Court of Winter (Fae of Snow & Ice, #1)(65)

Everything about that encounter had left a sour taste in my mouth that permeated my dreams and made me want to vomit.

Not surprisingly, when I woke the next day I didn’t feel rested. Dark circles lined my lower eyes when the prince came for me just as Daiseeum finished dressing me.

“Thank you,” the prince said to the lady’s servant, dismissing her.

She bobbed a curtsy as the prince frowned, taking in my appearance. “Did you eat?”

“I did. I’m ready to begin working again.”

The prince clasped his hands behind his back, right beneath his wings before strolling toward the courtyard. His aura puffed out of him, bathing my chambers in his strength. “You’re to attend the ball this weekend. My father insists.”

My heart beat harder as I moved closer to him. “He does? Why?”

The prince growled low in his throat. “Apparently, Lord Crimsonale went straight to him yesterday, and now my father is curious to meet you.”

I twisted my hands. “So the entire court now knows of me?”

“Yes, and your presence has caused quite a stir.”

“But I thought my only purpose here was to heal the fields, not go to balls.”

“I had hoped to contain your activities to that only, but—” His nostrils flared. “It’s now out of my control.” He held out his hand. “Come. Let us continue in Barvilum.”

We mistphased from my chambers and spent the morning and afternoon similar to the day prior. At least I found some solace in the field despite its dead stalks and gray dirt, but even with that distraction, in the back of my mind, I kept picturing Lord Crimsonale’s interest in me, and now the king’s curiosity.

But that didn’t impede why I’d become the prince’s prisoner. Despite what loomed, the crown prince returned for me each morning before whisking me away in a blur of mist and shadows, air and wind.

He took me to the same field in Harrivee over and over.

The morning sun hid behind pastel-colored clouds on our fourth day in the field. Salty, cool air whipped around me as I knelt to the ground while Prince Norivun sat at my side. Piles of snow lay around us, the only evidence we left behind of what we were doing, but the residents of Barvilum seemed to have given up on this field. Nobody came up here.

I dug into the frosty dirt with my spade, then sank my fingers into it.

Unlike in the courtyard, I still didn’t detect any orem.

Straightening, I flung my spade to the side. “It’s not working. The orem should have appeared by now. I can’t do this.”

It didn’t help that the ball was tomorrow. All week Daiseeum had been gushing about it. I knew it was being held in honor of the prince. She kept talking about the young females that would also be attending, but ballgowns and parties were the furthest things from my mind, even if I was to meet the king at it, so I never listened to half of what she was saying.

All I wanted was to fulfill the bargain Prince Norivun and I had made so I could return home and be done with the prince and the Winter Court.

Prince Norivun settled more beside me. “You’re frustrated.”

“Obviously.”

“You can do this, Ilara.”

I blew a strand of silver hair from my forehead. “How can you be so sure?” I swept my arm out. “This field is huge. What you’re asking of me is impossible, and there’s no life here. No orem. Four days I’ve been at this, and I have nothing to show for it.”

He gently encircled my wrist with one of his large hands. A shiver ran through me. His hand tightened around me more, as though he felt it too.

He placed my fingers back into the dry, cold dirt. “Channel that energy into the field. I have no doubt it’s helping, and remember, next week you’ll also begin working with a tutor. You’ll learn how to do this.”

I scowled as a tingle of awareness slid up my arm. Every time he’d touched me this week that had happened, as though my body recognized something in him.

His palm lingered, his touch so warm in the frigid air. My breathing sped up, and I wondered why I wasn’t snatching my hand away. Perhaps it was because I was tired. Working in the fields each day had left me fatigued every night.

“Keep trying,” he finally said, then slowly withdrew.

I felt every inch of his fingers slide along my skin, the tingles and shivers increasing within my arm until he severed our connection.

I could have sworn that his eyes darkened in the overcast sun. Energy charged the air around us. Blessed Mother. My life had truly become pure madness.

I ran a hand through my hair. “Why are you here with me every day?” I asked, anything to break the current flowing between us. “Why not just leave me with your guards to work on this alone?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Is my company so abhorrent?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say that yes, it was, but . . . That would be a lie. Like it or not, the murderer of my family had become the one constant in my unpredictable life. He was also the only fairy who had the power to keep me safe and shield me from the court’s perverse curiosity. I hated that, but whenever Prince Norivun appeared, a strange feeling of relief flowed through me. It was as though I was worried the prince would one day disappear and leave me to fulfill our bargain on my own while trying to fend off the court’s growing interest.