The three guards positioned themselves around the small home, watching the village’s citizens. Ryder even took flight, going to the opposite side of the house that overlooked the valley. His wings flapped as he hovered just outside of the home’s back door that had a pad, almost like a balcony, attached to it for landings. In their current positions, they had all exit and entry points covered.
Haxil and I reached them just as ferocious roars came from within. I wrapped my arms around myself as the prince yelled, “Morph back to your fae form, and no harm will come to you!”
I dared a peek through the window. The prince faced something in the corner of the room as Mealow twisted her hands. She stood just to the prince’s side, her attention fixated on whatever lay in front of them.
“Please, let him go,” Mealow pleaded to who I assumed was her husband. “He didn’t mean any harm by what he said.”
I angled myself to get a better view, and my eyes widened when I beheld her husband drunk on leminai. He was fully transformed within his affinity—a huge monstrosity of fur, claws, and fangs. His ragged head touched the ceiling, brushing against the wooden planks. White fur covered his entire body, and hands that had become paws sported six-inch claws.
Naturally born ice bears were known for being deadly. Thankfully, they stuck to the mountain ranges, so we’d never had to deal with them in my village, but stories would circulate throughout the continent now and then, speaking of the treacherous creatures that lived on our frozen lands and roamed the forests and mountains.
The only mountainous creature more lethal than an ice bear was a snowgum—a huge feline with razor-sharp teeth and barbed claws. When it flared its magical essence, it grew invisible for brief periods of time, making an attack impossible to foresee and tracking them even more difficult. It was said if you were unlucky enough to encounter a snowgum, you didn’t live to tell about it.
The drunk husband roared again as a young male lay on the floor beneath him. Blood trickled from multiple slashes across the youth’s body.
My heart beat harder as I took in his pale complexion and closed eyes. He was unconscious, so his screams had stopped. Frantically, I searched for signs of life, and a relieved exhale escaped me when his chest rose in a shallow breath.
“He’s still alive,” I whispered just as a subtle throbbing sensation pulsed in my gut. I brought a hand automatically to my belly, but the throbbing stopped as soon as it’d begun.
Haxil’s eyebrows knitted together as his full cheeks hollowed. “He won’t be for much longer if he’s not taken to a healer.”
I studied the young male again, and for the briefest moment, that throb returned before it vanished.
“Last warning,” the prince called. “This can end peacefully now, but you have to transform back.”
The drunk husband only snarled and advanced.
“Poor choice, you foolish scum,” Haxil said under his breath.
The prince’s eyes narrowed. His shoulders tightened, but his hands stayed open and his arms loose. Rope veins bulged in his neck, and his jaw clenched as the air seemed to ripple around him.
Shallow breaths lifted my chest as I waited for his deadly affinity power to rise, but instead of letting it loose and killing the drunk male in a blink, the prince reached for his swords.
“Ah, he’s going to give him a chance to come to his senses.” Haxil chuckled, but nothing about this felt funny to me.
The male in his ice bear form advanced, swiping out a paw. The prince deflected it with the hilt of his sword, dipping with the movement.
Roaring, the fairy charged.
Everything next happened in a blur of power and speed. The fairy lunged, his gaping bear maw going right for the prince’s throat, but the prince ducked and rolled at the last minute, his body moving with liquid grace despite his height and tall wings.
Coming to a crouch, the prince slashed out, his weapon arcing through the air right as the fairy reared.
A line of red appeared on the bear’s belly, and his roar turned to one of pain. Behind him, the fae youth still lay listlessly. Time was running out.
“Last chance!” the prince called. “Transform back now!”
Despite the blood running freely along its fur, the husband gave a furious bellow and then ducked his head and charged.
The prince’s lip curled. “So be it.”
The fairy in his ice bear form swiped a massive paw toward the prince’s face.
But his arm didn’t connect.
A shockwave of magic unleashed from the prince.
My breath stopped.
Time stood still.
The prince’s affinity rose so swiftly it speared the air.
Power radiated from the entire house.
I shuddered.
Jolted.
Nearly vomited.
An agonized roar came from the fairy. His massive head tilted back, revealing a mouth filled with fangs. Convulsions shook his furry frame, then he crumpled to the ground, his entire body spasming as a shimmer of energy vibrated the air around him. His figure morphed, the transformation happening too quickly for me to see.
I blinked, and a naked fae male lay still on the stone floor. I brought a hand to my mouth and took a step forward. Nausea churned in my gut. Blessed Mother, I had no idea if he was dead or only unconscious.
Before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed the door and pulled it open.
“Ilara, no!” Haxil called.
But I flew through the door before the guard could stop me. My focus zeroed in on the fairy. He couldn’t be dead. The prince wouldn’t kill him for being drunk and acting violently. Surely, he’d simply subdued him.
Prince Norivun’s frosty gaze cut to mine, and then he was there, standing in front of me as a deadly coldness swirled around him.
I tried to sidestep him, but he met my attempts like a wall, his body once again there.
“Is he dead?” I whispered.
The prince’s jaw tightened.
“Please don’t kill him.”
“I’m sorry, my prince,” Haxil said as he encircled my arm from behind. “She ran inside before I could stop her.”
“Don’t kill him. Please.” Tears pricked my eyes as I gazed upward at the prince. “Surely, you won’t. Surely, you’re not that much of a monster.”
The muscle in Prince Norivun’s jaw ticked. “Remove her, Haxil.”
“Yes, my prince. Apologies again.”
And then I was being tugged backward, away from a sobbing Mealow as her husband lay still on the floor. Lifeless.
As soon as I saw that, I rounded on Haxil. “He killed him? He really killed him?”
The guard pulled me through the door, his grip firm. “Of course, he killed him,” he growled quietly.
Shock rippled through me, and my feet planted to the ground, but the guard didn’t hesitate. He picked me up and carried me the remainder of the distance away from the house.
Memories swirled through my mind of the moment I’d learned of my family being killed. The anguish, the disbelief, then the rising fury.
“He’s a monster,” I said in a choked whisper when Haxil placed me on my feet again. Once more, the prince had destroyed a family, even if the father had been abusive and feral. The prince had still torn that family apart.
“He did what was needed,” Haxil replied gruffly.