Ice Crown - Kay L. Moody (ereader that reads to you .txt) 📗

to sneak off academy grounds, go through the palace graveyard to Ridgerock Lake, and then she’d swim through the river that ran through the Crown to the Gate.

Once she made it to the Gate, things would be easier. Security was more lax, and she had a little money. Just enough to get her to the Storm. She didn’t remember exactly where their cottage had been in the Storm, but it would easier to find than Marmie’s grave after she was buried.

Talise had been tiptoeing for the last two hallways. Now, she held her breath as she pressed her back into the wall. Two guards whispered just around the corner from her and all she could do was pray they weren’t about to walk right into her.

One minute passed.

Then two.

The muscles in her leg began to cramp. She adjusted her feet and tried to think relaxing thoughts. Her flesh shivered at the prompting of her fever.

Her legs started cramping again.

Just when she was ready to give up, the guards stopped whispering and their footsteps sounded through the hall. Were they coming her way?

She let out a breath of relief when their footsteps got progressively quieter with each step. The guard’s hallway was just around the next corner, and then she’d be off toward the graveyard.

Once outside, Talise used her pillowcase to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Fevers had always been her least favorite way to be sick. Her body began pulsing with anticipation as she walked. The closer she came to the edge of academy grounds, the more her stomach roiled.

She’d stopped looking over her shoulder now. This was happening whether her brain liked it or not. With one final glance back at the grounds, she hoisted her leg up on the gate and prepared to climb over it.

The sound of crunching gravel made her heart stop in her chest. Her eyelids dropped while the rest of her body froze.

Her only option now was to run. Whatever guard stood behind her would soon sound the alarm. Hopefully she’d have at least a few seconds to get to the lake. Maybe she could shape a fire onto the academy grounds to keep the guards from following her.

Just as she was about to thrust herself over the gate, a small voice froze her muscles again.

“Wait,” the voice said. “Just wait, please.”

Wendy. Not a guard.

Relief spread through Talise almost as completely as her fever. But no matter how relieved she was, her determination hadn’t wavered. When she turned to face her friend, she didn’t relax her grip on the gate. “You can’t stop me,” Talise said.

Wendy scrambled toward her, clutching her side and panting. “I’m not here to stop you.” Wendy’s voice was breathless yet resolute all the same.

It might have worried Talise if Wendy’s previous words weren’t busy needling through her mind. She tried to find sense in them, but none could be found. Not there to stop her? Maybe it was a trap. It didn’t seem likely from someone like her gentle friend, but she didn’t have the luxury of taking any chances. Clutching the gate even harder, Talise asked, “Why are you here?”

Wendy lugged a bag off her shoulder that seemed much heavier than Talise’s. Tossing the bag toward her, Wendy said, “Did you even think to pack food? Isn’t food scarce in the Storm? Like dangerously scarce?”

Talise caught the bag with her mouth half open. After fiddling with the knot, she peeked inside and saw her favorite fruits, breads, and a large pouch of dried meat.

Wendy shook her head and let out a sigh. “I would have packed some pastries, but I ate the last of mine a few nights ago. I haven’t had time to get more.”

Talise was still gaping at the bag of food. It was heavy but invaluable. The bread wouldn’t survive her swim in the river, but the fruit and meat would. This supply could last her weeks. It could mean the difference between death and survival. She wanted to be grateful for Wendy’s generosity, but apparently, she was still too stunned to speak. At last, she managed a quiet, “You’re not going to stop me?”

Wendy ignored the question while she dug through her pockets. When her eyes lit up, she pulled a few paper packets from them. Each was labeled with painted pictures of vegetables. Suddenly sheepish, Wendy bit her lip as she handed the packets to her friend. “I thought you might need some seeds too. I don’t know if the ground is rich enough in the Storm to grow vegetables, but some people live there, and they have to eat something, right? I figured it was worth a chance.”

Now the emotion came. Talise’s throat choked up as her eyes stung with tears. She opened her mouth to say thank you, but no words escaped. It took all her effort just to take the packets and hold them close to her heart.

They shared a glance, and it spoke more than all the words Talise had ever said in her life.

Wendy’s eyes filled with tears as she threw her arms around Talise. They didn’t speak, but they didn’t have to. There was nothing to say except goodbye and goodbye was a horrible thing to say.

When Wendy pulled away, the finality of the decision started catching up to Talise.

Wendy grabbed a piece of her hair and twirled it around her finger. She always did that when she was nervous. Clearing her voice, Wendy said, “You know you can’t come back, right?”

Talise’s throat swelled.

Wendy’s voice rose up a notch. “The competition will be over by the time you get to the Storm.”

“I know,” Talise said, but the surety in her voice was as much for her own benefit as it was for Wendy’s.

“You know? Are you sure you know? Do you really understand what you’re giving up?”

