The same way birds would stop calling from palm trees moments before lightning struck a coastal beach. The same way a hush would fall over the Iron Kingdom before nightfall when the threat of vampyrs was once more upon them.
Stellen is on his feet in an instant, his eyes narrowed and head tilted. “The storm has stopped. Nara has done what I expected. She has brought Lilis to us. That should be a good thing, but?—”
He stops speaking and fear pushes at my mind, not least because it’s clear I’m about to encounter Lilis again.
She and two other Frost Fae cornered me at the village when the kings found me. She sneered at me, declared I was now their plaything, and told me she would enjoy my screams. She didn’t know who I was at the time. She thought only to torture information out of me.
Stellen quickly continues and the reason for his tensionbecomes clear when he says, “Nara and Lilis aren’t alone. There are three others with them.”
The dread swirling in my stomach intensifies. “Stellen?”
“I don’t recognize those three heartbeats.” His focus flashes back to me. “I judge we have only a few minutes before the scene outside this forest turns bloody.” He pauses. “Or perhaps,bloodier.”
I’m on my feet in a heartbeat. “Bloody? How?”
Is Lilis the aggressor, or is it the three unfamiliar fae?
Stellen doesn’t answer my question, looking me up and down, a calculated assessment. “Even a single minute can be a lifetime. We will use this time wisely.” His voice is soothing, but his words are quick. “For your own safety, keep your silver armor concealed at all times. My people strongly distrust any Lethian relic.
“You should also consider that using your armor as a weapon may tear through the cloak and expose you to extreme cold, and I may not be able to repair the cloak in time to warm you. Not least because I must avoid using my Lethian power at all costs. Again, because my people hate it.
“When I leave this forest, I am the King of Frost. Music is my enemy, not my friend. You must remember this.”
Even though he speaks quickly, I don’t take any of his warnings lightly. He wouldn’t use this time speaking of anything that isn’t vitally important.
Rapidly, I pull my cloak sleeve down over my arm and hand, ensuring every inch of my Lethian armor is concealed and my body warmth is sealed in.
“The bites on your neck are visible,” Stellen continues, appraising my throat with a grim press of his lips. “I suggest you hide them behind your hair as much as you can. Otherwise, you may appear vulnerable. You must always hide your wounds inFrost.”
Just as he hid his own injury, admitting it only after he collapsed.
Closing the gap between us, he draws the coil of my hair forward across my neck. “Do not speak of how I kept you alive. My Lethian power is hated. If my people believe it has touched you, they may consider you tainted. Corrupted…”
Now, his voice thrums with power, a tantalizing hum carrying a command, the brush of his fingers beneath my chin a reminder of the heat that sustained me.
His lips descend toward mine, his arms sweeping up behind me, but he stops before his mouth would make contact. “A corruption that I must not indulge in again, do you understand?”
My body doesn’t. Even if his logic is clear.
His explanation was short but powerful and not unexpected: every kingdom has wiped out its Lethian population. It follows that he is an abhorrence to the Frost Fae and they must consider it far worse that he is their king.
But my body…
My body understands none of that. My body wants to stay here in this forest, peel off this warm cloak, immerse in the warm water, and float to the sound of Stellen’s Voice.
His fingers feather the material at my throat, running around the base of the hood, stroking my neck as he tugs the hood up over the back of my head.
“As for how you got this warm cloak,” he says, “I pulled it off a dead Alak-Teahan and gave it to you.”
I press my lips together for a moment. “How did this fictional Alak-Teahan die?”
“I killed it, of course.”
“Of course.”
“But only after a fierce battle. Travel into this forest must remain forbidden for all other Frost Fae.”
I have no quarrel with that. Far better that the Alak-Teah are left in peace.
