Krissaph blew a kiss at me and Schula before turning to pull something from a basket by the door. She slipped one of those body-length veil things on over herself like the Winter nobility wore, and held it in place with a delicate silver headband. But while the outfits I had seen like this before seemed to be in competition with each other to wear as little as possible under the veil, Krissaph won by a landslide by not wearing a stitch of clothing at all. Her ensemble was topped off by an ornate lace masquerade mask, presumably for the ball.

"I don't understand," Schula said skeptically. "Why are you helping?"

Krissaph shot her a cheeky grin as she answered. "Despite whatever animosity we have between us, I like Wren. Or rather, I like her more than I dislike you. When her little birdie came calling with a note promising to stir up the Winter solstice, well, of course I had to come be a part of the mischief. By the way, Wren, love the new look. Haven't seen your kind in centuries, I'll bet there is a delicious story there."

It was an uncomfortable reminder of what I was going to have to deal with from now on, assuming I got out of Icehold alive.

Schula looked to me, holding my hand a fraction tighter and biting her lower lip. Her eyes roamed over me, taking in my new shape. I knew she had seen me when she unleashed the witch seal from my back, she knew what I was, but she hadn't seen me after my ears grew and my body took on a few more subtle changes.

She looked more unsure than I had ever seen her, and I hated it. Schula was the strongest female I knew, but I would have to be the one to step up and get us through this. She was on rocky ground and had just gone through so much, it was my turn to be the strong one.

"Krissaph, we need to get out of here. Do you know if there is a safe way to do that?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm certain there isn't," she giggled. "But if you mean to avoid the ballroom I can point you in the right direction."

I sighed in relief. "Great."

"Although..." She tapped her chin and looked up toward the ceiling in thought. "There are all those soldiers roaming around looking for you."

I looked over at Schula, who still wore nothing but my padded training jacket. The cuts and bruises stood out stark on her skin, though they were healing now that she was off that tower and out of the elements. And I was half dressed as a servant and half as a warrior. There was no way we were going to walk down the hall un-accosted.

"Schula," I muttered. "Do you remember how to get out of here?"

She shook her head. "It's been a long time, and a few things seem to have changed since then."

I nodded and squeezed her hand, then turned to the succubus. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, I plan on going to the ball," she said. "I'm certain it's going the be the best place to view the aftermath of your escape."

I could feel Schula's annoyance through our newly formed connection.

"Well we need a way out and we need it fast," I sighed. I looked around the room. There wasn't any more clothing or veils in Krissaph's basket, and there wasn't anything else in the room to wear unless we wanted to steal the bedding.

"The kitchen," Schula whispered. "I, I don't know if they will remember or..."

I let her stop to think without interruption. I stroked her hair and she leaned into my hand. "Take your time."

Schula nodded and raised her icy eyes to my brown ones. The proud point of her chin was maybe not quite what it usually was, but she was getting back to herself. I clenched my jaw, thinking of the ordeal she just went through, the one she was still going through, and I vowed to myself to never let it happen again.

"We can't be far from the kitchens," Schula said, a little more confidently this time. "I don't know if anyone I know is still there, and I don't think they will help, but I think they won't call the guards on us either."

"That's wonderful!" I said. "And is there a way out from there?"

"There is a shaft that goes to the surface," Schula said. "It's used for raising and lowering large orders of food from the farms to Icehold. If it's still running, we can go out that way."

"A solid plan," Krissaph mused. "The last pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Now you just need a pair of handsome males to escort you there safely, and I think that can be arranged."

Schula immediately shot her a skeptical look, and I'll admit I was tempted to do the same.

"What do you mean, Krissaph?" I asked.

"Just listen," she said.

We did, and I heard him. Thain's grunts coming down the hallway, and he must have been in bad shape.

I ran to the door and flung it open, not thinking about who else might be on the other side until it was too late. Luckily, only two living creatures were in the hall though, and one of them was Thain.

He looked like he was in the sour end of a fight, but he was well enough to walk which was encouraging. What I wasn't expecting at all, was who was helping him down the hallway. In a fresh white Spring court waistcoat and his long hair neatly braided down his back, was Caldon.

Caldon's eyes widened as he took in my appearance. A problem I'd undoubtedly have to address later.

"Thain!" I hissed and ran to his side. "Caldon, what happened?"

"Inside first," Krissaph chirped from the doorway.

We pulled the males inside and shut the door tight. Schula ran to Thain and they embraced in a tight hug, Schula on the verge of tears.

"You came," she whispered. "You, and Wren, and now you're hurt."

"Shh," Thain, arguably the one in worse condition, comforted the white fae in his arms as Caldon helped them sit on the edge of the bed.

"What happened?" I asked again.

"Some of the warriors got around me and went after you," Thain said.

Krissaph nodded. "Yes, they've been here and gone."

"That left few enough that I was able to finish off the fight," Thain said. "But it was a rough one. I don't think I killed any of them but they won't be up and moving any time soon."

