The elves bowed their heads in reply and marched across the frozen wood. With an ungraceful dip that probably looked more like half a squat, I skittered after them.
Gunnar shot me a knowing smile.
He didn’t seem like my mortal enemy. But then again, for all I knew, he could be walking me to the guillotine right now.
A shudder worked its way up my spine.
I paused on the threshold, the air dense in my lungs, energy thick and piercing. There, a rustle in the frost-tipped grass; a trickle in the frozen river; a crumble of the rockface.
My gaze swept the area. There wasn’t a soul in sight.
Hairs rising on the back of my neck, I continued on.
Just because I didn’t see them didn’t mean vigilant eyes weren’t watching.
Chapter 16
On the outside, the grounds were a vision of ice and glass.
I tried to take it all in, my eyes darting wildly as I clattered across the frozen moat, using every muscle to make sure I didn’t slip and tumble off into the frigid waters below.
Vines broke through the snowpack, creeping up the fortress’s glistening walls. White-and-blue banners topped the battlements, flapping in a piercing wind. A clear chute rose out of the turrets towards the back, cutting through the mountain’s highest peaks.
Ice led to tile as we passed through the gatehouse into a courtyard of ivory stone. The castle’s many buildings and curtain walls curved around it. A large willow tree loomed in the center; from here, I couldn’t tell if it was carved from ice or if the glassy leaves were natural.
A servant carrying one too many baskets of laundry dashed in front of me, stepping on my toes. I quickly moved, just to knock into a group of elves who, judging by all the pearls and silks and upturned noses, had to be part of the royal court.
“Sorry!” I squeaked, scurrying away.
A sudden and very welcome blast of heat thawed me to my bones, the air inviting and electric despite the frost-laden rose bushes and the silver sky above.
Pulling off my borrowed gloves, I flexed my fingers in the warmth, the feeling returning slowly.
The castle was enormous, glassy towers sparkling in the afternoon light, the tallest of its spires lost to a blanket of mist. My head kicked back. I couldn’t even begin to count the floors, the royal banners draped over every white marble railing that wasn’t in the clouds.
My gaze dragged to a shadowy corner, as if a magnet were pulling it, to an unassuming set of stairs leading down. Tendrils of darkness seeped out from its depths, the stones around the entrance slick with ice. Shivers broke out across my body, despite being across the courtyard.
What was that place?
Just as I took a step towards it, a guard appeared, slamming the cellar doors shut. Only then, at the clang of the metal, did I realize I had made it halfway to that corner in some sort of daze. I turned to find myself alone.
Hustling to catch up with Freyja and Gunnar, I fought my curiosity each time a hall splintered off from the courtyard, wrestling against the impulse to stop and examine the giant willow as we walked beneath its sweeping white branches.
A trio of elves inconveniently stopped to gawk in the middle of our path. Funny enough, their stares weren’t pointed at me—the completely out-of-place stranger—but the two I’d arrived with.
One of them rushed forward. I jolted away, and my elbow grazed a branch hanging over the path. Ice crystals cut into perfectly shaped leaves dangled off the peppered bark, clinking together. I reached out to steady it.
The glistening foliage was cool against my skin as I wove my fingers along the stems.
“Uh-uh.” Gunnar’s deep timbre echoed through the court. “No touching. Either of you.”
Face flushing immediately hot, I retracted my hand, and the rogue elf faltered back. They watched me with wide, jealous eyes as I rejoined Gunnar and Freyja.
“You need to be restrained.” Freyja’s tone was flat, unamused.
I couldn’t tell if she was joking.
Gunner didn’t acknowledge either of us. Not until we reached the far end of the courtyard and halted at the bottom of a stone ramp.
