Chapter 42 – Vale
Chapter 42
VALE
N eve’s eyelids fluttered, and for the first time in what felt like a thousand turns, I took a full breath.
“She’s waking up, right?” Anna choked from blue lips. She shivered violently but refused to leave the room. As we did not want the human to pass out, Caelo had started a fire, and the temperature in the room was rising, albeit slowly. “Please tell me you see that she’s waking up.”
“I think so.” I placed a hand on my wife’s shoulder and winced at how the cold shot up my arm and stole my breath.
Though I’d been upset that she hadn’t wished to share a bed with me last night, that she’d left me with so many questions, perhaps it had been for the best. The room was so cold, as was she. Had I slept in the bed with her, I might have frozen to death.
How did she survive ?
“Neve?” I rubbed her shoulder, trying to force some heat into her skin. “Can you hear us?”
“She’s still so blue,” Clemencia whispered from where she stood behind Anna. “Should we have a bath drawn?”
Yes, Neve had turned a stomach-churning shade of blue, and her skin was freezing to the touch. She truly looked as though she’d been frozen inside a block of ice, but she breathed normally.
“It can’t hurt.” Luccan shot a glance at Caelo, Arie, and Thantrel, grouped together at his right. “Than and Arie, the servants are sleeping. Can you draw the water? Caelo, maybe toss another log on the fire? Get it roaring hot.”
Caelo stoked the hearth as the two younger Riis brothers ran from the room into the adjoining bath chamber and began preparing the tub. My gaze followed them, taking in the bedchamber covered in ice. The room was barely tolerable to stand in, and everyone inside shivered.
Everyone except Neve.
What was going on?
Was this winter magic? I suspected I’d witnessed her wielding it last night too, but this was far beyond anything I’d seen.
“Not the price.” The words slipped from Neve’s lips and her eyelids fluttered harder, ratcheting up my heart rate. “Not the price to be paid.”
My eyebrows slammed together. She’d asked about a price before. Of hurting people. Whispered of her mother too .
Magical releases could be powerful, but Neve seemed to be experiencing hallucinations. I’d never heard of such a thing. Then again, I’d never heard of a faerie coming into their magic so late in life, either. Perhaps, for someone in Neve’s circumstances, this reaction would be normal. I hoped she came out of it unharmed.
“I still have to pay the price,” Neve spoke again, her voice becoming more frantic.
That should have been a cause for distress, but as she spoke, her breathing deepened. Beneath my hand, she grew a touch warmer, and color returned to her cheeks. She really was coming back to us.
“Neve, we’re here.” Anna took her friend’s hand in her own. That small display of connection, of love, had to have hurt. Anna was human and thus, more sensitive to pain than the fae, but while Anna shivered even more violently than the rest of us, the human did not flinch back or release Neve. “ Please , come back.”
Anna’s words worked like a spell, and Neve’s violet eyes flew open. They landed first on me, then darted to Anna and Clemencia. My wife exhaled and some of the panic left her eyes.
“You’re all alive. Of course you are, but when she left, I wasn’t sure.”
“Who is she ?” I asked, and Neve tensed as if she hadn’t been aware she’d spoken out loud.
“I—don’t—” Her mouth closed, and her eyes flared. “I mean, she was—” Again, her mouth closed, and her fingers lifted to cover her lips. “Bleeding skies, I can’t lie.”
I removed my hand, and it formed a fist before I caught myself and loosened. Why had she needed to lie? We were hovering around her, worried for her life. Why would Neve want to tell us an untruth?
“Then don’t,” I said, trying to sound calm, nonjudgmental of what she’d said, how she’d wanted to lie to us. “Who is she? And what was this price you spoke of so many times?”
Despite my efforts, the words came out harsher than I’d intended, and when Neve looked at me again, fear clouded her eyes.
“Wait,” Anna interrupted. “Neve, let’s get you near the fire. You’re still blue.”
My wife lifted her hands and stared at them, aghast. “Holy stars.”
“You were worse just moments ago, my lady. Before we lit the fire.” Clemencia came forward to help Neve stand.
Though I knew I should have assisted my wife, I did not. I merely watched as Clemencia and Anna helped Neve to the hearth. The snow and ice that had filled the room hindered their movements, though at least it hadn’t seemed to get worse.
Neve had conjured it all. Had created this room of pure winter. Now that she was back and thawing, would everything melt? I had so many questions, so I followed the females, watched as they settled Neve into a chair in front of the hearth.
“Once you’ve warmed a bit, there’s also a bath being drawn,” Clemencia informed Neve. “It might be too much of a shock for you right now, though.” She paused, tears filling her dark eyes. “We thought we’d lost you, my lady. That the release of your magic killed you.”
Neve extended her hand out for Clemencia. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything before. That I had no magic. That I could lie. You must have been so confused after I killed that vampire and . . . Stars, Clem, I was trying to keep you safe, but I’m so sorry. I should have been more forward with my past—given you a real choice.”
The lady-in-waiting nodded. “Anna told me much about your past. Once here, I did ask. Things weren’t fitting.”
“I’m glad she told you.”
Clemencia swallowed. “Thank you for saying that. You are a real friend.”
Neve’s face loosened a touch.
“And I also wish to say that I’m sorry for your past. You should have never been held there. You’re a fae of winter—a holder of winter magic, even.” Clemencia gestured to the surrounding room. “This room is not the only place covered in frost and ice. The outside of the tower is too, spanning two rooms in either direction. All from you.”
“Seriously?” Neve asked.