Schula pulled back from Thain, assessing the cuts and marks on his bare torso which had lost its training coat at some point. "So you won, then you followed us?"

"Right," Thain said, then nodded to Caldon. "It wasn't long after that when I was yanked into a room and hidden by this one."

I bit my lower lip, remembering the last conversation Thain and I had about Caldon. Or rather, a conversation about what it meant that Caldon gave me a necklace and how Thain felt about it. Caldon seemed to sense my thoughts, at least he looked over to me with that gentle smile that enticed me those weeks ago in Dwellonmar.

Had it only been weeks? It felt like years.

"After we heard from your bird, I came with Krissaph to the Solstice. She's rather fond of you, and I'll admit you've peaked my interest too. It was lucky we are staying in this corridor, because we were nearby to hear the soldiers running. Of course our first assumption was that it was your doing, so I came to help and Krissaph stayed to watch for signs of what happened."

"You came with Krissaph?" I asked, surprised.

The room looked at me, each with knowing eyes that suddenly realized they knew something I didn't.

"Wren," Caldon started. "Krissaph and I-"

"Oh hush now, lovey," Krissaph rushed to Caldon on the bed and sat in his lap, draping her arms around his neck. I blushed, remembering she was naked under the sheer veil. "Don't spill all our secrets at once."

Caldon rolled his eyes and lifted her off his lap. "I've told you not to do that, you'll make people think things."

Krissaph cackled and walked back over to the doorway, leaning on the frame.

"Relax, Cal." She turned her milky white eyes on me. "Caldon and I are triquetram."

To say I was surprised was an understatement. A small amused grin tugged at Thain's lips, and Caldon himself seemed a touch frustrated with her antics.

"Right," Caldon sighed. "So of course we came, and I'm glad we did. From your letter, it sounds like I'll be needing to make a report to King Diamid about DuVarick's current state of stability."

I bit my lower lip. "And that report would include my newly found heritage?"

Caldon looked at me softly for a long heartbeat, then shook his head. "No, it won't."

I let out a slow breath. "Thank you."

"That's all well and fine," Krissaph said. "But you all should keep moving, and I should get to the ballroom before I'm missed."

"Thain, we're going through the kitchens to a cargo shaft unless you've got a better plan," Schula said.

"No, our plan has already changed too much to recover it. Let's go through the kitchens," Thain agreed.

From there, we moved quickly. Caldon slipped out of the room and quickly returned with a spare pair of trousers and a clean shirt for Schula from his rooms. Thain and I remained half dressed in training clothes and we did a quick assessment of each other's injuries.

As soon as we were all three ready to go, we whispered our goodbyes and snuck out the door. Krissaph blew a delighted kiss to us as she hooked an arm around Caldon's elbow and they walked to the festivities as though nothing was amiss.

Thain took the lead, Schula followed, and I trailed at the back as we wound through the halls. Thain had been to Icehold and Schula of course was familiar with it decades ago, but neither of them were more certain than a gut feeling that we were going the right way.

I was astonished that we didn't run into any servants for the first few twists and turns. Presumably they were all occupied by the solstice ball. It wasn't until we turned a corner and the smell of roasting meat hit me when I realized they were right and we were by the kitchens.

"Keep on your guard," Thain whispered.

Schula pushed ahead of Thain silently and took us through a small doorway. A few fae, a dryad, two sprites, and another creature I couldn't name paused what they were doing to look up.

Schula held her head up, and looked one of the sprites in the eyes. They had some kind of silent conversation when finally the sprite looked away as though she had seen a ghost.

"Get back to work," the sprite growled, returning to her cleaver which was breaking down a lamb on a large butcher block. "There is nothing to see here."

I was so relieved that I thought my knees would give out, but I recovered and quickly followed as Schula took us through the back pantries and to an old brick shaft of pulleys, ropes, and shelves.

"Stars, it's still here," she sighed.

"Can we pull ourselves from the inside or does someone need to stay here and work the ropes?" Thain asked.

"It will have to be one at a time, but we can do it from inside," Schula said. "I got caught more than once doing it as a child."

"Get in then," I said nervously. "I won't feel any better until we're all far from the Winter lands."

Schula was helped in first. She began to pull herself up and Thain gestured for me to go next. We watched her slowly rise up to the light above.

I looked around at the kitchen workers, all of them quietly doing their jobs with their eyes glued to their stations.

Good. They owed her that much.

Schula was nearly to the top, when the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.

Something was very not right.

Thain was one step ahead of me, he whirled around with a low growl and in that instant every sound of kitchen work stopped except the crackle of the fires. Every servant scattered to the nearest exit. In the doorway stepped a gray fae that I had never wanted to see again. With a nasty smirk and the burnt, scarred remains of the left side of his face that still hadn't finished healing yet, courtesy of my own fire magic.

Asher.