Chapter 35 – Vale
Chapter 35
VALE
I awoke to find Neve staring down at me.
“Good morning.” I breathed in her smoked vanilla scent, surprised that she was looking at me at all. I wasn’t sure what was going on with her, or between us, but as much as I wanted answers, I didn’t feel it was my place to pry.
Maybe we’d rushed into a physical relationship. Perhaps she still had things to work through from her past. Or she worried about us growing closer and her leaving.
“I have something to show you,” she said, her voice raspy. Dark smudges ringed her eyes.
“Are you ill?” I sat up.
“No”—she cleared her throat—“but I didn’t sleep. You’ll see why.” She held out a piece of paper. “Read it.”
I took the paper. It felt worn beneath my fingers and as I read, my eyebrows pinched together. “Who is this from? And to?”
“To Roar. You’ll see that near the end, from his older brother, Brogan.” Neve patted the book on the nightstand. “It was in the binding.”
“What?”
“Roar told me they often hid notes for the other to find. This was Brogan's favorite book, and he hid what appears to be his last note to Roar inside it.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. “Read the note, Vale.”
I wiped the sleep from my eyes and did as she asked, skimming over the childish taunting of male younglings. When we were younger, Rhistel and I had also teased one another about the females Mother had often tried to push on us. I was about to ask Neve why I was bothering with the letter, when my gaze trailed downward and caught on the word scepter.
I sucked in a breath, moved up the page, and read. When I was done, I looked at Neve. “You think the Lisikas have the Ice Scepter.”
“Or they had it.”
For a moment, I sensed she wanted to say more, but when she turned back to me, her violet eyes were serious.
“Vale, what’s Roar’s magic?”
“He’s a shapeshifter.”
Neve’s lips parted. “I’d not expected that. Into what animal?”
“Potentially any, though I’ve heard him say that he favors the animal of his house, the snow leopard. Most shapeshifters shift into only a few animal forms, so he might have mastered a few more by now.”
“Perhaps a snake,” Neve muttered.
I laughed. “I’m shocked that wasn’t his first shift. ”
For a moment, amusement gleamed in her eyes, but then she caught herself and looked away. “But his family married into the Falk line at least once. Tore Lisika was Sassa Falk’s king consort. Roar helped the Drassil tree in Traliska. So he has winter magic too, right?”
“He does. Having at least a small bit of winter magic is possible for anyone in the great houses of Winter’s Realm,” I conceded. “They’ve all married into each other at one point. Usually more than once, so there’s a little of Falk blood in all of us. I have seen Roar wield winter magic before, though his magic isn’t strong.”
Neve studied me for a long moment. “Right, so he does have the power to use the Scepter, if he has it, but I really don’t think he does. I mean, his own wings were affected by the blight, and don’t people say that’s related to the Scepter’s disappearance? Like its disappearance caused a flux in the magic of the kingdom?”
“That’s what some whisper,” I agreed, “though no one can prove it. My question is, how in the world could his family lose such an item?” I shook my head. “I can’t see that happening.”
“Well, I don’t know!” Neve threw her hands up. “People lose precious things all the time.”
I sensed a subtext there. “Why didn’t you sleep?”
She huffed out a breath. “Just worried.”
“About Rhistel?”
“Yes.”
She was lying. I wasn’t sure how I could tell, but I got the distinct sense that my brother was not her primary concern. Though, now that I was reminded of what he’d done, my blood began to boil. Last night, I’d dreamed about confronting him, about teaching him a lesson.
“I’m going to get ready to train.” Neve shifted and stood. Her nightgown had been bunched up and fell around her shapely legs. Legs with thick thighs and muscular calves wrapped in a softness that I longed to touch again.
My cock began to harden, ready as it ever was where she was concerned. Thankfully, Neve had already turned and left. The bathroom door shut behind her, and our moment of revelation and connection was over.
She doesn’t want me here.
The message rang home every time Neve turned her back on me during training. Each time, it hurt a bit more.
Sometimes I caught glimpses of the Neve I’d been getting to know, the night before we’d explored one another’s bodies. But it was always gone in a flash, like a shooting star disappearing into the night sky.
