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To be fair, even without a steel grip to brace her, Mareda held her own. Normally, Adeline flattered herself that she had the slightest edge on her sister. She was more talented in combat and – usually – quicker to temper. But Mareda had to be perfect in everything she did.Hadto be. She wasn’t driven by competition so much as compulsion. She studied form and technique with the intensity of a scholar, fighting by the book no matter how many times Master Ellis warned her that a real opponent would not pay her the same courtesy. But in the training room, against Adeline armed with a dulled practice blade, it worked. They were often evenly matched, and today was one of those days.
Adeline prowled toward her sister like a cat, and though Mareda’s feet slid beneath her here and there, she blocked each blow, parrying back and back and never losing her footing.
On and on they fought. The further the sun crept over the treeline, the meaner they became, both of them growing tired and aching as the morning wore on.
Leaning hard into her boots, Adeline feinted to one side and almost sent Mareda sprawling with the unexpected swing of her blade. Mareda scrambled back, snarling in a way that was rather unlike her, and in a hot and frustrated moment, she lashed out. Proper form meant nothing in that split second; sword forgotten, she lurched at her sister andshoved.
Adeline landed on her back, the air whipping out of her lungs with an inelegantoomph. It might have ended there, but Adeline’s pettiest instinct kicked in - she rolled, still winded, and kicked out hard. Mareda’s legs went out from under her, and she finally slammed backward into the ice.
Then there was only the harsh sound of their breath, freezing on the air and hovering above their faces while they panted at the clouded sky.
“Peace,” Adeline wheezed, as Mareda felt around for her blade. “We’ll call it a draw.”
Mareda turned her head on the ice so that Adeline could see her face. She was flushed and bright-eyed, but the tightness and despair had faded; melted away by the same fire that had fuelled her through this savage session. Even as she raised a brow, there was no real ire behind it.
“Convenient, since I was the last one standing.”
“Yes, because you pushed me!”
“Just puttingyourusual tactics to practise, dear sister.”
Adeline had to laugh at that, and even Mareda’s lips began to twitch–but then her smile dropped. Her brows furrowed.
“Do you hear –”
Abruptly, they both shot to their elbows, heads cocked to hear the juddering call building somewhere beneath them. The ice seemed to shudder, the trembling call rising to a roar that ended in a long clap like thunder.
Adeline didn’t think, just scrambled back and dragged Mareda along by the wrist, then by the waist as something jagged and dark raced along the ice towards them. Marry’s scream was lost to the thunder as Adeline yanked her back, back,back.
The thing stopped just short of Adeline’s leather-clad toes. The thunderous clap echoed and died until there was nothing but silence and Adeline’s own ragged breath in her ears.
It was…
It was a crack.
A dark chasm cleaved across the solid centre of the Laune.
The ice – the solid, centuries-frozen lake – had cracked. The sisters stared at the deep black split in roiling, dizzying horror.
Then skidded and slipped to their feet until, together, they turned on the spot and fled.
Chapter 6
The King
Shudder.
Splinter.
CRACK.
It echoed through the Cold Black, shaking his bones. His slowed heart gave a quick, shocked thump. His mind peeled out of the not-quite sleep and a flurry of thoughts skittered around his skull like leaves in a windstorm.
I… I heard...
Heard. He hadn’t heard anything in quite some time.
