Kristian Frostborne's Arc

Chapter 6 of 9

The warmth of the grotto stayed with Kristian too long. That night, a servant found frost-black powder in Eira's washing water. She had not touched it yet. But someone inside the keep had reached her. The duchess sat in a cold cell, exposed and captured. Her poisoners still moved free, and they still obeyed her. Kristian could not guard his queen against hands he could not name. He went to the cell before dawn. The duchess looked like dirty snow left too long in a gutter. Her fur collar hung ragged. She smiled when she saw him. "You cannot watch her every hour," she said. "My people are patient. One cup. One breath. She will die and you will not know which servant to hang." Kristian did not answer her taunt. He had come with a plan, not a plea. He set the runed chalice on the stone floor between them. Water steamed in it. "You confessed the plot before the lords," he said. "Now you will name the hands." "I will not drink again." "You will." He crouched. "Your ally, the greybeard, ran. He left you here. He will trade your poisoners to save himself the moment I offer him a bargain. Name them first, and I spare your life. Stay silent, and I let him buy it from me instead." The duchess studied his boots, then his face. She had spent her life reading weakness. She found none. She lifted the chalice with both hands and drank. Her jaw worked against the compulsion. Then names came, one by one, dragged out of her. A kitchen maid. Two grooms. A steward who carried Eira's water each morning. Six in all. Kristian memorized every one. By midday his guards had taken all six. He brought Eira to see it done. She stood in the courtyard as they knelt in the snow, and she did not flinch. "You found them," she said. "Every hand that could reach you." He turned to her. "You are safe in this keep now." Cael Vorne came down from his tower to witness it. The old lord kept his distance, his half-frozen face turned from the guards. Blue ice crept along his jaw. He never let men see him close. But he stopped beside Kristian and spoke low. "You protected my daughter," Cael said. "I did not think you could." He looked at Eira, then at Kristian's hand near hers. "Guard her well. The one who ran is worse than the one who drank." Kristian nodded. The threat inside the walls was ended. Six poisoners knelt in chains. Eira stood at his side, unharmed, and for the first time she reached for his hand without being asked. But Cael was right. The greybeard still moved free in Snowhaven. He knew his partner had named her people. Now he knew Kristian would come for him next. The hunt had only changed its ground.