A tingling sensation began deep in my stomach when his eyes grew hooded, and heat flooded my core when that primal look entered his eyes. It was a look I’d been seeing more and more in him, ever since he’d returned from his month away. It was as though something was barely contained within the prince, like there was a predator prowling around inside him, just waiting to be unleashed.
He finally began walking toward me, and the air seemed to shudder, stretch, and bend between us. With each inch that passed, it felt as if the air around me caressed my skin and flowed over my bare flesh like a lover’s kiss.
But surely the prince’s air affinity wouldn’t do that.
My heart was beating so fast it felt as though it would explode. I still felt anger, perhaps even hatred for this male, but I couldn’t deny the attraction that sparked between us. I’d felt it previously, had known it existed, but I’d tried mightily to pretend that it was all an illusion.
But this? This I couldn’t deny. The prince was looking at me like he wanted to devour me.
His wings snapped in tight to his back when he reached me. Lifting a finger, he touched one of the gems swirling in my hair, and I could have sworn that a stroke of air also trailed down my neck.
“You look lovely,” he finally said, his tone husky. “No, you’re beautiful, exquisite, beyond anything. I have no words.” His tone was so deep. A shiver ran down my spine.
Daiseeum murmured something that I didn’t hear due to the blood pounding through my ears before she glided from the room.
I barely noticed her departure. Ock, this is insane. This male had murdered half my family, yet my stomach was flipping like a female fairy in the midst of maturity.
The prince held out his arm to me, and I automatically slipped my hand through the crook of it. His heat warmed my palm when I settled my hand lightly on his forearm, and a sizzle of desire coursed through me. Blessed Mother. It seemed every time we made contact, that happened.
Something gleamed in his eyes, something entirely carnal.
I shook myself internally, wondering if Daiseeum’s magic was also messing with my mind as the prince led me toward the door.
My feet followed of their own accord, and when he opened it wide and we slipped through it, it struck me that it was the first time since I’d arrived at the castle that I’d walked out of that door. We’d been so busy this week that I hadn’t had time to leave on my own, and the prince always flew us out of the courtyard, or we mistphased when we left.
“Where’s Sandus?” I asked. The hall lay empty.
“I dismissed him when I arrived.”
The prince’s strides were purposeful as a slight tightening appeared around his mouth. “Are you ready to meet the court?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I’ll help you with the names and matching them to faces. Stay by my side, and all shall be fine.”
“Yes, my prince.”
Prince Norivun led me down the hallways and staircases in his private wing. I barely noticed where we were going and hardly observed anything at all. All I could feel was the warmth of his skin searing through his jacket, the effortless way his large body maneuvered the halls, and the way he held every door open for me, as though without a thought to his chivalrous behavior.
But more than that was commanding my attention. The prince’s aura was potent tonight, as though it had ratcheted up even higher from its usual state. He felt like a tightly coiled spring at my side, as if one flick in his direction would result in his deadly affinity being unleashed.
Strangely though, that sensation didn’t frighten me. The first day I’d met the prince, I’d been convinced that he’d eventually murder me, just as he had my family, but in the past weeks my perception had changed. If anything, the prince seemed intent on keeping me alive. I did have an enormous promise to fulfill for him after all, since he truly believed I was needed to save the continent.
The twists and turns eventually gave way to an arched doorway swimming in a strong ward. When we passed through, it exited into a dark tunnel. Ahead something billowed as though air rustled it.
“Did we just leave your private wing?”
“We did.” The prince strode forward and pushed a hanging tapestry aside for me to step around. On the other side of it, another stone hallway waited. Once the prince joined me and the tapestry settled, I would have never known that it hid a tunnel to his wing, and I marveled at how secretive the entrance was.
“This way.” The prince gestured to the right.
We left the hallway and walked into a large great room with a ceiling at least thirty feet high. There wasn’t any furniture. It seemed more like a convening area of various wings in the castle.
Servants hurried by. Some carried blankets, others buckets of wood, a few held piles of clothes, and one even held a dozen beheaded hens. They were a flurry of activity, no doubt because of the ball.
All of them looked at me wide-eyed when the prince led me past them, and I brought a hand self-consciously to my hair, hoping his illusion still held.
“It’s still silver,” the prince said softly, beneath his breath. “They’re staring because you’re a sight to behold.”
My cheeks warmed.
His shoulders tightened when murmuring from dozens of voices carried to us. “The entrance to the court is just up ahead.”
He led me to it, and when we rounded the final corner, a wide, grand walkway appeared. Silver-rimmed paintings of various winter scenes from all of the territories lined the hall. There were the Cliffs of Sarum, the Tala Sea, the plains of Harrivee, Osaravee’s floating meadows, the Bay of Korl, the Bay of Nim, Kroravee’s ice caves, Prinavee’s resplendent capital, and the crops of Mervalee painted in a hundred vivid colors. Large mirrors and decadent sculptures intermixed with the paintings.
And the snow. It was actually snowing inside.
Across the domed ceiling, vines of ice flowers curled and writhed. Their delicate buds of blue, navy, and turquoise sparkled like gems, and every few seconds, tufts of snow puffed from the flowers and swirled with the magic in the room that kept it warm while snow rained from above. But the warmth of the magic kept any of the snow from reaching the floor. It all evaporated about ten feet above one’s head.
I’d never seen anything like it.
“So beautiful,” I whispered.
The prince’s arm stiffened beneath mine. “My father does like to put on a good show.”
My gaze fell on the double doors at the end of the hall. A guard stood at each side, their bodies stiff and ramrod straight. Each door was made of blue ice and was so clear it was nearly translucent. The door handles, black with veins of silver, looked as if crafted from Isalee steel.
The prince gestured toward the ice doors. “The entrance to the throne room of the Court of Winter.”
CHAPTER 23
The prince’s skin warmed even more beneath my palm, and for a moment, he just stood there as though warring with something within himself. His expression was impossible to decipher, but the pounding strength of his aura nearly took my breath away.
“My prince?” I asked, frowning.
His chest rose in a deep breath, and then his arm was slipping around my waist, drawing me closer.
A zinging sensation shot through me at the feel of his large hand on my hip. I forced myself to ignore it as the prince’s powerful wing extended slightly to form a protective cage around me, and then he stepped forward and began leading me down the hall.