Page 40 of Weaving Winter

“Well, the road appeared when you began talking about it. Before that, all I saw was blank snow, and no standing stones.” He paused. “Which way to go? I think we should listen to Fate—she brought us here, and if we ignore what we’ve been shown…”

“Then it may be the costliest mistake ever.” I stared at the glowing road, leading to who knew where. “In all of my dreams, I never thought I’d be standing here. A fortnight ago, I was living my life as usual, and now, here I am, deep in a shadowy forest, trying to figure out where the hell I’m supposed to go—where I’m supposed to be.”

Sparrow laughed, but he sounded odd. “Sometimes, you’re right where others need you to be,” he said.

Confused, I turned, about to ask what he meant. But as I looked at him, Sparrow began to shimmer, and then, his image shifted. He wasn’t turning into a wolf—which is what I first thought. But…what was happening?

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” I took a step forward, then froze as the boyish features fell away and the illusion dissolved. I screamed, turning to run, but he was on me in the next second. As he grabbed my wrists and pulled me toward him, Karehl laughed.

“Surprised to see me?” He brought out a pair of cuffs and slapped them on my wrists. “You shouldn’t be. Remember, I too, have a witch on staff—but she’s for the public. My private witch happens to be an expert in creating illusion.”

“No,” I screamed, struggling to push him away.

“Giselda also happens to like money. How serendipitous that her foster son worked for me, and was friends with Fenling’s maid. Once Giselda agreed to work for me, I knew that I had all the protection I needed against my brother and his allies.” He bound my wrists with a rope, then tied a cloth through my teeth. “I don’t know if you have any magic, but best to make sure you can’t conjure any incantations.”

As he set me astride Yaran and tied my reins to his horse, a group of guards came out from behind the thick mass of trees, astride their horses. I recognized none of them as they saluted Karehl and stood ready. With the prince in the lead, we headed deeper into the forest.

Everything I had believed was crashing down. Was Bran actually alive? Had the Lorani betrayed me, or were they caught in Karehl and Giselda’s web of lies and enchantments as well? I stared ahead, desperately trying to figure out how to escape, but as night began to fall and we continued the ride, I knew that for the moment, there was nothing I could do except pray to Bear Mother that Bran and Fenling were both still alive, and that she help me escape.

Outside the thicket, the Snow Witch howled, and deep in my chest, I howled with her as the snow died down and the moon came out from behind the clouds.