20. Dame Snow
Chapter 20
Dame Snow
SONGBIRD
I tickle the piano keys as I wait for Elio to meet me for our rehearsal session, the absent-minded notes echoing across the white wood panels of the music room. Glossy hardwood floors and a myriad of leather cases and music stands furnish the room, but it’s empty at this hour. Elio’s been teaching me a few easy tunes, but while I have a keen ear for music, my hands are apparently made of five thumbs.
The huge mirror next to the door ripples, and my spine stiffens as two silhouettes stalk out of the sceawere.
“Hey Beth. Sorry I’m late. I lost track of time,” Elio apologizes. He blinks his eyes open, the chill of the sceawere frosted over his cheeks.
He’s barely a minute late, but that’s Elio, and I arch a brow at his masked companion.
Damian and I have never spoken, the Crow too busy glaring at me when we crossed paths for me to work up the courage to introduce myself.
“Hi. I’m Beth.”
Damian’s onyx and broken glass mask enhances his stern, dark looks, and goosebumps riddle my arms as he cocks his head to the side. “I know who you are.”
Elio rummages through the music sheets lying on a nearby table. “Thank you, Damian.”
“I’ll see you next week.” The Shadow Lord spins on his heel and vanishes through the mirror without another word.
I arch a brow at my friend. “Elio Lightbringer. What in the seven hells were you doing with him ?”
If the last few months have taught me anything, it’s that Damian isn’t exactly popular with the Light Fae crowd—and the mistrust goes both ways.
Elio chuckles. “Damian’s not so bad. He offered to tutor me.”
“But you’re a Light Fae from the Sun Court. What could he possibly teach you?”
Elio scratches the back of his neck. “Light and shadows aren’t so different, really. I’ve been… exploring my options.”
My breath hitches. “You have dual magic?”
Dual wielders are proficient in more than one school of magic, but it’s rare for a Fae to wield both light and dark magic.
“Shh. You don’t have to shout.” He slides onto the bench beside me, leaning closer as he spreads his music sheets across the rack. “I’ve actually been practicing with ice. And since there’s no graduate student from Wintermere, Damian is taking me to the new world a few times a week to help me practice. I’m still struggling to summon it out of thin air—it’s a hard feat here in the Summerlands.”
The revelation that Elio’s been keeping his ice magic from me—a magic we share—both thrills and annoys me. I nudge him with my elbow. “Being a dual wielder is not something to be ashamed of. You should be proud?—”
He cuts me off with a quick, almost fearful shake of his head. “My father would go spare. You have to keep it secret.” His lips press into a thin line before he adds, “Promise you won’t tell Ezra. He’d swear to keep it quiet, but it’d still bubble up at the worst possible moment.”
“I promise.” I tickle the ivories again, aware that Elio’s just let me in on a momentous secret. He’s talented, but his Light magic doesn’t hold a candle to Ezra’s. “I know what the rumors say about the Winter King being near death, but Thanatos doesn’t care about pedigree, and he’s never picked a Light Fae. Never.”
Elio disperses my suspicions with a defeated sigh. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of becoming king. Unlike most of the students here, I’m not after a crown. I just want an escape. I know it’s unorthodox, but if I joined the reaper army, I think the life would suit me.”
“You mean to become a reaper? Isn’t that… drastic? There’s no going back from that.” I rise to my feet and draw in a few deep, diaphragmatic breaths, sustaining the exhalations to warm up my voice.
“Drastic sounds heavenly, believe me. If I ever leave the Sun Court, there can be no half-measures.” His tone softens, and his expression twists into that familiar grimace—the one that reminds me his father most likely argues with his fists.
I hum, unwilling to push him further, and we move on with our rehearsal. Willow is adamant that we should close the gala tomorrow.
Near the end of our session, Ezra sneaks into the music room just as I finish the last verse, and my cheeks turn red. His ice-blue eyes dance under the soft light of the chandeliers while he makes his way over, hands tucked inside his pockets.
