Page 48 of Winter Gods & Serpents

She scowled, probably upset at how I had kept that from her. “Since when do you keep things from me?”

“I’m not keeping nothing from you, Nia, but that one time you told Alaric I’d missed my cycle did do some damage,” I teased to lighten the grave mood.

She slapped my shoulder viciously and repeatedly as I laughed myself to tears. “So not funny.”

“Indeed, it was not,” I said, feigning a frown. “Imagine having to tell Alaric all the men I’d slept with, to hunt them down because he thought I was with child.”

Nia was very close to Alaric, too close. Never sparing him any secret, including mine.

She loosened a giggle at the memory. “I still can’t believe he punched Lazarus right across his arrogant jaw.”

I cupped her cheeks and gave them a playful tug. “Don’t mock his jaw, he knows how to use it well.”

“Ugh, away thoughts or I’ll be sick,” she cringed, shaking her head and hands.

“You held something from me too, Nia.”

Her mouth parted slightly open, and I saw the slight shiver her limbs enveloped. “I felt her…I felt their presence, my sister and my father too. I think…I could be wrong or maybe it’s just my imagination.” She froze, her breathing shallow. “Or just remembrance.” Nia’s own nightmares, though hers were quiet they were even more hunting.

“It’s that place Nia, just how Isjord remind me of mine. They can never hurt you; spirits of the past are just there to hunt your memory, I gave that promise to you.”

I assured her several times I was fine and that she would be fine too before we mounted and rode to Isjord. The journey was in utter silence, soldiers kept stealing glances my way, but the pregnant woman was flatly staring at me. Even when I caught her, she did not turn away making me laugh. To my surprise she gave me a short sad smile. Cai had assured me no one would speak of what they had seen, but I told him I had little care if they did, my status of the orphaned broken little Isjordian princess was not going to receive any further damage.

When we neared Tenebrose, we greeted goodbye to Amerie, the pregnant Adriatian girl, who was taken by my soldiers to a safehouse they knew and assured would keep her safe till I procured other arrangements.

My feet begged for me to halt and turn around, but my head anticipated father’s reaction to what I had done in Kirkwall.

The meeting room sounded only of his restless paces. He was alone with uncle and Renick, his eyes drawn in madness ready to bestow it upon me. The other two wearing a more amused expression—one that would be fully achieved when they would see me punished by father.

“I sent you for one thing and you come with a lord's blood in your hands? You disobedient, vile child.” he shouted, voice travelled through the doors down to the corridors. “Care to explain how you just managed to commit such a crime and take responsibility for the revolt of the other Lords upon hearing of your actions?”

I laughed hard and loud till my father hit the table with his fist, a trail of ice shards heading towards me, the sharp edge stopping short right between my eyes.

Going round the anger sculpture he intended to kill me with, I sat across them. “You act so grand though you know your people very little, dear father, especially the ones so close to the crown.”

Confusion wearing his face instead of rage, so I threw towards him a pile of documents. The other two stared at them doubtful, before grabbing and skimming through the pages of guilt and crime. Looks of perturbed surprise thrown back and forth at me.

“What does this mean, child, explain!” he shouted again, rubbing his eyes.

“It means, King Silas,” my tone an inch away from mocking, “your kind lord, was smuggling goods from Adriata in exchange of free passing’s to your land, hosting rebels to his city assuring them free passage through Isjord in exchange of Adriatian steel, rubies, emeralds and all sorts of that jingle, helping them escape trials by conducting them himself and even bestowing little punishment to no punishment on them. Kirkwall has had more than one hundred trespassers in the past month according to those notes, just a little shy from the group that attacked twelve years ago.”

I had tapped my point when his features leathered down to a taken aback shape. “Now, how do we say all this to the other lords, they are all so upset from my actions,” I provoked, fluttering my lashes.

He didn’t answer or even react to my incitement. Seeing I had managed to achieve the exact reaction I was expecting, I stood to leave. Uncle and Renick began to discuss amongst themselves, amusement wiped from their faces.

It had taken me a long while of searching thoroughly through all his properties, offices, and preferred locations to fetch those documents, almost beaten one of his guards to death for information and even almost missed the trial before I had found receipts and receipts of the lord's little crimes. When Esbern had interrupted, and seen his trusted Adriatian ally knelt in my grasp, he had dared to mock me and try my patience.

“Wait, Snowlin, how…how did you obtain all this?”

An apology would be more ideal but seeing him stutter was all the better. “It matters very little father, your order of kill at first sight was passed through, very smart on your behalf if I must say.”

His eyes dropped searching on the ground. “Yes, very well,” he said almost unsure.

“By law as a royal, I appointed Sebastian, one of your soldiers on my team in Lord of Kirkwall duty, one that would not betray you or Isjord. He is the son of a priest from Casmere, Samuel spoke highly of him.”

He nodded at my words. “Good thinking,” he praised absently.

“Aren’t you letting her too loose, Silas?” Renick called indignantly. “She killed a lord and appointed one herself.”