A Kingdom of Frost and Malice by Ashley McLeo EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Ashley McLeo
- Language: English
- Genre: Action & Adventure Fantasy
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
I rushed down the vampire-infested streets of Sangrael, my heart
thrumming wildly.
Most days, I’d take care to move more slowly, to not draw a predator’s
attention. But this week my desire to soak away the pain shooting up my
fingers and forearms made me act rashly. Even if the relief wouldn’t last
long.
Tomorrow night, Palais Immortael would host a ball. That meant that
the noble vampires of the court required new gowns, tunics, and jackets,
and my master would happily accommodate them. As one of his best
seamstresses, I’d been working double-time for the past three weeks, and
tomorrow would be the longest day of them all.
Working day and night was bad enough, but the noble vampires didn’t
only require fashionable attire. No, they needed party food too. Earlier the
same day, I’d given two full cups of blood destined for the palace. Though
I’d eaten a small lunch since then, I continued to feel the effects of the
bloodletting, but at least that was all I had to do. I counted my blessings that
I wasn’t one of the many slaves forced to serve the ball’s attendees in
person.
I swung a tight corner around a tavern to avoid a group of gossiping
vampires hogging the street, only to nearly run into a particularly nasty-
looking bloodsucker. He eyed my wings hungrily, making me tense as I
sidestepped him and ran on. A few paces later, I glanced behind me and a
shiver darted down my spine.
The vampire continued to watch me, his eyes trained on me like I was a
mouse and he the cat, but he wasn’t pursuing. Clearly, he’d noticed my red
collar. The symbol of my oppression sometimes also saved me from lowerranking vampires attacking in the streets.
Finally, I reached bathhouse 9, one of many slave bathhouses in the city
of Sangrael. Only the wealthiest masters spared the expense to send their
slaves to number 9, and despite hating my general position in life, I counted
myself lucky to get to use this bathhouse in particular.
While the front of the
bathhouse resembled a regular business, it wasn’t one. Natural thermal
pools nestled in a vast interconnected cave system awaited inside, making
bathing here a more soothing experience than at the lower end houses.
I opened the front door, and immediately the steam and tang of minerals
from the natural pools calmed me. I exhaled, relieved to have arrived
without incident.
“Your master’s name, girl?” asked a red-haired human guard behind a
long desk. All day long, he stood in a small business front attached to the
mouth of the cave and deemed whether others were good enough to enter
the caverns. A second bald man was present today too, rifling through
paperwork.
I ignored the condescension in the human’s tone when he’d called me
‘girl’. At twenty-three turns of the sun, I was a grown fae female, probably
no more than three turns this human’s junior. But he had to make himself
feel bigger somehow, and the fight wasn’t worth it. All I cared for was a
bath.
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB