“I’m surprised you’re not making the air around you warm.”
I open my mouth to respond, then falter. Wait a minute—I’m also surprised I didn’t think to do that. The only explanation is that I’m tired. Or…maybe it’s that I’m used to avoiding magic around Fox.
Well, there’s no need to bother anymore. If he doesn’t like magic he can always go home.
I flex my fingers and warmth blooms across my skin like sunlight, melting the numbness from my fingertips. Fox’s eyes narrow. I don’t bother asking if he wants me to extend the bubble of heat to him as well. I know he won’t.
We walk in silence for another half an hour. Eventually we break out of the trees and onto something that resembles a main road. There are snowy fields on either side, and mountains in the distance. I peer across the nearest field, searching for the outline of a town or smoke from a chimney. There’s nothing. Come to think of it, I’m somewhat surprised that we haven’t run into anyone since leaving the last village.
I clear my throat. “Do you know where the next nearest village is?” I ask, trying to keep my voice neutral despite my irritation.
Fox’s eyes flick to me, one eyebrow raised. “Since I don’t know where we’re going,” he says with exaggerated patience, “no, I don’t.”
I clench my jaw, agitated. “We’re going north.”
“This is Thermia, everything is fucking north,” he mutters.
I don’t want to tell him anything, but I’m becoming resigned to the fact that for whatever reason he doesn’t seem to want to leave me. It’s confusing, given that he also doesn’t want to be with me, but I try not to think about that.
“We’re going to the palace,” I say finally.
He stops and turns to me. “No.”
“Are we going to go through this again?” I say, crossing my arms. “You don’t have to come. In fact, I’d prefer you don’t, but I’m going to the palace and you can’t stop me.”
“I don’t have to stop you,” he says, his voice low. “They will.”
“Who?” I demand.
Fox’s eyes narrow. “The palace guards, the queen, take your pick. No one goes anywhere near that palace.”
“So you’ve been there?” I ask, unable to hide my interest.
“I’ve been near it,” he says, his voice dropping lower, “but no.No onegoes in or out and they haven’t for decades.”
My heart quickens. “How long exactly?” I ask, leaning forward despite myself.
Fox studies my face, suspicion creeping into his expression. “I don’t know. Why?”
I bite my lip. I don’t want to tell him this either, but there’s no good way to avoid it. If he’s going to stick around and refuses to leave, he’ll figure it out.
We start walking again, covering at least another half a mile as I give him the shortest possible version of the story Beatrix told me—about the twin I never knew about and how my mother might still be alive. I explain the lights and how they happen every year on my birthday, and how Beatrix thinks that maybe, my mother might have something to do with the mysterious Thermian queen.
“No,” Fox says flatly when I’m done.
“No, what?”
“To all of it.” He raises a frustrated hand and brushes snow out of his hair, then his jaw tightens as he steps closer to be heard over the howling wind. “You cannot go anywhere near that palace. I mean that literally—they are going to kill you from a distance before you even get close.”
My mouth opens to argue, but a sound cuts through the air that makes my retort die in my throat.
The sound is high and piercing and so loud that I can hear it clearly over the sound of the howling wind. I clap my hands over my ears as the shriek continues, rising in pitch until it seems to scrape against the inside of my head like talons.
Fox goes stiff beside me. “Wyvern,” he mutters. “Fucking wonderful.”
“Where?” I demand, turning in a circle, scanning the sky and trees around us.
Fox doesn’t answer me. He just draws his sword with a metallic hiss.
