Chapter 21 - Like Warmth in Winter
Callan
Once I had Wrenora in front of me on Cassmira again, the anxiety growing in my gut calmed.
I needed to get her back to my study where I could keep her safe behind the ward.
I glanced down at the hood of her cloak.
Somewhere beneath all the material, a head of copper hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail.
The fact that she’d not known the strength of my power meant that despite all the rumors swirling around about me, my magic still wasn’t fully understood.
And I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not.
Cassmira’s pace increased the closer to Neeva we got.
She was familiar with the city, though my father hadn’t allowed me to bring her when I’d been sent away before.
As an elfling, she’d been my closest companion, meaning many hours of flight were shared when I needed time to decompress from the endless training.
The sun was rising behind the clouds, though the earth below us was still deep in shadow, the permafrost stretching in all directions.
To the north, the twisted spires of my fortress scraped against the downy snow clouds.
Beyond that, the Breven Mountains loomed like wraiths on the edge of the world.
A few leagues to the west spread the city of Neeva, still trapped in slumber.
I had never seen my fortress from the sky.
The glittering facets caught the morning light and threw whispers of rainbow across the permafrost. I was thrust back in time, eight years to the day I’d made it.
I was lost, broken—grieving the death of my betrothed, the loss of my mother’s companionship, and trying to cope with the reality I had never and would never please my father, I’d wandered out of the royal residence in Neeva alone hoping I’d freeze to death, the growing winter mirroring my mood.
But I knew better. I was a frost elf. I couldn’t freeze to death. If anything, my magic grew stronger the colder it was.
I had stood at the top of a hill, gazing out over a smooth valley of unblemished snow.
The magic brought a rush of excitement with it as it flowed from me into the icy air.
It was like speaking a word and making it real.
I’d asked the ice to rise. I’d begged the snow to solidify.
I’d willed the world to freeze around me, creating a fortress to protect what little of my heart was left unbroken.
And from that untouched snow, a magnificent castle grew, facet by facet, until every shard of ice was perfectly placed—spires of frozen crystals reaching for the downy sky.
Wrenora shifted in front of me, a hand falling onto my thigh.
I hadn’t thought to put all my armor on, leaving my cuisses off.
The heat of her fingers melted through my pants, sending a shiver through me.
This was the closest I may ever get to touching another person for the rest of my life.
If she wasn’t able to imbue a strong enough suppression gem, this would forever be my existence.
Eight years had been agony enough. The thought of several hundred more...
Cassmira banked to the right, her wings sprawled as she descended, gliding on the morning breeze. She circled the fortress before dipping into the bailey. Once on the ground, I thought perhaps Wrenora would wake, but she slumped to the side when I slipped from behind her.
“You sleep like the dead.” I pulled her into my arms before turning back to Cassmira. “I hope you’ll stay, but I understand if you can’t.”
Her golden eyes held mine, blinking a few times before she leaned forward and nibbled the edge of my pauldron. I let my helm melt away from my face before pressing my forehead to hers.
“Thank you, old friend.”
I carried Wrenora into my fortress, determined to tuck her under the blanket on the sofa in my study.
I should have taken her to the room Magdala had given her, but I couldn’t.
The thread pulled too painfully the farther away she was.
I’d noticed it at the shelter when I’d gone out to check on Cassmira.
The pain only grew stronger, and I worried something was wrong—some inexplicable connection to the human girl I’d accidentally put in place.
Or maybe it was the fear I couldn’t keep her safe with some unknown assailant trying to kill me.
I stopped for a moment in the doorway to the throne room, noticing the puddle from the woman Wrenora melted had finally refrozen, leaving a dark stain in the ice.
She stirred in my arms, and I pulled her closer against my chest plate.
My eyes fell to the top of her head. Strange things had started happening when she’d come to my fortress.
Now, I wondered if it had to do with her fiery magic.
And if it did, would it melt anything else now that her shackles had been removed?
I took a deep breath. Had I doomed myself by retrieving her from Madam Ignes when I should have sent her as far away as possible? I turned and continued up the stairs to my study. When I stepped in, Fynn’s head popped up from where he’d been resting on my sofa.
“Sorry I abandoned you, fuzzy friend,” I said as the cat stretched and pranced off to the side.
Wrenora groaned as I laid her down, rolling to her side as I pulled the blanket over her. In an instant, Fynn was nuzzling into the crook of her legs, tugging a smile onto my lips.
“I need to tend to a few things. Keep her warm for me, will you?”
The cat blinked up at me slowly before yawning and resting his head on her thigh. I turned to leave, thinking I’d find Magdala, to warn her there’d been yet another attack.
“Thank you.” Wrenora’s voice was soft—almost a whisper—as if she hadn’t wanted me to hear.
“Of course,” I said, just as softly, before I forced my feet to rip me away from her.