The Haunt wouldn’t kill her as long as Dahlia played her part.
Loshika would be safe and Neve would give Lia the reward money. Afterall, there was no stipulation as to whom the information had to come from. Dahlia had turned herself in, she should receive the reward money. The Frost King was not pleased.“Stop slouching. You’re the queen, forqovvingsakes,”Flyka grumbled, her nimble fingers tying off the braid. “You’re done.”
Lia hopped off the table, her new cloak puddling on the floor. The bloody thing was still too long even though it had been meant for a Loriian child. “How do I look?”
“You will do.” The Haunt crossed her arms. “Are you prepared for what comes next?”
“Yes.” She’d been rehearsing the story all day long.
Once Neve had accepted her deal, he left the tent in barely suppressed rage, leaving Lia to her own devices until Flyka had arrived with a plan of action. They couldn’t go with the story that Lia had been kidnapped. Too many had seen someone of her stature leave with Loshika. But they could sell the tale that she’d been threatened many times among his court, which was true, and that when Neve had been attacked, she knew there was no safe place for her in the Loriian court, so she ran. It was cowardly, but something Lia could live with. It didn’t paint Loshika in a bad light nor was it as horrible as the truth.
“Why did you flee?” Flyka fired off.
“Because I was scared,” Lia replied. No one expected anything different from a human, and that part was the truth. She was scared out of her mind for her family.
“You didn’t return home? Why?”
“Because war was already waging and getting across the border was nearly impossible.”
“Will you betray our king?”
“No.” One simple word. No hesitation. She meant it.
“Why didn’t you help the king?”
“I did. I sent a healer to him as I fled the palace.”
Flyka sniffed, her brows raising. “That smelled like the truth.”
“Because it is.” Lia shrugged. “My conscience wouldn’t let me leave without sending help. How do you think a healer discovered him so quickly?”
“Why did you do it?”
Lia froze. There was no answer that would not give away her secrets. “Because I had to.” She shrugged. “That is the whole of it.”
“I very much doubt that,” Flyka said dryly. “Death is a choice.”
“So says the assassin.” She adjusted the tiny dagger handle from the thick leather belt cinched around her waist. “Why would you give me a weapon?”
“First of all, because you are no threat. Second, it makes you seem more Loriian, which is what we want. The advisors need to see you on our side, not the humans’.”
They stared at each other before the Haunt released a sigh. “It is time, and you’ll have to do.”
Dahlia swallowed hard, shoved down every shred of fear, and focused on being pragmatic and cool. “Tell me again why this meeting is not happening here?”
“Because thereillovwilled it so.”
She followed Flyka from the tent. The gazes of the Haunts ran over her before scouring the nearby camp. To the left, an enormous fire roared with dozens of warriors perched on logs eating their dinner. Serenity launched into air and soared above, heralding the human queen with anastryllefamiliar.
The laughter faded, and whispers rose as Lia walked past them, her head held high. They followed the slippery trail that had been cut into the snow, leaving the warriors to their rumors.
Dahlia soaked in as much of the camp as she could see in the dark. All the tents were identical except for their size, which varied. It was a sea of canvas with a labyrinth of loopingpathways cut into the deep snow. “How brilliant,” she breathed, running her fingers along the crystalline walls.
“What?” Flyka tossed over her shoulder.
“The way the camp is organized. No one would know which one is the king’s. Everything is the same shade, and the pathways seem to hold no rhyme or reason. If the Asterans ever made it this far, it would be very difficult for them to find what they were looking for.”
“It’s a pity you are not stupider.” Their pathway ended at a large nondescript tent with several Haunts stationed outside.
