Chapter 36

36

K yrie

The door shuts behind me, locking me in with a madwoman.

I can do this.

The queen stands there for what feels like an age. I look around her suite. It’s opulent. The most extravagant space I have ever seen.

Aside from another throne, just as grand as the one from before, there is a large four-poster bed piled high with soft furs and cushions. Above, hanging from the high glass ceilings, are a multitude of sparkling chandeliers. In an enormous hearth at the center of a room, a fire crackles, except the flames are bright blue. I realize with horror that they are giving off cold instead of heat.

I shiver, pulling my fur coat more securely around myself. Then, my eyes land on a rectangular glass shape against the ice wall.

I gasp, horror filling me.

It can’t be.

And yet, it is what I think it is.

The queen turns, and I gasp again. I’m not sure what I was expecting. A witch, perhaps? A vile human corrupted by magic? I somehow thought that her eyes would be milky white or that her skin would have black veins running across it. Something vile and grotesque. Not this.

Snow is utterly and devastatingly beautiful.

She has porcelain skin and plump, naturally wine-stained lips; her hair is black and glossy like a raven’s wing. Her smile is like that of an angel. Her cheeks are a healthy, rosy pink. Her waist is narrow, and her breasts are high.

“You’re here,” she says, her voice carrying a hint of victory. “How wonderful.” Her eyes rove over me, inspecting me like I am some kind of curious new creature. Once she is done with her perusal, she locks eyes with me.

I force myself to stand tall and try to meet her gaze with confidence, although my heart is pounding heavily against my chest.

“Yes, I most certainly am,” I reply. “Although I am not sure why, Your Grace.” I curtsey. Perhaps I can still get out of this. I have to try.

“Kyrie, is it?” She doesn’t wait for my response. “I wanted to see the woman Damon is in love with.” She says it with disdain, like I don’t match up to what she had in her head.

I need to try to get out of this.

I must.

“Who is Kyrie?” I frown. “I’m Sindy. Elsie is my cousin and—”

“That is the first and the last lie I will abide. There will be consequences if it happens again, Kyrie. You worked in the salt mines for two years. You and Damon were best friends. According to Hali, Damon was in love with you. Simone and Zeegar agreed. Everyone could see it but you.”

Zeegar and Simone are here, too? This is worse than I ever thought possible.

My eyes must widen in surprise because she says, “I had a long conversation with all of the guards. Hali was especially helpful. He told me all about the two of you, including the snowstorm in the middle of the desert and how you escaped together. I’m sure he was the last person you expected to see at the Ice Court.” She lifts her brows. “Did you really think that he wouldn’t recognize you?”

I don’t respond. I don’t know what to do.

She laughs; even that is husky and melodic. “That’s fine; it wasn’t a question but an observation. Now, tell me, do you love Damon? Or is it one-sided on his part?”

“No, I don’t love him.”

“Caught out on another lie, Kyrie.” She tsks a few times, shaking her head, looking disappointed. Then she lifts a single finger, and the air is cut off from my lungs. I grab at my throat, but of course, there is nothing there. My eyes go wide as I try to fill my lungs. It won’t work. I am suffocating. Try as I might, I can’t bring even a single drop of air into my lungs. I make these little noises. The edges of my consciousness start to fade when she finally lowers her finger, and air rushes to my lungs.

I pant hard, hunching a little over my middle as I suck in air, one lungful after another.

“Let’s try that again, shall we? This time, you will not lie to me, Kyrie. Is that clear?” the queen says softly but with a hint of tension lurking just below the surface. “Do you love Damon?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now we are getting somewhere. Come here. I want to see you better.” She points at the spot right in front of her. I’m sure this is the end of me, but I walk over to her, anyway. I stand directly in front of her, waiting.

“You’re a brave little thing, aren’t you? Damon must like that about you. Now…what have we here?” She leans in really close, sniffing me.

I want to flinch away, but I don’t. I stand my ground. Then she takes my cheeks in her hands. I somehow expect her hands to be cold, but they aren’t; they’re warm and toasty. She makes a humming noise, closing her eyes. It’s like she’s concentrating hard. Her brow gets creased, and I see her eyes moving beneath her lids. Then she lets me go, opening her eyes. She smiles. For just a moment.

“I very nearly get you, Kyrie. I can sense some magic in your veins. Not a lot, but it’s there. You have fae blood in your veins. Did you know that about yourself? Did you?” She lifts her brows.

