“A tragedy,” Thane said quietly. Reyna could not bear to look at him, but she did so regardless, only to see the look on his treacherous face. There was a hint of remorse flickering in his golden eyes, but was it all an act? He had known what they would find when they passed the inn, and yet he insisted they come anyway. He was prepared. Perhaps he had even been practicing his frown.
“Reyna, is this the Ruin?” Eislyn asked, reaching out with trembling fingers to grasp her sister’s arm.
Reyna closed her eyes. “It certainly does appear that way.”
“Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do here,” Lorcan spoke up with a quiet voice. “We should continue on and find a sheltered place to camp.”
“Surely the inn was not in this state when you made the trek north?” Reyna could not help but ask.
Let us see if he can sweet speak his way out of this one...
“Quite the opposite in fact,” Thane said smoothly with no trouble at all. “When we arrived, it was a very lively inn, wouldn’t you say, Lorcan?”
Lorcan merely grunted.
“I cannot believe this,” Eislyn said, voice wavering. “Why, one of our cooks left the castle to come work here only last year. Zed. You remember him, don’t you, Reyna?”
“Of course I remember Zed.”
The memory of Zed fuelled her vengeance. Thane could not get away with what he had done. He could not be allowed to rule over the ice fae when he had murdered innocents the very same day he’d been proclaiming an alliance.Shewould not allow it.
“Come,” she said with a sigh. “There is nothing we can do here. We should find somewhere to camp for the night, just as Lorcan suggested.”
Lorcan’s visible tension drifted into the wind. He gave Reyna a nod and flicked his reins, restarting their trek forward. As they left The Sapphire Axe behind them and approached the Shard, Reyna cast one last glance over her shoulder at the only lands she had ever known.
There were no trees or thorns or hoarfrost worms surrounding her, but she swore she heard those ancient voices that had been with her most of her life. She did not know for certain what they said, but she did know this: they were urging her forward.
* * *
When the party crossed the border between kingdoms, Reyna felt a sudden shift in the very fabric of her world. The snow still crunched beneath Enbarr’s hooves, but it felt different somehow, almost as though it had been dulled. The orange colors in the sky were far less vibrant, and the scents in the air went weak.
She glanced around her. Ahead lay the lands of the air fae, but it did not look far different than the kingdom she had left behind. Fields of snow stretched out before them, disappearing far into the distance. Further south, she knew she would find the grasslands that covered most of the realm, but this far north, the ice had not yet left her. A light breeze pushed at the silver hair that framed her face, and for the first time in her entire life, she shivered. By her side, Eislyn’s teeth began to chatter.
“Ah.” Thane smiled. “I suppose you have not experienced the shifting of the elements before now, have you?”
“Neither of us have.” Reyna did not point out that he and his court were the very reason that they had never left the safety of their icy lands. “Why is the ice a different color? And the sky?”
Thane frowned in confusion.
“By leaving your kingdom, you have allowed your senses to dim,” Lorcan said. “You draw power from the ice of your lands but not from the ice here.”
Reyna had heard tales of this before, but she was surprised it rang true, even now. “But the Dagda took our magic away.”
“Mostof the magic,” Lorcan corrected. “You still have your familiar, do you not? You can still draw some strength from your element. The power of our magic is fading, but it is not yet fully gone.”
At the thought of her familiar, she glanced up at where Wingallock circled their party, swooping through the skies.
Reyna had not realized she would weaken herself by leaving her kingdom. What would that mean for her fighting? Had she only ever been strong because of the ice beneath her feet? Could she still do what she needed to do without that extra strength?
I can, she thought.I will.
An hour south of the Shard, they found a small cluster of trees and rocks that would shelter them for the night. Reyna was still growing accustomed to her changed senses and still shivered beneath her cloak. It was not as if she were truly cold. It was different than that. There was something in the wind, something harsh and cruel that bit at her neck.
The fire proved difficult to light in the wind, and only their huddled bodies around it kept it flickering into the night. It was the first evening they had spent all together, and Reyna felt starkly uncomfortable at the closeness in which Thane sat beside her. Instead of sharing body heat, she wanted to stab him.
She supposed she would have to grow accustomed to that as well.
Thane seemed relaxed and comfortable, lounging against a stone while his guards stomped through the snow around them, securing the perimeter of their camp. Only Lorcan sat with the prince and princesses. Thane pulled out a flask, tipped the contents into his open mouth, and the scent of spiced wine spilled into the night.
