“King Adrian, you must come with me,” he said. “That man Solaris resurrected two days ago…he has killed his family.”

I felt numb, and it had nothing to do with the cold.

“His family?” I asked.

Killian nodded, and there was a hollowness to his expression. Whatever he had seen…he would never be the same again.

“The wife and two children.”

Bile rose in the back of my throat.

“Do we know where he is now?” Adrian asked.

Killian’s features were hard as he spoke. “No. There is a search party following body parts into the Starless Forest.”

“Fuck,” Adrian said under his breath, and when I looked at him, his jaw was clenched.

“Go,” I said. “We will be fine.”

“You cannot go alone,” he said fiercely, frustrated.

“I’ll go with the queen,” said Sorin quickly, and I wondered if he volunteered to avoid the horror Efram had left in his wake. “I’ll keep her safe. I’ll keep all of them safe.”

Adrian was quiet for a beat, and then a chorus of screams sounded in the night. My blood ran cold.

“Go!” I commanded him.

Adrian reached for me and kissed me hard before he and Daroc mounted their horses and raced from the courtyard with Killian in the lead.

Silence followed their departure. The screams that had chilled me to the bone had ceased, and now the only sound was the howling wind. I watched until the darkness swallowed them and then turned and mounted Reverie.

“Come, let’s go,” I said, my words short.

I was afraid to think too long on what Adrian, Killian, and Daroc were about to face. If I did, I wouldn’t want to go to the lake. This was something that would haunt them forever, and I hoped it meant that Solaris would hang.

“Violeta, ride with me,” I instructed.

Sorin and Ana mounted his horse, Meri, and we left the Red Palace, heading east, following a snow-covered trail that glistened beneath the moonlight. Sorin was in the lead, and though I had taken this path with Adrian only two days ago, it looked and felt so different in the night. Perhaps it was because of the cold, though. Violeta’s death grip around my waist did not help.

“Have you ever ridden a horse before?” I asked, hoping she might lessen her grip around me. It was the only thing I could focus on.

“No,” she said, her teeth chattering.

There came a point when we descended into a forested valley which blocked the biting wind, and for the first time since we began this journey, I felt like I didn’t have to brace myself against the cold, and relaxed, my fingers aching as I uncurled them from around Reverie’s reins. I wished Violeta had felt the same, but she maintained her grip on me until we stopped within view of Galat Lake.