Tholin and Thordur exchanged looks. Again, they didnot appear surprised. Their spies must have come with this information already, and I found myself both shocked and awed that a hidden kingdom could have spies.
“You have winter magic too. Great power. Even if I did not see it in the cavern, I can now feel it rolling off you in waves. If you were my race, you’d cause a great earth shake with such magic. Yet I do not think you realize you’re using energy to hold back.” The queen poured herself a cup of tea and sipped. “Did you know, Princess Neve, that the ancient kings and queens of this kingdom put in place an enchantment against certain bloodlines with such power?”
I stiffened before loosening again to hide such a reaction. “Why would I know that?”
“Because,” King Tholin spoke, “your arrival set off our boundary wards. They allowed us to be in place when you got too close.”
Seeing as the queen had helped herself, I was now sure that the tea was free of poison or an unwanted potion. I poured a cup, using the moment to think of how to answer. I was pleased my hands did not tremble as I did so.
“My arrival,” I said innocently. “You must mean my husband’s. He’s a prince, raised under the banner of House Aaberg.”
“We have warded against that family too,” King Tholin turned his gaze on Vale. “That protection will need to be examined, foritdid not trigger when you stepped through the Doors of Eitriod.”
My stomach twisted. I’d thought the Doors had been too easy to break open. Also strange that there were no wards.Well there had been. Extremely specific wards that would probably take a specialist to discern.
“Then who do you mean?” I asked, still playing dumb.
King Tholin laughed dryly. “Why, you’re of House Falk, of course. You hold their power. Their blood. The runes that you walked right past do not lie. So, tell me Princess Neve, are you a discarded Falk bastard? Or are you someone for us to truly worry over?”
Heat rushed through me, but I was Winterborn and used my power to cool myself before I could flush. Saying I was a bastard was impossible, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for others to learn my identity. Could I spin this, use the fae tact of diversion and omission?
Thordur chuckled. “She brought well over a hundred humans here, Father. A rare fae would worry about the fate of trapped humans, a rarer one still would free them. Outside Dergia, very few fae would lead them to safety.” He gestured to me. “No matter her bloodline, I do not think we need to worry about her. And this helps Dergia greatly. We direly need new blood.”
The prince’s words rang through me, sounding an alarm as memories of bloodletters and vampires indulging in the streets filled my mind. “What do you mean by blood? You said they’d be safe here.”
“And theywillbe safe.” The prince stared at me; eyebrows pinched together. “Did you not notice the humans walking the halls of Fellstone? The stone streets of my city? Those humans who arrived with you are not the only ones in Dergia.”
I blinked. I had not noticed such a thing and couldn’timagine it being true. Not after all that I’d seen of Winter’s Realm. Nor in other kingdoms. “Are you being truthful?”
“I’m as fae as you are, Princess Neve. And dwarves despise deceit more than other races of fae.”
“Where did the humans who live here come from?” Anna broke her silence.
“Noble houses who mistreated them,” the queen spoke softly, sadly. “Some traveled all the way from the capital, searching for a way to get to another court, one where they might have a chance.”
Thordur shook his head in commiseration for the weak. “The mountains are harsh enough to those of us accustomed to living here. The humans never would have survived on their own. We found many people and brought them here. Nearly all have stayed and become part of our society.”
“Bleeding stars,” I muttered, barely able to believe it. “Most fae look down on humans.”
“Treat us worse than vermin!” Ronaldo hissed.
“We in Dergia are what remains of the dwarves from the five other kingdoms.” King Tholin sighed. “Those of our kind who wished to remain under our own rule, in a home made for us. We did not want to be like others of our kind, traveling the mountains nomadically—nor did we want to serve royals we did not love—but there are few of us living beneath this mountain. Too few, and we require new blood to ensure we do not marry too closely.”
My lips parted, understanding what he meant by blood. “Wait. So youwedthe humans?”
“They enter our society as any dwarf would. Treated with fairness and given jobs that suit their builds and skills.”
Ronaldo shifted. “You know that many who arrived with us are miners, right?”
“Lucky that,” Thordur said. “Though there’s always work for non-miners here too. Many humans who know nothing of the art of a pickaxe will bake or clean or do other tasks that are essential to a community, to earn their keep.”
I was about to ask another question, but the king held up a hand. “My question has not yet been answered,” the king said. “So I ask again, who are you, Princess Neve? A bastard of House Falk? And if so, do you know your exact relation to that long dead house?”
I cleared my throat. What I’d learned of the dwarves endeared me to them, but would their opinion of me change when I told the truth?
Did it matter? The king would not let his question slide, and I could no longer lie.
“Your wards didn’t fail you,” I admitted. “I am, by marriage, a part of House Aaberg. By blood, I was born into House Falk as Princess Isolde.”
