House of Winter

Chapter 17, Part 2

Tai and Sanna walked the quiet hallways of the Volcano Palace in silence, with their tiger and wolf following like ghosts behind them.

She could still feel his anger emanating from him like sharp bristles. He was just so easy to annoy, so easy to torment. And it was so easy to cross the line. Fire was beautiful, but it was dangerous to play with. And yet Sanna found herself drawn to the flame, wanting to taunt it. It could only end one way. She would be burnt.

The palace barracks were down the hill on the Sud side of the palace. There was the ghastly golden statue of Taisun Tsukasai, the Burning King who had killed his own father to claim the Empire and declare war on Lombardia. There were steps leading down to a vast training ground, with rings for kinnling fighting, a track for running, and equipment for training. There were dormitories for the young soldiers, and classrooms for their lessons.

And there were the main buildings of the barracks where General Virani had an office and a war room. And there was a small prison, designed for this exact moment when soldiers encountered intruders in the palace grounds.

And there, in a fenced off area next to the barracks, was the sight that made Sanna realise that none of this was a game.

Two dragons.

One lithe and silver, recognisable instantly as the famous dragon of the Water Dancer. One was bulkier and younger, a darker blue that shimmered in the firelight. The killer of Prince Raphael of Norrlund. And there, beside the dragons, looking as if it belonged more with dragons than with its own kind, was one of the biggest fire tigers Sanna had ever seen. Except that it was missing its front paw.

Sanna had not seen Jinni after he was attacked, and yet she had heard the tiger had lost his leg. Seeing it in the flesh - the startling emptiness where the limb should be - was more shocking than she had imagined. She had seen soldiers with scars and more before, she had seen them in the Norrlish palace awarded medals of bravery by their queen. But the sight of a tiger with a missing limb was more of a surprise.

It was Lumi's tiger.

But Lumi had disappeared.

Tai and Sanna entered the barracks. The soldiers at the front door nodded to them, and opened the doors willingly.

Tai led Sanna through the dark hallways. Sanna's nerves were on fire. The anticipation of seeing Ari for the first time was overwhelming, and she had no idea why. But she suddenly realised she dreaded the idea of Ari seeing her as she last had - as a friend of Tai's.

Ari would have felt so betrayed, to realise that Sanna and Tai were working together. Ari's whole family had been killed by Tai's family, and Ari had despised him. To find out that Sanna would forgive all of that must have angered Ari. She must think so poorly of Sanna.

Sanna reached out her hand and touched Tai's arm.

"I'll need to go alone," she murmured. "She won't trust me if she thinks I'm friends with you."

"You're not friends with me," he said.

She inhaled, and then breathed out her frustration. "Do you want her to think that I'm your betrothed, or do you want her to think that I'm your helpless kidnapped victim, lost and afraid and looking for a friend?"

Tai huffed out a breath.

"You have ten minutes."

Sanna smiled, and pushed past Tai.

The prison was tiny, made up of only a few separated cells in one large room. There were no windows, so it was pitch black until Sanna eventually found a gas lamp and lit it. She cursed the Kaio for not adopting the Lombardian solar technology, as she held the gas lamp aloft.