Elio slams the piano cover shut with a loud thud , the melody cutting off abruptly. “What do you want?”
“I was actually looking for Lady Snow.” Ezra slinks closer, an elusive smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Your voice could topple empires, milady.”
Elio crams his music sheets together. “See you tomorrow, Beth. Goodnight.”
Elio leaves with his jaw tight and his eyes narrowed, and I throw his brother a tired look. “What did you do?”
“Who said I did something?” Ezra muses.
“Hrmph.”
He leans on the piano lid with his chin propped in his hand. “They’re tallying up the points of the initiation challenge for the results to be presented tomorrow. I heard that you’re dead last.”
I slap my thighs and climb to my feet. “I don’t care.”
Not in the mood for one of his enigmatic, dubious pieces of advice, I head to the bibliotheca, but Ezra falls into step with me.
“You know the loser has to suffer the whims of the fourth-years for the rest of the year, right?” he says.
“Yes, but it was rigged from the start.” I wave dismissively. “My very first challenge was impossible, so I made my peace with it.”
“What did Diana give you?”
“She wanted me to find out Aidan’s full initials.”
Ezra stops walking. “An almost impossible task, indeed. Aidan himself wouldn’t share his full initials, but his handsome best friend who’s got a crush on you… that’s another story.”
I turn around, the prince looking perfectly evil in the dimly lit corridor. “You’re Aidan’s best friend?” I say in jest.
Ezra gives me a genuine laugh, something rare and elusive as we enter the bibliotheca through the back door, the tall mahogany stacks towering above our heads.
Even though I’ve got my hands full with my fiancé and an Aidan-shaped hole in my heart, it’s hard not to feel anything at all when a man like Ezra lets you glimpse at the real person hiding behind his thick Fae prince veneer.
“Now, why do you snicker and snort when your real laugh is so much better?” I ask.
His gaze darts to the ceiling as he slides past me along the narrow path between the stacks and spins around, walking backwards. “Keep stroking my ego like that, and I might give you what you want.”
I pry the book I started earlier off the shelf. “Be nicer to Elio, and I might just start thinking of you as a friend.”
“Haven’t you heard? I don’t have any female friends. I have groupies. And lovers. And lover-groupies.”
I reach out to pinch his arm, but he slips out of reach, laughing.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
I shake my head.
Ezra sinks to the ground, his back propped against the heavy books near the floor. “Then you don’t know what it’s like. I love Elio to death, but he and I have to quarrel. It’s how it’s always been.”
He looks so defeated and remorseful that I slide down next to him, pressing my butt down to prevent my tartan skirt from riding up. “How do you know Aidan’s initials?”
The wicked glint in his eyes flickers to life once more. “I caught a glimpse of them while I was skulking around our dorm, back when he didn’t know I could become invisible.”
I barely hold in a gasp. “You can become invisible?”
“Elio and I have trained ourselves to disappear with a glow as feeble as a candle flame. It’s a life skill we developed pretty early. Evelyn said she’s never seen such a flawless iteration of that power. I’m not supposed to use it inside the academy walls unless I have her permission.”
“Flawless, eh?” I arch a teasing, skeptic brow. “Can you do it now?”
The man flat-out vanishes into thin air, and a hiccup quakes my throat. “By the spindle!” A mix of awe, jealousy, and unease mingle in my blood as my shaky hand inches closer to the space he just occupied. My hand reaches a solid form and slowly wraps over the soft fabric of Ezra’s white button-down shirt and over the shape of his shoulder.
“Show off!” I grin.
“Imagine what secrets I could find out. Much more important than Aidan’s full initials…” his breath stirs the sensitive hairs behind my neck.
I reach for him only to find empty air, then shift to my knees. A soft nudge on my back spooks me, and I let out a nervous, throaty laugh. “Alright, I’m thoroughly impressed. And jealous. You can stop now.”
I paw at the space around me, searching for him and trying to sense his bite of power, but it’s no use. “Can you make someone else invisible?”
“No, just me.”
