Chapter 32 The Thaw
At first, it happened slowly: a drip from the eaves, a crack in the ice on the river, and a patch of brown earth where the sun had stayed. Then faster, as if the world had decided that winter was over and there was no point in pretending it wasn't.
Liana stood on the wall to the east and watched as the valley changed. The white was going away, showing the brown and gray underneath. The river was getting bigger, and the ice was breaking into pieces that bumped into each other and scraped against each other as they flowed south.
Spring. At last.
Spring. Finally.
Kael came along, his boots wet from the slush.
He said, "Theron's already full." "He's been up since before dawn, going over his lists."
"How many are going?"
"Ten," said Theron, the scouts, and the guards for history. You and I. He held her hand. "And Pip."
She nodded her head. All winter, they had planned the trip to the eastern hills, including the route, the supplies, and the people. It was time now.
"When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow," if the roads are clear.
She looked up at the sky, which was a pale blue with thin clouds. "Yes, they will."
Mallory’s trial had lasted through the winter.
There was a lot of evidence. The ledgers, the accounts, and the testimony of merchants who had been too scared to speak up before. Count Mallory sat in the dock with his face unchanged and his eyes fixed on something that no one else could see.
From the gallery, Seraphina watched.
She had given her testimony twice. Once about the papers and once about the house in the hills. The judges had heard, asked questions, and nodded. Now they were thinking about it.
Elena sat beside her.
“He won’t get away with it,” she said quietly.
“I know.”
“Then why do you look so worried?”
Seraphina was quiet for a moment. Then: “Because he’s not the only one. There are others. People like him, hiding their secrets, waiting for their moment.”
Elena took her hand. “Then you’ll find them too.”
Laurent was waiting outside the courtroom.
“The judges will announce the verdict tomorrow,” he said.
“And then?”
“And then I go east. To the estate. To see what my father found.”
She looked at him. His face was more lined, and he was thinner than he had been in the winter, but his eyes were steady.
She said, "I'm going with bodyguards.
"I understand."
"His Majesty is sending guards. And word has gone north. Liana and Kael are in charge of their own trip.
Laurent nodded slowly. "Then we'll meet there."
There were a lot of people in the great hall.
Villagers had come to see them off, bringing food, supplies, and good wishes for a safe trip. Marta had packed enough bread for the trip to last twice as long. Kids gave them small gifts, like a carved horse, a smooth stone, and a dried flower from last summer.
Pip sat by the fire, and her silver eyes looked at everything.
Theron paced by the door, checking his lists again.
Kael and Liana stood at the edge of the crowd and watched the chaos.
He said, "We're really doing this."
"We're really going to do this."
Later, when the hall was empty and the fires were low, Liana walked the walls by herself.
The moon was bright, the sky clear, and the stars sharp. Below, the river rushed, freed from its ice. The sound was loud after months of silence.
Pip appeared beside her.
“She’s awake,” the child said.
“The Watcher?”
“She’s been waiting. For spring. For this.” Pip looked at the eastern horizon. “She wants to see what’s there. What Mallory found.
Liana touched her chest. The hunger stirred, faintly, then settled. The Watcher’s presence was warmer now, more present.
“So do I.”
The judges returned at midday.
Mallory stood in the dock, his face still calm, his hands resting on the rail. The courtroom was packed with nobles, merchants, and servants who had squeezed in to watch.
“Count Mallory,” the chief judge said, “you have been found guilty of fraud, conspiracy, and treason against the crown.”
The room erupted.
“You are stripped of your titles, your lands, and your wealth. You will be imprisoned for life in the eastern fortress. May the gods have mercy on your soul.”
Mallory did not react. He simply stood there, staring ahead, as the guards led him away.
Laurent was in the hallway when Seraphina found him.
"It's done."
"It's not over," he spoke softly. "He didn't tell them about the estate. " About what he was making there.
"The judges didn't ask."
"They didn't want to know." He looked her in the eye. "That's how he lived for so long." People do not want to know.
She was silent for a moment. Then: “Then we’ll find out for ourselves.”
At dawn, the caravan left.
Kael rode in front, with Liana next to him. Their breaths fogged up in the cold. The wagons behind them carried tents, tools, and other supplies. Theron is breathing hard in the middle of the map. Pip was in the last wagon, and she was looking out at the horizon with her silver eyes.
The road was muddy, the ruts were deep, and it took a long time to get there. But they were on the move.
"How long?" Liana wanted to know.
"If the weather stays nice, two weeks." Kael looked up at the sky. "Three if it doesn't."
She looked at the hills ahead, the dark line of trees, and the peaks that were still covered in snow. "We'll get through it." Three days later, Seraphina left the capital.
“We’ll make it.”
Seraphina left the capital three days later.
Her smaller group was made up of Laurent, a few guards, and a week's worth of food. The eastern roads were worse than the northern ones, the snow deeper, and the ice thicker.
“Mallory kept them clear,” Laurent said. “For his own use. Now no one maintains them.”
They rode in silence, the cold pressing against them.
By nightfall, they had made less progress than she had hoped.
“We’ll push harder tomorrow,” she said.
Laurent nodded. “We’ll have to.”
They camped in a farmer’s field.
The tents were pitched, the fires lit, the guards posted. Theron sat by the largest fire, his map spread before him, making notes by lantern light.
“The eastern site is older than the northern one,” he said. “The first lords built it first, then realized it wasn’t strong enough. So they built the castle.”
“And buried what they couldn’t destroy?” Liana asked.
“Sealed it. Contained it.” He looked up. “They didn’t know how to destroy it. They only knew how to keep it from getting out.”
Kael crouched beside him. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. The journals are vague. But they were afraid of it. And Mallory was digging toward it.”
Pip spoke from the dark. "She's scared, too," The Looker said. She remembers what was buried there.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"What does she remember?" Liana wanted to know.
"Darkness." Hungry. Something that wanted to eat everything. Pip's voice sounded far away. "The first lords stopped it. "But they weren't able to kill it.
The second night, they made camp in the ruins of an old village.
“My father used to bring me here,” he said. “When I was young. He said it was a warning. He said, "My father used to bring me here." "When I was a kid." He said it was a sign. What happens when people don't care anymore?
Seraphina was next to him. "What happened here?"
"The mine didn't work. The river took a different path. The people went away. He stared at the ruins. Afterward, Mallory bought the land. Made his estate close by. Nobody asked why.
She put her hand on his arm. "We'll see."
He nodded, but his face was still white.
There were days between the two trips, but both were making progress.
Kael's group had made it over the first mountain pass, where the snow was shallow enough for the wagons. Theron had identified landmarks from the first lords’ journals: old stones, buried foundations, and the remains of a road that had been built centuries ago.
“We’re close,” he said. “Another three days.”
Liana looked at the hills ahead. The trees were thicker here, the shadows deeper. She could feel the Watcher stirring, uneasy.
“She knows this place,” she said.
“The Watcher?”
“She’s been here before. When the first lords were building.” She touched her chest. “She’s afraid.”
Seraphina’s party had reached the village near Mallory’s estate.
The innkeeper recognized Laurent, nodded silently, and showed them to rooms. The estate was visible from the window: grey stone, dark windows, and smoke rising from a single chimney.
“Is anyone there?” Seraphina asked.
“A caretaker. He doesn’t ask questions.” Laurent’s voice was flat. “We can go tonight. After dark.”
She nodded. “Then we go tonight.”