‘Escorted here by him?’ the woman beside Ezer asked. ‘You must be of some worth after all, tiny.’
‘And why’s that?’ Ezer asked as the rain picked up and the wagon doors began to close with a groan.
The woman lifted a filthy brow. ‘How long have you been in your cell?’
‘Not acell,’Ezer protested, but the woman cut her off with a bark of laughter. ‘And why would that matter?’
It was dark as pitch, but with her small magic, Ezer watched the woman’s filthy brows raise, clear as day. ‘Because anyone with half a brain would recognize that handsome face. He’s Arawn Laroux, the Crown Prince of Lordach.’
A whip cracked.
A horse whinnied from outside the wagon as it jolted, and the wheels began to move.
The crown prince of Lordach,Ezer thought.
Strange that he’d come to pick up a wagon full of prisoners, when he should have been using that famed magic for the war.
Andgods,what an ass Arawn Laroux was.
3
The hooded man stood before her again. In a glint of light, she saw a dagger of bone on his hip.
He leaned down towards her.
Her heart began to race, a mix of panic and longing coursing through her.
Their lips met.
They were familiar, soft and lovely, and?—
White hot pain coursed through her, not an ounce of pleasure, as he broke the kiss first.
Ezer looked down in horror.
And found his dagger, buried handle-deep in her chest.
She woke with a gasp, her first instinct to reach for the dagger in her chest. There was nothing there.
The nightmare was familiar, an obnoxious side effect of sleep … but it still rattled her all the same.
Her dreams had often come true, like knowing when a storm was well on its way. Or knowing that Ervos would return home from the tavern with a fresh bruise upon his face.
But when it came tothisdream …
It had never come to pass.
Ezer opened her eyes and blinked wearily, groaning as she remembered where she was. The prison wagon had come to a grinding halt. And it wascold,so cold it felt like the very air froze inside her lungs.
Gods, how long had she been out?
Winter’s kiss was heavy on her skin.
‘What’s going on?’ someone groaned.
The last time she’d been awake, they were barreling past another ruined village, smoke thick in the air. She’d first pressed her eye to the window, desperate to drink it in as they rolled slowly north.Because though she was not free, it was the most she’d ever seen beyond Rendegard. The closest she’d ever been to the stories Ervos had always shared with her when she longed to hear more about where she’d come from.
But this was not the world Ervos remembered.
