Page 4 of Throne of Ice and Blood
The soft white light of faelights illuminates a wide corridor made of the same white ice as the rest of this accursed castle. But as opposed to the room I just left, there are no wooden floorboards out here. Instead, only ice glitters below me and above me and around me. I quickly push the door shut behind me and then take off down the hall.
My boots pound against the pale floor and my hair flutters behind me as I sprint away. I have no idea where I am or which direction I’m supposed to be running, but there is still an overwhelming sense of hope and relief pulsing through me as I dart down the corridor and into the next hallway. I’m getting out. Right now. I can figure out how to get the iron collar off later. As long as I make it out of this castle, freedom will yet again be within my grasp.
White corridors decorated only with silver and sparkling faelights flash past around me as I weave my way through the Ice Palace. I have to duck servants and guards several times, but somehow always manage to stay just out of sight.
My muscles burn and my lungs ache as I skid around another corner.
And come face to face with a group of guards.
My heart leaps into my throat.
Throwing myself backwards, I dart back around the corner.
“What was that?” a voice comes from the corridor.
“You see someone?” another man asks.
I curse silently in my mind. With my heart thundering in my chest, I hurriedly back away. There was another corridor branching off a short distance behind me. If I can just make it there before?—
The sound of boots thumping against the floor comes from around the corner.
“I’ll check it out,” the first voice replies.
Shit.
While keeping one eye on the corner, I practically run backwards until I reach the other hallway and can back into it.
My stomach lurches.
A yelp slips past my lips as my heels slam into something. Combined with my speed, the sudden obstacle makes me trip backwards. I flail my arms, desperately trying to get my balance back, but because of the long run and the lack of food and the iron around my neck, my reflexes are too slow.
I topple backwards and crash down on the ground.
Yells come from the guards, and the sound of their pounding feet gets louder as they sprint towards me.
Desperately, I shove myself into a sitting position and swing my legs over the long thing that I tripped over. I have just managed to twist around and get to my knees when I realize what it is.
A body.
My gaze snaps down to the pool of blood that has formed underneath it.
For one single second, all I can do is to stare at it. Stare at that body. That very dead body and the very incriminating pool of blood that I am currently bracing my palms in.
Then reality snaps back into me, and I yank my hands off the floor. Blood coats my palms, and small drops fly from my fingers when I move to jump to my feet.
But before I can so much as get off the ground, the group of guards skids around the corner.
They stop.
Shock pulses across their faces as they stare from me to the dead body to my blood-covered hands and then back again.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I blurt out.
“Get her!” the squad leader snaps.
Light glints in their silver armor as they all surge forward. I scramble back, trying to get away, but a boot takes me in the sideof the ribs before I can even get halfway up from the floor. The force of it flips me over and sends me crashing back down on the bloodstained ice.
I gasp air back into my lungs and place my palms against the ground to push myself up.
