Page 21 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Brenton bounced on his now healed foot and slapped my shoulder in joy. I stumbled back a step, and Nalari growled.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, putting his hands up. “It just. . . it feels good. Right. ”

George put a heavy arm over my shoulders, and with a loud, exaggerated smack, he kissed the top of my head.

“This is great,” he said. “We owe you, Elias.”

I shook my head, rejecting the idea of them owing me anything when I owed them everything.

“I’m gonna lie down,” I told them. “Have fun, but maybe stay away from the humans.”

I blinked slowly, sleep already trying to claim me.

“Can we share some of our magic with Everly?” George asked my departing back.

I stilled.

“When she gets back from work,” George continued.

I turned, ready to agree before I turned to Nalari. It’d taken four days for her ears and teeth to look more human although the pallor of her skin remained white.

“Your magic is more powerful than hers. If she absorbs your magic, it might take even longer for her to maintain her more human features,” Nalari said.

“Humans get sick,” I said aloud so George could hear me. “If it takes days for her to look human again, then she can call Teddy to let her know she’s sick and can’t make it to work.”

George nodded.

Nalari grumbled but remained quiet.

“Share my magic with her,” I said.

George whooped in the air, and when Brenton raced into the woods, George followed. There was a loud crash before their laughter filled the crisp air.

How I wished I could join them for a few hours of fun. Instead, I went inside and crawled into bed.

I blinked into the dim surroundings, heart pounding and my head foggy but reeling from whatever woke me.

“Elias.” The urgency in Brenton’s voice jostled me as much as the way he shoved my shoulder down against the firm mattress.

“I’m awake,” I groaned and rubbed my dry eyes.

“Commander Hudson’s here,” he whispered.

Commander...my uncle? “What?” I sat upright, scanning the small quarters of my mostly empty room.

I jumped out of bed but stumbled on my feet a little, so Brenton gripped my elbow to keep me steady.

“You good?” he asked.

“Why’s he here?” My voice came out rough, and I cleared my dry throat.

“He just told us to get you,” he answered. “Didn’t say much else. Looks pissed, though.”

I huffed, running a hand over my face as I stepped out of my room.

Uncle Hudson could be pissed about a lot, starting with me and ending with the people of this realm. I was doing my best, though, while the humans seemed to only want to make things harder for themselves.

On a groan, I walked through the narrow hallway that led to our living quarters. Above me, the lights were too bright for my tired eyes. I rubbed them again before blinking a few times and nodding my head in greeting toward my uncle.

“Snap out of it,” Nalari growled in my pounding head.

“Trying to,” I replied .

“I told you giving your magic to your friends was a bad idea,” she said.

I grumbled an incoherent thought I couldn’t decipher. The warm sensation of her magic coursing through my veins filled me enough to snap me out of my stupor. Enough for me to face my uncle without further disappointing him.

“Thank you, Nalari,” I told her.

I stepped into the living quarters, finding my uncle leaning a shoulder against one of our walls. His assessing eyes passed over me, and he shook his head in disappointment. I gritted my teeth as I stopped and folded my arms across my chest with Brenton standing beside me.

“Don’t thank me,” she growled. “Next time, listen when I tell you something is a bad idea.”

“Did they have fun, though?” I asked because if they did, it was worth it.

She grumbled in reply.

“What can I do for you, Uncle?” I asked.

Uncle Hudson pushed himself off the wall and stalked toward me. “Something seems to be ailing you, Nephew.” He raised his head and sniffed.

“Seeing as the Elder stripped my friends of most of their magic, it is up to me and my Guardian to supply the fae and humans with food as well as melt the snow so that we can all live.”

“Are the fae I sent you not proving themselves useful?” he asked.

“I have them aiding us in town—not here, where we raise our livestock and maintain most of the region’s vegetation,” I said, a muscle twitching in my jaw.

“Very well.” He sighed. “As you well know, there is much unrest in this realm. The Elders are worried the humans will destroy themselves and their realm.” He paused and seemed to wait for me to reply.

“It’s only been thirty-one days since their endless winter started. They are still adapting to their new way of life,” I said. “Such sudden, drastic change is hard on anyone. Give them time.”

