A Shade of Dragon 2 Read Free

preparing my sword to spear the slat between the door and the ceiling, cracking the ice which might have formed in the nighttime hours. “For fear of the environment?”
    “We have stayed because the queen willed it so,” Einhen said.
    At this, I grimaced and nodded. I was glad that she had not seen me leave.
    I slammed my shoulder into the door, sending it upward against the shattering ice formed atop it.
    The world outside was a blistering white.
    The sun had risen a quarter into the sky. Had our days somehow lengthened? Was it not noon? Sunshine filtered onto us as pale and cold as reflections on water, trapped behind its sheen of cloud. The snow, powdery and crisp, lifted to our upper knees and thighs.
    “All right,” I said. “Let’s go.”
----
    W e moved through the tundra under the shadow of clouds and trees for hours. There was no shelter; we ate as we traveled, exposed to the elements and any roaming predators. I passed Michelle a bun of wheat, and this time she did not balk. She grabbed the food and tore into it like a beast as we walked. I felt a twinge of victory at this—like the pride of a parent who had finally broken the tantrum of a willful toddler.
    It was a short-lived feeling.
    “Where the hell are we?” Michelle demanded, looking to me for the answer. “You don’t even have a map, Theon.”
    “I hunted with my father in these wildlands for an entire season every year while the women harvested,” I explained, my voice patient with superiority. “My brother and I would chase each other on horseback through these fields, and hide in its hidden wells; I know it better than I know myself.”
    Michelle grimaced, but relented. “I could go for one of those horses right about now,” was all she said.
    Her gaze moved to Einhen next. He’d shown no interest in her since the voyage began, so he had unwittingly become her latest target. “Why do you keep doing that?” she asked, gesturing to his face, tilted up toward the opaque sky.
    “There are fleeting slivers of stars revealed when the clouds part,” he answered her, not turning from the sky, blinking away snowflakes. “I’m trying to see the planets to verify what I believe is happening.”
    “And what is that?” Michelle asked sweetly.
    “Their positions have altered inexplicably.” His voice was low, almost inaudible over the wailings of the wind. “Like returning to a room to find that the chess pieces on the board have been rearranged.”
    “That is riveting.” Michelle paused to let her insincerity sink in. “How long do we have before we reach the city?” I had stopped counting how many times she had asked.
    “I see the spires of the watchtowers now,” I informed her tersely. “We will be at the gates within the hour if we do not stop.”
    Michelle had been insisting we stop as many as three times per hour so that she could cuddle with Khem and warm up again.
    “I don’t see anything,” Michelle retorted. “I don’t see any watchtowers.”
    “Your eyesight is inferior to that of a fire dragon. The watchtowers are there. Why would I lead myself and two trusted companions into a frozen wasteland with no destination other than death?”
    “Oh, so, I’m, like, not trustworthy?” Michelle shrilled. I whirled on her, but she didn’t shrink back, even though she was almost a foot smaller and less than half my weight. “You were the one who showed up at my house and invited me!”
    “Because the damned Oracle forced me!” I bellowed. “Do you think I would choose, for a mission as crucial as the life of my beloved and the safety of my kingdom, the accompaniment of a spoiled, vain concubine?”
    Michelle’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Her eyes glazed over, and she settled back onto her heels and closed her mouth. She turned from me and continued to trudge through the snow.
    I’d done it. I’d finally shut her up.

Nell
    T he masked guard carried me , my face beginning to thaw and blazing with pain, down a