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This was not the king’s bedrooht relax or entertain guests Tonight he had a nuuests, all of them surely unwelcome and uninvited Three Perytons perched on the far side of the antechamber by a door that ht-backed, elegant chair with red silk cushions, a man had been bound with chains that shi had been stuffed into his h bald and thin he had powerful features and a rich, dark coe But the quality of his clothing alone was enough to identify hireen-feathered wings tight against their backs, antlers hanging low as they stood watch And they were not alone Seven soldiers were positioned about the antechaarb, these were Atlanteans

Another chair, the lavish equal of the one in which Mahacuhta was bound, faced the king’s Upon that seat, hands clasped in his lap, Ty’Lis sat casually Frost had never seen the sorcerer before, but he bore the physical signs of Atlantis, the greenish-white skin and narrow features, and his criarolden hair so thick and wild it rese froust of cold air Frost had brought reached hireen eyes were lit with hard intellect

Frost hesitated Had he taken Ty’Lis unaware, he could easily have slain him Face-to-face, the contest was in question, and with Perytons there as well…given an advantage, the savage Hunters would harry him, and the sorcerer destroy him

Yet he had little choice now

Ty’Lis did not rise froestured toward Frost "You’ve coan to elow that surrounded his entire forrinned with all the humor of a cadaver

"You’ve co to your own destruction, aren’t you at least curious as to why?"

Manipulating the air, Frost forged himself anew, there by the door The winter ’s antechamber, a thin blade of a creature constructed of translucent ice and the very heart of the stor froathered eneether, frozen chilanced at the Perytons and said soue of his own nation

"Do you, really?" Ty’Lis asked "Tella theory of late and with every passing lanced around at the Perytons and the Atlantean soldiers, set into a coht No oneMahacuhta stared at the winter athering all of the id power that caused ice to forround beneath hidoainst one another, to destroy each other so that you can step in and try to rule them both But the Borderkind presented a threat My kind are not sworn to serve either governdohter us to prevent us fro to the world beyond the Veil"

Ty’Lis clapped softly "You have the threads of it But you est part The Veil…the hated Veil With all of you filthy myths destroyed and the enchantments that hold doors open to the world of men undone, the Veil will become an impenetrable border There will be no more Lost Ones, no more humans to breed here Atlantis will rule all and, in ti but…well, athe positions of the soldiers and the Perytons The temperature in the room continued to drop as he exerted his influence Ty’Lis had to die first If any of his allies was able to interfere, Frost wouldn’t have a chance

"And the Legend-Born? You sent Hunters after them as well," he said

"Naturally," Ty’Lis replied with a dismissive wave of his hand He still did not rise froh Frost presented no threat "They are the end-Born to appear in the human world for well over a century Their rare breed have always been eradicated in the past, but it had been so long that the monarchs of our world had becoend-Born were more than myth

"Of course, I knew better, and took their destruction uponbefore now Their resilience has forced ust across the roos He would transfor froain as a sheet of ice, shearing the Atlantean’s head from his neck

Ty’Lis stroked his braided beard, the aura of dark light around hi "Pause a moment, Frost Your friends are about to join us The Sandht It would have been convenient, but I planned well for that possibility"

Frost blocked out the voice, suspecting the sorcerer ic to sway him But there came a blow upon the door behind him that shook its frame, and then a second With the third the frame splintered and Frost swept aside as the thick wooden door swung open

Oliver Bascombe stepped into the room, the Sword of Hunyadi brandished before hi around her With the swords, one of whoh of his features that she could only be Oliver’s sister, Collette

"Frost," Oliver said, and his tone had no warain, yet still he did not rise "Well timed I’esturing to the Perytons and the Atlantean soldiers alike

"Now you id chamber His boots slid on the icy floor but he kept his balance On the opposite end of the sprawling room he saw the two chairs, the twoIn the other chair, the sorcerer Ty’Lis did not even rise, as though he arish Roman forum

"Bastard," Oliver hissed

That was the instant of his entry into the room From there, the rest unfolded with such speed that he felt lost in a staccato blast of i to him, but the words were lost in the shriek of the Perytons as the creatures spread their s They could not fly within the confines of that rooerous Heads bowed, they seemed to float across the chaore Oliver and Collette and Julianna

The Atlantean soldiersto surround theers, one in each hand

A gust of icy wind blew past Oliver, so cold that it froze the moisture at the corners of his eyes and seared his left cheek He stole a glance and saw the two leading Perytons freeze al as they tried to free theuished as they died, and then the third charged through them and their bodies shattered into hideously frozen shards of wing and flesh

Frost carved hied at him, antlers down

The winter h the ice of his torso, shattering his body Frost screaht have been the essence of his spirit exploded around hi, his upper body stuck to the Peryton’s antlers, Frost gripped the creature’s head with one hand and he raised the other His fingers lengthened to foot-long icicles and he drove them into the side of the Peryton’s head with a final cry

The Hunter fell dead on the floor of the chaer thrust of the nearest soldier, twisted, and drove his elbow into the Atlantean’s gut He spun and swung the Sword of Hunyadi and the nificently sharp blade separated the reenish-black blood onto the floor, where it froze into a puddle of ice

Across froli the throat out of another Atlantean

Julianna defended herself frouish, Collette drove her stolen sword through the soldier’s back, the point erupting fro Julianna with his blood