All of the prince’s guards appeared to be of similar age and wore the court’s signature colors. They were young, strong, trained soldiers who undoubtedly knew how to wield those weapons.
The prince eyed me coolly, assessing my frame through an emotionless mask. “You have no wings.”
I flinched. It was something anyone could see, yet it’d been so long since someone had so blatantly pointed it out.
“You’re very observant.” The sharp comment slipped off my tongue like a thrown arrow as that stirring rage began to simmer in me again.
The bearded guard scowled and stepped forward. “You dare to speak to—”
Prince Norivun held up a hand. “It’s all right, Sandus. I’m sure she meant no disrespect.” His voice turned glacial, and the magic around him stirred.
I froze, realizing what I’d done. Such insolence would likely garner punishment, even though I was innocent of any actual wrongdoings, but my innocence didn’t matter. He was the crown prince, and the prince could do as he wished. He didn’t need a reason to take me, and nobody cared that the prince had torn my family apart, that he was forcing me from my home and destroying my sister in the process, or that he was humiliating me on top of everything else. Even if he was doing it all on a whim, even if I’d done nothing against the court, it didn’t matter.
That shocking realization made me take a deep calming breath. Because dying right here and now would in no way help my sister. Cailis needed to stay safe and continue her life peacefully and hopefully happily, but if I died for deliberate acts of contempt of the crown, her world would be shattered.
With stunning clarity, I knew that staying alive was the best thing for my sister, regardless of what it cost me. I needed to stay safe, keep breathing, and make my way back to her if at all possible. Which meant I shouldn’t do anything prideful or stupid.
“I apologize, my prince.” I dipped my head, the words like acid on my tongue. “It’s been some time since anyone has pointed that out.”
The tall, lean male, the one with his hair shorn close to his head, scoffed. “Is she even fae? No wings, and her hair’s—” He shook his head. “How can she be Solis?”
The prince brought a hand to my face, not even hesitating. He stroked his pointer finger along my temple, his touch like a feather as he threaded a lock of hair around his finger and lifted it back.
Stunned, I didn’t move.
Heavy magic pulsed along the prince’s skin, his immense power coiled beneath that one fingertip.
The prince nodded toward my exposed ear, to the delicate point on the tip. “She’s fae.”
The lean male frowned. “Ock, but not Solis fae, nor Nolus or Lochen fae, and certainly not Silten.”
The prince dropped his hand. “She’s Solis fae, Nish,” he answered in a firm yet exasperated tone.
Nish snapped his mouth shut and said less argumentatively, “Yes, my prince.”
“What’s your affinity?” the prince asked me.
Another flush stained my cheeks as the cold wind continued to blow around us. “I don’t have one.”
“No affinity or wings, yet she’s still Solis?” Nish shook his head. “How shall we take her back to the capital then, if she can’t fly and has no magic? Mistphasing is out of the question.”
My eyes widened when he mentioned mistphasing—the ability to move from one location to another with magic alone. Most fae didn’t harbor enough magic to do that.
“You’re able to mistphase?”
Nish smirked. “We all are, but you still have to contain magic, or he can’t cross with you.”
Humiliation burned through me again as Prince Norivun stroked his jaw. The movement drew my attention to that tiny cleft in his chin. He studied me without pause as my heart pattered wildly. Not only was he scrutinizing me as one would a complicated puzzle, but he’d also touched me when he’d moved my hair, as though he had the right to do anything at all to me.
My lips thinned.
“You really have no affinity?” he finally said.
“No, I don’t.”
Something flickered in his gaze, but it was gone too quickly for me to decipher. Dropping his hand, the prince raised an eyebrow. “I suppose I shall have to carry you then if you’re unable to fly and mistphasing is out of the equation.”
My eyes bugged out. “Carry me?”
He cocked an eyebrow, a hint of amusement rolling through his features. “Unless you have a better idea?”
My mouth grew dry at the thought of being held in his arms for the entire flight to the capital. To be held by the very hands that had destroyed my family . . .
I took another deep, calming breath, then let it out when a solution came to me. “I could ride a domal, my prince.”
“A domal?” Sandus shook his head. “Solis fae don’t ride domals. Domals are for the Nolus fae, the weaker fae.” He sneered, making it clear how he felt about the fae who lived south of our continent and regularly road the animals that galloped about on four hooves and whinnied whenever they were displeased.
Domals weren’t common on our continent, but some Solis fae had them. The large creatures were useful for transporting goods in wagons when magic couldn’t be utilized.
I stiffened but forced myself to keep my tone steady. “Whatever you deem best then.”
Prince Norivun took a step closer to me, and my breath caught in my chest. With him standing this close, the scent of cedar and snow drifted toward me, crisp and alluring.
I immediately began breathing through my mouth as I craned my neck back.
His sheer size dwarfed me, and before I could mentally prepare myself for the inevitable, his arms were around me, and he was lifting me to his chest. In another beat, we shot into the sky.
I clamped ahold of his neck as a survival instinct roared to life inside me. The ground disappeared beneath us much faster than had ever happened when my brother or Finnley had carried me, and I released a frantic prayer to Armarus, the goddess of the sky.
I glued my eyes shut, my breath locked in my chest as icy wind needled my skin, and my stomach bottomed out at how quickly we spiraled upward.
The prince’s giant wings flapped hard and fast, but it was more than just his wings that propelled us. Magic clouded around us, making me wonder about his affinities, as though his magic moved him faster. The entire realm knew of his most powerful affinity, the one that made him feared by all, but I’d heard whisperings over the seasons that he possessed more than one—a trait rare in the Solis.
Neither of us said anything as the ground became distant, and even though questions still burned through my mind about why this was happening, I stayed silent.
The rhythmic movement of the prince’s flapping wings eventually slowed, and then we were gliding, riding the currents as we traveled west toward Prinavee Territory, where Solisarium, the capital, waited.
The entire time, the prince cradled me easily to his chest as the pastel-colored clouds drifted sporadically around us on this mostly clear day.
“At least you’re not heavy,” he finally remarked, breaking the silence.
“That’s what happens when you’re starved,” I said beneath my breath.
He gazed down at me momentarily, but I refused to make eye contact.