Tempest and Treason by L. L. Gray

Author:L. L. Gray [Gray, L. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heroic Rose Publishing
Published: 2023-08-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last we saw of the wassets. They seemed to haunt our every move through the wild forests of Winter. More than one fae grumbled about the irregularity of the wild snow wassets’ behavior, but we fell into a familiar, if somewhat bloody, pattern.

Lady Estaria refused to turn back. The entire caravan pushed hard throughout the day, trying to outrun the wassets. Every night, we posted extra guards for safety. A ring of fires surrounded each night’s camp, and everyone took their turn at guard duty.

The precautions kept us mostly safe from the relentless nightly attacks, but they were draining. We couldn’t travel as far each day because the extra fires required so much wood to burn all night. No one got a decent night’s sleep or enough sleep, because of the rotating shifts and dying wasset cries.

Sloane, Magnus, Andrei, and I occasionally indulged in guarded, whispered conversations in the back of the sled as we traveled over the snowy terrain.

“So, are we going to help her?” Andrei asked as he happily worked a large wad of jerky between his jaws.

“I don’t see why not,” I said.

Sloane spoke at the same time. “I don’t think we should.” She glared at me. “Why do you want to get pulled into murderous fae politics?”

“Well, I don’t. Not when you say it like that. But Lady Estaria might be right. Every day we fend off unseasonable, irrationally violent snow wasset attacks. Why? Unless someone is egging them on somehow. Why would someone do that?” I asked.

Sloane folded her arms over her coat and glowered at me, but I was too tired to keep my snark in check. “Oh, that’s right!” I continued without waiting. “To kill the Winter Lady. And if someone has it out for her, chances are slim that her brother’s death was ‘an accident’.” I added two fingered air-quotes just in case anyone missed my sarcasm.

Sloane’s response was a nuanced one-fingered salute overly spiced with heavy sarcasm and baked so long in the depths of sleep deprivation that it stood straight up, seemingly of its own accord.

Magnus put both hands up between us. “Okay, ladies. Let’s call it there. You don’t need to bite each other’s heads off when the little wasset bastards are already trying to do that nightly.”

Sloane ignored him. “Well, who do you think it could be, Nancy Drew?”

I rubbed at the back of my neck, where a burgeoning headache was threatening to burst into full bloom. “I don’t know. But what I do know is that this is all too much of a coincidence. We need to keep our eyes and ears open.”

“You got it, Teach!” Andrei piped up.

I shot him a dirty look. His smile was broad and unrepentant, paired with an innocent, wide-eyed expression. I didn’t like it.

Sloane shook her head stubbornly, speaking up before I could address Andrei’s cheek. “You can’t trust anyone here. If someone is truly trying to assassinate the Winter Lady, they won’t hesitate to kill a measly human like you.

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