Frost Bound (Entangled with Trickery #1)

Neve

Chapter Twenty

Neve

Nightfall approached, and with it his nerves.

Neve stared at the Olek Mountains to the northeast as the sun began to set.

They’d made good time on the rukhals. They were so close he could see the immense holy tree in the distance, and the hair rose along his arms. Only a few more minutes before he would lead his loviaye across the life-bringing waters and be bound to the valles for the rest of his life.

His hearts pounded at the thought, and his palms grew a little sweaty.

It was one thing to commit himself to this treaty, and another thing to follow through with it.

“I love this part of our land,” Eyri commented softly. “It feels magical, festive.”

Neve glanced to his cousin and tried to smile, but it was forced. Nothing about this day felt magical or festive. In fact, an impending sense of doom hovered over him that made him want to bolt into the snowy winter lands.

Eyri looked over his shoulder and switched to Loriian: “I know she’s not what you would have chosen for yourself, but at least she’s not like her parents.”

He grimaced, brows slashing together. “That we know of.” The princess hadn’t complained too much over the last week, but that didn’t mean she was innocent. There was no way she was unscathed, being raised among such vipers, even if she had been cloistered.

“Do you really think that woman is a spy?” Eyri asked. “She’s kept to herself. Not once has she tried to get into our good graces.”

“Flyka.” While he was appreciative for the valles ’ help, why had she done it? No one had known she possessed those skills. What did she expect to get out of the deal? Did she think it would endear them to her?

Eyri sighed. “What did she gain from that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re always so suspicious.”

“I have to be,” he gritted out. “I can’t afford to think any other way.”

His cousin gave him a pitying look which made Neve bristle. He didn’t need anyone feeling sorry for him. He was the bloody reillov of Loriia.

They fell into silence as the group pressed on toward the Seed in the distance. The tree grew larger the closer they got, the snowy lands around them bathed in the sun’s fading light. The snow sparkled like a thousand gems, and he couldn’t help but glance back at the saloes .

She’d pushed back her hood and was staring at the winter countryside, her lips slightly parted as if in awe. A thread of pride wound around his chest, and he sat a little taller. If his kingdom awed him every time he saw it, what must it be like for a human who’d never been to Loriia?

In fact, as far as he knew, only two saloes had visited the Seed in their history. It was something that they guarded fiercely. A holy place. The beginning of life for their kingdoms. Or so the stories went.

A rattling cough broke the peaceful silence, and he winced.

“Her cough has gotten worse today,” Eyri commented in Loriian. “I asked her about it and all she said was that the cold air stings her lungs.” His cousin frowned. “Does that sound right to you?”

Neve shrugged. “I don’t know much about the human body, only that they have one heart opposed to our two. And that most do not like the cold.”

“Well, our princess has seemed to weather our cold quite well.”

He arched a brow. “Our princess?”

Eyri had the decency to look bashful. “You know what I mean.”

Neve smiled at how his cousin squirmed on his rukhal . It was so easy to tease him at times. “I was just jesting.”

“You don’t do that much anymore.”

That wiped the smile from his face. “The burden of responsibilities are heavy upon my shoulders.” He didn’t have time for frivolities. His carefree youthful past was well over.

“That doesn’t mean you have to destroy yourself for your kingdom. It’s okay to take a moment for yourself. To be yourself. No one is expecting you to be your father.”

His heart pinched at the blunt but genuine advice. “I know,” he rasped. “It’s hard not to give my all when our kingdom demands it.”

Eyri nodded. “Now you will have a wife too.”

A niliave. A wife.

“Indeed.” But for how long? He hadn’t sussed out the reason the Asterans had given their only child to their enemy.

She coughed again, the sound wet. Maybe she had weak lungs? If so, she was not long for life; he’d help her go quickly and painlessly. He wasn’t a monster.

He rubbed at his chest when it twinged uncomfortably.

He dropped his hand, and his expression hardened.

And if she was a spy … she’d be executed as a traitor.

