Dead Embers(38)

For a few seconds the queen stared back at me, an expression of confusion and disbelief in her dying eyes. Then her head tilted backwards and fell onto the carpet with a sickening thump, rolling a few feet. As Queen Huld's head rolled, it smeared thick red blood all over the beautifully hand-woven carpets.

Blood still thundered through my veins, a pounding waterfall of hot relief. A part of me sizzled with energy, thrilled to have ended this wicked witch's life. The other part of me swallowed bile, squelching down a river of nausea that refused to be dammed.

As I gulped down my horror, Sarah leaped toward me, a picture of happiness on the girl's face. She jerked to a full halt as the queen's head continued its roll, only to stop right at her feet. One foot twitched the tiniest bit. Was she as driven by revenge as I would have been? Would she plant her foot into the macabre head of the dead queen?

Though she'd looked about ready to give the head a swift kick, instead Sarah bent and grabbed it by the hair. Bad move. The wig came loose, and the head fell from the confines of the hairpiece with a small thud. Sarah cast her eyes around the room and rushed to the bed to relieve a burnt-orange silk pillowslip of its cushion inner.

The doors crashed open and the queens' guards rushed back into her chamber, swords brandished, ready to fight. On seeing Queen Huld dead and decapitated, they halted, scanning the queen's chamber. I gripped my sword hilt, so ready to fight, but the guards seemed confused, disoriented. Neither one of them looked eager to avenge their queen's death. I tensed, keeping a wary eye on them as Sarah rolled the head into the pillowslip and twisted the open end closed with a loose knot.

Strange.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"The best way to make sure she never comes back is to take her into the sunlight. Dwarfs cannot survive the sunlight. Once the light touches their skin they solidify, they become stone." Her voice quavered at first, then steadied.

I didn't bother to tell her I already knew how to permanently end the life of a dwarf. "Fine," I said. "Let's go before the entire palace figures out the banshee queen is dead. And before the entire royal guard descends on us, screaming vengeance."

Not that I expected that vengeance would be on the guard's minds. At least not the two who were now resheathing their swords. Their eyes darted from me to Sarah to the bloody pillowcase. But then they turned and trotted out of the chamber, leaving us to stare at their departing backs. One of the guards ambled toward the chaise longue and casually snatched up a handful of fruit from the queen's silver platter. He grinned as he walked outside without a backward glance at what remained of his mistress.

Mika watched in disbelief as they left, raising an eyebrow at me when I met her eye. So far, no squadron of guards had come running in response to the queen's painful scream. Strange, but I wasn't about to question our good fortune.

Sarah handed me the cloak. "You don't have to worry about those two guards. They are her personal attendants, and if anything, they probably hate her more than I do."

I didn't plan on sticking around in case they changed their minds, though. I flung the cloak over my shoulders and pulled Sarah against my side. Mika stiffened, her eyes narrowing almost to slits. I felt a stab of regret that I'd thought first of the girl and not of Mika. But the cloak had just enough room for two, and Sarah was untrained and unarmed, except for the bagged head.

"Go, I will follow," Mika said, her voice so cold I almost flinched. I threw her a searching glance, but she returned my concern with a brief smile and just nodded toward the door.

A surge of fear struck me as we stepped into the deserted corridor. As much as I'd paid attention to the route as we made our way here, I now came up with a total blank.

"Damn." I gritted my teeth, mentally kicking myself for my lack of strategy. Fen would so not like this.

Sarah tensed, her tiny fist tightening around the silky fabric. "What?" she asked.

"I can't remember how to get out of here." My heart sank as I flicked a glance back at Mika, straggling a few yards behind us. "And even if I can find the way, we'll need to make another trip through the eating hall, too." I still found it strange that we weren’t yet on the run from hordes of vengeful dwarfs.

To my surprise, the girl's lips formed a tight, thin smile. "Do not worry. I can get you out of here. I have lived in this dungeon for almost a century. I know my way around, but we should hurry. Only those two guards know the queen is dead, and they are happy enough. But any guards we encountered on our way out would still be terrified of the queen's wrath. They would apprehend anyone running around the palace."

I nodded at her beneath the cloak, then peeked out at Mika from between the slits in the fabric. "Mika?"

