Page 12 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Chapter

Six

ELIAS

“I kneel before you, Elder Guardians, as your servant and ward. I willingly went against your laws and broke what you fixed thousands of years ago. Do with me as you will. I am at your mercy.”

My prayer was met with a bitter gust of wind that cut into my flesh. They could tear me apart if they wanted to. It was their right.

Was it wrong that a part of me hoped they would?

The fierce winds whipped my long hair out of its bun and across my face. Ice scraped my cheeks and lower lip, and I felt the sting when it cut through my flesh. Although I was born and thrived in the cold, this frigidity was beyond what even I was accustomed to.

I clenched my hands beside me, keeping my eyes closed and my body still.

If the Elders wanted to kill me this way, not only could I do nothing about it, but I’d allow it. Welcome it. It was what I deserved. What a part of my broken heart craved .

The biting cold died with a sudden blast of heat. My brain whirled as I waited for the dragon fire to incinerate me. The flames engulfed me, licking at my skin as the pressure from the Guardian’s breath pushed me back.

I wouldn’t survive this.

“I have only one request.” Even in my mind, my voice was gritty. “ Allow George to live out his sentence in the human realm to watch over the female.”

It was the only way I could ensure he didn’t die over my decision. The only way I could keep my promise to protect her.

“Still you worry about the female,” the Elder, whose voice I didn’t recognize, said.

“Always. As her mate, it is my duty to care for her.”

“She rejected you, did she not?”

That familiar ache in my chest grew. “ She did, but we are still soul bound.”

And I would always be hers, regardless of whether she knew who I was.

“You are soul bound,” the voice reminded me. “ She feels nothing for you.”

I held still, not allowing myself to flinch at his words.

But it was true. I was the only one who suffered with her rejection of me.

And with my uncle erasing her memory, she wouldn’t have to carry any guilt over that human’s death.

No, that was another burden for me to bear on the many ways I’d failed her.

“Stand.” This time, my Guardian, Nalari, spoke.

I opened my eyes to the heavily wooded forest, where my parents stood just outside the Elders’ cave. My father held himself straight, body tense, while my mother clung to his hand as they awaited my verdict. My uncle stood beside them, with my friends flanking behind.

Nalari exhaled a long huff of hot breath, which blew across my burnt face. My skin was tender, and my limbs felt like they were still under the blaze of the Elder’s fire. It took more effort than usual to stand, pain searing my limbs when my knees groaned in protest.

The large green dragon tilted her head to the side.

Black-and-yellow scales lined her enormous face.

She lowered her head to push yellow horns against my sore stomach while her tail swished back and forth in agitation.

Spikes rose from her long tail, making her lethal to her enemies.

But it was her golden eyes I focused my attention on and silently pleaded with.

“I should burn you where I stand,” she said.

Behind her stood a larger dragon with the red mark of an Elder. I bowed my head at him in respect.

“You should,” I agreed with her, trying not to shift under the discomfort of my clothes rubbing on my blistering skin.

She huffed, her deep chest rising and falling with the gesture. “ Stay still, be respectful, and heal yourself later.”

Uncle Hudson stepped forward. Once he was at my side, he dropped to a single knee. “Elder Guardian,” he began, “I understand your disappointment in the young prince. Believe me, we feel the same?—”

“I feel no disappointment,” my mother said, one hand cusped to her chest.

With my parents’ hands linked, my father nodded as he and my mother moved forward.

“It was the Elders who bound him to a human, knowing he couldn’t resist going to her,” my father said.

“Father,” I warned, shooting my parents a desperate look.

The Elder growled in warning, his lips curling back to show his deadly teeth .

My father simply shook his head. Uncle Hudson got to his feet beside me and put a heavy hand on my shoulder, keeping me in place. I resisted squirming at the pressure he put on an open wound that shrieked in pain.

“My son’s death may very well be in your hands, but he is still my son,” my mother argued.

“Our son,” my father corrected.

I watched them, stunned, with my breath suspended in my lungs.

“Was this a joke?” my mother questioned. “A test?”

The large Elder moved forward, his enormous legs crushing fallen trunks while his tail slashed away brushes. “ If this were a test, would you say he passed?”

“I’d say everyone failed.” My mother tipped her chin up in challenge.

Guardians help her. She was going to get herself killed.

“I failed,” I said.

