The creeping dawn brought no warmth to the East Wing. It bled through the frost-rimmed windows, casting a sickly, pale light over the desolate stone corridors.

"You have to hold on just a little longer," Kaelia whispered, resting a pale, trembling hand over the swell of her stomach. Beneath her pa

"Guards!"

Rhydian’s roar shook the very foundations of the East Wing, rattling the glass in the high arched windows and sending a tremor through the marble floors.

Within seconds, half a dozen heavily armored Obsidian guards flooded the landing. They froze at the sight of their King kneeling on

The silence of the Frost Vault was absolute, broken only by the ragged, desperate sound of Kaelia’s own breathing.

She lay curled on her side on the solid ice floor, her woolen cloak doing nothing to stave off the unnatural, biting cold that permeated the tiny cell. It wasn't just physical frost;