The Wolf of Harrow Hall (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms Book 7) Read Free Page B

garments. Much good that did, for the cold seeping up through the soles of my feet was quite bad enough on its own. My hood slipped down, and the wind pulled at my hair, freeing it from the plait I wore down my back. I blinked when the loose strands whipped about, stinging my eyes.
    As I stared into the blinding white, I thought I saw a brief flash of light somewhere ahead, and the dark, looming shape of a building before the snow closed in once more.
    That had to be Lord Greymount’s castle. I couldn’t allow myself to consider any other possibility. Now I had a bearing to follow, even if I couldn’t see it clearly at the moment. But I had spotted that light, and the edifice which surrounded it. I couldn’t allow myself to believe otherwise, didn’t not want to think that I might be chasing only an elusive will o’ the wisp.
    My footsteps dragged as the snow thickened, but I made myself move forward, all my will focused on the light I had seen. It had to be there. It had to.
    Strangely, the wind seemed to not be quite as chill, its roar somehow muted in my ears. Was the storm lessening? No, the snow appeared to blow around me quite as wildly as it ever had. I could not allow myself to pause and puzzle through the conundrum, however. I had to keep walking, to keep thinking of the shadowy building I had seen for that one brief moment.
    No, it really was quite warm. How lovely to be so comfortable, even with the snow falling all around, slowing my footsteps.
    I blinked, and reason seemed to assert itself.
    No, you are not warm, my mind told me, assuming my grandmother’s brisk, sensible tones. You are freezing, and you will die out here if you do not reach that castle.
    A small whimper escaped my lips. I wanted to be warm. I didn’t want to keep walking. Had I ever been this weary before? I couldn’t seem to recall. My thoughts were sluggish, slow and torpid as my very footsteps.
    My legs gave way, and I stumbled to my knees in the snow, soaking my skirts. But that was better, wasn’t it? Anything was better than that interminable walking. Perhaps if I merely lay down for a little while….
    No. I had no idea whether I even uttered the word aloud. Something in me was fighting that insidious warmth, forcing me back to my feet. I stumbled forward a few paces, eyes slitted against the driving snow, the ever-increasing wind. In that moment, I had no clear idea where I was even going, only that I must keep moving, keep putting one foot in front of the other.
    My outstretched hands collided with something solid and dark. I blinked, and realized that the obstacle in front of me was a great wooden gate, surrounded by stone walls on either side.
    Another whimper, this one of shocked relief, escaped my lips. Somehow, against all odds, I had managed to find Lord Greymount’s castle.
    A dark iron ring hung from the gate. I reached up and grasped the ring with fingers numb even though they were encased in woolen mittens, then let it fall against the weather-scarred wood with a dull thud .
    No response. Perhaps they had not heard the sound through the howling of the wind. I took hold of the ring and banged it against the gate, over and over, until my strength failed and I sank once more to my knees. I could no longer feel the cold or the wet. No, the snow bank that had piled up against the gates of the keep was soft and welcoming, so much more comfortable than my hard, narrow bed back home. I was so very tired. Only a little sleep….
    I shut my eyes, and let the darkness claim me.

Chapter 2
    P ain lanced through my fingers and toes, sharp, insistent. I sucked in my breath with a gasp and began to sit up, only to feel a heavy hand against my shoulder, pressing me back down onto a mound of soft pillows. In that moment, I realized I lay in a real bed, not the snow bank where I had collapsed…when? My memories of what exactly had happened were as hazy and indistinct as the snowy landscape outside the window, which had begun to