Page 190

NEVE

Caelo, Anna, Vale, and I stood behind Luccan, dressed warmly and armed to the teeth in case we ran into trouble.

Luccan kept assuring us that ‘any second now’ the gateway would open, and we’d have to rush through. As he’d been saying that same thing for the last thirty minutes, my nerves had begun to fray.

At least the wait had given us enough time to eat. It also allowed me time to consider what exactly I’d say to Roar if we made it to Guldtown today.

The sheer membrane of my wings tightened. Roar was the Warden of the West, a High Lord in the Winter Court. He lived in a castle and had hundreds of fae at his beck and call. He commanded a large army.

What if he denied seeing me?

For a moment, the question overwhelmed me, but then the weight of my father’s sword on my hip reminded me who I was. A daughter of the last Falk king and queen. Asurvivor of great cruelty and slavery. A fae who had once cowered but could no longer afford such things.

So Roar might think he could tell me what to do, but he’d be wrong. One way or another, I’d confront him.

And if I had to, I’d use Vale’s title as Prince of Winter to force my way into Roar’s domain. My own would remain a secret for as long as possible, provided that Roar had not already guessed my ancestry, which I deemed about as likely as not.

“It’s happening!” Luccan called out, a new level of excitement in his tone. “Prepare yourselves!”

Clemencia gasped and wrung her hands, covered in white bandicota fur gloves. “Best of luck! Oh, I wish I could go west!”

I was glad she hadn’t tried to come too. After Sir Qildor’s whipping, I worried enough about Anna and Caelo being spotted, though I didn’t try to dissuade them either. Anna because, out of everyone who attended my wedding to Vale, she was the least likely to be harmed by the king and queen, for Anna was human. I’d learned from Emilia that Queen Inga didn’t really see the humans living amongst her. Why would she have seen Anna in Vale’s memory? And if she had, it seemed very unlikely that she’d remember my friend.

Caelo was different. The king wanted to punish Caelo—had already commanded it before the court. However, the knight was powerful, and Vale agreed that another skilled soldier would be useful.

Though it was selfish, I was happy to have Sir Caelo along.

“Best of luck.” Clemencia laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll miss you.”

“We’ll be back,” I assured her because where else were we going to go when this was done? We had no plans to return to Avaldenn and no other place to go.

“Get ready!” Luccan yelled. “It’s really opening!”

My gaze snapped to where the air had been shimmering with wavy lines, and my breath hitched. A gateway, circular and beaming with light, was opening and growing wider by the second. He had done it. With my nerves trickling through me, I patted the side of my cloak, assuring myself that I still had the pouch containing the jewelry I’d taken from Queen Revna’s rooms. From this point forward, there was no telling what would happen, but we would no longer be able to rely on the generosity of friends.

“Once you can step through, do not delay,” Luccan instructed.

I stepped forward, but Vale put a hand on my shoulder. “Let me go first.”

Though I knew he only said it because he cared, I bristled. This was my journey.

“No, Vale, let me go first,” I said. “I need this.”

For a moment, he looked like he wanted to argue, but then he stepped aside. “You first.”

“Like now!” Luccan growled. Sweat dripped down his face at a faster rate and slipped into the collar of his cloak, wetting the fur. “Go!”

Though I would have deemed the gateway too small to step through, I did as he said, ducking and entering thetunnel of light. The moment the light inside touched me, I cried out. Unlike the other gateway we’d walked through, this one was hot and prickly. Was that because it was new? Or was it wrong?

“Go!” Luccan screamed. “I can’t hold it for long!”

Fighting through the pain stabbing at my legs, my arms—everywhere—I took another step, only one, and before I knew it, cold wind whipped through my hair again. So fast, so short, and I was out.

I exhaled and looked around to be sure I’d landed where I intended. The day was windy but clear and the sun was still high in the sky, so it took only seconds for me to catch the golden towers of Roar’s castle glinting in the sunlight.

Luccan had really done it. Not even sure if he’d be able to hear me, I thought to call back to him that he’d succeeded, but at that moment, someone exited the gateway and ran right into me. I fell, but they caught me and pulled me up.

“Step away from the gateway, wife.” Vale ushered me a couple of steps away, which turned out to be a very good thing, as Anna had opted to sprint through the gateway.