He drew in a staggering breath. “Elias”—he hesitated—“the Elders are done waiting. Their patience with us and the humans is gone.”

I stiffened, remembering the way the Elder sent his magic through our mouths and nostrils when my parents had tested his patience. “What does that mean?”

“They have authorized me to use brutal force as necessary.” My uncle ran a hand over his chin, working his jaw back and forth. “You and other region leaders are to do the same.”

“What do you mean, brutal force? ” I asked, gritting my teeth so hard I was sure they’d crack.

“Force, Elias.” He curled his lips and bared his teeth. “Beatings, lashings. The same laws the Elders set forth for us in Niev will be upheld here when someone breaks the law.”

“Such brutal punishments haven’t been upheld in our kingdom since before I was born,” I pointed out.

“How do you think Niev got to where it is today?” Uncle Hudson argued, his jaw tightening. “Thousands of years ago, our people were beaten into submission.”

Rage flowed through me like lava and rushed to my aching head, where it pounded the hardest.

“You can’t possibly expect me to?—”

“I expect you to do as you're told,” he yelled. Red spread from his face to his neck .

Outside, his Guardian roared loud enough to make our walls tremble.

“Follow orders, Elias,” he continued, his voice growing louder with each word shouted in my face. “If you would’ve just followed orders, this would never have. . .” He gave a quick shake of his head.

From across the room, Everly coughed, and my uncle glared at her. To my surprise, she still looked mostly human, which meant either George and Brenton hadn’t shared my magic with her, or she’d declined.

“She declined,” Nalari told me, her voice bleeding with pride. “She’s loyal to you, and more than wanting to taste magic again, she wanted to fulfill your orders.”

“I didn’t order her.”

“Commander Hudson”—she bowed her head in a show of respect—“if I may?”

Uncle Hudson gave her a stiff nod.

“Call it what you want,” Nalari replied.

“I’ve been working with the people of this region for a month now,” she said. “For the most part, they’re good people. They’re scared and hungry, and that combination can draw out the worst of even the best people.”

“What do you suggest?” He angled his head to the side in question.

When she shrugged, I raced to answer.

“Nalari and I have been scaling the area for more animals,” I said. “As the number of our livestock grows and we continue using our magic on the dams and younglings, it’ll give everyone in our region more to eat. We can clear more area for farmland and?—”

“In the meantime, people will continue to kill each other for food and shelter,” Uncle Hudson said .

I kept my expression passive and squared my shoulders back. “Not here, they’re not,” I told him.

“Your people are stealing as much from each other as the rest of the world.” A vein along his neck throbbed. “They may not be killing yet, but you can’t tell me they’re not fighting. I get daily reports from every single town and city in this Guardian-cursed world.”

I worked my jaw back and forth much the way my uncle had moments ago. “I can grow more food.”

“You can barely stand as it is.” A disgusted look washed over his face. “You want to deplete your energy further for these humans, fine, but you will enforce these punishments until your region is better under your command.”

“Uncle Hudson. . .”

This time, when my uncle bared his teeth, his canines grew. A deep growl reverberated from the back of his throat, and his eyes blackened. “We will meet at the town square for our first trial.”

My mind swirled at his words. At the notion.

I wouldn’t have it. Couldn’t.

These were my people. I oversaw them and took care of them the best way I knew how. It was my duty to protect them.

My nostrils flared. “Uncle?—”

“Commander!” He slammed a fist against the wall by my face. “I am your commander, and you will treat me as such.”

My knees buckled beneath me, his authoritative power over me forcing me to bow, but I kept my feet grounded and glared into his onyx eyes.

Uncle Hudson pulled back, running a hand over his shirt to smooth out the wrinkles as he stared at each of my friends. “I expect all of you at the square. ”

When he stormed out of the room, George and Brenton hesitated before following him, shooting me wary looks as they stepped out the door. Everly rested a weighted hand on my shoulder, and I nodded at her in a silent thank-you I hoped she understood.

“We’ll get through this,” she whispered, shooting a glance through the open door.

“I don’t know how,” I answered.

Already, Teddy and her people hated me and those from my realm. I didn’t know much about humans, but I was pretty sure beating them wouldn’t earn me any respect. And that gave me a grave sense of foreboding.