Page 1
Valen
Today, I’m finally going to tell the truth.
Some of it, anyway.
From the moment Tania and I returned to the Winter Court from Ventin a week ago, it’s been pure chaos. A nonstop barrage of damage control to begin righting the wrongs of my bloodline. Well, half of it.
I’m an Icekeeper— and a Frostreaver. Half royal bloodline—half usurper. My uncle, Orbik Icekeeper, the former Winter Lord, is gone. So is his wife, my aunt, Liani. All that’s left now is me…and Keltania.
She’s sitting in the chair by the double doors that lead out to the courtyard, sharpening one of the daggers I gave her a few days ago. Her red hair is contained in a long braid that hangs down her back, but several strands have fallen loose. She blows at them absently, then picks a rock from the sole of her boot. The set of leathers she’s wearing is new, but the boots are the same worn pair she came here with from Lunal when we first met. It seems like a lifetime ago…
“Will you please stop pacing?” she snaps. “You’re making me dizzy.”
There’s a brief murmur of agreement from the others, but I keep pacing.
Tania unsettles some of the Fae at the estate. Well, most of them. She’s a druid. The enemy. Part of the Order that worshipped the woman who helped enslave them for over a thousand years. Right now, she unsettles me, too, but not for the same reasons. It’s because she’s being so…
“ Valen . Stop!”
…bossy.
I sigh and lean against the wall beside the door. If I block it, would it stop Celpin, the current captain of the guard, from dragging me out to the waiting crowd? Probably not. But I bet it would piss him off. That’s my new favorite pastime.
“Do we really think this is necessary?” I say to no one in particular.
Guria, an older Fae I chose for my new council, smiles. It’s genuine and just a little sympathetic. “Revealing your magic to the Winter Fae now is the right decision. It will help ease some of the turmoil when…” She pauses, dropping her gaze to the floor. “The enemy comes.”
Delkin Frostreaver, my father, rests a hand on my shoulder. “Doing it now will help unify them. Then, when you take your rightful place, they’ll feel more secure. Trust me.”
I do trust him. It’s myself I’m wary of.
I tried getting my father to step back into his old role as monarch, but he’s convinced the Winter Fae are better served now by someone with magic.
Something soothing washes over me. Tania . She feels my discomfort as easily as I feel her desire to ease my nerves.
The magic that links us is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it lets her know if I’m in trouble, and vice versa. A curse because we’re hyperaware of each other. That’s been difficult to hide, and it’s getting worse. The bond is growing in ways we never imagined possible. Plus the feelings we have for each other and the inability to act on them…
No one except for a select few in our inner circle knows the truth about the connection we share. To the rest of the world, we are a Fae royal and his guard, nothing more.
“I still say this will paint more of a target on his back.” Tania sheathes her blade and stands, glaring at me. “Goddess knows it’s almost impossible to keep him out of trouble as it is.”
“I did perfectly fine before you came along,” I snipe.
Delkin groans while Guria clucks her tongue.
It’s the response I’m hoping for. Let them all think Tania and I barely tolerate each other.
The truth is far more complicated… It’s also the reason we’re in this mess.
I’m the first Fae since the Great Drain to be born with true Winter magic. Aphelian wanted that power. In an attempt to steal it, she manipulated Tania into linking our life forces together.
But humans aren’t meant to withstand the strength of Fae magic, and being connected to it was killing her. So, I did what was necessary to save Tania. I made a deal with the enemy. Aphelian agreed to manipulate the link so Tania could survive Fae magic…as long as I took my place as the Winter Lord. As monarch, I could promise she’d have no opposition inside the walls of the estate—but I never said anything about the lands beyond the gate.
I’m counting on that loophole to save us.
The doors rattle as someone tries to push inside. When I don’t move away from it, everyone stares.
“What?” I swear, they all have no sense of humor. I’m thinking my first official decree as Lord will be personality lessons.
Tania rolls her eyes and drags me away from the door.