"Yes, I heard. Let us be going." She scowled. "And let us hope the human will not lead us into further trouble."

"Let's go, then." We set a brisk pace, unable to run under the cover of the cloak but just about managing to speed up to a trot.

The thud of bootsteps from around the corner brought us to a panicked halt. We waited in the shadows at the intersection until the band of guards passed. Mika snuck past us to check for stragglers, and I used the delay to glance at the girl beside me. She stood there so calm and collected, and in that moment I felt a rush of admiration for her.

I realized then that I'd been thinking of her as "Sarah" all along, based on the dwarfs' chants, but I could have been wrong. "What's your name?" I whispered.

"Sarah. Sarah McLean," she answered, eyes on the corridor ahead.

"How did you end up here, Sarah?" The echoes of footsteps slowly faded in the distance.

"I met this gentleman at a ball in London. He was nice, nicer than the lecherous old fools I had to contend with. I think I was perhaps a bit too fond of him." Her voice faltered. "He wanted to take me to visit his family, before we married. So he brought me here. And introduced me to his mother. You just met her."

Sarah raised and lowered the bag in her hand, and shrugged, her eyes filled with sorrow and regret.

Yeah, I'd met Sarah's almost-mother-in-law.

I'd also just killed her.





Chapter 30




I sucked in a gasp.

Sarah continued her story, her voice as flat and dead as the shadowed forest outside. "His timing was perhaps not that fortunate. In his absence, his mother had killed his father and taken the kingdom for herself, and when we entered the palace the guards seized him, and he was taken straight to the queen. And I was placed in chains."

"And you never tried to escape?" I asked, the question bordering on interrogatory. She'd been a captive in peril, yes, but had it been me, I'd definitely have tried to escape. Guess good old King Brokk and I had something in common.

"Yes, of course I did." She traced the red band on her wrist. "I was not as adept at subterfuge as I had hoped. When I was discovered, Queen Huld used the Black Manacles on me."

"Oh, the black cuffs the guard had in the dining hall?"

Sarah frowned. "You were there?" She didn't wait for my answer. "The manacles are forged with the black rock of Swartelfheim and the black magic of the frost giants. They burn with icy fire, and the wounds take years to heal. I never tried to leave again."

I couldn't find anything appropriate to say to that. What could I say that would make her feel better about her captivity?

"If you two are done with your little heart to heart, could we leave?" Mika's gruff voice interrupted us. "And Bryn, is it really necessary to take this human with us? She is slowing us down."

I parted the cloak and glared at Mika, annoyed with her lack of compassion. "We're taking her with us," I said, my voice and eyes brimming with anger.

Mika shrugged, her own eyes flaring yellow. I couldn't care less about her temper. I held onto Sarah's arm and snuck around the corner, allowing the girl to lead us up and down corridors; some dark, many brightly lit by torches.

I hoped I wasn't going to regret it.

Soon the dull throb of the forges could be felt through the stone floor and walls. We were almost there.

But just when we thought the end was in sight, the thunder of bootsteps rang down the corridor. A dozen or so dwarfs bore down on us. Any second now, they would see Mika and it would all be over.

My heart thudded, faster than the forges but unable to match the stamping of oncoming boots. Sarah and I were safe, hidden within the Tarnkappe, but Mika was totally at their mercy.

Unless . . .

At the very last second, I grabbed Sarah and jumped in front of Mika, flattening her between the cloak and the wall. The breath whooshed out of her in an angry huff, but thankfully she didn't resist. I'd banked her safety on my assumption that anything behind the cloak could not be seen.

I was right.

The guards stormed past us, so close that Sarah and I had to hold our tummies in to avoid being jabbed by errant elbows and dangerous dagger scabbards. I held my breath too, imagining the cloak catching on a guard's sword and being pulled off, ending with the three of us being beheaded for killing the ruler of Swartelfheim.

I needn't have worried.

The troop passed us by, and not until the last of them disappeared into the darkness did we begin to breathe again at last.

"As exciting as that was, I think we should be going." I grinned, and Sarah and I headed off. Mika followed without even a thank you. Guess she didn't appreciate being pancaked between us and the wall.