“Me?” I cock my head in confusion and then shake it. “No, that can’t be.” I’m sure I’d know. My parents would have said something. Unless they didn’t know either.

“And yet it is true. I would say a little blood from both sides. I, too, have some fae in me. It’s commonplace.” She shrugs. “I thought it might be of interest to you.”

I’m not sure whether to believe her. It doesn’t matter either way.

“You would have made a suitable wife for Damon. You’re a little on the plain side, but…I can see what he sees in you. It’s a great pity that the two of you can never be together. Damon is destined for greater things. He is a noble, a royal, a king, and you, my dear, are a nobody.”

“That doesn’t make me a nobody.”

She laughs. “The first true thing you have said without having to be coerced into it. You can believe what you want.” She wrinkles her nose. “It doesn’t change things.”

I realize that she is threatened by me because she sees me as competition. I can hardly believe it. Queen Snow is threatened by me. I bask in that knowledge for a short while.

“How did you get into icefae territory?” She taps a finger against her chin.

I don’t say anything.

“I can torture it out of you.”

“You can try.”

She laughs. “You really mean that, silly girl. Your silence isn’t going to change anything. I will find Damon, and I will marry him.”

Damon hates you.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say it, but I don’t. All it will serve is to anger her, not just toward me but toward Damon, too. I can’t have that in case she does get her evil claws into him.

“Damon sees you as a sister,” I settle on instead. “Besides, I thought you loved his brother, Kyran.”

Her face morphs into a mask of sheer rage. “Do not speak his name!” she shouts.

I blanch because I am quite certain I heard two voices. Perhaps I am wrong.

“My apologies, Your Majesty.” I try hard to mean it.

“Let’s try again; how did you get into icefae territory?” She holds up a finger as a clear threat. I note that even her nail is perfectly manicured. “This time, if you lie to me, I will cut off your air supply until you faint, and I will revive you and do it again. I enjoyed watching your face go blue earlier. The color suits you and happens to be my favorite.” She giggles.

I push out a heavy breath. “Damon snuck me into the Ice Court through a secret entrance.”

She nods a few times. “Now we are getting somewhere. You will need to show me this secret entrance.”

I stay silent. I don’t plan on ever showing her. She can torture me as much as she likes.

“What are you going to do with me? Are you going to kill me? Or will you send me back to the salt mines?” I decide to change the subject. Besides, it would be nice to know my fate.

“You are far too valuable to do either of those things. I’m going to keep you, at least for a while. For as long as you are useful to me.” She shrugs.

Useful how?

Where is she going with this?

“More on that shortly. Right now, I want to know if Elsie and Merna knew who you were. You were staying with Merna, and Elsie helped get you a position here at the castle, cleaning rooms. Were they in on this whole thing? I need to know who to punish.” Her eyes narrow. “I want the truth.”

Kakara be with me!

“Elsie and her family had no idea.” I think about Elsie’s husband and her kids when I say the word “family.” I pray that Snow will include Merna as part of the family. “I found out all about them from Damon.” Truth. I have to tread very carefully. “He told me enough to be able to pretend to be Sindy, Elsie’s cousin. I was welcomed with open arms. They believed everything.” All true. “What are your plans for me? I’m sure there will be blood involved. I’m not going to tell you anything of importance, so you may as well kill me now.”

“I told you, you’re far too valuable, although I might maim you just a little. I will get the information I need one way or the other.”

“You can do your best.”

She frowns. “If torturing you doesn’t work, we can start on Elsie, her children even. I mean, they don’t need all their fingers and toes, do they? I’m sure you’ll talk. Especially if I make you watch.”

Fear rises in me. I don’t say anything. I can’t. She would know I was lying in a heartbeat.

Snow smiles. It isn’t as beautiful as I first thought. Certainly not angelic; it’s pure evil. “Your silence speaks volumes. No…no, dear Kyrie. I can’t do too much to you right now. You will be my bait. I will send word that I have you. I will make sure that everyone knows. That the news is spread far and wide. What do you think will happen when Damon hears?”

I try to hold back a gasp.

She laughs. “Exactly. He will come running. He’ll come back to me and right into my arms.”

No!

That’s just it; she’s right. He will come. The moment Damon finds out that Snow is onto me, that she is holding me captive, he will come to rescue me and get himself captured in the process. All will be lost.

I can’t let that happen.

I won’t. I formulate a plan. It’s terrible. The worst, but I can think of nothing else. If she doesn’t have me in her clutches, then she can’t get to Damon.

I push my shoulders back and take a step toward her, narrowing my eyes.