Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms 4)

The witch from last night had been very strong and had fought back against Lucia’s weakened magical influence. This girl, however, didn’t resist, which would keep her discomfort to a minimum.

Lucia concentrated and drew that magical shroud tighter around Sera. “What else did your grandmother say about the mountains? About their magic?”

“She . . . she always made sure to remind us that mountains themselves aren’t magic. They just protect something else that is magic. Right in the middle of them, that’s where the magic can be found.”

Kyan listened attentively, hanging on to every word Sera spoke.

“Thank you very much for your help, Sera,” Lucia said. “You can go now.”

Sera nodded, shook her head as if she’d just emerged from a disconcerting and unpleasant dream, then wandered away from their table.

“It wasn’t all that far from here that I was awakened and able to take mortal form,” Kyan said. “I believed Melenia was responsible for that, but now I’m not so sure.” He stared out toward the mountains again, now with much more interest than before. “There’s something out there, little sorceress. Something powerful enough to draw me forth from my cage, something that released me without your magic playing a part in it.”

“Those might only be stories, like Sera said. The kinds of stories grandmothers tell their granddaughters to make sure they don’t wander off alone into the mountains.”

“Perhaps it’s just a story. But perhaps it’s the answer we’ve been searching for all this time.” He looked back at her and frowned. “I know I said we should stop looking for the stone gateway . . .”

Lucia stood up from the table, emboldened by her experience with Sera and ready to dive back into Kyan’s mission once more. “You’re right. This could be it. That’s what the Forbidden Mountains hold—the magic we need to draw Timotheus out of the Sanctuary, and to release your family from their prisons.”

“So we’re in agreement.”

“We are. We’re going to the center of the Forbidden Mountains.”

CHAPTER 30

CLEO

LIMEROS

Cleo opened her eyes, slowly and painfully, and found that she was lying on a hard bed in a small, unfamiliar room with white plaster walls.

She groaned as she pushed herself up and pressed her hand against her head, feeling dried blood matted in her hair.

And then she remembered.

Lord Kurtis.

She’d grown to dislike him more and more over the weeks, realizing what a coward he was ever since he’d tried to get her to help him regain the power Magnus had taken from him. But she never would have expected him to be bold or decisive enough to drag her off of the palace balcony as if she were nothing more than a rag doll, and hand her over to a pair of Kraeshian guards.

He would pay dearly for that mistake.

Cleo stood and went to the door, trying the handle only to find it locked. A single window opposite the door showed her it was night, which meant she’d been unconscious for quite some time. She pushed the window open, then leaned over the sill as far as she could to see if she could spot anything familiar that might give her some clues as to her location.

She was inside a large stone building, sprawling and at least four stories tall. This was grander than a villa, more like a castle, and made of the same black granite as the Limerian palace.

The room was lit up with several lanterns, but all she could see beyond the grounds beneath her window was a thick line of trees—a forest. Heavy snow was falling, further obscuring her sight.

For a moment she thought about jumping to the snow-dusted ground below, but then quickly put it out of her mind. Even with a generous padding of snow, she knew that a leap from this height would mean a severe injury at best, instant death at worst. With a sinking heart, she pulled the windowpane shut.

“Think, Cleo,” she muttered. There had to be a way out of there.

She wondered where Magnus was. She hadn’t seen him since their horrible argument in the throne room.

She knew the prince would be angry with her for the stunt she pulled on the balcony, but she wasn’t sorry about the message she’d delivered. And she hoped her speech succeeded in changing his mind about her, once and for all.

After receiving Jonas’s message and spending a sleepless night trying to find a way to avoid getting trapped under Kraeshian rule, Cleo came to the realization that Magnus was the only person who could keep their country safe from King Gaius and Amara and their overwhelming greed.

But now, after witnessing the force and swiftness with which the Kraeshian army had taken over the palace, she saw that her final grasp at a hopeful future had been unforgivably optimistic.