Then, his body slumped, taking her with it.
“Ethan, what?—”
By the time she realized he was dead and her scream cut through the forest, I was already gone.
“Tell me,” Queen Calista commanded.
The man’s screams reverberated against the massive throne room walls. I stood, shoulders squared and spine straight, watching impassively as the Queen of the Winter Court tortured the mayor of the Quinton Province. He was a small, portly man with graying hair and a short brown beard. His rounded ears marked him as human. Sweat beaded along his brow, and blood trickled from his nose.
“Please,” he rasped. “Your Majesty,please.”
“Answer my question, and the pain stops,” Calista said calmly. She sat atop her pale stone throne, which blended in with the silver carpet stretched across the white marble floors. Enormous glass panes illuminated the room from theceiling. Light danced from the chandelier, giving the throne room the appearance of a sparkling, crystalline field of snow.
“I—Ican’t,” the man whispered.
“Very well.” Calista lifted a small vial and poured a drop of crimson liquid onto her finger.
The man’s eyes widened as Calista pressed her finger to her mouth. “No. No,please—” His words cut off with another piercing scream. His back arched, his arms jutting at odd angles as Calista’s magic tormented him. I shuddered as I watched, knowing firsthand how painful her blood magic could be.
The man collapsed to the ground, writhing on the floor as he tried to escape the pain that would not end.
Calista’s red lips spread into a thin smile as she watched the man’s eyes bulge, more blood leaking from his nose.
His shouts became unintelligible, his words mangled. But Calista clearly heard something important. She sat up straighter, and the man’s cries abruptly ceased.
“What was that?” she prompted.
With a shuddering sob, the man went limp on the floor, his eyes closed as tears ran down his face. “C-Courthouse. There is… a chest hidden… in the floorboards… of the courthouse.”
Calista looked at one of the soldiers stationed against the wall and nodded once. In an instant, the guard exited the throne room, no doubt to travel to Quinton and take the chest of coins the mayor had hidden in his courthouse.
“Well done, Hector,” Calista said, her smile serpentine. “I assure you I will put your city’s funds to good use.”
“Please, Your Majesty,” Hector wheezed, his body still convulsing. “My people…needthose coins. We must… eat. The children… are starving.”
I swallowed down bile, my nostrils flaring. I had traveled through enough of the Winter Court to know Hector spoke the truth. Many villages, especially the smaller ones, were suffering because of the queen’s taxes.
But Hector’s village consisted mostly of humans, which meant Calista cared little for them.
Calista waved a hand, her expression bored. “Enough of your blathering. I am finished with you. Berrick?”
I inwardly flinched as another soldier peeled off the wall and drew his sword. I held my breath as Berrick sliced off the man’s head, the squelching sound echoing in the throne room. I didn’t care much for humans, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed watching them get beheaded.
When it was finished, I stared numbly at the man’s corpse. His head rolled along the floor, leaving a trail of blood.
“Clean this up,” Calista ordered the servants to her left.
Attendants scurried forward with buckets and cloths at the ready, as if they had been standing there waiting for a man to lose his head.
The people in this court were accustomed to blood staining the floors.
I hated this. I hated working for a queen who was so cruel and murderous. But I had no choice. Thanks to my father, I was trapped in a contract with her.
No,I firmly told myself.You willnotthink about that horrible man.
Ever since my father died, I vowed never to think of him again.
He wasn’t worth it.
