Free Icebound (Legends of the Shifters Book 2) by J.B. North Page A

question— what would Roland want you
to do ?”
    He
led the way back to the door he’d come through. “The dining hall has been
cleared and everyone’s gone up to their rooms. I’m sure we can find something
in the kitchen, though.”
    He
opened the door and let me slip past him.
    Alyss
was standing right inside, a worried expression on her face. “What was that
sound?”
    “It
was just me,” I said. Unsure of how she would take the fact that I’d blown something
up, I stopped there.
    “She
made a lantern explode,” Grix interrupted.
    I
shot him a look that he shrugged off.
    Alyss’s
eyes widened as she looked back at me. “How?”
    “It
was an accident,” I said. “I was trying to relight it.”
    “And
because she was angry, it disintegrated instead,” Grix added.
    I
glared at him and he raised his hands defensively.
    “I
didn’t disintegrate it,” I muttered.
    Alyss
gave me a worried smile.
    “Let’s
just go find something to eat,” I said, and walked past her into a room full of
tables. A dining hall. Just beyond that was a door that I guessed led to the kitchens. When I opened it, the smells wafting up the stairs
confirmed my assumption. Freshly baked cookies.
    When
the cook heard that I hadn’t eaten anything, he gathered together a tray of
sliced meat, breads, and fruits. Not surprisingly, Grix ate most of it, though
he claimed to have already eaten.
    After
I’d finished, Alyss led me up to where I was supposed to sleep, in a room
adjacent to hers. It was nicely furnished, with a four-poster bed, a trunk, two
chairs on either side of a window, and a table lined with books right between
them. As soon as Alyss left for her own room, I sighed and tiredly headed over
to one of the chairs. I flopped down and rested my elbow on the arm as I
studied the titles of the books.
    Most
of them were history books about Leviatha, but one in particular stood out to
me. Stories of Leviatha Castle . I reached forward, took it, and started
flipping through the pages. There were many sketches of a white castle, built
right over the water, and other pictures of different statues of sea serpents,
like Roland. I flipped a little farther through the book. There were brilliant
gardens, an aquarium, and a myriad of ships docked right next to the castle. King
Horace IV’s personal fleet, the last picture was titled.
    I
turned the page to see a sketch of a princess on a balcony, her eyes wild with
fear, smoke billowing out from the doorway behind her. The picture was titled, The story of King Horace IV’s daughter, Princess
Rayna, and her new husband, Lord Vincent the Vicious. Next to it, there was
a poem.
     
    It flickers and flutters and sputters
and twists,
    It pops and crackles and sizzles and
roars.
    The mighty dance of the beast called
Fire
    climbs higher
and higher up the castle spire,
    where a
princess with a long white veil
    tightly grips the balcony rail.
    Where is her prince?
    Will he come to save her?
    The truth is he won't,
    for he's
the pied piper,
    coaxing the flame, the cold-blooded viper.
    He'll steal her inheritance,
    he'll steal her throne,
    but what
he doesn't know is that the princess isn't alone.
    Fire is ruthless,
    and Fire
is his fate.
    He tries to get out,
    but it's
just too late.
    Their spirits leave their bodies,
    their earthly lives have ceased,
    but one
flies skyward,
    above the flame and to the feast.
    The other is dragged below where he
dances,
    an agonizing dance with the Fire Beast.
     
    I
shuddered and closed the book. The bed was starting to look really comfy. Just looking
at it made my eyes droop shut. I stood, lumbered across the room, and crawled
under the covers, letting myself drift slowly away.
    My
subconscious took me back to Lochlan’s house. In the dream, instead of Brent
being the only one glaring at me threateningly, all of Roland’s family gave me
accusing looks. Even Sir Lochlan. I backed away, just like I had in real life,
but this time, my foot bumped into something. I