She shivered.

The water was ice cold as it snaked around her body, curved around the cave and flowed into the river
beyond. She was freezing.
Maybe they had finally decided to kill her after all. She thought.
Her body, mutilated from the frsh whipping, ached as the water tore through her skin and devoured her
blood as it flew past.
She was getting light headed.
The Arbiter had died a long time ago. She thought. A year ago she had died. Now all that remained was
the husk of a woman she didn’t want to be, didn’t want to know. I had been such a long time since she
saw the sun. Soon…
Soon. She promised herself, short of breath. She would see the sun. let them think she was dead. Let
them be free. She would kill them . one by one. So slowly…
The things they had done to her… she inhaled sharply as her foot slipped again.
By her guess it was probably the end of the year. The time of cold and frost. When everything lively died
replaced by a cold beauty of frost. She clenched her teeth.
Think. Kaia. Think. You prided yourself on your powers of observation and the ability to survive. Then do
it. Do something.

Her hands spasmed on the rock, but she tightened her grip. She hung on to the ledge for dear life. If the
cold didn’t kill her. The jagged rocks in the water would. Already bleeding she didn’t have the energy to
save herself.
Blood flowed freely from her back, from the wound on her neck, the one on her thigh, surrounding the
cave with the peculiar scent of blood.
The water pressure receded. Slowly, slowly until a light stream pushed against her body. The water was
still there, but the pressure was gone. It still crashed around her body but had stopped hitting her.
She heard a creak, a scratch in the dark. It was so bloody dark. She squinted her eyes and saw nothing.
She knew she could see in the dark, but…
The scratching came again. She felt the darkness shift, move and peer at her. Something was there. Every
hair on the back of her neck stood up in warning as a chill ran down her spine.
At night she heard screams, screms of wild terror. Of horror and agony.
She realized something. The cave smelled of copper. Blood and magic. Blood magic.
This time the scratch was right in front of her. she peered at the dark, tense. And saw it. Saw the person
who crouched three feet away from her. Then the smell hit her, and she made a sound of surprised
disgust, reeling back.
It was the wrong thing to do.
Every muscle in her body locked as she felt the magic build. Then she saw light. And before her brain
could process the thought, the person… no. the thing raked its claws through her neck, spilling blood.
She dimly heard someone gurgling. Blood roared in her ears and she choked, gasped for air but all she
gurgled was blood. The thing let out a shriek. The roar of a predator, signaling a challenge. It had found
his prey.
No. she would not die over here. No. no. no. it will never happen. She couldn’t see anything. The
darkness was absolute. All she heard was stillness. But she needed to get out. She would heal. She
always healed.
Her hands loosened on the rock, and she pushed with all her might, all the strength she had left.
The Xenar cuffs shattered as she pushed against the magic, the shards turned to dust as her magic
sprung free, coiling inside of her. so much. Og god. It was too much.
She released it. and fell into deep cave and felt the cold bite her skin, and curla round her body as if to
protect her.
The last thing she thought was that she was going to die after all.

The arbiter looked dead. Blood coated her body. Her clothes were stained with it. her skin and her lips
were blue in color. A slight ashen tint to her skin. There were hundreds of wounds on her body.
Her neck was slashed. Her aorta ripped open. But she breathed.
Somehow she breathed.

Dammit.
The marsh he stood in was surrounded by weeds, and his men at every two feet. A man couldn’t even
take a piss in quite. Alek stared at the girl that washed up at the shore in disbelief. They had laid camp on
the west border of the Yutland Plain. He knew travelling this way was a great way for suicide but he had
to get to the castle in Belthis, before the winter ball began.
Before his father found out his motives or the lack of them for that matter.

Alek gritted his teeth. What was she doing alive here at the unpassable river shore, and why did the
jailors tell him that the prisoner had died a week ago, and how was she here?

She suddenly jerked, as if shocked and her back arched, while her hands drummed the water,
announcing his presence to the world. Alek sighed. Even unconscious she was a menace.

Alek turned just in time to see his second release an arrow aimed for the arbiters heart. Before Alek
could move or even think to stop her, he felt the slight presence behind him, the magic behind him. He
sucked in a sharp breath.
The arrow disappeared into the water. Catalina made a sound of surprise. Her eyes widened and she
blnekd rapidly. Then her eyes narrowed. Then she said to him what he already knew. “Behind You.”

His heart stuttured in his chest, but surprisingly his voice was even when he spoke. “Kaia, please do not
try to kill me.”
he got nothing from her. he opened his mouth to try again, and his mouth dropped open. Kaia had
grabbed Catalinas throat.
“Alek.” She rasped out. Her voice was hoarse. “What are you doing here?”
Alek met Catalinas eyes. They burned into his with a question one question. Alek started to shake his
head.
Kaia laughed and suddenly her magic vanished. Everything vanished. He stumbled back from the loss.
Catalina swayed and fell down. It took only a moment and they were surrounded.
Hathir dropped from