All safe, at least for the time being.
“It’s only a matter of time before King Magnus comes for us, Mother.” Exhaustion clung to his voice, his every motion, even his bones, but rest would have to wait. “We should have our defenses ready. Scouts on the Shivering Sea at all times and sailors on call, if not with their boots on the decks. Preferably I want ships waiting in this area.” His brown finger drifted west and south of Leire, to a cove where fifty large vessels could easily hide and wait.
Outside the arched windows, gray, churning waters crashed upon the rocks at the base of their castle. Even four stories up, he tasted the salt of the sea in the air.
His mother nodded at his suggestion, offered no other.
The king’s ships might not be as fast or as good as the vessels House Virtoris commanded, but numbers mattered. In addition to the king’s own vessels, the loyal royalists of House Qiren and House Ithamai commanded fleets too. Combined, the threegreat houses possessed a force that could cause Fayeth Virtoris’s armada great damage.
All that was not taking magical prowess into account. Vidar despised the king, but he could not deny that the White Bear was among the most powerful fae in the realm. If notthemost powerful.
Or perhaps that is Neve now. The kingseems scared of her rise . . .
Vidar didn’t know who wielded the stronger magic, only that Neve had been revealed as a Falk princess and that family line had been known to be very powerful indeed. If only he could ask the lost princess himself.
The Lady of Ships broke her tense silence. “Once, House Virtoris ruled this island with an armada four times the size of the one we have now. Then, no one would have dared to come at us on the water.”
To be fair, attacks were still rare. However, in the thousands of turns since House Virtoris bent the knee to Queen Sassa Falk and subsequently, King Magnus, their fleet dwindled. Ship by ship. First, they’d lost ships in the Shadow Fae War, then in other battles with other kingdoms. Most recently, the Mage Court had sent two of their ships to the depths of the sea, where only mermaids and selkies and other water creatures could roam the decks.
It was far easier to destroy a ship than to rebuild one. Particularly in the Kingdom of Winter, where trees did not grow as fast or as tall as trees in the south. High Lady Fayeth had ruled her lands well, but she, like her predecessors, had neglected to rebuild most of their lost ships. Now she would be the one in her family to pay the price.
And the cost was high.
“The king will remain distracted by Neve for a long while. At least until he captures and kills her, but after that, you’reright. We’ll be a priority. A problem.” The Lady of Ships locked eyes with her son and heir. “Sayyida disobeyed Magnus by disappearing from court. She made him look like a powerless fool.” Though the high lady claimed to be furious with her eldest daughter, the corner of her lips curled in the slightest of smug smiles.
“If only breaking my betrothal with Saga had been enough for our families to be at peace.”
It wasn’t that Vidar had not loved Saga. He had loved her—as a friend—almost like a sister. Still, he’d never met someone else he’d rather be engaged to, so he’d gone along with the betrothal. To become heir to House Virtoris and husband to a princess of the realm was a great honor, after all. And with Saga’s strong winter magic, it was practically guaranteed their children would have possessed a good deal of the very magic that kept the kingdom in balance.
His mother snorted. “Of course not. He tried to tie Njal to yet another inlander! The king is a lunatic, and I fear he’ll stop at nothing short of ending our lives to soothe his ego. Perhaps he’ll keep Amine alive. She’s still young and unwell. Easier to control.”
Vidar wasn’t so sure. Yes, his youngest sister had been a victim of the blight and was routinely ill, but if the king killed them all save for Amine, she would not take that lying down. One day, his youngest sister would make him pay. She would be quieter about getting revenge, but Amine was much like Sayyida, with the fury and power of a tempest in her heart. The difference was that Sayyida allowed that tempest to guide her, then struck fast and true and hard with the help of the storm at her back. Amine favored patience and was far more calculating.
The door to the room slammed open, and Vidar turned to find the elder storm-born sister marching toward them.
With each pounding step, Sayyida’s black curls bounced around her. Though lighter in complexion than their mother’s deep brown skin, Vidar often imagined that at Sayyida’s age, she and their mother would look identical. Both with the same curls, sharp cheekbones, skin that was regularly dusted with salt, and eyes that looked like the waters of the Shivering Sea.
“I got a letter from Saga.” Sayyida tossed a weathered sheet of paper on the table. The page, curled from days of being contained in a tube, rocked a bit before settling.
Neither Vidar nor his mother picked it up.
“You should be on the opposite side of the island.” The Lady of Ship’s jaw tightened. “Hiding.”
Sayyida snorted. “I’m not scared of the king.”
She should be. King Magnus was not the king because of his bloodline. No matter that he was illegitimate and bore the name Aaberg, not Falk like the fae who sired him, Magnus was powerful and still had many supporters.
“Read the letter, Mother,” Sayyida demanded.
“How did Saga learn where you were?”
“She knows all my hideouts.” Sayyida shrugged a single shoulder.
Lady Fayeth Virtoris rubbed her temple, but picked up the paper and scanned the message before setting it down with a flat, tense palm burying it into the table. Her blue-gray stare burned through her daughter. “What do you want me to do about the princess fleeing Avaldenn?”
“Saga left?” Vidar’s body tensed.
“With Lord Riis at the behest of the queen,” Sayyida said. “They’re going south, heading for Myrr. Judging by the date, they’ll be there in less than a week.”
