Read Online Lord of Snow and Shadows by Sarah Ash - Free Book Online

whispered Ilsi.
    “I could make rose water,” Kiukiu protested. “It can’t be that difficult.”
    “Don’t change the subject,” Sosia said. “Besides—where would you find the rose petals? And when was the last time roses bloomed without blight at Kastel Drakhaon?”
    “It just looked so good,” Kiukiu said contritely, “and I was
so
hungry.”
    “
So
hungry,” mimicked Ninusha.
    “Listen!” Sosia lifted one floury hand for silence. “Horses.”
    Kiukiu, glad of the distraction, ran to the window, opening the shutter, peeping out into the dark courtyard.
    Torches flared; the black shadows of mounted warriors came clattering in over the cobbles beneath the archway.
    “The
druzhina,
” she cried excitedly. “Lord Gavril’s here!”
    “Out of the way!” Ilsi and Ninusha elbowed her aside, eagerly peering out into the night.
    “Silly girl, it’s just the vanguard,” Ilsi said. “There can’t be more than twenty riders. Look, Ninusha, there’s Michailo! Michailo! What’s the news from Smarna?”
    Kiukiu, standing on tiptoe behind the two maids, saw the young man leap down from his mount and wave.
    “Lord Gavril will be here within the hour. Tell Sosia.”
    “You look well, Michailo,” Ilsi said, simpering.
    “I’m famished!” cried Michailo, laughing. “Tell Sosia we’re all famished.”
    “You hear that, Sosia?” Ilsi said. “Within the hour!”
    “Ilsi, put this dish of carp in the bakeoven. Watch it like a hawk and don’t let it burn. Ninusha, finish this pie off for me. And Kiukiu—you’d better take this bowl up to my lady’s rooms now before her bell starts jangling again,” Sosia said, wiping her hands on her apron.
    “Me?”
Kiukiu said, horrified.
    “Give it to Dysis. My lady need never know who brought it.”
    “Make sure you don’t spill it, Kiukiu,” mocked Ilsi.
    Flustered, Kiukiu took up the tray and set out toward the lady Lilias’ rooms. The dark-paneled corridors and echoing hallways of the kastel, which had been empty and silent for weeks, were now filled with men. Warriors tramped up and down the polished stairs, the air echoing to their shouts and the clatter of their boots. Only the most trusted members of the
druzhina
were allowed in the Drakhaon’s wing of the kastel. Volkh had personally selected those who stood guard. But since the Drakhaon’s—Kiukiu shuddered, hardly allowing herself to even think the word—since his death, the old guards were gone. Put to the question first by Bogatyr Kostya, then brutally executed. No mercy shown.
    If any of them had been part of a conspiracy, none had revealed it. They had gone to their deaths tight-lipped, silent—except to declare on the scaffold that they deserved death for not protecting their lord in his hour of need. His murder dishonored them. And what was one of the
druzhina
without his honor?
    So she hurried past the warriors, eyes cast down, careful not to trip and spill Lilias’ sweet rice sutlage. The honeyed scent of the beeswax polish she had rubbed into the paneled walls was overlaid by the musky animal smell of men. The invasion was at once alarming and exhilarating. Yet she knew no one would notice her; she was only dumpy, frumpy Kiukiu, after all, not dark, languorous Ninusha or fickle Ilsi—or Dysis with her charming Mirom accent and refined manners.
    Long before she reached Lilias’ room she could hear the petulant tinkling of Lilias’ silver bell. The Drakhaon had given his mistress fine rooms on the first floor of the kastel, overlooking the neglected kastel gardens with a view to the distant mountains beyond.
    She reached the door to Lilias’ anteroom.
    Please let Dysis open,
she prayed as she tapped at the door.
    From behind the heavy door she thought she caught the sound of a woman’s voice raised, harsh and shrill, ranting.
    She tapped again, a little louder this time.
    Within came the sudden sound of smashing crockery.
    Kiukiu stepped back from the door. Perhaps she should go