Tower of Tempest: A Steamy Fantasy Romance (Stolen Crowns Book 3)

Wilds of Wonder A Sneak Peek

Emory

I couldn’t stop staring at the woman’s ring. It was the last thing I should’ve been doing. Not here, in the great hall of my home, as the hostess of yet another soiree my husband insisted on throwing for the nobles of the frost court.

The council members, the high priests and priestesses, the other ambassadors, and of course, anyone related to His and Her Majesty, all stood in the rectangular room. Basically, anyone with money.

A warm glow cascaded over the log walls, sconces attached to the wood with flickering flames, and a glittering chandelier hung overhead.

Windows stretched on either side of the room to allow a view of the white-blanketed lands around us. Mountains rose in the distance, peaked with snow, and the royal city of the frost court glowed and flickered with lights in the distance. Thick flakes fell down from the night sky.

I breathed out a sigh of relief that at last I was home after traveling with my husband for the last few months for his job. I hated being in the sky court, so high above the rest of the world on the top of their isles.

I looked at my own wingless back and shuddered. I stayed far away from any cliff sides or edges while in Valoris, afraid that one day I’d trip and fall to my death. I glanced at my husband through the crowd of chattering people, his broad beige wings furled behind him as he spoke with one of the council members, clapping the man on the back and laughing about something. He certainly wouldn’t save me if I fell. Would likely rejoice over finally being rid of me.

I fiddled with the pearls nestled around my neck. I hated these events. Hated having to smile and laugh and listen to the endless dribble about how the maid folded the towels all wrong or how a dress wasn’t properly steamed or how, Spirits forbid, the king allowed commoners into the latest ball he threw.

Fire lit up the room behind us as an entertainer my husband had hired stood in the middle of the room. Or, rather, whom I hired. My husband loved throwing parties that were the talk of the town, and as his wife, it was my responsibility to plan it all and make these parties worth talking about. I’d heard of this talented fire elemental who often performed at various events across the seven courts, so I’d reached out to him to see if he might be interested in coming here, to the frost court.

He held out his hands, a ring of fire appearing that he spun around in circles. It widened bigger and bigger, flames leaping out and smoke curling into the air. A few of our guests clapped their hands in delight while others gasped. He threw his hands up and directed the fiery ring to fly above his head. The heat of it brushed across my face, and I fanned myself with my hand.

“Emory, have you heard a word I’ve said?” the woman in front of me asked, glancing down at the ring I’d fixated on earlier. The gold band shined from her middle finger, black stones surrounding an engraved gray gem with a little tree carved into it.

I cleared my throat, about to respond when I felt his presence beside me.

“Don’t take offense Elisabeth,” my husband said as he stepped up next to me, his wings brushing my arm.

The light glinted off his balding head, and his sunken beady eyes fixed on me. “Always has her head in the clouds, this one.”

He didn’t say it like it was a compliment.

His hand gripped my elbow tight. Too tight. A warning. Do not embarrass me. Spirits knew I’d done enough of that lately. I shook myself from his grasp and took one step to the left, putting space between us.

A servant brushed past us, carrying a tray full of Fyriad delicacies: spiced eel kabobs, sautéed cod bites, yellow frost berries with honey. Another servant whisked by with a tray of drinks, and I nabbed a sparkling pink one, taking a deep gulp.

“Apologies.” I set my gaze on Elisabeth, her long dark hair tied with a ribbon, no wings on her back, just like me. “I was admiring your ring. It’s beautiful.”

She looked at it and wrinkled her nose. “A gift from my husband’s mother. I feel obligated to wear it, though I think it’s rather unsightly.”

I almost choked on my drink. Unsightly. She had no idea what she wore. I’d recognized the emblem immediately: it was one of the first rings crafted by the mountain dwellers, a powerful symbol that represented their freedom after they broke off from the earth court and created their own court, tucked into Mosswood Forest and hidden away for years. Rumor had it that the former king of the earth court stole many of their treasures and possessions after the war he led against them. He’d then distributed those stolen treasures across the continent of Arathia to nobles and royalty, no doubt how it came to be with Elisabeth’s mother-in-law.

Elisabeth was still frowning at it like she didn’t have an amazing piece of history right there on her finger.

“Lord Growley,” she said to my husband, a conspiratorial note to her voice, “I think your wife might be hinting that she wants some new jewelry.”

I snorted, then cleared my throat as my husband huffed. “She has plenty already. Everything she could want, in fact.”

Not even close, but he wouldn’t know that. Or care to know.

He nodded at us both. “If you’ll excuse me. I see that the Faraways have just arrived.”

Two winged elementals stepped through the huge opening of our great hall, big enough to accommodate wings as was everything in our wooden cabin.

Elisabeth looked around the bright room, lips pursed. “I don’t know how you live at that cave home of yours in the sky court.”

