Chapter 15 · The Map Under the Ice

"You're coming with me." Aldric's hand closed around my wrist before I could step back from the rune-lit ice.

"Wrong." I twisted hard, but his grip didn't budge. The woman who'd called me by a name I'd never used in this life stood twenty paces off, her robes embroidered with symbols that matched the glowing lines beneath our feet. "Let go."

"Not until you tell me what she called you." His voice dropped low, dangerous. "That wasn't a clan name."

"Maybe you heard wrong."

"I didn't." He pulled me closer, close enough that I felt the heat rolling off him despite the frozen air. "You've been hiding something since the supply raid. The numbers you see, the way you knew exactly where to cut the ice—"

"Back off, Ironvow." I got my free hand on the knife at my belt. "Or find out how well I cut things that aren't ice."

His eyes flicked to the blade, then back to my face. For a second I thought he'd call the bluff. Then Virrak's voice cracked across the ravine.

"Commander. We've got movement on the north ridge."

Aldric's jaw tightened, but he let go. "This conversation isn't finished.