“Help!” another human behind me shrieked and began jerking in place. The reason became apparent as my gaze dropped.
I’d frozen her feet to the ground, like King Magnus had done during the execution of the Royal Theater actors. My stomach dropped as I put that together with the sudden lackof sound and cast a wide glance.Every single personwho stood on the ground was frozen in place, including Vale and Caelo.
Vale met my eyes. “More might drop.”
I looked up and found that he was right. My outburst of magic had not flung itself above us and the archers and more dwarves waited to fall, though now there was hesitation in their eyes.
Knowing this might be our only chance to bargain with them, I sheathed my sword and raised both hands.
“We aren’t here to harm you.” I spoke clearly, levelly, but did not shout. I didn’t wish to appear fearful, for many fae saw fear as a weakness. “We seek sanctuary!”
Arrows lowered a touch, and dwarves exchanged perplexed glances. For the first time, I noticed they were wearing clean uniforms.
They don’t look like nomads.
Before I could question further, a fair-skinned male with a large bulbous nose, a great blond beard, and long blond hair shot through with gray jumped from above. Was he going to attack?
He landed and did not grasp his weapon, answering my unspoken question, though his eyes blazed into mine.
“Sanctuary?Here?When the rest of Winter’s Realm believes my kingdom to be not but coal dust?”
So this is their leader.
I sized him up. Yes, the pride in his face, the uplift of his chin and the fire in his voice would indicate a high station. I sought to match such an effect and tilted my chin up.
“You heard me correctly. We seek safety, not to harm or take anything of yours.”
The dwarf stopped, his hand sweeping the ground. “It appearsyou’vealready done harm.”
“I—I didn’t mean to do that.” I swallowed, well aware of the whining from behind us. I waved a hand at Vale’s feet. “As you can see, I disabled my best warriors.”
“You cannot release your power to free them?”
“I already have,” I admitted. “Ice and frost do not melt so quickly.”
The leader stared at me, then he pointed up to where others waited for a command. “Would you oppose me bringing down a fire elemental? One of our best?”
Fire elemental? They had one here and hadn’t unleashed fire on us right away? They could have easily done so from a distance. That indicated some reluctance to attack, I supposed, but I had to be careful here.
“Only if you promise not to hurt anyone.” I placed a hand on Vale’s shoulder. “Including those who fought your soldiers.”
And had felled many, despite the short duration of the fight. Though none had died, which I hoped worked in our favor.
“If they try to do harm, I suspect you will be quick to retaliate, will you not, my lady?” The leader again gestured to the shackles of ice around so many ankles.
“I will strike as fast as a viper.”
A smirk broke on the dwarf’s face, and he snapped his fingers. “Utrick!”
Another dwarf, this one shorter and stockier than theleader, with hair like gray ash and enormous, rounded ears, launched into the air. I marveled, wondering how they landed without harming themselves when they did not have wings. A split second later, I found my answer. Nearly hidden by an outcropping of stone, one dwarf was manipulating air to assist their landings.
Utrick approached his leader. “King?”
I tucked that information away. Not only was this dwarf a leader, but a king. Nomadic tribes did not have kings. It seemed that the kingdom of Dergia may have been reformed.
“Heat the ice shackles. Free all—in fact, do these two first.” The king’s chin jerked to encompass Vale and Caelo. “As a sign of our good will. We wouldn’t want this powerful female thinking anything else.”
Utrick’s magic heated the space around Vale and Caelo and with his combined magic and their strength, Vale and Caelo were freed. They came to my sides, like the queensguard they’d offered to be in the depths of Gersemi Mine, as the fire elemental spread his magic. Sighs of relief filled the cavern.
