Ever Winter (23 page)

The dirt and piles of rock all around them crackled into frost as a thin layer of ice expanded from Corb outward, until all the land in sight was frozen solid and the horses whinnied in protest at the magic vibrating the air. The trees, saplings, fallen leaves and wood were all slightly crackling with the spread of the thin layer of ice on everything. It even made Shade shiver slightly but she gripped her sword tighter.

The raven haired leader’s smile faded. He stared at Corb, studying the mother of pearl orbs and his frightenly white skin and hair. The black chunk of hair snaking from under the thick locks caught his attention, making his hazel eyes burn with hatred.

“Arrest him, he’s the Unseelie Lieutenant,” The warrior hissed.

“Wait!” Shade shouted over the starting commotion, stepping forward, she held her arms out and reined in the ice. It reversed its circumference and sucked right back in toward the middle of the camp, until the layer of ice was all but gone. “He’s already restrained. We are bound by blood. He’s harmless.”

“You must be Shade. I’ve heard all about you.” He cocked his head toward her, eyeing her up and down. When she didn’t relent, he cracked a smile. “A wild thing chained up can always bite the hand that feeds it.” The gang behind him chuckled and the horses shifted under their shakes.

“Who are you? Will you let us pass?” Shade stepped forward, but was met with one of his warriors, who had jumped off his horse and now held his sword pointed, ready to strike her down. Each step she took, he took one closer.

“We’re the Scren foot soldiers, otherwise known as the NicScren army. We serve the Seelie Court and its queen.” He waited for her reaction before continuing, taking satisfaction in her confusion. “I’m Nyol, leader of the NicScren Guard. This is Paki, my second in command.” He gestured toward the guard mirroring Shade on the ground. She lifted her eyebrows at him, hoping he’d back off with the introduction. He didn’t.
Loyal guard dog is more like it.

“The others are part of my army. We’ve been amassing thousands to guard against Aveta and her unholy minions. They’re destroying the boundaries of Faerie and are probably starting a civil war with the mortal world, if you haven’t noticed.” Again he studied the group, evidently absorbing every detail of each person.

“Shade is the rightful queen. You must answer to her. Let us get on our way to the palace and you will see we’re right.” Dylan’s patience was waning and Shade hoped he wouldn’t lose it in front of so many, they would not be able to hold their ground against this army. They looked pretty well trained and thirsty for blood.

“Very well, we shall see about that. We’ll escort you to the palace so you can ‘prove’ yourself. It’s not far down the shortened path.”

Dylan and the others looked at each other, confusion swimming across their faces. “A shortcut?” How had they not known about a short cut?

“Yes. Only the royals and the army use it. Follow us, we’ll get to the bottom of your so called claims.” Nyol snickered, turning his horse and was immediately swallowed up by the other warriors as they filed in behind him. Shade had the strongest suspicion that things at the Scren Palace were not what they were expecting them to be. She hoped she was wrong, but so far, the deep, guttural feeling which often made her want to hurl from the jittery butterflies it produced, returned with a vengeance and was rarely wrong.

Dylan tilted his head, motioning for them to continue. “Very well, lead the way.”

Nyol nodded, eyeing him carefully, as if dissecting the Teleen guard in hopes of finding a breach in his hardened exterior. Dylan matched his glare, unrelenting. Nyol turned and motioned the rest of them toward the east, which wasn’t the direction of the Scren palace.

“That’s not the way.” Shade interrupted. Paki was behind her in a moment’s notice, giving her a shove. “Ow! What is your problem?” Paki’s stare seared into her. He seemed more aggressive than the others and Shade got a brief projection in her mind from him. A woman, looking much like Paki, dressed in a long, flowing peach gown. Her skin was golden brown, tanned like it had seen a healthy dose of sunlight. Her long black hair flowed over her shoulders, making her frame seem smaller and more fragile.

Who was she?

A frigid, ice cold hand grabbed Paki and slammed him to the side. “Don’t ever touch her.” Corb snarled at him.

“It’s alright, I’m fine.” She waved Corb back, throwing a searing glare at Paki and continued forward with the group. Why did the feeling that the woman in the brief vision was important not only to Paki, but to Shade too? All she could hope for was that they would find out just how critical things were very soon. Maybe even the reason for Paki’s hatred toward her.

“Sometimes the way is not what it seems.” Nyol hardened voice echoed back to them and she looked up toward the brazened leader. He seemed very sure of himself, as if nothing could happen which he hadn’t already predicted. It made her wonder what he thought of them. She hoped there wouldn’t be too much resistance at the Palace of her taking the throne back from whatever lesser queen had control over it at the moment. From the looks of it, it wasn’t going to be an easy feat. It might even prove difficult and darn near impossible if their feelings toward her were as icy as Paki’s.

Approaching a clearing in the middle of the dried out and sparse forest. The group gathered in its center, patiently waiting for everyone to gather in closely. Dylan was studying everyone’s movements closely, making Shade feel increasingly nervous. Claustrophobia crept in as she watched the group press in on her. She shivered as she backed into Corb, who grasped her shoulders, making her spin and almost tumble to the floor. His grip kept her standing, but she could feel his frozen fingers digging into her skin as she found herself staring eye to eye with the Ancient Winter King.

His Mother of Pearl eyes were not as white and shiny as before. As a matter a fact, they were the lightest color of blue she’d ever seen. He looked, dare she say it, more human with his irises this way. Gasping at finding the difference making his face morph so much, she couldn’t take her eyes from his.

