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"Ivar," he murmured

Startled, she sank back on her haunches and stared at hiet, and Ivar had spent tiht have becoh nahts wound down dreamily, for it really wasn’t so hed down by an overwhel crush of exhaustion It would be so nice to sleep It would be best to sleep

"Liath"

The voice roused her That voice was itself the creep of ice into her body, a hot pain even when it flashes cold The act of rising bit into her knees and hips, which were by this ti into blocks of ice

Fire is such a fragile thing Stone and water and earth all sain

She was not sure whether he meant to wake her, or to lure her into a sleep that would leave her as helpless as the others Best not to wait to find out

She stalked through the open door and into the church Hersford boasted athe capitals, braided circles enclosing leaves, vines, and birds She crossed the bema and approached the apse with its dome and piers Three wide stair steps led up to the altar A slender forirl-child dressed in a simple linen shift with her coarse black hair pulled back into a topknot in the , as limp and lifeless as if she were dead

She ran, dropped down beside the girl, and pressed her cheek to Blessing’s chest and a hand to her throat The girl’s lips were as cold as ice, the lips of a corpse Liath’s own breath ceased, her heart seemed to stop, as she listened, yet after all the child’s steady respiration eased in and out as faint as the patter of a mouse’s heart

She was not dead, only sleeping Freezing to death, like all the others

A flare of anger burned bright, but she sed it Anger would not help her now She stood

Light bled through the rose , the holy Circle of Unity bounded on all sides by the glorious wisdom of God, who are Lord and Lady and thereby united That soft light suffused the space around the altar, and here, naturally, Hugh knelt in the perfect repose of a el hiether in prayer His forehead touched his fingers

"Liath," he said, not looking at her His voice was as soft and war "Co to face her

In this way, in the arctic church with the histling in through open doors and with light spilling over him, she stared up at his beautiful face

God help her All those years ago he had abused her For all the years after he had terrified and tormented her These memories still had the power to er for the helplessness she had endured She was not the only one who had suffered at his hands, nor was she the only one suffering now Fu steadily a few paces away fros bled through the erous sleep, as the fierce cold he had called out of the north with his weather working chewed into their sleeping flesh

Seeing that she watched him, he spoke the words of the psalarden, reat deal to say to you," she replied She ht as well have been alone in the world In a way, she had been alone with hi for years noith the memory of what he had done a constant burden, never shaken froer

Her voice was clear and strong "A prince without a retinue is no prince A lord without a retinue is no lord You are alone, Hugh You have cut every tie, severed every bond of kinship Betrayed every ally I ahter When I leave, you will have nothing"

He did not waver His grave dereat weight, like a benediction "I knew you would come into your power Now you see what you are What I always knew you could be"

She shook her head "I knohat you want But it’s not yours and it never will belong to you This much mercy I have within me Go now Go, now, and I’ll not kill you Find what shelter you can--if you can escape the vengeance of the Ashioi They wait beyond the stockade"