“I’ve told you why.” Winter’s voice was chilly, her patience for providing explanations to a sixteen year-old human, I suspected, growing thin. “If I give him the information he desires, with what will I negotiate for the safety of my court? I wish to see humanity triumph, but above all, I must protect my kind from his. Do you understand?”
“Ah,” I murmured, patting Souris on the head, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. Since the mountain had fallen and Anushka had cursed the trolls, my uncle, the Summer King, had been working to keep us alive, especially in recent years. Winter, on the other hand, had been content to see us contained, sending the sluag to our world to trouble us, though it meant they’d be as trapped as we were. As mortal as we were. She wanted the trolls destroyed, because she believed, if freed, we’d be a threat to her court. How that was the case, I did not know, but what mattered was that now I understood why she wanted an alliance.
She wanted to use my magic to destroy my kind once and for all.
My guts twisted as I pictured how she would do it, helping me kill my father, my brother, Angoulême, and everyone else with the power to stand in my way. Then she’d use my debt to force me to slaughter every other troll alive.
“I understand, my lady,” Joss whispered, pulling me from my thoughts. “What do you want me to do?”
“We must lure him out,” Winter said. “And there is only one way to do that. He must believe your sister’s life is in danger.”
“I don’t want Cécile hurt.” There was an edge to Joss’s voice.
“Of course you don’t,” Winter replied, her voice soothing. “She needn’t be in true jeopardy – it’s her fear that will lure him out. Her life will be in no danger from me.”
“But will he care?”
“If we time it correctly. You must watch him, look for signs the magic is fading. Then I will move.”
I listened to their plan until one of the guards heard voices and called down, sending Joss scampering back through her hole and into the castle.
Tucking my shivering dog inside my coat, I watched her go, breathing in the cool night air as I thought. Knowing what she intended, there were ways to protect myself. Ways to prevent her from using me to slaughter my people. But that would mean my debt remained, and I was tired of it hanging over my head. I wanted it called due, but on my terms.
I turned in the direction of Trollus, letting the game expand in my mind. I’d set aside the problem of my father in the belief I could do nothing about him until I’d dealt with Winter, but I might have been wrong about that. She was trying to use me, but if I played this right, I might be able to turn the tables. Controlling my magic was Winter’s goal.
And maybe it was time to give her what she wanted.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cécile
Turning the lantern down so that barely a flicker of flame remained, I set it in a rocky alcove to wait for my return; then, clinging to what handholds I could find, I crept lower. With every move, bits of rock and debris broke free to pour out the tunnel, but at least the sound covered up my labored breathing and the racket of my heart.
“Almost there, almost there,” I whispered, then I heard voices.
“Curses! There’s another one!”
I froze. Several trolls were approaching the tunnel opening.
“Go report that there’s another sluag in the city,” one of them said, and boots thudded rapidly against the ground as another went to do his bidding.
“Blasted creatures. Never known them to be so aggressive about trying to get in.”
A ball of light floated past me, and I swallowed a gasp of panic. Shifting my position, I wedged into a bend and held my breath. Seconds later, a head and shoulders appeared beneath me as one of the trolls climbed into the tunnel. My arms and legs trembled from the effort of holding myself up, and I was certain he’d hear my heart hammering, turn his head, and see me. But he swiftly retreated.
“Came through recently,” he said to his companion. “Reeks.”
“Close it up – last thing we need is to make it easier for them to get their next meal.”
My heart leapt out of my chest, and I desperately tried to inch my way back up the tunnel before one of them brought it down on my head. Then bells began to ring.
“The miners will deal with it later. Go, go!” Boots pounded away, and not a second too soon. The narrow ledge I was balanced on collapsed beneath me, and I skidded down the rest of the tunnel and tumbled out into Trollus.
My trousers were torn and my knees bleeding, but I didn’t pause to examine my injuries. I ran. The sluag’s tunnel had let me out in the Elysium quarter, not far from where Tristan had set me down when I’d come in through the moon hole. Bearings in check, I sprinted through the streets, not worrying about anyone recognizing me in the chaos.
“Sluag, sluag!” Trolls were running in every direction, some carrying heavy spears, while others seemed more interested in taking cover. Troll-lights flickered, then went out, and screams filled the air.