Page 15 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

I rubbed my mostly healed hands over my trousers to dust them off. “Does that mean the others’ magic is less than what the Elder left them with?”

“Probably.”

“And yours?” I worried .

She blinked. “I’m a dragon.”

“And I’m a fae,” I argued. “We both possess magic, and both are stuck in a strange realm.”

She lifted her head arrogantly, but it somehow made her seem more majestic, not that I’d tell her that.

“You and I are not the same.” Her words took on a frustrated tone, something I felt in the sudden heat in my stomach. “You were gifted magic, while I ? —”

“You are magic,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Careful, Nalari, your arrogance is showing, and it’s not a great look.”

“Arrogance and confidence are two different things entirely.” She sighed. “Are you really going to let what the Elder said about you being a lesser fae come between our relationship?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared. “Our relationship?” I asked aloud. “You mean, me being your ward and you being, my what exactly?”

“Your Guardian. I am duty-bound to protect you.” Her voice was clipped with impatience, and when she let out a breath, a long string of smoke flared from her nostrils. “You know this, Elias. You know the history. Why are you fighting this? Why are you fighting me?”

“Because.” Frustrated, I threw my hands in the air.

My breaths came out shallow, hefting my shoulders up and down. I stared at the frozen lake, at the frozen ground and trees. At the cave Nalari had landed us near with snow covering most of its entrance and icicles hanging precariously from the ceiling.

With my arms outstretched, I spun in a slow circle. “Look around you. Look at what I did to the human realm, to my closest friends, to my mate. The Elder, one of our oldest Guardians, made sure everyone would suffer except me, the one who caused all this. How is that a just punishment? ”

She was quiet for a moment, studying me through her golden eyes. “I thought you’d been let off easily, but I see now that the Elder knew what he was doing. Your punishment is just.”

“Just?” Indignant, I shouted the word at her, listening to the way it filtered through the crisp air. “Would you say that if it were your friends suffering because of you?”

She blinked. “I have no friends.”

I rubbed a palm over my chest, where a small ache pierced at her words. But I already knew this. Nalari and I weren’t friends. If it weren’t for our connection that let me feel her worry for me, I wouldn’t think she cared much for me at all. I was fine with that. I preferred it actually.

Maybe after all our years together, I thought she’d come through the veil for me and not her sense of duty.

Knowing my voice would sound rough, I spoke to her through our mental connection.

“Nalari.” I hesitated, both wondering if I wanted to know the answer to my question or stay ignorant.

“There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?

” I looked around at the almost serene nothingness of our white landscape.

“There are a lot of things I don’t tell you.” Another long stream of hot smoke unfurled from her nostrils.

When she said nothing, I waited, turning back to the lake and wondering what it looked like before the freezing temperatures. Boats had tipped over along the far shore and laid on their sides.

If there had been any passengers on those boats, I hoped they’d made it to safety before the snow made it dangerous to pass.

“The Elders have been talking about the human realm for some time,” Nalari finally spoke. “I don’t know anything for sure, but I think they wanted a reason to come here. ”

Alarmed, I gaped back at her. “Why?” I shook my head. “Why do you think that?” I asked when she remained quiet.

She turned her head, dismissing me. “I won’t discuss this further until I know something more. Just” —she paused, her huge body lifting when she took a steep inhale—“ be careful with the Elders, Elias.”

“That’s it?” I clenched my fists at my side. “What about Teddy?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

It was unprecedented for fae to find a mate outside of Niev. Yet I, the prince, had. Strange.

Or . . .

“Did they give me a mate in the human realm so I’d pass through the veil?”

That thought fought against everything I’d been taught, everything I’d been warned against. While going through the veil had been the norm thousands of years ago when mages were still alive, it was strictly forbidden since their annihilation.

What would the Guardians have to gain by denying us something they secretly wanted enough to gift me a mate on the other side of the veil?

“Nalari?” I asked on a growl.

She turned quickly, her teeth bared and a loud rumble coming from her throat. “Watch how you speak to me.”

Flames burst from her open mouth with such quickness I barely had time to conjure my shield and block them. As it was, I could feel where Nalari’s fire had licked the charred skin on my face and arms.

When she relented, I threw my shield down. “What the hell was that for?”

Her reptilian eyes narrowed to slits. “Do you really want to cross me again? ”

“Whatever,” I huffed out, turning my back on her to prove how unafraid of her I was. “Stay out here while I see what’s inside the cave.”