“What’s wrong with you two?” Luccan came up beside me. “You seem off.”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted.
“You didn’t say something stupid?”
“Likely I did,” I replied with a chuckle. “But I don’t know what.”
“Hmm, well, she’s having trouble today.” Luccan met my gaze. “I think you’re distracting her. That and she looks like she didn’t sleep. Do us all a favor and, if you want your wife to be able to fight off vampires, go take a walk? A run? Whatever, just get out of here. I wish to teach her how to throw axes today, so she needs to concentrate.”
“That would be irresponsible,” I retorted.
My friend gestured to the sparring room floor. “We’re in the castle, the most protected building in all of Winter’s Realm. But even if no other soldiers roamed the yard or halls, you really think that Than, Sian, Filip, and I are going to let anyone touch her? Come on, Vale.”
I exhaled. I trusted Luccan and Sian wholeheartedly. Filip and Thantrel, while I wasn’t as close to them, were devoted to me too. My friends wouldn’t allow harm to come to my wife, and with all the tension between us, I should have welcomed the time to myself.
But I didn’t. No matter how chilly things had been, I still hoped that whatever Neve was going through would thaw. That soon we’d be able to be normal together again.
That our relationship might even deepen.
I didn’t dare bring that up to her, though. Not in her current state. I only wished she would tell me what troubled her. I suspected it was far more than the threat of vampires arriving in the city.
“Fine,” I agreed grudgingly. “I’ll take a walk.”
“Good call.” Luccan punched me in the shoulder. “That way we can show Neve all the slick fighting moves Sian and I have.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What moves?”
“Tricks that we keep a secret from you,” Luccan replied. “Otherwise, you might claim them for your own. ”
I chuckled dryly. “As if I need them. I’ll wipe the floor with you two.”
Luccan pushed me to the door. “Now go. I’ll tell your princess that you’ll be back later.”
I nodded, and, throwing a glance over my shoulder only to find that Neve’s back was to me, left the training facilities. At the door, I pointed to my Clawsguard.
“Stay with my wife. If someone wishes to speak with her and you don’t recognize them, get Sian Balik to stand with her.”
“Very well, my prince,” the guard replied.
I went on my way, still conflicted over leaving Neve. In truth, she was in good hands, but that didn’t change the fact that I had a duty to her. Not that I could realistically be with her all the time, anyway.
Father was still searching for rebels, and it was only a matter of time before he sent me into the city again. More than anything, I didn’t want to go. The king’s massacre of those actors haunted me, and, rebels or not, I didn’t wish for anyone else to suffer that fate. If only I’d called my cabal together faster, then those fae might still be alive.
A sigh left me as I climbed the steps, into a busier part of the palace. Fae watched me. Some even waved. Apparently, the stigma I’d brought upon myself by marrying Neve without Father’s blessing was wearing off.
When do I tell Father?
The moment Neve had given me Brogan's note, and I’d read about House Lisika’s treachery, I should have gone to the king. I should have told him everything. But something had stopped me. At first, I’d only been disappointed that Neve and I still seemed at odds. Now, though . . . I couldn’t help but think there was something in the letter itself that had stopped me, even if just subconsciously.
Perhaps I needed to return to my suite and read it again.
Deciding to do exactly that, I pivoted from wandering to striding for my chambers. As I’d chosen to locate my suite far from the rest of my family, and in a less elaborate part of the palace, the crowds of fae thinned. Most visitors to the palace liked to stay in the nicer parts of Frostveil, public places where they might bump elbows with the king, queen, heir, or their delightful princess.
That suited me.
I was about five minutes from my room when a figure I knew as well as my own turned into the otherwise empty hallway ahead of me.
Rhistel’s back was to me. Hence, he didn’t notice his twin lumbering behind, fists clenched and proverbial steam spraying from his ears.
No Clawsguard followed my brother. He’d slipped away or perhaps whispered his guard into remaining somewhere.
At the thought, my anger boiled over, and I picked up my pace. “Rhistel!”
My twin stopped, and even from a distance, I could see the tense lines in his shoulders as he turned to face me. “Brother.”
