Court of Winter (Fae of Snow & Ice, #1)(88)

“Cailis?” I croaked.

Another hand patted mine, then a male said, “She shall be all right. It’s not as serious as you’d feared, my prince.”

I briefly recognized Murl, the castle healer, and then warm hands were closing over mine as my sister and Daiseeum let go.

Strong, hard, unyielding hands. Those hands could only belong to one fairy.

I opened my eyes to see Prince Norivun hovering above me as he held my hands in his own.

“Blessed Mother,” he breathed. His expression looked haggard, his hair tousled, his eyes bloodshot.

I glanced over his shoulder. I was in the Exorbiant Chamber, and Cailis stood to the side of my bed, her features twisting, but an intense rush of relief filled me at seeing her again. Nuwin was also in my room, along with the prince’s four guards.

“What happened?” I brought a hand to my forehead as I struggled to remember how I ended up here and why all of them were looking at me as though I were at death’s door.

And then it came crashing back.

Fireworks.

Vorl.

Being choked.

Air and Fire.

Creating life.

My breath sucked in. “What did I do?”

“What you did is fully manifest.” Murl still stood to the side of my bed, wearing a stern expression. “Your affinities collided and were born at once. I’ve been told you had one affinity manifest in the previous weeks, but it seems there were others that wanted to be born.”

My eyes widened more. “Affinities? I have more than one?”

“You have at least four, possibly more,” the prince replied. “You have an air element, fire element, the ability to create orem, and the ability to—” His brow furrowed.

“Return a soul,” I whispered. A vivid memory slammed to the front of my mind. The prince had enacted his affinity on Vorl. If not for me, the archon would be dead. I’d wielded enough power to counteract the prince’s strongest affinity. Blessed Mother indeed. “What happened to Vorl?”

The prince’s gaze dipped to my throat, to where bruises no doubt lay unless Murl had healed them. His lip curled as his aura pounded out of him. “He’s been detained for assaulting a lady of the court.”

I straightened more as the soft covers swirled around me. “But I’m not a lady.”

“You are now.”

I frowned. “What?”

The four guards all ruffled their wings from behind the prince. Nish scowled.

The crown prince watched me closely. “The king has officially appointed you as a lady of the court.”

Ice slid through my veins. “Why would he do that?”

“Because you’re to join the Rising Queen Trial.” Nuwin smiled, looking quite pleased. “Only a lady can become a queen.”

“What?”

The prince winced. “I shall try not to be offended by your reaction.”

“But I don’t actually have four affinities. I think my affinity that replenishes the orem is actually the same affinity that pulls a soul back into a body. I believe what it does is create life, in our land and in fae. So if it’s true that I have affinities for two elements, then I only have three affinities total. Surely, that doesn’t make me a contender in the Trial.”

The prince’s scowl deepened as Nish sniggered. Haxil cut his fellow guard a sharp glare.

“Three affinities is still enough to have you in the Trial,” the prince said stiffly.

“But why would the king want that?” I pressed. Cailis murmured her agreement. I could only imagine what my sister was thinking as the Death Master—the murderer of our family—held my hands.

“My father saw your powers manifest.” Prince Norivun lifted a lock of my hair, and with a jolt, I realized it was black again. “My illusion will no longer cover you, not unless you allow it. You’re too strong, and he saw that. So as of now, Lady Ilara Seary, daughter of Mervalee Territory, you’ve been made a lady of the court and have officially been entered into the Trial to become the next queen.”

“But then I might have to . . . marry you.”

His face slackened, his expression impossible to read. “Would that be so bad?”

Cailis hissed, her eyes burning as they locked with hatred onto the prince.

Tears threatened to overwhelm me at all that had happened, but then I remembered our kiss, the electric attraction between us, but he’d killed my family.

I glanced at Cailis. Her hatred for the prince was nearly palpable, exactly as I had felt only a month ago.

I snatched my hands away from the crown prince. I couldn’t marry him. Not even if I’d seen other sides to him, sides that weren’t entirely evil. Because how could I possibly marry the male who’d killed my parents and brother?

The prince’s eyes shuttered, and his hands clenched into fists as that swirling throbbing began in my gut again. Blessed Mother. With a start, I realized that feeling in my stomach was my magic.

Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm it, but anger stirred in me. “I can’t marry you. You murdered my family.”

Prince Norivun’s mouth opened, then closed. He remained silent, but an answering pulse of his aura stroked mine.

Nuwin let out a low whistle as the prince’s guards all took a step closer to my bed. And that was when it hit me, why the four were here.