“What’s the matter, princess?” He cocked his head to the side as he took in her reaction.

“Your eyes, they’re…changing. What happened to them?” She swallowed her fear away and waited as Corb dropped his hands from her shoulders and reached up to touch his eyelids. The silver metal bracelet gripped into the angry flesh of his wrist and looked even more deeply embedded than before. She couldn’t imagine the searing pain it must cause him and wondered if it would ever come off. From the looks of it, if it did, he’d be scarred forever. Or maybe he didn’t scar. Maybe it would heal quickly the moment it was removed. She had a strong suspicion that it was laced with iron to weaken him further.

This torture made her shift, uncomfortable with the thought that it had everything to do with her.

He blinked his humanly light, blue eyes at her, mystified at her discovery. “I’m not sure, Shade. I can’t say this has ever happened to me before. It must be my connection to you. Maybe in time…,” he paused, his eyebrows furrowing as the thought passed his lips. “Maybe I’ll become fully human.”

They both glanced back toward Nyol as his voice echoed across the group. “This is the portal. Stay together closely, it will take us straight to the entrance to the Scren Palace.” With that, he brought a staff he’d carried with him and slammed it into the ground. The ground shook with a violent wave, making Shade and everyone shift to keep their balance. She hoped it wouldn’t be like Camulus’ violent jaunts that made her want to hurl every time he took them on a trip.

Not a moment later, the earth was still and the group began descending out of the clearing onto a cobblestone road, which led directly up to the gates of a sprawling palace beyond its metal embrace. Nyol approached the gate with fluidity which made everyone move out of his way without even a word. Nyol produced a small flute, looking like small piccolo and played a short, melodic tune. The gates creaked open, wide enough for them to filter through, and shut immediately after the last warrior stepped through. Shade found it fascinating. It was similar to the Glass Castle’s gate, but different. There was not just one gate, the next one was an unseen barrier, which if Dylan and Shade hadn’t been behind Nyol’s people, they would have run right into it.

Nyol drew a pattern in the air with his finger, paused at times and jerked his hand in opposite direction, too. Once he was done with this air lock, Shade felt the breeze shift, as if a vacuum had been opened and the troops began to pile in. The place was fortified with magic locks. How anyone ever planned to get through the gates without a royal guard was beyond her. It could easily be a very confining trap too. Escape would surely be highly impossible.

“Nyol, who’s the current ruler of the Scren Palace?” Dylan inquired. Shade couldn’t believe she hadn’t asked this before. Though, something told her she already knew. Someone must’ve mentioned it to her before, but she couldn’t remember who had, no matter how much she tried. The memory spell Corb had used on her must’ve affected some of her long term memory. At least, it was a possibility.

“Queen Ariana. She’s not as powerful as King Verenis was, but she has her own tricks up her sleeve.” Nyol threw a cautionary glance toward her, making her feel that this queen had a lot more than just tricks up her sleeve. “I hope you are who you say you are, she will submit to Verenis’ daughter, but she might make you prove it first.”

They’d arrived at the inner castle entrance and entered into a large foyer. Shade studied the intricate stone decorations throughout, falling in love with its ornate designs immediately. It felt oddly familiar, like it recognized her, making its magic sing and caress along her skin with a warm breath. It made the hairs stand on end and had her smiling, even though they were being stripped of their belongings and weapons by the NicScren soldiers.

Whispers fluttered in her ears, soft wisps like ghosts saying things like ‘it’s her’ ‘she’s returned’ ‘Shade’ ‘rightful ruler’. Shade spun, attempting to find the owners of the whispers but found none. “Did you hear that?”

Dylan looked up, just having handed his swords to Nyol. “Hear what, Shade?”

Noticing that no one else heard them, Shade shook her head, sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing, I thought I just heard someone whispering.”

“These halls hold centuries of rulers and magic. It’s not uncommon to hear the voices of the past, at least, not for the rulers of the castle.” He squinted his eyes at her, observing her a little more closely. “So, daughter of Verenis, I would’ve loved to have met him. He’s legend in the southern realm.  He was great ruler.”

She hoped he’d been great enough to allow her to regain his throne easily from Ariana. From the dread growing in her stomach, something told her that it wasn’t going to be as easy.

Chapter Twenty-two

ARIANA WAS A
good queen. Or so, she wanted them to believe. She watched them, carefully taking them in, one by one, like one would watch their doom entering the room. Shade was sure she would not be welcoming, not knowing exactly why, but the air was thick with tension as they entered the throne room. Shade could feel it like electricity crawling along her skin and choking up her breaths. Why would this interim queen object of her presence? Unless she had no plans to give back control of the Scren Seelie Palace. Could that be it?

It was looking pretty bleak. Nyol’s demeanor had even changed as they entered, looking more like a prison warden escorting his prisoners in to present them to his queen. The guards surrounded them on every side. It made Shade sweat under her jacket. The heat here was also what seemed a thousand degrees hotter than outside the gates, where winter seemed to want to seep into everything. Here, the warmth was stifling and she could use a nice cool breeze to simmer it down.

“My Queen, I present Shade, a changeling princess, daughter of Verenis, the deceased ruler of the Scren Palace.” He motioned toward her and she stepped forward. Urged on toward the queen, she approached the dais, hoping she wouldn’t regret it. Her insides churned as she got closer feeling Adriana’s aggression which was plain as day across her face. Her disgust at meeting Shade was no secret.