I failed at keeping Teddy safe, and I’d be damned if I failed at keeping my parents safe now too.

“You followed your heart the way your mother and I taught you to.” My father’s eyes grazed over me in what I thought was pride.

“You went to your mate when she was in danger. I would’ve done the same.

” My father pulled my mother closer to his side and pressed a quick kiss on her head.

“Allow my son to live in exile alongside George in the human realm,” he offered, his tone that of a ruling king.

My mother turned toward my father and gripped his arm as she shook her head, rejecting his idea.

“They should all live in exile in the human realm they damned,” he continued, his attention on the Elder while I gasped in surprise. “Or do you know of a better punishment than him watching over the female’s region and her, knowing she will never be his?”

His words were torture, forcing my friends to live in a realm I’d damned. But also a gift, allowing me to be close to Teddy and watch over her. I wanted to hug him, thank him, beg him to take back his punishment.

“Do you command us now, King Thierry?” the Elder asked.

Black magic swirled around us. It swam over my skin and into my mouth and nostrils, then down my throat, where it gripped my lungs. I hacked a cough and stuttered down to my hands and feet when the Elder’s magic squeezed my heart.

“Breathe through it,” Nalari demanded.

As if it were that easy. I tried to suck in a breath, but his magic restricted the oxygen, so all I could muster was a shallow gasp.

“Or maybe Queen Renee believes she can dictate the Guardians now,” he continued.

“No,” my mother rasped out.

Through the dark smoke, I found her on her knees with her hands frantically scratching at her throat.

“No,” she coughed out again.

Slowly, the Elder withdrew his magic. I sucked in a greedy breath of air and heard everyone around me do the same. Still by the cave, Brenton vomited while George leaned on his knees and coughed. Everly was the only one who seemed okay.

“This was my doing,” I whispered, my throat raw and painful. “The punishment should be mine, not theirs.”

“Nalari,” the Elder growled, “ if your ward speaks out of turn once more, I will incinerate him. That goes for all you lesser fae.” His voice clapped in our ears like thunder .

Anger rose at his words. Lesser fae. We were beneath no one. Even the commoners of our village were greater than every creature in this realm or any other realm.

While I raged, I felt my thoughts close in, like they were being shoved in a cage. For a fearful moment, I thought the Elder had heard my thoughts, but Nalari’s exasperated glare let me know it was her shielding my thoughts from the others.

“ We Guardians are here to protect and lead you. Your purpose is to serve us. Obey us. Or have you forgotten?” the Elder continued.

“Stay quiet,” Nalari hissed.

From the way my parents and uncle kept their gazes on the ground, I assumed their Guardians warned them to do the same.

Frustrated and hurt, I unclenched my jaw and worked it back and forth. I wondered if the Elder enjoyed the smell of my seared skin. If he would make me leave the wounds unhealed to fester and poison my blood.

But no, that went against everything the Guardians stood for. What history told us they’d done for us.

“Because of your impertinence, your human female may not live to see another sunrise.”

Fury thrummed deep in my veins. The sudden shift heightened my senses when my primal instincts took over.

“Are you threatening her?” I inched forward, ready to rip the Elder’s heart from his chest.

The Elder narrowed his reptilian eyes while he breathed white puffs of smoke from his nostrils. “I will not warn your ward again,” he told Nalari with a calmness I knew he didn’t feel.

Nalari’s magic swirled in a fiery green haze. It gripped my hands and pulled me to my knees. I sucked in a breath when it swam through my mouth and nostrils and closed around my throat.

I fought against it, feeling heat beat through my veins until my skin felt like it was on fire. Using my own magic, I fought against hers. Pushed it out of me while my body hummed in anger.

Uncle Hudson’s magic slammed against my back, making me fall forward on a wheeze.

Unable to speak, I glared up at Nalari, letting her feel her betrayal.

“I’m doing this for you,” she said.

“If he harms her. . .” I shook in anger, not knowing exactly what I’d do but knowing I’d harm him and anyone who hurt her.

“I do not have to threaten your female, boy,” the Elder’s voice boomed in my head.

“Thunderbirds have already crossed the veil, and they’ll find a way to do it again.

The nyxx and lirio will eventually breach through the army I’ve put to guard the tear you created.

When our creatures cross to their realm, they’ll rip her and every other human apart. ”