![]() He left me with explicit instructions to carry out regarding Winter’s future in the face of this most joyous change.” “As you might expect, my king is eager to secure the Tadil Mine and is already on his way to Gaos. “Though I am surprised King Noam did not delay his trip to join us.”īrennan shrugged. “Captain Crewe called this meeting,” William began. Before he could ask anything, William turned to them. Mather set the goblet on the floor and stood, taking a single step forward in the silence. His forehead wrinkled, his pallor sullen, so like the William Mather used to know. William walked behind his desk, pulled out the remaining chair, and stopped, like he couldn’t decide whether to sit or run back out of the room. This stuff was awful even in small increments. His cheeks puffed in an uncontrollable gag. All attention swung to him, everyone rising straighter, but Mather merely sank more heavily onto the floor and sipped at the repulsive concoction in his hand. Luckily the study door opened again and William entered. Honestly, he was surprised he’d gotten away with four nights of such behavior-though he had expected the punishment to come from William. When he met Alysson’s eyes again, he knew this beverage was meant to be more of a punishment than a cure. Brennan, on the other hand, leaned against the shelves and stifled a smile, no doubt enjoying Mather’s torment. ![]() He looked up at her with hooded eyes as she scooted papers off a chair and sat next to Deborah, who shook her head at him disapprovingly. Mather collapsed onto the frayed carpet in a burst of dust. She patted his cheek once more as he stayed bent before her, arms around his middle, stomach churning like an angry sea. Which won’t be any time soon, will it?” Her tone pulled taut in a way that said she wouldn’t accept anything but agreement. It will take away your headache and nausea, but remember this delicious flavor should you insist on drinking so much again. He hacked and doubled over, one wrong breath away from reliving everything he had consumed last night in reverse.Īlysson squeezed his shoulder. Like eggs left too long in the sun, like meat gone rancid. Mather raised the goblet to his lips and downed a swig before the horrid taste hit him. Hating Alysson took more effort than Mather had. The woman who mended their injuries and nursed them back to health and sent them off on missions with this same tender cheek pat. “Drink this,” she said again, this time in the patient, careful tone Mather was used to from her. She placed her palm on his face, her skin cool against his clammy cheek. Mather squinted at her, then at the goblet in his hands. She walked up to Mather without any of the pleasantries he expected, and before he could clear away the fog of his hangover, she shoved the goblet to him. Thank the ice above that Meira’s departure had delayed the Winterian army’s usual training-Mather wasn’t sure he could hide another morning of being hungover from William.Īlysson swept into the room, her pale hands cupped around a goblet. He leaned against one of the shelves, wincing to keep the bread he’d choked down for breakfast in his stomach. The ale left him feeling like he’d been dragged through a battle without armor, his eyes filled with bolts of pain, his body sagging from a raging headache. Mather pressed his fist against a throbbing vein that cut through the middle of his forehead. Which was great fun during the drinking, but once morning came. Phil had gotten another few crates of ale from the Cordellans, letting all who had avoided the celebration a few nights ago relive that evening in the cottage every night since. The other people in the room-Brennan Crewe and an old woman named Deborah who had been the city master of Jannuari before the takeover and had fallen back into her role without a blink from anyone-seemed willing to stay away from him, something for which Mather couldn’t have been more grateful. It had been just as disheveled each time Mather had been there. A desk sat surrounded by three chairs, every free surface covered in papers and scrolls. A nice view, all for a windowless, dark room lined with empty bookshelves and two sad sconces holding up jagged clumps of candle wax. Anyone moving past it would see what had once been a garden around the back of the palace, gray stone fountains coated in ice, dead plants frozen beneath layers of flakes, and the snow-covered buildings of the southern part of Jannuari. WILLIAM’S OFFICE WAS by far the dreariest room in the palace, just off an open-air walkway.
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