Chapter 17: A Gift With a Timer

I dressed with my hands shaking, and Gabe held the blanket around my shoulders the whole way to the gap.

My Ember Points still read zero.

The wall was down to a dim amber, and the cold leaned on it from every side.

A young man from Ironwall stood at the opening with a flat black box in both arms.

He was shivering so hard he could barely talk.

"The lieutenant says it's from the guild," he said. "For you. For the Hearth Queen. It restores Ember Points."

"What is it?"

"A Frost Tonic. He paid six thousand logs for it."

Dee came up beside me, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Six thousand?" she said. "For a tonic?"

"He said you've earned it."

I looked at the box.

My body wanted it so badly my mouth watered.

With zero Ember Points I could not light a single log, and Dee had told me the Deep Frost would run until morning.

"Give it here," I said.

The young man stepped through the wall.

A trade panel opened in the air between us, gold at the edges.

[Gift from IronwallLieutenant: Frost Tonic x1. Accept? Yes / No.]

My thumb moved toward Yes.

Gabe's hand closed around my wrist.

"Wait."

"I'm freezing, Gabe."

"I know. Read the bottom."

I squinted.

The panel had a second layer, a thin gray strip beneath the gold, so small it looked like a border.

I tilted my head until I could read it.

[By accepting, you agree to the attached terms. Proposer: BrettMaddox. Bond duration: until Release.]

My breath stopped.

Under it, in the faint light, a timer had already started.

It was a one-minute countdown, and it had begun when the panel opened.

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