Celpin barges in a moment later. He’s far too serious and just a little too bloodthirsty for my taste. With broad shoulders and an impressive six-foot-five height, he’s always on alert, his golden eyes glinting. He intimidates most people, but personally, I think he looks like a constipated rabbit.
“It’s time,” he says, grinning.
“Are you sure?” I inch away from him.
There are other things I’d rather be doing right now. Raiding the kitchen, getting drunk, laying my head in the mouth of a tragon… I’m not fit to rule the Winter Fae. I can’t even keep plants alive—which is ironic, considering all my years of proximity to the druid tear have technically given me access to their magic.
“I could have sworn we set this up for later this afternoon,” I say. “We should—”
“The sooner you get it over with, the better,” Delkin says, giving me a light nudge toward the door. He guides me from the room to a large dais set up in the courtyard. There’s a crowd of Fae stretching all the way past the main gate and down the hilpberry-lined path.
“Welcome, Winter Fae!” Guria smiles at the crowd. “Today is a momentous occasion. As we gather, we are all still reeling from the truth about the druid Aphelian. How she enslaved us for so long.”
A rush of irritation filters down the link, but when I glance at Tania, her expression is neutral. I can’t blame her for bristling at Guria’s words. Aphelian was a monster, but she wasn’t solely to blame. Servis—and all the Fae leaders who came after him—were just as culpable for their predicament.
“But we must put the past aside, because today we move into the future…” Guria turns and motions me forward.
I shuffle up to her side, forcing myself to smile at the crowd.
“Today we welcome the first true Winter Lord in over a thousand years! Valen Frostreaver!”
There’s some cheering from the crowd, but overall, most of them stand there, a little stunned. I can’t blame them. I doubt most of them view me as monarch material .
She moves aside and gestures for me to speak.
This is it. The grand reveal.
“I hope you all know just how much I love the Fae of the Winter Lands and how honored I am to be standing here. And, in an attempt at transparency, I have something that I want you all to know.” I lift my hand and—
Something shoots from the center of the crowd. A small object that glints in the light. A blade. I pivot and shove Guria to the side.
“Valen, look out!” Tania rushes toward me, but she doesn’t make it before someone else knocks me sideways, the air expelling from my lungs with a painful whoosh . I collapse, their heavy weight pinning me down.
“You are not fit to rule!” A golden-eyed Fae lifts a dagger above my head. As he brings it down, something sends him careening sideways.
Not something…Tania.
“Up,” she orders and positions herself between me and the Fae, brandishing her sword. No one would think twice about her stepping in to protect me, but with this many people watching, it could go badly.
This could expose us.
“I have an idea,” I whisper, leaning forward.
“What? Now?” She swings the blade, but the Fae assassin pivots just out of reach. The crowd watches our every move, riveted.
The Fae charges. Tania grunts and shoves me aside as he tackles her to the ground. He delivers a series of perfectly aimed blows to her midsection, and I bite down hard to keep from coughing. Because of our link, we don’t just share emotions. We share injuries, too. I suffer every blow as if it were delivered directly to me.
She retaliates, bringing her elbow up hard. I feel the blow as she clips his jaw, sending him off-balance.
I love watching her fight. She’s graceful and savage and has a kind of fire I’ve never seen in anyone else—but I don’t gawk. There’s no time.
She gets to her feet, and I step around her, putting myself between her and the attacker.
“Valen! What are you—”
I concentrate, lifting a hand toward the Fae. Four icy walls form, trapping him in place, and a collective gasp rolls through the crowd. Leaning back toward Tania, I whisper, “I can’t afford to have you fighting him out here and bruising up my pretty face.”
She hesitates, then nods.
I smooth my tunic and turn to address the crowd of Fae. “So, as I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted…I was born with true Winter magic.”
Stunned chatter rolls through the large crowd.
I know the council thinks this was for the best, but I can’t help feeling like it’s going to bite me in the ass.
Table of Contents
- Page 1 (Reading here)
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59