The warm light filtering through the stacks turns to shadows for a second, Iris’s small frame suddenly obscuring the path. “What are you doing?” she asks as she takes in the sight of me propped on my knees.
“Don’t tell her I’m here,” Ezra breathes against my ear.
“Nothing.”
Iris narrows her eyes. “Have you seen Ezra? Elio told me he was with you.”
“I have not seen Ezra, no. Not for a little while,” I answer, immediately biting down on my bottom lip not to smile.
Ezra’s full-bellied laugh vibrates along my back, and I lose all semblance of composure, burying my face in my hands to muffle the ensuing giggles.
Iris inspects her nails, her mouth twisted in a pout. “You’re so weird, moth.”
“Err—thank you.”
She rolls her eyes as she leaves.
“She thinks I should be nicer to her because we’re about to be betrothed,” Ezra whispers.
My brows raise. “Are you?”
“Um,” he takes a pause. “Maybe.”
“Is that why Elio—” I stop, now captive in the invisible prince’s embrace, the weight of his arm settling in my lap. I stiffen, and not so much because he’s encroaching on my personal space, but for what he might imply if I let him. “Ezra.”
“Settle down. I’m comfy.”
“Ezra…”
He hides his face in the crook of my neck. “I know, I know. Pure as snow until marriage. Betrothed to your dull Shadow Prince and playing with the fires of Summer.” His warmth leaves me as he blinks into view and shuffles to his knees. “You know what? I can solve this. I will knight you as my friend, Lady Snow. Get on one knee.” He rises to his feet and summons a long, light sword to his side.
I arch a brow but shift to one knee in front of him, playing along, the glow of the weapon giving a hilarious, over-the-top religious vibe to the scene.
“I, Ezra Lightbringer, officially name you my knight friend.”
“Shouldn’t I be dubbed a dame, though?” I whisper quickly.
“Be quiet. I’m bestowing a huge honor upon you.” He lays his sword upon my right shoulder, then my left, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “As I was saying. I, Ezra Lightbringer, name you, Lady Snow, as my one and only knight friend.” A wolfish smile blooms on his lips. “And as your platonic prince, I will hug you whenever I please.”
“And I will strive to be worthy of your benevolence, my prince,” I say using my best fake, ceremonious voice.
Ezra holds out a hand to help me up. “Alright, friend . I have a question, and I need you to honor our new friendship by not making a fuss about it. Are you into my boy Aidan at all?” He tilts his head forward with a blunt, intimate look.
I grimace, and a quiet, “Yeah,” escapes me.
“The poor guy has been tearing his hair out for months now, balling unfinished letters and tossing them into the trash. He seemed to think you didn’t want him to write, so if you like him, why do you keep shutting him down? Is it only because of the engagement, or is there something else?”
I avert my gaze. “It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it always?” he sighs, nodding as if he’s making up his mind about something. “Very well. I will tell you Aidan’s precious initials, but you have to promise in return to make his life hell about it.”
My brows furrow at his peculiar turn of phrase. “I swear it.”
He licks his lips in a machiavellian manner. “It’s A. S. S.”
My jaw drops. “Are you telling me Aidan’s initials are actually ass ?”
He nods emphatically. “I bet his mother—on account of his big head of course—had a hard delivery and was feeling snarky when she named him.”
I lean into him, and we laugh together until tears stream from our eyes. Whatever sexual tension or unspoken attraction had existed between us dissolves, his allure fading. For the first time, I see his offer of friendship as genuine.
“Are you performing tomorrow?” I ask.
“In a way. I have to be up before dawn for the royal hunt, and Ethan, my father, expects me to bring my A-game. But I’ll be back in time to hear you sing,” he adds with a wink.
Willow was right about him. Deep down, Ezra is a big softie. Still, a part of me can’t help but wonder about the implications of his power, the endless possibilities it presents. If only I could become invisible, too, I might finally live the life I want—free from the fear of being spied on and thrown out of school.
Free to love without fear of losing everything.