I unleash my magic. Shadows leap from my hands, wrapping around the nearest guard. He stumbles back with a curse. I conjure fire, sending a stream of flames toward another.
I can take them.
Magic slams into me from all sides. Not just a little bit of power, but great big waves of it. Shadow magic from the shadowfae guards, thick and suffocating. They all pour everything they have into stopping me.
I try to counter. I bend the air around me, using my firefae abilities to levitate, to dodge their attacks. Shadows writhe from my hands, striking at them.
I might be powerful, especially for a half-breed, but there are too many of them when they are all using their magic.
What is this?
A blast of shadow magic hits me in the chest. I stumble backward, gasping. Another strikes my legs, sending me to my knees.
I fight back desperately. I conjure flames, manipulate shadows, bend the air to my will. Everything my mother’s bloodlines gave me, I throw at them.
They’re everywhere. Their magic crashes over me like waves, relentless and overwhelming. I feel my own magic faltering, draining away under the onslaught.
A shadow wraps around my throat. I claw at it, unable to breathe. Another pins my arms to my sides.
I try to summon fire one more time, but a guard’s magic snuffs it out before it can even form.
Then I’m on the ground, shadows binding my wrists and ankles. My magic well is nearly empty. I’m gasping for air, my body trembles with exhaustion.
They stand over me, grinning.
“She’s a strong one,” one says, laughing.
“Not strong enough,” another says.
A third clenches his fist, looking down at his hand. “It’s good to be able to use my magic again.”
“So good,” the first agrees.
Another kneels beside me, his face close to mine. “You didn’t stand a chance, little half-breed. Since you and that Lost King escaped, none of us has had to give our quota of magic to the mirror. None of us will have to until he is found, which means we can use our resources where needed. You weren’t expecting that, were you?”
I wasn’t, but I don’t say anything.
It does explain why they haven’t used their magic on us before.
“The queen is going to be so happy,” the first guard says. “We’re all going to get our share of the bounty.”
“Just wait until Captain Corvius gets his hands on you,” another guard says. “You’ll sing like a bird about who helped you and where that king of yours is hiding.”
Terror floods through me at the mention of the captain’s name; it is quickly replaced with anger.
Corvius can do his best. He’ll have to kill me because I won’t say anything.
20
Sebastian
I push out a breath as I lean against one of the large rocks. It isn’t the most comfortable position, but it does give me a clear view of the road that winds down from the mountains…from the Ice Court. This is where it feeds into the court through its narrowest entry point.
If the queen is coming from the Ice Court, this is the path she’ll take. It’s the fastest route. Any other way would add at least half a day to her journey. I’m guessing that since she wants to get here so quickly, this is where she’ll enter. I pray I am right.
Queen Snow almost never leaves the Ice Court. She has mostly remained behind her walls of ice and enchantment, surrounded by legions of guards. Always protected. Always watching through her cursed mirrors.
This is a huge opportunity, one I have to take. She’s coming here, to my court, and she’ll be traveling light. The distance between the Ice Palace and the Shadow Court is vast. To cover it in the time Belen described, she would have needed speedover strength. Fewer guards and provisions. A smaller retinue moving fast and hard across the deadlands.
