed before the wind wraith laughed again.

"Icing my hand notwithstanding," Riviera said, "at least you finally stayed out of way tonight, thank the gods." Slowly, she got to her feet. "Honestly, I wanted to recruit you, Calayne, I really did.

"You're powerful, I told you I can respect that. Secretive, skilled..." Riviera counted off her attributes. "But," she said mockingly, "I suppose all those traits are negated when your one downfall is being so gods damned indecisive. Honestly, how do you plan to get anything done when you can't even decide what to focus on?" She shrugged. "Worked in my favor, I suppose. You never saw it coming because you never cared enough to look for it."

She felt her gut tying into knots. Riviera was right—she hadn't seen it coming. She'd suspected, but not soon enough, and she hadn't pursued the case as much as she should have. The signs had been there, from the very start.

Astra tightened her hand on the prince's, and Riviera noticed, snorting, but she chose not to say anything. Instead, she turned away to speak to the king again. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a nation for a nation. All is fair in the game of war."

The king snorted, acting nonchalant even as he kept a lingering glance on his son. "You think taking a kingdom is so easy, girl? You don't know the first thing about ruling."

"She does," someone croaked. The prince of Auxerre had pulled himself out from the guards that had been crushing him. "Carina. Her name is Carina, and her eldest sister slaughtered Darryl."

Astra blinked in shock at the familiar name. "Carina," she said at the same time the king let out a bellow of rage.

Riviera turned. "Surprised?" she mocked.

She shook her head. "No, not really. The fourth daughter of the Fiorenci Royal Family, the adopted princess, who else would it be?" Astra felt a slow smile creeping across her face. "Tell me, Princess, is it true that Solano took pity on you and convinced the royal family to take you in?

Riviera, no, Carina, scowled—clearly this was a sore spot for her. She flicked a finger at one of the guards near her. "She's irritating me; gag her."

"Don't tell me this was a ploy to make your adopted parents care about you because I can guarantee they won't," Astra snapped. "You think—" A soldier shoved a thick, nasty smelling piece of fabric into her mouth.

Carina grabbed her jaw and smiled down at her, seeming recovered from her earlier moment of weakness. "How amusing. It sounds like you speak from experience! You know who I am. Don't you think it's only fair I should know who you are?" Her eyes roamed past her, to where the Solasian prince was, crossbows still aimed at him. "I bet he knows," she pondered. "I wonder what it would take for him to tell me."

One of the sets of ballroom doors opened, and the sound of numerous footsteps came into the room. The entire army of wraiths came into the ballroom, swords and spears that Astra had helped steal from the armory in hand.

Carina released her jaw, rolling her shoulders as she went. From this close, Astra could again see the flower tattoo on her scalp—an Aerisian bloom, she realized now. Of course. A princess of the devastated Aerisian royal family with a tattoo of a symbol of her country forever etched on her head. And all the memories of the war in her mind.

"Later then," Carina promised as she turned away, the tattoo of her allegiance disappearing from view. "I've got all the time in the world."