Page 120 of Throne of Ice and Blood
But if it is, I need to try to do something to help them escape. Especially the Red Hand. If the human resistance loses the Red Hand, there is no telling what will happen.
My stomach lurches, and a gasp rips from my lungs as the smooth fabric of my dress skirt ends up between my shoe and the wall, causing me to slip.
I grip the jagged ice hard with my hands as I drop downwards.
A huff tears from my throat as my arms take the brunt of the weight. The long dress skirt tangles around my legs. Panic pulses through my veins. Gritting my teeth, I try to pull myself back up while trying to kick the flowing fabric out of the way.
Another wind whirls around the castle.
My hair and dress are swept to the side. I shake my head to get the strands of hair out of my face, but the wind at least managed to finally move the dress skirt aside.
Relief flows through my shoulders and arms as I finally regain purchase with my feet.
My heart pounds against my ribs.
For a second, I just cling to the wall like that and close my eyes while drawing in a deep steadying breath. Then I start upwards again. I don’t have any more seconds to waste. If the guards really have cornered the humans, I need to help them before it’s too late.
When I finally reach the window, I realize that it’s already open.
My heart leaps.
The Red Hand. He’s already here.
Fuck. I need to hurry.
Yanking the window fully open, I heave myself up and practically roll in through the window. My dress rustles around me, snagging on the latch. I yank the fabric free and then leap to my feet while pulling off my climbing gear and hiding it underneath my dress again.
From around the corner, the muffled sounds of a struggle can be heard. Last time I was here, there was a guard standing by this corner. He’s not there now. Which, while ultimately good for me, is a bad sign since it means that he has gotten involved in the ambush against the humans.
I dart towards the corner. My heart pounds in my chest.
Drawing myself up by the wall, I edge forward and glance around the corner.
My heart drops.
The pale ice corridor around the corner is packed with dragon shifters in silver armor. And humans. Panic clangs inside my skull as I stare at the furious battle taking place there.
Kath and Kyler are fighting back to back, both of them carrying a pair of knives. Ami and Peter are desperately trying to push back the wall of dragon shifters who are blocking the door to the emergency escape tunnel, preventing them all from just running back out. Ami’s black hair whips around her chin as she darts from side to side, trying futilely to stab at the guards with a small knife.
The rest of the humans who were there to help carry everything in the treasury are fighting with equal fury around them. But it’s a losing battle. The dragon shifters are all wearing their silver dragon scale armor while the humans are only wearing clothes made of thin fabric. And all the shifters have swords, which gives them better reach against the humans’ smaller daggers.
I whip my gaze from side to side, trying to come up with something that can help them. Some way of distracting the guards so that the humans can get the door open and get at least a small chance to escape back out through the tunnel.
But there is nothing.
I don’t have any weapons, I can’t access my magic, and there is nothing in the corridor that I can use. No side tables, no decorations, not even a wall sconce that I can rip off and chuck at the window as a distraction.
An idea flashes through my mind. It’s an absolutely stupid idea. But it’s all I’ve got.
I can use myself as a distraction. If I can get them to chase me, it might create an opening for the humans. And the guardscan’t use the half-shift, so if I climb back out the window before they can get to me, I might be able to make it back down to the ground.
It’s dumb and insane and a ridiculous risk. But I have to do something.
Straightening my spine, I take a determined step around the corner.
But I only make it that one step before I freeze in place on the floor when I hear a sharp voice cut through the noise of the fight.
“Enough! I served them up to you on a silver platter, and you can’t even complete the simple task of arresting them. I refuse to be punished for your incompetence.”
