But to me.
“What reason would she have to hurt me? I’m not a threat to her,” I said, furrowing my brow.
“She doesn’t need a reason to enjoy the way you scream, Little One. She thrives on suffering, on the sounds that fill her throne room. Her father is the Primordial of Chaos, of everything that came before, and humans once believed that meant she should thrive on silence. On the moments when there was nothing to exist.”
“But creation had to start somewhere,” I said, my voice trailing off as I considered it.
“Exactly. He created something from that nothing, an entire world spawning from that moment of inception. Some say he hoped to fill the void within him with the noise of creation around him,” he explained.
“The opposite of how he feels on the inside,” I agreed, again pondering the disappearance of the Primordials. The eternal beings could never stop existing or the world would collapse beneath us, yet from what Caldris had said nobody had seen them for centuries.
Azra halted as the group traveling ahead of us slowed to a stop. We’d ridden at the back for most of the day, seeking the privacy and distance from the Fae Marked so that they wouldn’t see my attempt to summon the magic of winter.
They already hated me enough.
“What is it?” I asked, stretching up to try to get a better view through the riders blocking the path. I looked down when I felt shackles settle on my wrists.
“A group of humans,” Caldris said, ignoring my huff, his voice uneasy as he guided Azra around the female member of the Wild Hunt who was directly in front of us.
She nodded to him in respect as he navigated through the crowd to approach where the group of people had gathered. “We don’t offer sanctuary to people we don’t know,” Holt said. “I’m sure you can understand the importance of our duty to deliver the Marked humans to Alfheimr, if you are being honest about your intentions and the persecution you have faced.”
Caldris pulled Azra up alongside Holt, keeping his distance from the group of people. A woman with dark hair gathered into a braid that draped over her shoulder looked past Holt to meet my stunned gaze. She looked from me to Caldris, a knowing smile spreading across her face. “It would seem death has found you after all, Estrella,” she said, the knowing in her gaze turning to friendly acceptance as I leaned forward and dismounted from Azra’s back before Caldris realized what I was doing.
I walked up to the other woman, taking her hands in mine and squeezing. “Adelphia,” I said, the laughter that bubbled up from my throat of genuine pleasure to see her. Even if her ritual on Samhain had been the starting point of my life turning upside down entirely, I couldn’t shake my happy reaction to seeing her.
She’d been kind and accepting in a world determined to force me into a mold of whatever suited each person’s needs.
Caldris dismounted Azra behind me, moving up to place a protective hand on my shoulder. Adelphia’s smile drifted off her face as she took in the shackles on my wrists and the matching Fae Mark on his neck. “How do you know my mate?” he asked. I looked over my shoulder, finding his eyes narrowed on Adelphia’s face.
“You could ask your mate,” I inserted, shrugging off his hand. If he wanted to be territorial, he would need to do so in a way that didn’t dismiss me.
One of the men stepped forward from Adelphia’s group, and I recognized him from when we’d sat around the fire eating cake. He moved toward me as if he meant to touch me, but Adelphia held out a hand to stop him, catching him in the chest. “I do not suggest that,” she said, swallowing as her gaze fell to Caldris once again. “We met Estrella on Samhain. She stumbled upon our ritual in the woods before the Veil dropped, and she joined us in our worship.”
Caldris tilted his head to the side, stepping away from my body slightly so he could look down at my face. “You participated in a ceremony worshiping the Old Gods?” he asked, his lips twitching in amusement.
“Shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes at the satisfied way he puffed up his chest in response to the new knowledge. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I’d merely been curious; it wasn’t out of some grand act of faith the way it was for the others.
“It would seem your hatred for my kind does not go as deep as you would have me believe, my star. If you would like to worship me, I can tell you exactly how to—”
He coughed when I slapped his chest with the back of my hand, the chains of my shackles rattling with the motion. “Do not even think of finishing that thought.”
“Too late,” he said, reaching forward to grasp my chin. He tilted my face up, dropping a soft kiss to my parted lips and risking my fury. The moment his lips touched mine, my irritation faded away.
“It’s up to you, Estrella. Are they trustworthy?” Holt asked, interrupting the moment so that Caldris pulled back with a glare. I flushed when I realized that Adelphia monitored the interaction carefully.
“Yes, I think so,” I said, looking through the group. There were several people I didn’t recognize, but I believed Adelphia’s intent was pure. She wouldn’t do anything to knowingly harm the Fae Marked and what they represented.
“Thank you, Crown Princess of Winter and Shadows,” Adelphia said, lowering her head to me respectfully. She turned to Caldris, dropping into a curtsy that looked incredibly uncomfortable in the snow. “We would be happy to pledge our loyalty to the Gods of Old if it suits you, Caldris, God of the Dead, Crown Prince of Winter and Shadows.”
I snorted, in spite of my best instincts, brushing off my curiosity of just how Adelphia had come to know enough about the Old Gods to recognize Caldris. “Please don’t. His ego is quite large enough, thank you,” I said, ignoring the glare Caldris leveled at me.
“I’ve no need for anyone to pledge their fealty to me,” Caldris said, his voice tentative as he slowly turned his gaze away from mine. “I merely wish to co-exist peacefully.”
“Unfortunately that is not possible in Nothrek; not for some time now. We’re seeking sanctuary and safe passage to Alfheimr. Once the Veil fell, we were all cast out from our villages and hunted down like dogs. Many of our brothers and sisters lost their lives in the escape. Might we be able to travel at your side? We won’t make too much fuss.”
“Just more mouths to feed,” Aramis said, the first words I’d heard him speak near me since his cowardice the day before.
“Attitudes like that are exactly what contribute to the Fae’s reputation,” I argued. My voice was hard and unforgiving. “If you hope for any humans to believe that you Fae are interested in peace, then you have to start by showing them. Turning away those who are friendly will not accomplish anything but to alienate those who could have been allies.”
“Aramis is far too young to remember just how powerful belief can be,” Holt said, quirking a brow at the younger member of the Wild Hunt. “The Old Gods were once more powerful than they are now. They were forces to be reckoned with, because the humans believed them to be the Gods of legend.” Aramis quieted, pursing his lips together with a scowl.
I was most definitely not his favorite person.