I unsheathed my dagger and carried it in my palm. The skin on my arms was already healing although not as quickly as I was accustomed to.

Why was my Guardian, the one sworn to protect me, suddenly so hostile with me?

I could almost answer that question since our bond had been tested numerous times over the past forty-eight hours.

But before today, I’d never felt as though our relationship was so volatile.

Dragons, by nature, were hotheaded— pun intended— but I’d always felt as though Nalari and I had mutual respect.

Yet. ..she just intentionally tried to burn me .

That didn’t quite make sense, and it only added to my confusion and despair.

Now wasn’t the time to postulate, though, when I needed to find food.

I maneuvered my way over the snow and under the icicles. Inside the cave, my footsteps echoed. I paused when I heard a flurry of motion and made sure to keep my steps quieter when I moved forward.

“There’s something else we need to discuss before we go back to camp,” Nalari said.

From a distance, I spotted a wild hare with ears and feet longer than the hares of Niev.

“Could we talk about this later?” I asked, annoyed and frustrated with both her and myself.

I moved quietly toward the creature, making sure my steps were silent. The hare wiggled its nose and peered toward me. I stilled, holding my breath when its ears moved in my direction .

“You should be careful of those you call your friends,” Nalari continued.

At her words, I gave my head a slight shake of disbelief. The hare bounced a few steps before it stopped and again looked in my direction.

“It would be foolish of you to trust them as you did back in Niev,” she warned.

“They have proven themselves worthy of my trust,” I shot back.

“That may be true when you were in Niev, where they had the convenience of their magic.” She paused while I continued following the hare deeper into the cave. “They were safe in Niev. Comfortable. The way George spoke to you ? —”

“He has every right to be angry with me,” I said.

“You are his prince first. Friend, second,” she reminded me.

The hare hopped to a corner, where a large group of fifty to seventy hares huddled together, including a small litter of babes.

“I am no longer a prince.” Never mind the fact I’d always been a friend before any royal title.

She huffed out an angry sound, and I was sure I would have seen hot smoke flare from her nostrils if I were in front of her.

“Therein lies the problem,” she said, frustration lacing her tone. “They no longer have a reason not to kill you.”

Ignoring her, I settled in front of the group of hares and conjured two sacks.

While a few of the small creatures scurried away, most were either too frightened or too cold to move.

One by one, I grabbed each hare and put them in my sack.

Once each hare was in a sack, I waved my hand and made them disappear to an inner pocket of magic only I could access .

“Seeing as you don’t have friends, I’ll explain this as simply as I can,” I said, going deeper into the cave. “One does not kill a friend simply because there is no reason not to, when being friends is reason enough.”

“You are na?ve, Elias,” she argued. “I can’t protect you from your willful ignorance.”

“And I can’t help that you know nothing of friendship or common goodness.”

Nalari growled, making the cave walls and ceiling shudder.

At the sudden motion, a large deer with antlers spearing from his head ran toward me.

I jumped on its back. It bucked a few times, pounding its antlers over my head, but it was too weak to put up much of a fight.

Within seconds, I had it wrestled to the ground as two more ran past me.

A smile broke across my face when a few more deer appeared.

“I’m sending a small herd of deer toward you,” I told my Guardian. “There are seven of them. Today, these deer are our friends.” My smile widened. “I need you to remember what I said about friends, Nalari. We don’t kill our friends, right?”

“A lot of good they’ll do us alive,” she huffed out.

“I have a plan,” I told her.

“Does your plan include eating for survival?”

“Of course,” I grumbled. “ Put them to sleep when they’re out.”

I elongated my canines, sensing the deer’s fear when they realized the predator I was. When I pounced, they ran toward the mouth of the cave.

Whether my plan was good or a wishful whim, I wasn’t sure yet.

But when we returned to camp, before we worried about our own shelter, we’d have to build pens for the deer and any other livestock Nalari and I managed to find.

We’d have to ready the ground for vegetation.

And we’d have to hope against hope that Nalari’s and my magic combined would be enough to aid us.

And I had to ensure I didn’t focus on Nalari’s words, which could only build distrust in those I’d trusted for most of my life.

“They were safe in Niev. Comfortable. They no longer have a reason not to kill you.”

No, I refused to let her words take root.

We’d been friends, family for a lifetime. That would remain the same in any realm. Right?