It was a beautiful prison.
When the rowboat slid onto the sand, one of the warriors lit a matchstick. Arion reached for the flame until it danced in his palms. He tossed the fire with a flourish and a violent cyclone of heat and wind fashioned in the darkness.
Arion pulled me through with a firm tug. My hair whipped through the blaze of his hot, biting affinity until I landed on cold stone of the familiar hall of the elven palace, my wrists tucked beneath me.
With a rush of wind, the fire ring closed. Arion stepped past me without a thought.
“I’ve retrieved her, as promised. She’s delirious, lost to some of the alver elixirs. I’ve no doubt that will explain her odd behavior during the visit. It is as we suspected.”
“Liar.” I propped onto my elbow, but my breath stuttered. Eldirard was seated on his throne, more haggard than before. He seemed old. By his side, Gerard took a king’s seat. Stern and harsh, the Ljosalfar kingkept his grip on the pommel of his bronze short blade, and a sneer twisted on his lips.
I managed to rise onto my knees. “Arion slaughtered Dorsan.”
My grandfather’s eyes went sharp, but the prince held up a hand. “I did not lift a blade, King Eldirard. The alvers caught our escape and poor Dorsan was caught in the middle. We will honor him in both clans.”
I was going to end Arion. He’d be tossed into the Nothing, and I would never let him escape it.
“Grandfather, he lies.” I tried to stand, but my limbs were made of heavy stone. “Why have you done this? I have always loved you, obeyed you, and you have robbed me of my happiness.”
“Like I said, delusions.” Arion shook his head as though heartbroken. “There is no telling how long she has been unknowingly taking their spell casts, but they have manipulated her mind to give them undying loyalty.”
King Gerard stood. “We will work on restoring the princess, then at last join our clans. Once we are ready, we’ll take those boons to which we are entitled from the fae.”
“Grandfather, you cannot trust this! You are allowing Arion to bring war to our people. Again! They will come for me. Jonas of House Eriksson will never stop searching for me. You underestimate them.”
“Perhaps you underestimate your own people, Princess,” Gerard said. “You do not know the half of what has been done to bring us to this moment.”
“Grandfather.” Strength built; I rose to my feet. “Do not agree to this. I will never be free, not with Arion. They will use me, you know it.”
Before Eldirard could speak, Gerard interjected. “Your affinity was gifted to the elven clans through fate, girl. It is unique and powerful, and was never meant to serve fae folk. It was made to serve the elven. Accept your fate, and fulfill your duty.”
“I will never serve you,” I shouted. A few gasps came from the servants around the throne room. My fists curled at my sides. “Never. You will never be my kin in my heart. You can force me to stand before your son as a bride, but I am vowed to another, and I will wait in nothing but ice if I must until the day he finds me and calls me out of it.”
At long last, my grandfather stood. “Cara, if you please, take the princess to rest. It seems she is quite weary.” He looked to his guards. “Prepare the isle to fade. We go to the deep seas.”
“My king.” One of the palace guards stepped forward. “The isle . . . well, it seems hesitant to fade.”
I barked a laugh. “Because you’ve betrayed it! It will not bow to you.”
My grandfather hesitated. “We will see how far we can go. Cara.” He gestured for my lady’s maid from the corner. “Tend to the princess.”
“See to it she cannot use her affinity,” Gerard added. “At least until she can be reasonable.”
Two manacles made of white iron were fastened to my wrists. They weakened me, but not the same as a strike from a white iron blade. Mists would not form, and it was another brick in a familiar prison.
I didn’t plead. What was the point? They would not listen. I did not have the strength to pull my mists. Not yet.
I said nothing when Cara guided me from the throne room, her features contorted in a sincere worry. I let my heart slow, my indifference take hold. As promised, I would feel nothing of this place until my nightmare found me.
Moments, decades, it would not matter. I would wait in ruthless anticipation, until those hands thawed my heart again.
My old chamber held no joy for me. It was not the long chamber I shared with Jonas with my garden window he gave to me without a thought. It had no abandoned corridor where a dusty, forgotten room had been transformed into a library with tales of romance without complaint that the tales were of no worth.
It did not smell of parchment and deep forest oak.
“My Lady.” Cara stood near the doorway. “Why don’t we get you rested. You’ll feel better by the morning.”
“I will not. Do not pretend I will when you do not believe it yourself.” I faced her, cold and distant. “I never belonged here. No one will ever see me the way my husband sees me. There were no conditions in House Eriksson, Cara. No masks needed to be worn.”