“I have to be there.” This time, Talise’s words weren’t for anyone in particular. They were simply the words from her heart. The things her soul whispered into her bones.

“At her funeral?” Wendy asked. Her voice had risen again, and her lip trembled with each word. “You have to be at her funeral when she’s already dead? You have to trap yourself back in the life she wanted you to escape?”

Talise gulped. Her soul had stopped whispering. Now it was listening to Wendy and Talise didn’t like it one bit. “What about her grave? She won’t have a single mark without mine. They don’t keep grave records in the Storm. If I’m not at the funeral, I might never find her grave, and it will be bare forever.”

“If you go,” Wendy said. “You’ll give up everything Marmie wanted for you. That’s not what she would want. She wants you to have a life outside the Storm.”

“Well, that’s impossible now.” Talise turned away as she said it, pulling her arms over her stomach. The frog in her throat made it difficult to speak, but somehow, she managed. “Aaden beat me. He’s going to beat me again in front of the emperor. Why should I stay when I don’t even have a chance?”

Now the truth came out. The truth she’d been hiding even from herself. She pulled her arms tighter over her stomach, wishing she could curl into them the way she used to curl into Marmie when she was scared. A single tear began trickling down her cheek.

“So, find a way to beat Aaden.” Wendy didn’t seem to have any sympathy for Talise’s tear. “You still have three days. Make your demonstration more detailed or dangerous or something. Beat him like Marmie knew you could.”

The words sounded nice. Inspiring even. But they weren’t enough. Talise had made her decision. “I’m leaving,” she said as she wiped away the tear.

Wendy tugged at Talise’s elbow until they were facing each other. Wendy wore a frown as she stared at her friend. It seemed like she intended to change Talise’s mind with her look alone. It wouldn’t work. After a few seconds, Wendy seemed to understand. Her face slackened as a tremble shook through her bottom lip.

Wendy turned away and reached for another piece of her hair. In a whisper she said, “I won’t stop you.”

Talise’s heart seemed to freeze. She breathed in and out just to make sure she still could. It was so much easier being defiant. But now Wendy gave her the responsibility of the decision. It was a heavy weight to bear.

Wendy was right. Talise knew she was right. A mark on a grave wasn’t worth what she would have to give up.

But how could she leave Marmie’s grave bare? Completely and utterly bare without one single mark. The idea slashed through her like a sword and her heart bled through her bones. It didn’t matter what Marmie would have wanted. Talise couldn’t live with herself if she knew Marmie’s grave was bare.

She hoisted her leg onto the gate and ignored how her stomach sank. She ignored how her body shivered from a fever. She had to ignore it because she knew she wouldn’t last long in the Storm with a fever.

But that didn’t matter. Even if she only lived another week, it was worth it because Marmie would have a mark on her grave.

And then her own grave would be bare. Not Marmie’s.

Talise’s breath hitched as the thought of death shook through her. Fear, cold and tight pressed through her skin and gripped her.

Why couldn’t she give her life for a mark on Marmie’s grave? Marmie deserved it. Why did the survival instinct have to be so strong? Reality laid itself bare in front of Talise.

She didn’t want to die. Not yet.

She fell from the gate when she let go. Her body smarted against the gravel, but she didn’t bother breaking her fall. She just fell into a heap and pulled her knees up to her chest.

Her body shook and shivered with each sob. She didn’t know crying could hurt so much. Her muscles jumbled and her bones shattered, but it only acted as fuel for her tears. The arms in her muscles strained as she clutched her knees closer to her chest. They couldn’t come any closer, but that didn’t stop her from pulling.

She clung to them like she clung to the past. To Marmie. But the past was gone, and she had to accept that. She had to let go, or her future would crumble.

That was the truth, no matter how much she hated it.

Steeling herself against the storm inside, Talise pulled herself off the ground. She brushed away the gravel that had stuck to her. When she rolled her shoulders back, Wendy smiled.

“I know you can beat him,” Wendy said as she wiped the tears off her cheeks.

“I can’t.” Talise’s voice no longer shook with fear. Indecision had plagued her before, but now she was filled with certainty. “Not unless I change my demonstration.”

“Again? But the competition is in three days. Can’t you adjust your demonstration?”

Talise threw the bags over her shoulder as she began walking toward the academy living quarters. “No. You were right. I need something dangerous to catch the emperor’s attention. But the fire ribbons aren’t dangerous enough. I have to do something no one has ever attempted. Something no one could forget.”

 

THIRTEEN

 

 

 

WHILE RECOVERING FROM HER FEVER, TALISE THREW herself into research. After three days, her body had healed but she was getting nowhere with her demonstration. The stacks of books surrounding her were so high, she could barely see past the library table.

Flipping through the pages of her current book, she let out a groan. “There has to be someone who’s