Winter Gods & Serpents (The Auran Chronicles Book 1)

“She is still alive?” he asked, his eyes widening as he pulled away from her.

She stretched her neck back and forth, rubbing her throat while Rennick fell to his knees, clutching a hand over his heart as if he was in pain. “Not yet dead, more like it,” she said, nearing him again, her steps predatory and calculated.

Caiden started cautiously walking towards her, lifting his hands up to take control of the air in the room. “No, Cakes. Come now, leave him be. You need the fucker. Don’t make me do it, I know you hate it when I make you faint,” he said, trying to stop her even though he knew there was no stopping her.

She stopped at her friend’s warning and bent down to the commander. “What will I use her for, Renick? You taught me to use my pawns meticulously or kill them if they become dead weight.”

His face twisted into a snarl. “You cannot kill her.”

She snorted. “Is that so? And on what basis? Pity? But no, you beat that out of me, remember? Care, compassion, any feeling in general? That, too,” she said, and snapped her fingers. “All of that is out of my system, just how you wanted it. Aren’t you proud? I wasn’t an easy pupil, but I’m certainly the best.”

I shook my head. I could not believe what that man had done to her—all that had been done to her.

Renick breathed harshly, tears streaming down his face as he stared at her wide eyed and pleading. “What do you want?”

“I want it all, but from you I want allegiance.”

Allegiance?

That was when the commander’s grief substituted entirely with arrogance. “No. No, I will not betray my king.”

“I never asked. Not that I needed to ask. I have Fiona. But I’ll take something else from you if I have to. I will take what you cherish the most, your king’s trust,” she said, keeling before him. “A little bird whispered to me about a little drug and about your little students. Does my father know that you give your Verglasers mirkroot? Pardon, I meant to say his Verglasers. And do they know mirkroot kills you? Slowly, but it kills you.”

“Not slowly,” Nia said, still sat by Sam, holding his hand in hers. “Quickly and painfully. It only takes just a few doses after your third for your body to ingest it at the speed of a heartbeat. Then the mirkroot will go straight to your head and you will die a very explosive death. Considering that the whole of Bruma Court stank of it, your Verglasers will fall within a year.”

Just as Caiden had said, she’d been planning this for a long while. She’d only been waiting for her pieces to fall into the squares she needed them to be before finally starting to make her moves. This was truly her battle. A chess game where she’d taken pawn after pawn. One where everyone played by the rules, but she only played by her own rules.

“Did you hear that?” Snow gasped mockingly. “They will fall within a year. I don’t have the slightest idea how you were planning to cover that up, but my father will now know it was because of you. Your dear king will be your end.” She clapped in front of his face. “What a beautiful tragedy. I’d pay good coin to read about this.”

He shook his head. “I beg of you.”

It was then her grin spread wide and victorious. “Did I not tell you, Renick, that you will one day be at my mercy? I keep my word.” Rising to her feet, she looked down at him, and said, “You will take my side in exchange for Fiona and your dirty little secret. But the problem is that now you owe me for Sam’s life, too. How will you ever pay me back for that besides dying slowly and very painfully?”

He swallowed. “I will.”

“Blood oath.”

He shot up. “What?”

“You will give me a blood oath, Nick dear. I don’t trust my own heartbeat, what makes you think I trust a python of your kind?” She took off her glove and extended a hand to him. “You will promise me your life. I vow blood, flesh and bone, ash, and soil,” she recited, and magic floated around her, lifting her hair in waves. “You, Renick Salazar, will take my side. And I, Snowlin Krigborn, will keep my word.”

He shook his head, but she leaned in and took his hand, squeezing it tightly. Reluctantly, he repeated with a tight voice, “I, Renick Salazar, vow blood, flesh and bone, ash, and soil, to take your side. And you, Snowlin Krigborn, will keep your word.”

There was a small gleam under their sleeves where the magical bargain would have made a mark, and the oath was set. And so was her revenge on him.