Eventually, the hour grew late, the ambient noises of the palace fading away until only the whisper of the winds remained. Using the same key he’d used to free himself earlier, he jimmied the lock of his door open, then rushed down the spiral staircase and to the bottom of the tower. The guard who kept watch just outside the tower door was conspicuously absent, and Leap darted into the garden maze, keeping both eyes and ears peeled. The crescent moon hanging in the sky offered only a sliver of light, ideal for keeping him concealed, but any guards on duty as well. He crept toward Mavlyn’s tower, using the wind to check for any other fae lurking around corners or behind bushes.
But Leap encountered no one, not even a guard outside Mavlyn’s tower. Cautious optimism unfurled inside him as he took the stairs up two at a time. He didn’t even bother knocking, just used his key to force the lock and flung the door open.
“Mavlyn—” he announced, then stopped short, icy horror spilling through him as the scene before him unfolded.
“Hello, cousin,” Ryker said pleasantly. He sat in the vanity chair in Mavlyn’s room, legs crossed, a deceptively polite expression on his cruel face. “I had a feeling one of the Lightning Riders would set you loose tonight. Why don’t you join us? Your friend has been waiting anxiously for you.”
He flicked a glance to Mavlyn, who was hanging against the far wall, her body pressed against the stone and held up solely by wind currents. Leap could tell from the contorted look on Mavlyn’s face that she was in extreme pain—that much extended pressure on her bones and joints had to be torturous. She opened her mouth to speak to him, but whatever words she might have spoken were snatched away by the wind and filtered straight to Ryker’s ears.
“Ahh, how noble.” Ryker smirked. “She’s telling you to leave her and run.”
Leap raised a balled fist, lightning crackling at his fingertips. “Let her go,” he said. The voice that came out of him was not the high pitch of a boy, but the thunderous rumble of a man. “Let her go, or I’ll kill you where you stand.”
Power the likes Leap had never felt before pulsed through him, throbbing so intensely it was all he could do not to blast the entire room to smithereens. His entire body glowed with electricity, his skin and hair sizzling with it, and Ryker’s eyes widened, momentarily shocked by the transformation.
But he recovered himself, smothering his surprise with a well-placed smirk. “You can try to kill me, but we both know that I’ll snuff out her life before you can end mine.” He picked up an object off the vanity and held it out toward Leap, and the fury in Leap burned even brighter as he realized it was a new set of manacles. “Now be a good boy and come here and put these on. I promise that if you do, no harm will come to your friend.”
Leap took one slow step toward Ryker, then another. Mavlyn shook her head frantically the whole time, and Ryker grinned as she shouted soundlessly at him, enjoying every word. “There you go,” he said, tossing the manacles to Leap when he was close enough. “You know what to do.”
“Yes.” Leap said. “I do.”
He moved in a blur, clapping the manacles around Ryker’s wrists before his cousin could catch on to his fatal error. The moment they closed, the air magic pinning Mavlyn dissipated, allowing her to collapse to the ground.
“Leap!” she cried, pushing herself to her feet, but he didn't look her way. He threw out a hand, firing a bolt of lightning at Ryker that blasted him out of his chair. His cousin’s head smacked into the corner of the vanity, and his eyes rolled back into his head as he passed out.
“Ugh.” Leap grabbed Ryker by the hair and pulled him upright. He gave his cousin a good shake, but he didn’t stir. “You lazy, worthless bastard! How am I supposed to give you a beat-down if you pass out at the first strike?"
“Maaaaayyybe we just settle for torching the hair off his head, and get going,” Mavlyn suggested. She rubbed her wrists as she walked over to Leap, shaking her head as she looked between the two boys. “Remind me never to get on your bad side, Leap. You’re terrifying when you’re angry.”
Leap grinned at that, his anger forgotten. “I’m a force of nature,” he said, letting go of Ryker’s hair. His cousin’s head thwacked against the vanity once more before he fell to the floor, and Leap decided that was satisfying enough. “Come on, let’s find Cirra and get out of here. We’ve got an Oracle to rescue.”
30
Adara
Iwatched from my balcony as Lochanlee’s clan heads trickled into Usciete, each of them accompanied by a small retinue of personal advisors and servants. My stomach clenched as I remembered their scathing assessments of me, which doubtless had not improved after shattering Lady Axlya’s ice mirrors. The impulsive action had felt righteous in the moment, but now that they were all here and I had them in person, it felt reckless and foolish.
These fae would decide over the course of the week whether they would back my claim to the throne of Ediria. That I was the clear successor to the throne didn’t matter—if they got even the slightest inkling that I would not serve their interests, they would push to nominate one of their sons and daughters instead. And while I didn’t care overmuch about ascending the throne, Lady Axlya did, and I needed her as an ally.
Lady Axlya had informed me she was throwing a welcome feast tonight, and she expected me to be there. “This will be your opportunity to correct the unfortunate first impression you made,” she told me when I’d tried to beg off. Forcing someone to attend a feast when they were fasting seemed cruel—wouldn’t the councilors understand? “These fae have come not just to navigate these tumultuous times with me, but also to meet you. If you hide in your rooms, they will perceive you as weak, and you will never earn their support.”
My nerves gathered into a knotted bundle in my stomach as the hours passed, growing larger and larger until I felt like vomiting. Unable to stand it, I left my rooms and stole back into the garden again, hoping to catch a few more moments of peace in the lake. Surely none of the councilors would notice—they were all being settled in their rooms right now, or schmoozing with the other courtiers.
But I barely sank a toe into the water before I was interrupted.
“Adara.” The feminine voice that came from behind me was as smooth as the surface of a frozen lake. Turning, my heart sank as I met a pair of wintry eyes set into a sharp, triangular face framed by ice-blue hair. It wasn’t a face I’d seen in person before, but I recognized it all the same.
“You’re Tamil, aren’t you?” It wasn’t really a question. She was dressed in winter furs that were a bit too warm for this seaside city, but doubtless served her well in the Bala Oighr, or Ice Wall, where the ice fae of Lochanlee made their homes. “The ice fae clan head.”
“Actually, that would be my father, Tor,” Tamil corrected. She took a step toward Adara, her gaze assessing but not unfriendly. “You’re taller than I thought you’d be.”
I fought the urge to hunch my shoulders. I’d always been tall for a female, and had only recently finished growing into my gangly limbs. “And you’re shorter than I thought you’d be,” I said.
Tamil raised an eyebrow at that, and I wanted to kick myself. I was supposed to be making a good impression on these people, but I was failing miserably. “Why are you here instead of your father?” I blurted out, more to cover up my blunder than anything else. “Does he usually send you to represent your clan?”
“These days, yes,” Tamil said. Her eyes flickered, revealing a quiet sadness in their depths before it disappeared, like a curtain being whisked over a window. “My father still rules Bala Oighr, but he is many centuries old, nearing the end of his lifespan. It is difficult for him to leave his bed most days, nevermind travel across the realm to attend council meetings.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, withdrawing my foot from the water. I regretted it almost immediately as the sharp edge of my hunger returned, but I did my best to ignore the pangs in my stomach, turning my full attention to the ice fae ambassador. “It must be hard for you.”
