Wintertide Read Free Page A

that’s going on? Security might be a tad tighter than usual. Every day I see a line of men in the courtyard, signing up to join the guard.”
    “Your point?” Hadrian asked.
    “We should be able to use the wedding to our advantage,” Royce said. “Anyone we know in town yet?”
    “Genny and Leo arrived recently, I think.”
    “Really? That’s perfect. Get in touch. They’ll have rooms in the palace for sure. See if they can get you in. Then find out all you can, especially about where they’re keeping Gaunt.”
    “I’m going to need money. I was only planning to attend a few local balls and maybe one of the feasts. If you want me inside the palace, I’ll have to get better clothes. By Mar, look at my shoes. Just look at them! I can’t meet the empress in these.”
    “Borrow from Genny and Leo for now,” Royce said. “I’m going to leave for Medford tonight and return with funds to cover our expenses.”
    “You’re going back? Tonight?” Albert asked. “You just got here, didn’t you?”
    The thief nodded.
    “She’s okay,” Hadrian assured Royce. “I’m sure she got out.”
    “We’ve got nearly a month to Wintertide,” Royce said. “I should be back in a week or so. In the meantime, learn what you can, and we’ll formulate a plan when I return.”
    “Well,” Albert grumbled, “at least Wintertide won’t be boring.”

Chapter 2
Into Darkness

    Someone was whimpering.
    It was a man’s voice this time, one that Arista had heard before. Everyone cried eventually. Some people even broke down into fits of hysterics. There used to be a woman who was prone to screaming, but she had been removed some time ago. Arista held no illusions about the woman being set free. She had heard them drag the body away. The whimpering man used to cry out but had grown quieter over the last few days. He never wailed anymore. Although not long ago, she heard him praying. Arista was surprised that he did not ask for rescue or even a quick death. All he prayed for was her . He asked Maribor to keep her safe, but in all his ramblings, the princess never caught the name of the man’s lover.
    There was no way to track the passage of time in the dark. Arista tried counting meals, but her hunger suggested they came less than once per day. Still, weeks must have passed since her capture. In all that time, she never heard Gaunt despite having called out to him. The only time she had actually heard his voice was the night she and Hilfred failed to rescue him.
    Since then, she had been confined to her cell, which contained only a pail for waste and a few handfuls of straw. The room was so small that she could touch all four walls at once, making it feel like a cage or a grave. Arista knew that Modina, the girl once known as Thrace, had also been kept somewhere just like this. Perhaps even in that very cell. After losing everyone and everything that mattered to her, it would have been a nightmare to wake alone in the dark without explanation, cause, or reason. Not knowing where she was or how she got there had driven the girl mad.
    Arista had her own share of loss but knew she was not alone in the world. Once the news of her disappearance reached him, her brother Alric would move the world to save her. The two had grown closer in the years since their father’s death. He was no longer the privileged boy and she no longer the jealous, reclusive sister. They still had their arguments, but nothing would stop him from finding her. Alric would enlist the help of the Pickerings—her extended family. He might even call on Royce and Hadrian, whom Alric affectionately referred to as the Royal Protectors. It would not be long now.
    Arista pictured Hadrian’s lopsided smile. The image stung, but her mind refused to let it go. Memories of the sound of his voice, the touch of his hand, and that tiny scar on his chin pulled at her heart. There were moments of warmth but only kindness on his part, only sympathy—compassion for a