Either way, his wife wouldn’t be long for this life.

The roar of the river grew louder as they approached the life-giving waters. Neve stared at the crystal-clear aquamarine water, vapor rising into the air as shadows from branches of the Seed cast wicked-looking claws across the river and snowy banks. He clicked softly and Cessa stopped just before the river’s sloping southern bank. He lifted his hand and waved to his people, who lined the northern bank, awaiting their king and his new bride.

They cheered, holding up their flickering lanterns. A symbol that his people would always be his guiding light.

He glanced to the west, noting the old stone bridge that led to the city. Dark green pine garlands dotted with pink flowers of the vestrellaye trees decorated the sides of the bridge, along with large lanterns.

The road that would always lead home.

Neve dismounted Cessa and nodded to his Haunts. He pulled his regalia off, leaving him shirtless. Next, he pulled off his boots and socks, shoving everything into his bag and pulling out his fur sillovia —the ornamental caern’ye cover—one that he’d share with his loviaye once they’d been bound by crossing the waters together. Lastly, he slid on the embroidered jerkin cuffs his mommar had stitched for his povvar .

A lump formed in his throat, and heat pressed to the back of his eyes.

I wish you were here with me.

He closed his eyes and took a moment to compose himself, the snow melting beneath the soles of his feet.

You can do this.

The snow reached his knees, but he hardly felt a thing as he faced the valles . The princess had pulled her hood back up and slumped over Nova. She looked like a wilting flower. He frowned, and curled his hands into fists. His people needed a strong queen.

Olwen clicked, and Cessa fell in line with the other rukhals .

He nodded to his Haunt as Nova approached him. Neve held his hand out and gave the beastie a rub along his snout, pulling a dried date from his pocket. The mount lipped it off the flat of his palm, his large dark eyes seeming almost happy.

“There’s a good boy,” he murmured in Loriian. “Come.” He clicked, and Nova began following him down the slope toward the river’s edge.

“Why did you disrobe?” the princess asked, her voice hoarse. “And where are the rest of the delegation?”

“They’re traveling to the bridge. We’ll meet them there,” he replied in the common tongue.

The chilly water lapped at his bare feet, but it wasn’t too bad. He’d swum in far colder waters. Neve led Nova farther into the water when the princess gasped.

“What do you think you are doing?” she asked. “The bridge is over there.”

“This is where we cross.”

“Certainly not,” she said, her voice going shrill.

Nova waded deeper into the water, and Neve clicked for the beastie to stop. He peered up at his human loviaye .

“This is part of the ceremony.” He bowed before the princess as cheers exploded from his people. His hearts pounded as he straightened. He held out his hand. “Take my hand, seittae .” Adding a please never hurt anyone.

She pushed back her hood and stared at his upturned palm like it was a snake. Neve waited, feeling the stares of his people keenly. The breeze picked up, brushing a few pinkish-gold strands of hair across her pale face.

Her eyes darted from him to the water, to his people, and back up the riverbank. His back molars ground together as he read her mind.

She is going to bolt.

Neve stepped closer and curled his hand around her calf. She jerked at his touch, but he ignored it, pulling until the princess slid toward him. He caught her around her tiny waist, and she hissed when he maneuvered her until she sat sideways on the beast’s back. He took her left hand in his own and she tried to pull away. He growled, and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, holding out his left hand toward the water.

He could feel the dainty bones beneath her skin. He brushed his thumb along the rapid pulse there. “We need to cross. Do not worry. I will do most of the work. I just need you to hold on.”

The whites of her eyes widened, and he flinched.

“No. I will not.”

He gnashed his teeth, feeling like his fangs would snap off. “You don’t have a choice. This is what must be done.”

“You’re trying to kill me,” she spat.

He jerked. Why the devil would she think that?

Before he could respond, she clicked and nudged her heels into Nova. The rukhal lunged forward and to the side just as the princess yanked her hand from his hold. He shouted as the valles lost her balance and tumbled off backward into the river.