But the winds held me in their mania, and I couldn’t break free. Each time I used this power, it was harder to rein myself back in. Each time was a step closer to me being enslaved by the chaotic forces driving the wind across the world. One day, I knew I might not be able to free myself.
Today, they summoned me, cajoled me to dive headfirst, to give myself over to them.
But then, shouts from below caught my attention, and I saw a handful of other guards wading into the fray. They must have seen what was going on and rushed to help. Armed, they pushed forward to attack the Shadow Hunters, even as Check and Fearless rejoined the battle. They were too many and Myst’s pair couldn’t stand up against them.
In that moment of clarity, I released the storm, and as the Shadow Hunters fell under the wave of my guards, I transformed back into my owl form, and returned to the snow field below.
I sat on the edge of my bed, letting Druise, my personal maid, help me change clothes. She bundled me up into a clean, dry pair of black jeans and laced my royal blue corset snugly, then brought me dry boots, and a spider-web thin black cloak embroidered with silver threads. As she draped the cloak around my shoulders, she was careful not to touch the crown that circled my head. A diadem of silver leaves entwining on either side of the circlet, the vines met in the center to embrace a glowing cabochon of black onyx, and below that, a sparkling diamond teardrop.
I sat on the bed, sipping tea and eating a cookie.
The huge, four-poster bed was made from yew wood, the headboard intricately carved. Piled high with under-blankets and sheets, the indigo comforter matched the pattern of the carpet. Covering rows of cobblestones, the rug was a sweeping panorama of swirling patterns set in indigo, eggplant, and silver.
On the ceiling over the bed, the pattern continued, only in inlaid gems of iolite, sapphire, amethyst, and quartz. The rest of the ceiling was jet-black, and the gems shimmered with an inner light that picked up the glow from the lanterns, setting to a slow, sinuous dance of movement in light and shadow.
“How long before you have to be at your meeting?” Druise refilled my teacup and I inhaled the rich aroma of peppermint, grateful as it cleared my head. I glanced up at the clock—time worked differently here in the realm of Snow and Ice but I used a clock to keep me on track within the barrow. The familiar touch from the outer world made me more comfortable as I adjusted to my new way of life.
“An hour. They’re conferring now, but I needed a little while to think.” Actually, what I had needed was a chance to decompress from raising the winds.
I inhaled slowly, my breath grounding me back into my body. After I finished my tea and cookies, I stood, sighing. Time to face the reality we had all been dreading. But we’d known it was coming. Myst was out for my blood and bone.
It had been a month since my cousin Rhiannon and I had taken the thrones of Summer and Winter. A month since I had married Grieve, and she had married Chatter. Since then, Rhia and I poured intensive study into the language of our new people, the customs of our courts, as we desperately attempted to learn what it meant to be Fae queens. The whole concept that we were effectively immortal was still too much to deal with, although truth was, we could be killed. But if we avoided accidents and murder, and no one found our heartstones, we would live into the mists of time until we were ready to let go and lay down our duties.
Gathering up the messenger bag I carried within the barrow, I made sure my notebooks were in it, along with pens, chewing gum, Epi-pen, and everything else I would need when out of my chambers. With one last look around the bedroom, wishing I could just curl up in the chamber and hide, I pushed open the door. Check was waiting on the other side to escort me to the council room.
The council room was a dark chamber, lit by the ever present lanterns that lined the Eldburry Barrow. The lights within, pale blue and violet, were young Ice Elementals, indentured into service for a time before they were set loose into the world. They did not mind their service—in the Fae world, in the world of Elementals, human rules and emotions didn’t always apply. In the Marburry Barrow—in the Summer Court of Rivers and Rushes—the lights were fueled by young Fire Elementals.
Strict was waiting at the table, along with Grieve, my Fae Prince-turned-King. Also waiting were Check and Fearless, and several other advisors and guard leaders. As I entered the room, they stood to bow. Once again it hit me that I was the end of the line. No matter what everyone else did, it all came back to land on my shoulders.
I took my place at the table and nodded for them to sit. A servant brought over a tray filled with roast beef sandwiches, bowls of hot chicken soup, and the ever present tea. I was weaning them onto coffee, but they would drink their tea.
The barrow kitchen had experienced culture shock when I banned all fish and shellfish products. If people wanted to eat them in their own homes, fine, but for me and my staff—no seafood. I was Epi-pen allergic, anaphylactic, and even though I didn’t like thinking about it, the fact was it would be an easy way for an assassin to get to me. That I even had to think about things like that still sent me reeling, but I was quickly getting used to it.
Once we were settled in with food, Grieve leaned over and placed a kiss on my lips. He was my love, the heart of my heart, and I wore a tattoo of his wolf on my stomach that responded to his feelings. Grieve had been crown prince of the Summer Court—the Court of Rivers and Rushes—until Myst had overrun the Marburry Barrow, killing hundreds of the Cambyra Fae. But Grieve, she had turned, and even though he had control over his nature now, he was still feral and wild. But he was my love, and that’s all that mattered.
“Myst is on the move.” Small talk was all well and good, but right now wasn’t the time for it. I told them about my encounter with the Snow Hag. “Check and Fearless would have bought the farm if backup hadn’t come. Luckily we weren’t far from the barrow, or we would have been in a fuckton of trouble.”
Strict winced. My slang still bothered him, and we were speaking in English because I didn’t know enough Cam-byra to make myself understood. I was learning, but it was a complex language and slow-going.
“Bite me, Strict. When I speak my own language, it’s going to be in my own way.” I flashed him a smile.
He laughed. “The Cambyra are definitely being dragged into a new way of life thanks to you and your cousin. As to Myst, do we know if she’s within the realm of Snow and Ice yet?”
I shrugged. “Dunno, but I don’t think so. When I was flying overhead, in my owl form, I saw the second Shadow Hunter shimmer into view. It was like watching someone appear through a portal, though we know there is no portal there. So it stands to reason that Myst used some form of magic to transport them over here. Which would indicate that she isn’t here in our realm. Yet.”
“Not necessarily, Your Majesty.” Check tilted his head slightly. “She could be here. She might have sent them ahead as scouts. Just because they traveled via magical means doesn’t mean they came from outside the realm. We shouldn’t assume anything.”
He made a good point. I leaned back, wondering whether it was safe to tell them what the Snow Hag had told me. She had said danger was under my nose rather than in the distance, and I didn’t think she had been talking about the Shadow Hunters we’d encountered. If I did have a spy, could it be Strict, Check, Fearless? Or one of the other members of my staff gathered around the table with me? Or even… beautiful and alluring, my own sweet Grieve?