Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep Read Free Book Online

she kept right on reading her magazine.
    “And the Protectorate will decide for itself what the girl is and isn’t, and what she has and hasn’t done,” Linus said in his cold, calm voice, the one that infuriated me more and more with every word he spoke. “Obviously, the three of you cannot be objective where she’s concerned. And neither can my son.”
    Nobody responded, although I could almost see the tension and anger hanging like a storm cloud over the table, making everything dark and ugly.
    “I didn’t do anything wrong,” I said, finally finding my voice.
    Nickamedes stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t say anything else to him, Gwendolyn. Not one more word. What Linus failed to mention is that anything you say now can be brought up at the trial. And believe me when I tell you that he will use your own words against you. It’s something he excels at.”
    Linus glowered at Nickamedes, but I decided to take the librarian’s advice and keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want to get into any more trouble than I already was.
    Linus rolled the parchment back up, took off his glasses, and looked at me again. “Here’s what will happen next. Anytime such serious charges are leveled against someone, the Protectorate is called in, and an investigation is conducted. We will be talking to everyone you know and everyone who might know anything about the charges against you. Your friends, your family, your classmates, your professors, everyone.”
    Everyone? He was going to talk to everyone who knew me? Well, it would be a pretty short list. Sure, I had a few friends, but most of the kids at Mythos knew me as Gwen Frost, that weird Gypsy girl who touched stuff, saw things, and could find lost items for the right price. I wouldn’t exactly win any popularity contests, especially not now, after the assembly. Still, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
    “Evidence will be collected, and you will questioned about the findings, along with your actions. Then, a group of Protectorate members will make a final decision about your guilt or innocence,” he continued. “You should know that the charges against you are some of the most serious I’ve ever seen, especially for a Mythos student. Despite your age, if you are found guilty, the punishment will be dealt out accordingly. At the very least, you will be expelled from the academy.”
    Okay, so maybe it was going to be that bad after all.
    Still, I couldn’t keep myself from asking the inevitable question. “And what about the very worst? What’s the worst punishment if I’m found guilty?”
    Linus looked at me, his eyes cold in his face. “Death.”

Chapter 4
    Death?
    I could be put to death by the Protectorate, by the Pantheon, for something I didn’t even do?
    “If you are found guilty of all charges, you will be placed in solitary confinement in a Protectorate prison,” Linus said. “And you will stay there until you are executed.”
    For a moment, the world went completely black, as though I was shrouded in darkness, as though I was already cold, dead, and buried in my grave. I blinked, and light blazed around me once more. Everything snapped back into focus, somehow seeming sharper than before. The hard, unyielding stone of the chair pressing against my back. The sinister gleam of the metal chains and handcuffs on top of the table. The faint musty odor that always filled the prison. All that and more assaulted my senses, slamming into my brain one after another, although they were all quickly drowned out by the rapid thump-thump-thump of my heart.
    I wanted nothing more than to bolt from my chair, race over to the prison door, yank it open, and run and run and run until my legs buckled and my lungs exploded from the strain. But I couldn’t do that, not without making everything that much worse. So I forced myself to sit still and just breathe—in and out, in and out—just like my mom had taught me, just like she’d always told me to do