Elisabeth and her husband were frost elementals like myself, and while her husband served as ambassador to the water court, they primarily resided here.

“It’s an adjustment.” Though my husband was from the sky court, as ambassador to the frost court, we spent half our time in his home, and half our time here in mine. Every time I had to travel to the sky court, I counted the days until I could come home. I’d done the best I could with our dwelling there. Hanging bright paintings on the walls, throwing plush, colorful rugs across the floors. Installing chandeliers and sconces to make it brighter, more homey. My husband had grumbled about it all when I’d first come to live there with him, prattling on about unnecessary expenses.

“Do you miss the frost court when you’re away?” she asked.

“We visit often enough,” I answered noncommittally. The last thing I needed was it getting back to my husband that I was complaining about the home, this life, he provided for me. Which he liked to constantly remind me of. Although he had no problem complaining about the snow and ice and cold of my home, and I just had to grit my teeth and nod along... or suffer his temper.

The door opened, and gasps sounded around the room as a figure stepped inside, black cloak dotted with snow, flurries whirling in after him. A servant shut the door and took his cloak, hanging it on the wall behind him.

“Maverick Von Lucas,” Elisabeth said in awe. “He never comes to these things.”

He straightened, face severe as he sent a cursory look around the room, gaze not roaming right past me. I hadn’t invited him, which meant... I looked over as my husband marched his way and shook hands with him, clapping the famous adventurer on the back. Not just an adventurer. Explorer, historian, scholar. Maverick did it all, and he’d earned many admirers in the process. He took a step into the room, everyone crowding around him to hear about his latest escapade.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Elisabeth said, brushing past me and joining the crowd of revelers.

“Tell us about how you got that bejeweled goblet,” a man called from the crowd. “I heard you had to outrun a few boulders to escape with it.”

Maverick smiled good-naturedly. “And nearly fell into a snake pit in the process.”

A few women, including Elisabeth, raised their hands to their mouths in horror, while the men chuckled.

My husband clapped Maverick on the shoulder. “At least let the man get a drink before you barrage him with questions about his latest quests.”

My throat grew thick. I’d love nothing more than to sit next to Maverick and spend the entire night listening to his adventures. But my husband would never allow it, not when I had duties to perform, like mingling and making him look good. Lucky me.

I heard calls for my name across the room, some high priest’s wife who probably wanted to gossip. Soon I’d have to mingle with others, to represent my husband with a smile on my face. I glanced back at Elisabeth’s ring, my fingers twitching.

No. No. I could not do that here. My extracurricular activities happened outside the home, in secret. Never so close to my husband, and definitely never in front of so many people.

Maverick”s voice rang out from the middle of the crowd. “Ah, yes, the golden rope was a challenge. I had to scale a cliff to get it while fighting off dragons. I didn’t realize until I got to the top of the damn mountain that they were actually just protecting their eggs—which lay on top of the rope. I got quite a few burns.” Through the crowd I could see him rolling up his black sleeves, revealing scar-riddled arms.

“He’s so gorgeous,” a water court ambassador said as she passed me.

“And he’s single,” the woman next to the ambassador murmured.

The ambassador waved her hand. “He’s always single. Too focused on his work to take a wife.”

“Maybe that’ll change once he meets me,” the other woman said, and they both laughed, weaving their way toward him.

Screw it. I may not ever experience the adventures Maverick Von Lucas got to go on daily. But I could live out my own passions, in my own small way.

I glanced at that ring, sparkling on Elisabeth’s finger. If Maverick saw it, he’d no doubt want it, and he’d get it. Then he’d take it back to the Academy of Scholars Historian, where it would be forever out of my reach.

The history behind it. The stories it could tell. It would be an amazing addition to my collection. After tonight, Elisabeth might shove it in some drawer, not even caring the valuable artifact she possessed. It would be lost to time. I swallowed as she turned to speak with one of the high priestesses of the frost court, whose gown was long and flowing, fabric thin, unlike the rest of the ladies from other courts who wore thick wool dresses, often layered with fur-lined jackets and sturdy boots. Though I didn’t need to bother with all that, not being from the frost court. Ice flowed through my blood.

Someone called for me again, and I caught the sharp look my husband sent me.

Do not embarrass me.

I bit my lip, then he looked away, and I had my opportunity. Before I even knew what I was doing, I stumbled forward, bumping into Elisabeth, muttering some apology, placing one hand on her arm while the other deftly reached to that ring and slipped it right off her finger and into the pocket of my dress.

I spun on my heel and made my way across the room toward the calls for my voice, heart hammering. If I got caught stealing it wouldn’t just be my husband’s wrath I’d have to endure. It would be the crown’s as well.

It was a good thing I’d never been caught, and I had no intentions of starting now.