Page 16 of Throne of Ice and Blood
I suck in another ragged breath while my mind continues spinning.
My stomach turns.
I’m not dead. I’m not lying broken and paralyzed on the stones. I’m still alive. Still unharmed.
Bracing one hand on the ice wall, I lean over the bush beside me.
And then I throw up.
Repeatedly.
Every one of my limbs shakes, and my pulse is still thrumming so fast in my ears that I can barely hear anything. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and drag in an unsteady breath.
Once my mind has finally accepted the fact that I didn’t die, I push myself up to my knees and stagger away from the wall. I don’t know if guards patrol here, so I can’t linger too long. The side gate that I spotted from the balcony is just a short distance away, so I flip the hood of my cloak up and sneak towards it.
As I draw closer, I realize that the gate is made of round metal bars rather than something solid. I study the color while I take up position in the shadows of the wall close to it. Based on the color, it looks to be made of iron.
Annoyance flits through me. Of course it’s fucking iron.
I shift my gaze to the man standing in front of it.
He is wearing silver armor, which means that he is part of Bane and Jessina’s clan rather than Draven’s. Just like all adult shifters, he looks to be somewhere between twenty-five and thirty years old, so just based on his appearance, I have no idea if he is experienced or a new recruit.
Narrowing my eyes, I study his body language. He is standing too straight to be comfortable. People who are older andmore experienced usually look more relaxed, because they are confident in their abilities and their orders. I drum my fingers against my thigh. If I had to guess, I would say that he is someone who is desperate to prove himself. And I sure hope that I have guessed correctly. Because my life is about to depend on it.
After making sure that the cloak covers my pointed ears, I step out of the shadows and stride straight towards the guard with confident steps.
“Why isn’t this door already unlocked?” I bark with enough authority to surprise even myself.
The guard jumps in surprise and then hurries to straighten again as he turns to me and snaps to attention. “What?—”
“Commander Ryat sent word half an hour ago that you were to have it open and ready for me the second I appeared,” I declare, interrupting him. “Every second you waste here is another second that my mission goes unfulfilled.”
Worry and panic pulse across the guard’s face at the mention of Draven’s name, and at the sight of my black cloak.
Turning to the right, I stab a hand towards a path that I most certainly did not come from. “You should have seen me walking towards you and already have been ready.”
The moment I turn around to point, when he can no longer see my eyes, I call up my magic and shove it at the yellow spark of panic in the guard’s chest. Then I blow it into a wildfire.
“I d-didn’t—” he stammers.
Cutting off the flow of my magic, I turn back towards him again. “You have two seconds to open that gate before I report your insubordination to the commander.”
All blood drains from the guard’s face.
Metal clinks as he snatches up his ring of keys so fast that he almost drops it. Whipping around, he tries to ram the keyinto the lock. But his movements are so frantic that he misses it several times.
While his back is to me, I once more call up my magic. This time, I push at the bone white spark of fear in his chest. I increase it rapidly until I can see his hands shaking.
The keys rattle in his hands. But then he finally gets the door unlocked and shoves it open.
I cut off my magic right before he can turn around and see that my eyes were glowing.
“Here, I’m sorry,” he blurts out. “Please, don’t tell him.”
Stalking forward, I growl, “Make sure that this door is always open for me before I even reach it, and I’ll consider not telling him about this.”
“Thank you,” he gasps out as I stride right past him and out the gate.
