Beyond keeping me where I am, Stellen appears unmoved.
I’m sharply reminded of his admonition to me when he told me that to survive in Frost, I must understand cruelty.
I can’t see his face, but it seems he barely gives Lilis a glance before he replies, still monotone, “What do you want, Northerner?”
“Your head, King of Frost.” The Northerner points at the bloodied snow to his left. “Ripped off. Like that head. Or that one.” A laugh rumbles up between his lips as he gestures to a third body. “Possibly that one.”
He leans forward as if he expects Stellen to rise to the bait, but still, Stellen barely moves.
An uncanny silence falls, broken only by the gray wolf’s snarling.
Lilis lies mostly still now, her arms up over her face, but her gaze, brilliantly purple, is pinned to Stellen. As if his stillness is somehow…
A comfort to her. A certainty.
The Northerner’s upraised arm drops to his side, but he is clearly not dismayed by the lack of response, because one corner of his mouth twitches upward.
A brutal smile. A vicious light in his eyes.
He tugs at one of the braids in his beard, flicking blood off it.
As the droplets hit the snow, Stellen gives the quietest sigh. “Many have tried to end me.”
“But I will be the last,” the Northerner replies. “My people will no longer live in the shadows and swamps of the Northern Wilds. It’s time for us to come out into the light and live as we deserve.
“I, Brunkil, King of Wolves, will end your reign, Stellen Nas’Lethian. And with your death, I will end the tyranny of all Frost Fae over my people.”
Stellen’s posture doesn’t change.
His breathing doesn’t change.
“Then let’s begin,” he whispers.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Stellen
At the edge of my hearing echoes the memory of a quiet scream.
The writhing, thrashing cry of a fragile thing fighting to escape death.
An unwanted reminder of pain and grief long past.
Mimicked in the heartbeat before battle by the soft caw of the white crow perched on Brunkil’s shoulder, the bird’s cry playing tricks with my ears.
In that heartbeat, I run through a myriad of options and plan my attack.
I don’t want to leave Thyra’s side, but it’s clear Brunkil wants me dead, and by staying near her, I’ll bring the danger to her.
What’s more, Brunkil would be a fool to hurt the Oracle. Far more likely, he wants her power for himself.
On top of that, I trust Nara to protect Thyra. I’m certain Nara will run to Thyra’s side the second I leave it.
As for the mode of my attack, I could simply blast ice across the distance and shatter the Northerner to pieces, but he has cleverlyensured Lilis lies between me and him. If she moved at the wrong moment, she could project herself into the path of my frost power.
It would be wasteful to risk Lilis’s life for Brunkil’s quick death, particularly when I’m certain I can kill him without losing her.
The heartbeat is over.
