Because she is Reyna Darragh.
Lorcan closed his eyes and sagged against the rock. This was what he loved about her. Her bullheaded, single-minded determination to protect her people. Her ferocity toward anyone who threatened their safety. She would do anything for them. She never would have chosen any other way.
Letting out a great, shuddering sigh, he suddenly knew what must be done. His entire life had tunnelled into this very moment. When he had lost his mother to the Fomorians. When his father had forced him to become his legitimized son. The years he spent as a spy, standing beside Thane Selkirk and learning the ways of the courts.
And now, losing Reyna and any hope he’d ever had of living a normal life.
Lorcan would return to Findius, and he would become the next king.
44
Eislyn
Eislyn had never been happier to see Snowport in her life. The small city sat on the northwestern edge of the Ice Court’s frozen lands, its shores edged by the glittering Sea of Fomor. The city itself was much smaller than Falias, and the fae who called it home were the sturdiest of them all. Temperatures often dropped so low that the citizens tended to snack on ice when they were thirsty rather than bother with finding water.
And despite its size, Snowport was a booming city. The trade route with the Empire of Fomor meant that merchants from all over the realm would travel far to the weekly market set inside the castle walls. The castle itself had been carved from gleaming white stone, and its windows had been crafted from some of the earliest ice glass mined from the nearby caves. Two towers rose from opposite ends of the sturdy structure, identical in height. It had been built in a way to honor the link between the two continents, forever bound by their centuries-long trade.
From the top of the western tower, you could see Tuath Isle on a clear day. When Eislyn had visited in years past, she’d often peered out the glistening windows in search of foreign ships. Not once had she ever been lucky enough to see a Fomorian.
She wondered if today would be her day.
Vreis shivered as he stared up at the icy city. “It’s beautiful, Eislyn. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
“You’ll like Falias more. There is nowhere in this world better than Falias. Everything is such a crystal, clear blue. The castle itself looks like it was built from ice.”
Vreis lifted a brow. “Snowport looks pretty icy itself. In fact...where’s the smoke? Where are the fires?”
Eislyn smiled. “We only use fire to cook, and you’ll find ice fae are a superstitious lot. Many avoid fire when they can.”
“I am going to freeze to death.”
“There will be fur, and there are some hot springs just north of the castle. We don’t use them for bathing—we prefer the cold—but the fae here like to use them to cook their meats.”
“So, I would be bathing in your ovens,” he said flatly.
She couldn’t help but laugh and hook her arm through his. “You’re reminding me of Reyna, you know. When we first arrived at the Air Court, she couldn’t stop complaining about all that wind. You would have thought she’d been dropped into a vat of molten iron.”
At the sound of her sister’s name on her tongue, her smile dropped like a stone into the churning sea.Oh, Reyna. She fought back her tears. Even when Reyna had been a Shieldmaiden, Eislyn had seen her almost every day. They’d never gone more than a week apart. It felt like one of her arms had been chopped off and buried somewhere in the ground.
She did not even know if Reyna was safe, let alone alive. And Reyna would have no idea where Eislyn had gone either. She could picture her sister’s face now, screwed up in tormented rage. If anyone was going to kill Aengus, it would be Reyna Darragh.
“You’ve disappeared on me again,” Vreis said quietly, a gentle hand on her back.
She flushed from his touch. “I’m sorry. I’m just—”
“Worried about your sister,” he finished for her. He could always do that, read her thoughts so easily. Despite herself, Eislyn had begun to feel certain things for Vreis that she knew she mustn’t. But he was warm and he was kind and he was good. He saw her for who she was, and he cared for her in spite of it all. She did not know if it went deeper than that for him, but even if it didn’t, she knew she’d found a true friend for life.
Not a shield. A friend.
She nodded. “Come. Let’s go see my cousin.”
They strode through the open city gates, smiling up at the guards that manned the wall, passing fae who were bustling to and from the market square. For once, it felt nice to come and go as she pleased. It had been so long since her every action had not been watched, where she was safe enough to stride down a street without worry.
Tairngire had been a beautiful place. But it was a dangerous one. The fae hid behind their city walls, terrified to leave for fear the enemy might sprout from the very ground itself and kill them instantly.
The Ice Court had not avoided war either, but the battles never made it this far north. Here, peace was an ever-present calming presence, and the city knew it. Few fae were carrying weapons, and their faces were unlined, free from worry.
Eislyn could not help but be envious of every last one of them.