“That’s all you have to say? Brother? ”
I wouldn’t throw suspicion on anyone, but my promise to Filip and Neve that I would keep quiet about what Rhistel had done was being tossed to the wind. I couldn’t allow him to violate those I cared for. As no one was around, this was the best moment to confront my twin.
“Were you hoping I’d break into song and dance?”
“You used your magic on her,” I growled, closing in on him. “I told you to stay away from her. Not to speak with her, and you tried to control her.”
“I tried to get her to kiss me.” Rhistel shrugged. “Wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
“Have you no shame?”
“When it comes to your commoner wife and understanding why my brother would give up so much to be with her? No, I do not.” Rhistel snorted. “Now I’m fated to wed a Balik because of your choice. Have you met those females? Utter nightmares.”
My mouth fell open. At the Royal Theater, he’d called the Balik ladies lovely, said he could do worse. What had changed?
“I’ll never forgive your selfishness, Vale.”
I blinked at the last dig, the small kernel of sympathy and curiosity for my twin’s plight gone in an instant.
“You’ll never forgive my selfishness ?” I took a step closer to Rhistel, and he had the good sense to back out of my reach. “You whispered my wife. Like you did to me.”
“Fates, not this again,” Rhistel moaned. “I couldn’t control it then.”
“Not that you would have wanted to.” His first whispering had resulted in the single most mortifying moment of my life, and my brother had loved every minute .
“Perhaps not,” Rhistel admitted. “I don’t regret trying to get to know your wife better.” His eyes narrowed. “How did she escape, anyway?”
I swallowed. This part of the discussion was off-limits.
“You know, don’t you?” Rhistel glowered. “I’m going to assume it wasn’t you. I’d have woken up with a black eye.” He lifted his hand and tugged off his glove. “How about I see for myself?”
“You can’t.”
“I’m the heir. One day, no one will be able to stop me from what I wish to do. I believe I’ll start that now.” He tugged at the glove again, and I reacted, hurling my fist at his nose.
Bone cracked. Blood spurted. Rhistel fell with a cry.
“How dare you strike me!” Rhistel rose, blood seeping from his nostrils. “You think it’ll keep me away from your commoner? You’ve only made her all the more enticing, brother. If you don’t keep her locked away, I’ll find her. That is, if the vampire assassins don’t first.”
My vision went red, and I lunged at my brother. But he acted quickly, water materializing from the air and streaming into my face.
When it vanished again, he went for his glove. “I’ll have you offer her up to me even. It will be all your idea.”
Like the great white bear in the Pit, I charged, slamming into my brother, hurling his body over my shoulder and tossing him against the wall. He saved himself, though, conjuring water to soften the blow and then slamming it back at me .
I retaliated with a screaming gale that blew the shutters from the windows lining the empty corridor.
“You can’t do whatever you wish, Rhistel!”
“I can. And I will.” He lifted his arm and water poured from the ceiling, and not a trickle, a deluge of freezing water.
It kept coming and coming and with each second, my breath grew thinner.
Had I been less heated, I would have understood that I wasn’t underwater. That all I had to do was take a dozen steps in either direction, and I’d be fine. But nearly drowning as a youngling wrung all rationality from my brain, and I defaulted to fight mode.
I leapt at Rhistel and perhaps only because he’d expected me to lose my head, he didn’t move in time. I crashed into him, knocking him to the ground, and began pummeling him with my fists.
Blood sprayed. On me. On him. On the floor and walls.
Rhistel roared. “Get him off me!”
Somewhere deep in my mind, I must have known that I was going too far, but I didn’t really hear him, didn’t stop.
“Prince Vale, please! Stop!” a voice called out seconds before hands grabbed me to pull me off my brother. Like an animal desperate to avoid being caged, I fought back, fought to be free. “You’re killing him!”
Killing him. My heart stopped its frantic pounding, and I stilled .
“Thank the stars,” a second voice said. “Get help. A healer. The heir can barely breathe.”
Those words brought me back to reality, and I took in my brother, as if for the first time.
His face better resembled ground sausage rather than the face I’d grown up with—the one that looked so much like my own. Blood covered him from chest to crown and pools of red crept across the white floor.
I drew in a shuddering breath. Bleeding skies, what had I done?