Power is more difficult to hold than ice butterflies in the Sun King’s court.
Chapter 1: Khiona
My heart never stopped beating, but my imprisonment was its own form of death. It separated me from my throne, my power, and my tea.
An earthquake shook the icy cave walls around me and dropped frozen crystals from the ceiling. The spiraling vortex of water that trapped me in a small, underground cavern shimmered, but the magic that threaded through it stayed in place. Falling crystals cut my skin, but I could do nothing to stop them. No hiding place existed here, and I could not summon my magic any longer.
I was stuck in this cave, surrounded by magic-laced water that acted like a solid wall if I tried to leave.
The magic prison did let fish swim through the river that cut across my icy floor. I hadn’t truly died, but I despised the food that kept me alive. When I escaped this cave, I would never eat fish again.
A volcano had most likely triggered the earthquake. It had happened frequently enough that I didn’t think anything of it—
Until the trembling stopped and a flash of gold rippled through the river. I lunged to the water, plunging my hands into the current and grabbing at the first slice of color to brave the blues and whites of my wretched cave.
Metal.
My fingers wrapped around cold metal and pulled out a lamp.
A gold-plated oil lamp. The earthquake must have knocked it into the river. I couldn’t tell how long it had been frozen in these mountains.
Runes older than my two hundred years covered the sides of the lamp, etched into the lovely gold by a shallow, but precise, hand. I traced my finger over them, wishing for the magic I’d once had that would have interpreted the unfamiliar forms.
Crystal-cursed humans. If it hadn’t been for their interference, my magic would not have backfired into this horrible cage. Someday, I would find a way out of here, and they would submit—
Warm smoke rose from the lamp as the metal heated rapidly. I dropped the lamp before it could burn me. The runes I couldn’t read probably warned of an enchantment or overheating.
I reached down to smack it back into the river, but a hand emerged through the smoke and grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
A hand.
My breath caught. I hadn’t seen a hand that wasn’t mine for years.
“Don’t.” A deep, rough voice coughed the word out in a tone so harsh I froze.
How had another fae worked his way into my solitary confinement?
And could I get out the same way?
He obviously had feelings about the lamp, so I stood up slowly, edging away from the hot metal. While the cavern’s ceiling arched a dozen feet above me, the floor space not covered by the flowing river barely fit two adults.
He released my wrist and stood next to me. His blue eyes caught my attention first. They stood out against his black hair like intense crystals that dared me to defy him.
I lifted my chin. I defied everyone. Nobody had stood against me in my life, and I refused to bow to anyone in this not-death either. “Who are you?” I demanded, my voice as hoarse as his. I hadn’t used it in years.
Keeping his blue eyes pinned on mine, he bent in a bow. “I am your slave.”
I raised a brow. “I’ve had many slaves, but I’ve never seen you before.”
Straightening up, he stood a full head taller than me. Despite calling himself my slave, his muscular arms and trim form bespoke a strength that clearly put me at a disadvantage—especially since I had no magic, and power radiated off him.
His face showed no emotion, so either he’d encountered my crystalline magic or he had experience hiding his thoughts. “Slave. Soldier. Captive. Call me what you will. The title makes no difference.”
I reached for the dagger hilt that wasn’t on my hip. The snow only knew how many years I’d been here without it, and my reflexes still drew my hand to mywaist. Clenching my fist, I steadied my voice. “What are you doing here?”
Did I secretly hope he had come to rescue me?
Of course.
