Page 109 of Throne of Ice and Blood
Memories of Emperor Bane whipping Draven’s wings into bloody shreds, and Jessina casually mentioning that it’s her turn next time, flashes before my eyes. I keep my gaze on Draven as I reply, “I’m sure he’s just doing what he thinks is best.”
From the corner of my eye, I can see both Galen and Lyra turn to stare at me in surprise.
“Great,” Galen huffs, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “And now you’re defending him. Looks like he really has broken you.”
Oh if he only knew that it’s the exact opposite. That Draven is the only person that I have never made myself small for. The first person that I have never had to hold back against or watch my mouth around.
But I can’t exactly tell them that, so I say nothing. Galen doesn’t seem to mind, or even notice, because he just keeps speaking.
“Doing what he thinks is best,” he echoes mockingly, bitterness lacing his tone. “Do you know what that is, according to Draven?”
I flick a glance at him, but his furious violet eyes are still locked on Draven across the room. When I don’t immediately reply, he answers for me.
“Nothing,” he spits out.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
Two courtiers in glittering dresses walk past in front of us, heading for the table of food by the wall to our right. I drop my gaze, and Galen and Lyra keep their mouths shut until they have passed out of earshot.
Then Galen heaves a frustrated sigh. “Do you know what he did the day that the Silver Clan came to our islands?”
It doesn’t sound like he is waiting for an actual answer, so I don’t say anything.
Just as I expected, Galen keeps talking anyway. And when he does, disgust drips from every word. “Nothing. He did nothing. The Icehearts landed in the middle of town, demanding to speak to our leader. Draven went there. They told him to swear allegiance to them. And he did.” A scoff, full of disbelief and contempt, rips from his throat, and he shakes his head while still staring at Draven across the room. “He just got down on his knees and swore allegiance. He didn’t even try to fight.” He spits out a low and vicious curse. “Fucking coward.”
My mind immediately goes back to that battle I witnessed out on the mountainside, and how Bane and Jessina decimated the dragons from the Purple Clan with their ice flames. How their ice froze their wings and encased their bodies. How they just fell from the sky and shattered on the rocks below.
He was probably trying to save his clan from that same fate.
“I’m sure there was a reason,” I say softly.
Galen scoffs again. But before he can say anything else, my gaze snags on someone by the table to my right, and a small gasp rips from my lungs. Thankfully, it was partially drowned out by Galen’s scoff, so he and Lyra don’t appear to have heard it.
Stunned shock pulses through me as I stare at the blond human man who is clearing dirty plates off the table while keeping his head and eyes down. My heart pounds in my chest.
It’s Peter. One of the members of the human resistance that I met that first day when Kath brought me to their tavern. He’s the one who gave me the climbing gear.
Confusion whirls inside my skull as I stare at him. What in Mabona’s name is he doing here?
Then understanding slams into me.
Oh Mabona’s fucking tits.Thisis how they get to the drop point.
I’ve always been wondering how the humans have been able to drop off instructions and pick up information at a location inside the palace’s defensive walls. And this must be it. Peter most likely works a low-level job in the kitchens here, which lets him access the palace grounds but not anything important inside the castle.
“Sorry, I need to get something to eat,” I tell Galen and Lyra.
Without waiting for them to respond, I walk over to the table that Peter is clearing and casually start inspecting the food.
“Peter,” I whisper.
To his credit, he doesn’t so much as flinch in surprise. He just keeps gathering up the empty plates with his head down.
“You shouldn’t be talking to me,” he breathes back, barely moving his lips.
“I know. But I have important information that needs to be delivered as soon as possible.” I turn one of the silver trays,pretending to look at the small pastries at the back of it. “There are eight guards between the hidden door and the treasury. All armed and well-trained. Fighting in a group will be suicide. Tell the Red Hand that he needs to assassinate them before the rest of you get there.”
Peter dips his chin in a barely perceptible nod.
