Page 105 of Keldori By Daybreak

“Actually, the Frozen God is a woman.” I smiled blithely. “And I’ve met the Baron. She doesn’t scare me.”

“You—” Kamryn paled behind his beard. “You can’t be the Frozen God.”

“No,” I conceded. “But I am far less liked than she is, and she’d probably be kinder to you if she were here. Unless, of course, she heard what you were saying to your friends about mountain women?”

“I wasn’t actually going to hurt anyone—Dammit!” He cried out as Ciarán snapped another finger. “That was my thumb!”

“I probably should’ve started with that one.” Ciarán shrugged.

“The Frozen God,” I continued, “she’d show you mercy.”

“Then you’re going to tell your dog to let me go?”

“No. Because mercy for someone like you would be to strike you dead. I’d much rather make you miserable.” I pressed my finger against his lips when he started to beg again. “You wanted to hurt my friends. When we let you go—and don’t worry, we will let you go—you’re going to continue to hurt the travelers that come through your gate. So I’m going to make the mere thought of touching another person cause you pain.”

He shook his head against my hand, but I pressed my hand over his mouth and gripped him by his cheeks.

I’d done this before. Sort of. The last time I’d infected someone with mold, it had been to save him. Not to mention, I’d been a Nightmare.

But if magick was will-driven, then there was no reason this shouldn’t work, because it was my absolute will that this man be punished.

The first patch of red appeared above the line of his beard, splashing across his cheek like an angry red burn. Kamryn jerked his head away from my hand, but the infection was already spreading, stretching down his neck and disappearing under the collar of his Barony uniform.

“You bitch!” He writhed, trying to escape Ciarán’s hold as well as the burning of the fungus I created just for him. “You think this will stop me? I’ll have you and all your friends arrested for assaulting an officer of the Grand Barony! And when you’re all behind bars and no one is watching, I’ll be sure to pay you each a visit and—”

“Ciarán,” I murmured.

“Yes, my Lady?”

“He has five other fingers, doesn’t he?”

“He does.”

“Break them all.”

Bone splintered, and Ciarán shoved the hem of the guard’s uniform into his rash-riddled mouth to stifle his screams. A swift hit to Kamryn’s chin silenced him for good, and Ciarán let his unconscious body slump to the ground of the alley.

We tucked him out of sight in the shadows of our alcove, and exited the alley back past the chocolate shop where the guard’s friends were eating cake through the window.

“Got your Skal back.” My green dress—or was it a tunic?—twirled around my waist as I spun on the toe of my boot. “Now what?”

Ciarán grabbed my shoulders to gently pull me out of the way of a passing couple.

“Now we should probably make our way to the inn so the others don’t think we’ve gotten lost.”

“Or arrested!” I grinned up at him.

“Yeah. Or arrested.” He pushed the pendant we’d rescued from the guard into his pocket, and I took his hand in mine.

“Wren,” he warned.

“What? Does this bother you?” I squeezed his hand.

“No, but I’m not used to you being this comfortable.”

“It’s the acute mercurial whimsy.” I nodded importantly. “Don’t worry. It’s apparently temporary.”

“That’s probably a good thing. We don’t have time for Acute Mercurial Whimsy Wren to exact vigilante justice on every corrupt guard in Willow’s Grave.” He squeezed my hand back. Detachment from reality was definitely a side-effect of the Ceremender’s treatment, because he’d just used the hand pressed against mine to break another man’s fingers, and I couldn’t help smiling at the memory. Ciarán laughed at the look on my face. “You’re terrifying, you know.”