Voices woke me from a light doze. The wagons had stopped and the shuffling sounds of footsteps reached me. I debated taking the risk and making noise, but the image of being given to five men for the night caused me to hesitate too long. The wagon moved. The opportunity gone. Coward.

Ixia passed under my wagon, but I didn’t see much of it. Taken out of my box only at night to eat, I caught a few glimpses of pine trees and frozen farmland. The ground was rock hard and after a few days of travel, muddy snow rolled under the wagon.

The men complained of the weather and stared at me with hungry eyes. After another three days, the air became too cold for the merchants to sleep outside at night. They stopped at a travel shelter. We sat by the fire, finishing our dinner.

“She’ll have to stay in here. The cold could kill her,” Rutz said. “You don’t want to deliver a corpse.”

After being with the men for a total of six days, I knew all their names.

Namir, their large leader said, “The Ixian patrols target the shelters, especially this far north.”

“Opal has papers,” Devlen said.

“But will she cooperate?” Namir asked.

“She has so far.”

“But she hasn’t had the chance to misbehave. With Ixian soldiers here, she could get us all arrested.” Namir frowned.

“Put the gag back on her and I’ll watch her,” Rutz offered.

“No way. She’s more likely to behave with me,” Shen said.

The other two men watched the exchange with interest. Yannis, the man who wore his woolen cap all the time, seemed tense, as if ready to fight. Something about him nagged at me as if I had seen him before. I checked his shadow, but it matched his shape. Owin’s dark brown eyes sparkled with anticipation as his gaze swept my body.

“I’ll ensure she cooperates.” Devlen laid a possessive hand on my shoulder, bringing me closer to him.

From the placement of his fingertips, I understood his warning. All he had to do was squeeze and I would be in agony.

When it was time to sleep, Devlen lay on the cot with me. I flinched away.

“Would you rather share with one of the boys?” he asked, whispering in my ear.

I relented and he pulled me close. His chest against my back and his arm around my waist.

“Just like the good old days. Perhaps?” His hand moved downward.

I grabbed it and lifted his arm off me. “No.”

He put it back around my waist. “You’re causing trouble,” he said with a gruff tone. “The boys are getting antsy.”

“Do we have to travel with them?” I asked.

He remained quiet for a moment. “It’s the safest way to get you north, but in a few days they will turn west. Unless you’ll volunteer to play—”

“No.”

“Then we’ll strike out on our own tomorrow.”

I listened as Devlen’s breathing slowed and his arm around my waist relaxed. My thoughts whirled. He could have given me to the boys—I was defenseless—but he didn’t. Why not? He was a murdering, power-hungry Warper, who enjoyed torturing people. I thought back to the room in the cabin and realized he didn’t enjoy the torture. In fact, his whole posture radiated his distaste. I hadn’t noticed before when I was writhing in pain—a hard time to be objective. The same could be said about the time I had spent in the tent. Looking back at his actions, I sensed he performed his job without emotion, and without touching me in any inappropriate place. Odd.

My thoughts turned to his comments about Ulrick. However much I resisted the notion, he had been right about my feelings toward Ulrick. I had kept my distance even when I knew Ulrick desired me.

I tried to justify my actions with Devlen. But in my heart, I couldn’t say for sure if I would have stuck to my decision the previous night and made love to the real Ulrick. I had to acknowledge the fact that it was Devlen I had been drawn to—not Ulrick. I hoped Ulrick was really safe from harm. And I hoped I would live through this ordeal, so I could explain everything to him, and apologize.

Various plans to escape, to fight and to trick formed in my mind, but all of them led nowhere because I didn’t have enough information. I would have to wait and see what developed, but the tightness around my chest eased a bit. At least I had a few reactions planned, so if a particular situation arose, I wouldn’t hesitate.

Eventually I drifted into sleep. Snow-filled dreams swirled. I didn’t need the potion as we drew closer to the ice sheet. Details of Icefaren Station sharpened and I could see the scratches on the rocky sides of the pit. A snow cat crouched at the edge, its white coat invisible against the snow. The predator moved away. Its sleek muscles capable of incredible power and speed. Snow cats were almost impossible to hunt. All their senses were heightened to such a degree a hunter couldn’t even get within bow-and-arrow range. The Commander of Ixia was the only known person to kill one.

My dream followed the creature. About four feet long and three feet high, the snow cat circled the buildings of the station before heading west. The landscape seemed vast and flat until I viewed it through the snow cat’s eyes. Then ridges of ice and mounds of snow were visible. And a den, filled with six other cats. The heat from their bodies welcoming. Farther inside the white walls turned to gray. A small cave with a pool of water. The cat stopped to drink. At the bottom of the pool rested one of my glass animals, pulsing with a muddy red light. Gede’s prison. The Story Weaver turned Warper. Devlen’s teacher.