The Cursed Queen (The Impostor Queen #2)(67)

“She will,” says a stout female warrior as she quickly kneels behind Thyra and wraps her arm around her throat. Thyra makes a wheezing, choked sound as her face turns crimson. She claws weakly at the warrior’s sleeve. The air around us starts to steam as my unspoken guilt and panic simmer inside.

“She’s pulled their attention away from finding us,” Halina whispers as Thyra goes limp. “Don’t betray yourself now—she sacrificed herself for your safety.”

Nisse’s warriors yank Thyra up by the arms. She is limp, barely conscious. Her feet drag against the frozen ground as they lug her back to the tower.

Halina tugs on my cloak. “Come on,” she whispers. “I know another way to get back to the tunnel. Come with me now if you don’t want to share her fate.”

I have always wanted to share Thyra’s fate. Always.

Until today, when I realized I didn’t understand her at all. And now she belongs to her enemy once again.

Without another word, I whirl around and follow Halina back to safety.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


Halina is silent and jumpy as she leads me back through the dirt tunnel to the tower. She keeps tossing wide-eyed looks over her shoulder as if wondering when I’m going to shout for Nisse’s guards and tell them all I’ve just heard.

I do not relieve her fears. She’s lucky I don’t strangle her, though in my present state there’s a good question of which of us would come out on top. She’s put me in a hideous position. She’s conspiring with other Vasterutians, and with Thyra. And she’s trying to drag me into it.

Halina presses me back into the tunnel as we reach the corridor that leads to my windowless chamber, but when she sees the hall is clear, she pulls me by the wrist. I hiss with the pain of new burns, and she lets me go, biting her lip as she looks down at my sleeve, dotted with ooze. “I’ll take care of that,” she says.

“Why would you?”

Her eyes are black in the almost-darkness of the hall. “First, because that is what I’ve been told to do, and if I don’t do it, Nisse will have me killed.” She rolls her eyes. “And second, because this isn’t your fault, and I know it hurts.”

I blink at her. “But after all I just said—”

“No matter, little red. Doesn’t change who I am.” She flashes me a rueful half smile and pulls the key to the chamber from her pocket. She’s just bundled me into the tiny room when there’s a banging on the door.

When she opens it, Sander is standing outside. “I came to make sure Ansa is . . .” His gaze shifts to me. “Thyra’s just been captured out in the city.”

I do my best to look surprised. “What? How? Nisse told me she was in protective custody.”

His eyes are like keys, probing at every lock I have. “She was. And now she is again. I thought you might have—”

“Been helping her?” I ask.

Halina lets out a jittery chuckle. “Little red’s been here the whole time, sir. I’d never let her out—wouldn’t want to risk displeasing the chieftain.”

Sander turns his prying eyes to her, but she stands steady beneath the scrutiny. “You’ll be questioned,” he tells her. “All the Vasterutian attendants will be. Thyra managed to get friendly with the guards outside her chamber, and slipped some kind of herb into their mead that left them in a stupor. Nisse will want to know how she got hold of it.”

“I saw her gathering herbs on our journey here,” I say quickly. And even though it’s a lie, I realize bitterly that this latest act against her guards fits what Jaspar said about her. What if I’m only telling half a lie, one that actually captures the truth? “She may have had them when she entered the city. You know she wanted to be ready for anything.” And if Sander believes me, it will protect Halina. I’m not completely sure why I want to, except that I can’t quite rid myself of the vision of her hunched in the corner, her arms around her little boy.

The taut line of Halina’s shoulders curves toward ground. “We’d never want to anger old Nisse,” she says, her voice meek, cowed like she’s supposed to be.

“Good.” Sander is quiet for a moment, long enough to make me squirm. And then he clears his throat and says, “I’m wondering if you want to stretch your legs, Ansa. Will you walk with me?”

“With a blade pressed against my neck the whole time? No, thanks.” In truth, I’m dying to lie down on my pallet and let Halina tend to my arms.

“No blade. I just want to talk.”

I eye him. “About what?”

He sighs impatiently. “Things that can only be discussed among Krigere.”

I glance at Halina, and she pushes my chamber door open and smiles. “I’ll just wait, little red. Take care of you when you come back.” Her voice is unsteady, dripping with fear. She wonders if I’m about to betray her to Sander.

“Fine. I’ll be back soon,” I say, and right now it’s all I can give her as a reassurance.

“Little red?” Sander asks as we slowly walk up the length of the corridor. He sounds amused.

“I guess it’s fair,” I say, touching my hair. “She could call me dunghead if she wanted, as long as she keeps treating my burns as she has.”