Fantasy of Frost (The Tainted Accords Book 1) Read Free Page B

occasionally, but there was always someone with me, watching.” I shift on the tree, remembering. “I hated every day of it. I just wanted to be free. I had no friends except Olandon and later there was Aquin.” I pause to collect myself, clearing my throat to get rid of the lump which has risen there.
    Kedrick makes a gesture towards me, but I hold up a hand.
    “When I was nine, mother came to my room and said I could go outside. She said I could never show anyone my face. I couldn’t believe my luck. My freedom for not showing my face? Nothing would be easier. I ran through the meadows and climbed the trees and smelt the flowers. I went to the village and explored.” I close my eyes as I recite the next part.
    “There was a girl under a tree playing a game with some round stones. She asked me if I would like to play, too.” I had only ever told this story to Olandon.
    “I went back there every day for a week and every time she asked to see my face I said no.” I blink back tears. “But I had never had a friend before,” I whisper. “So, at the end of the week, I said yes and I showed her my face.”
    “What happened?” The question barely disturbs the air, it is so quiet.
    “I was being followed everywhere. They were on her before I could do anything. They slit her throat and made me watch her die.” I hear Kedrick breathe in sharply.
    “After this, I was locked away again until I was ten. Then mother came to me again as before, except this time she told me if I ever looked at my face or showed another, she would kill Olandon, lock me in the tower and throw away the key. This time I believed her, I was still having nightmares from the year before.”
    Kedrick sits on the ground, shaking his head. “That’s the most disturbing thing I’ve ever heard in my life. How could a mother do that to her own child? And why go to such dire lengths to keep a veil on you?” he muses. We sit in silence.
    “She has to be afraid. Fear creates the strongest reactions,” he says.
    “What?” I say.
    “She must be afraid.”
    I shrug. “I think she just hates me.”
    He shakes his head and stands again. “Maybe.”
    “The funny thing is, I no longer think she would kill Olandon. She loves him. But I dread being locked in the tower again. I don’t think I could bear it.” Climbing down the wall from my room was one thing. The tower room was much higher.
    We arrive at the Old Lake. But the view is tarnished after the gloomy story of my life.
    “I apologise, I did not mean to ruin-” My words cut off as I am pulled into a ferocious hug.
    “Never apologise, Lina. It is your mother who should be sorry,” he says and pulls back so I can see his face. I’ve never seen him so furious. I nod, breath held.
    We start back. Kedrick keeps opening his mouth to talk. I can hear the breath catching as he does so.
    “Has Olandon ever offered to describe your face to you?” he finally asks.
    I continue walking, my hands clasped behind my back. “Yes,” I say. “I told him what I just told you and then told him not to ask again.”
    “Are you still followed?” He asks.
    “Sometimes. But it has lessened a lot with the arrival of your delegation, mother is probably too busy having you followed,” I say.
    “I know. Malir and Rhone have a lot of fun leading them astray,” he says. I laugh as I try to picture this.
    “Would you ever let me see your face?” he asks, but I am already shaking my head.
    “No Kedrick…I can’t. I’m sorry. Please understand.” The thought of taking off my veil fills me with a crippling terror. There is too much at risk if I am caught or someone tells my mother.
    He doesn’t speak for a long time and I walk by his side in a worried mess.
    “Kedrick. You must promise me this knowledge will not get back to anyone else. Not even your brother, King Jovan.” I did not want my story to become common knowledge or affect Glacium’s dealings with my mother.
    He kisses the back of my hand.