“I want to see the girl,” she says, brushing past Ronnie. Lancelot follows in her wake quietly, and Ronnie turns as quickly as she can to keep up. The rest of the spectators, including the Icebound, stand there stupefied. It’s a strange power exchange among the three. “Do you think she’ll cry for me, Sned my dear? Will she weep for my former husband’s death?”
“He’s long gone, my love,” Lancelot says, his tone lacking emotion. It’s like he’s repeating something from memory. “There’s nothing to weep over.”
“Oh, Lance,” Davina gushes, pressing a hand to her chest before she hops ahead. There’s a wild smile on her face, and she spins as she goes. Her footprints are everywhere, her long, red dress dragging through the snow. If the cold bothers her, it’s impossible to tell.
As she skips, she appears to be dropping something along the ground. I don’t get closer for fear that someone will sense me, but for all I know, it could be teeth. It is the Mad Queen after all. “Neve will be so sad! She hasn’t seen me in so long, she probably remembers me as Lady Hartsell. Let’s show your new queenie who I really am.”
I shadow hop away before I listen to any more. The rest of what Davina says can wait. Right now, I need to find Neve before the Mad Queen and her entourage do.
She has to hear me out. If she doesn’t, there’s a chance she might walk straight into a trap. With my heart slamming hard against my ribs as I jump through the shadows in the palace, nightmares play out in my head over what the Mad Queen might do with Neve.
Chapter 16 Neve
I banish everyone from my room to prepare mentally for this evening alone, when Ban suddenly appears. Usually, he drops in from the shadows but keeps his distance, giving me a chance to collect myself before I’m forced to acknowledge him.
This time, he appears almost on top of me, making me drop the candle I’m holding. It lands on the icy floor and is immediately extinguished, but oil spills out from the base of the holder.
“What the–”
Ban silences me by pressing a hand to my mouth, getting right in my face. “Argue later. Right now, you need to trust me.”
I try to retort but my voice is muffled by his palm. He doesn’t release his hold, and I clamp my hand over his wrist. If he wants to be that damn difficult, I’ll give him a bit of icy frostbite, and he can complain about thatafterhe gets his hands off me.
Before I can do that, he does something truly horrifying. He puts his hand near my elbow, on the arm that I’m attempting to use to ice his wrist, and drags me into the shadows.
IknowI’m in the shadows, because one moment we’re staring at each other, and the next there’s a bit of a haze everywhere.
None of it makes sense. Not at all.
Ban releases my mouth, and I’m so surprised by the sudden change that I don’t even ice his wrist like I planned to. Instead, I open my mouth to scream at him.
Nothing comes out. Not a sound, not words,nothing.I try several times while he keeps his hand on my arm, giving me a bored look while terror washes over me.
He expects me to trust him and then does something like this?
I try to pull out of his grip, but damn, he’s strong when he wants to be. I think if I can get out of his grasp, I can get out of this, and when I have my voice back, I’m going to scream at him.
Ban shifts backward, and a weird, weightless feeling washes over me. We somehow move from the middle of my bedroom to the hallway outside, still tucked into the shadows.
This issonot how to get me to trust him. I struggle in his hold but he just doubles down, glaring at me as we move. I decide to try my magic anyway to get him to let me go, and much to my dismay, ice doesn’t seem to work in the shadows.
I’m going to have to fight to get out of this.
He’s annoyingly unbothered by my attempt to battle him, one arm wrapped tight around my middle so I’m pressed against him.
Every time we shift through the darkness, there’s a split second when everything becomes a blur. When we move, he seems to be able to change my position, keeping me close, so it’s hard to fight him.
I hate the shadows. He is more than welcome to stop dragging me into them. When we get out of the darkness, and I have my ice back, he’s in for a world of hurt.
As we move, I realize he’s taking me down the halls. I’m surprised that we seem to just be walking; I’m pretty sure we could move faster if Ban tried.
Up ahead, a group is quickly moving into one of the rooms. There are guards I don’t recall, dressed in green, before two guards wearing the Frostlands royal uniform, station themselves outside the door.
For a single moment, I worry that the worst has happened, that other kingdoms believe the Frostlands are weak due to my return, and that we’re being invaded. Ban, however, doesn’t give me time to fret. One moment, we’re in the hall, the next, we’rein the room.
Ban’s shadow magic is dizzying, but there’s no time to think about it past getting my bearings as he flattens himself against the far wall, pulling me into him so I have a full view of the room and its occupants.
Mother and her two creepy Icebound servants are the first people I see, followed by a man I don't recognize. His skin looks as if it’s been kissed by the sun, his hair dark and curly, dressed in robes of deep green.
