Page 3 of Throne of Ice and Blood
I blink at him in surprise as he even takes a step back.
The shock must have been visible on my face, because Draven lets out a soft sigh and then raises his eyebrows pointedly. “I told you that I tried to save you from this, remember?”
His words from back in that throne room, his eyes so full of sorrow as he whispered soft words against my lips, drift through my mind.
I wasn’t trying to sabotage you, little rebel. I was trying to save you. From this.
He did say that. And hewastrying to save me by tampering with the trials so that I would lose.
Back in that throne room, I asked him a question that he never answered. So now, I ask it again.
“Why?”
His face immediately transforms into an emotionless mask again. “Does it matter?”
I’m just about to snap,yes, it matters!But right before the words can make it out of my mouth, I hesitate. Does his reason actually matter? He still collared me. He might have been trying to help me earlier, but when it all came down to it, he still made me his slave.
Something hard settles around my heart. Something I’m not used to. But it helps keep the panic and hopelessness away, so I lean into it.
A vicious scoff rips from my throat as I meet Draven’s gaze again. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”
He smiles, but it’s a cold smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
While drawing a hand over the collar around my throat, I fix Draven with a hard stare. “I will kill you for this.”
For the briefest of moments, I swear that I can see true mirth and almost a hint of approval glitter in his eyes. But when he speaks, his tone is only filled with cruel mocking, so I immediately start to doubt that I ever saw it at all.
Raising his hand, he gives my cheek a patronizing pat. “That’s the spirit.”
I slap his hand away. To my surprise, it doesn’t make me sway the way moving around did earlier. My legs feel steady now. The collar still saps my strength, but I no longer feel as if I’m about to collapse.
Opening my mouth, I get ready to spit a retort back in Draven’s face. But right before I can say anything, my stomach growls. Loudly.
Draven flicks a glance down to it. I expect him to mock me about it, but when he speaks, his tone is suddenly serious instead.
“You haven’t eaten anything in three days.” He meets my gaze for a moment before he abruptly starts towards the door. “I’ll get you some food.”
Startled by the sudden change in his behavior, all I manage to say is, “I, uhm…”
Draven nods towards a pale wooden dresser by the white ice wall to my right. “Your clothes are in there. Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Before I can even figure out how to respond, he throws the door open and strides out. Leaning to the side, I glance out the doorway. There appears to be another larger room out there. Draven snatches up a shirt that was draped over a chair and puts it on before pulling on his boots too. Then he strides towards another door set into the wall of that room and disappears through it.
For a few seconds, all I can do is to stare after him.
Then I lurch into motion.
Sprinting across the floor, I yank out the topmost drawer of the dresser that Draven indicated. Just as promised, I find most of my clothes in there. All of them have been washed and folded into neat piles.
After throwing off the black silk nightgown, I shimmy into my tight brown pants and then pull the white shirt over my head. My knife is nowhere to be seen. No surprise there. But Draven has placed my leather boots on the floor next to the dresser, so I shove my feet into them before I hurry out of the bedroom.
Just like I assumed, the door to my bedroom leads to another room. It’s bigger than the bedroom, and it looks almost like a living room or a fancy sitting room or something. There is a grand desk by one wall, and a cluster of armchairs and couches around a low table. An open door shows glimpses of a bathroom by the wall opposite me. And there is another door, this one closed, a short distance from it on the same wall. To my right is yet another door. That one is made of clear ice and leads out to a balcony. But I don’t bother with any of them. Instead, I run straight towards the one that Draven used when he left.
My heart skips a beat when I shove down the handle and find it unlocked.
He left me alone and he didn’t even bother to lock me in. How stupid can he be?
Flinging the door open, I dart across the threshold.