“You do not realize this, perhaps, but that means you are likely of noble birth.”
No inkling of surprise flitted across my wife’s face.
So she had known. Or, at least, suspected. But how? And why hadn’t she mentioned it to me? She’d spoken of getting to know her family. Of wanting to know who they were. If she’d discovered a bloodline, then why not tell me? No matter the distance between us, I would have helped.
“She knows she is of noble birth,” a deep voice said from the doorway.
Every head spun to find none other than Lord Leyv Riis at the door.
“Father!” Luccan stood. “When did you arrive?”
“Just now. I came calling at your house and saw the vampire ash before the gate. When no one was home, I had a hunch that something had happened. That you’d come here. Arie and Thantrel?”
The pair poked their heads out of the adjoining bathroom. Arie waved. “Here, Father. Running the princess a bath.”
“Good.” Lord Riis entered the room. “Which brings me back to the matter at hand. You know who you are, don’t you, Princess Neve?” Lord Riis’s eyebrows arched. “You are protecting yourself by keeping it a secret. However, those in this room have proven themselves trustworthy.”
“Some secrets should remain in the shadows,” Neve replied.
“Agreed,” Lord Riis replied. “However, some deserve to see the light. Yours among them.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I might have worked out who you are,” the spymaster replied.
Neve stiffened, and Lord Riis rushed onward. “And I can speak for my house. If I am correct, no one bearing my surname will say a word. Anna and Clemencia have proven themselves to be true friends too. I do not think either would share information to harm you?”
“Of course not!” Anna shouted. “Neve is my sister!”
“I would never harm my lady for she is also a dear friend.” Clemencia’s voice, though quieter, rang through the room as loudly as Anna’s had.
Lord Riis gave a stout nod. “Then the only people we must question are Prince Vale and Sir Caelo.”
I sucked in a breath. “Excuse me? She’s my wife. I . . .”
I trailed off, not about to admit that I loved Neve when she barely looked at me.
Still, her head swung around, eyes wide as they landed on me. I was sure that everyone in the bedchambers sensed what I’d nearly admitted.
“She is your wife,” Lord Riis said. “And you promised to protect her. Didn’t he, Princess Neve?”
Of course I had. Save for the Riis brothers, everyone present had been there that night—the night I’d proposed and given Neve my name to keep danger at bay.
“Yes,” Neve whispered. “But this . . . my secret will shake many. Perhaps asking him to keep his promise now is too much.”
Lord Riis stood up straighter. “It might be. But I’ve also known Prince Vale since he was a babe. I’ve seen him grow, watched him turn into the male before us today.” His voice softened. “To the prince, honor means much. So, Vale, if your wife shares news that may distress you, will you honor your word? ”
What in all the nine kingdoms could be so dire that they thought I’d turn against Neve? After I’d thrown myself into danger for her. After I’d seen a friend injured and still said nothing.
After I’d fallen for her.
If they were questioning my honor, then Neve must be hiding something awful.
She had tried to lie. Tried to lie about a price and a female she’d seen. Why?
By the dead gods, the haunted, terrified look in her eyes made me want to rip something apart. Even if it tore me apart, I had to know what had done that to her.
“I will honor my vow of protection,” I said finally. “Caelo?”
“I stand with you, Vale. Always. Whoever she is, if you are with Princess Neve, so am I.”
Lord Riis bowed his head. “Princess?”
“Perhaps I’ll start with what I just saw? Answer Vale’s first questions?”
She stalled, but I didn’t mind. I sensed she needed the courage to work up to whatever she must share.
“As you wish,” Lord Riis said.
Neve turned her face up at me. Tears swam in her eyes. “I saw a Drassil tree. And heard a voice.”
Like the day we’d wed.
“The voice was familiar and told me I was on the cusp of the afterlife, a sort of in-between land. I think my magic was killing me as it”—her hand swept around, encompassing the room—“did this.”
For a moment, she broke eye contact with me and sought Lord Riis. “Apologies for this, by the way. I’ll clean it up. Somehow.”
Lord Riis let out a throaty laugh. “Let’s not worry about such trivial matters. Continue.”
“Right.” A wobbly sigh left her lips, but she returned to face me again. “The voice was that of my mother, though I didn’t realize it right away, only at the end. I asked if I was paying a price because when I saved Anna, the same voice said they could do so. For a price. I thought that meant my life.”
Anna’s hands flew to cover her mouth. “You didn’t.”
Neve turned to face her friend. “I did, and I’d do it again.”
“But what if it costs your life later?” Anna whispered.
“I have a feeling something else will claim my life. But if I gave mine for yours, it is a price I’m willing to pay.”
Anna began to cry, and while Neve looked like she wanted to console her, Clemencia was there, wrapping an arm around Anna’s thin shoulders and nodding to my wife.
Neve folded her hands in her lap, stared at them. “The voice said I had to come back, that I had much to do here, people to help, and it was all because of who I was, which I discovered in the hidden part of the palace.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when you found out?” I asked, prying her attention from her hands. “I could have helped you find your family.”
“No, Vale, you couldn’t have.” Neve stopped and for a moment, I sensed she would try to lie once more, but she took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “We’d never find them because my family is dead. Killed off in your father’s rebellion—on his orders.”
My heart stuttered. She possessed winter magic, marking her as from a powerful bloodline, a noble one, as Clemencia said. But her family was gone—on Father’s orders. Killed during his rebellion.
By the dead gods.
I took a step back, studying her more closely than perhaps I ever had. How her hair was so similar to my father’s. The shape of her eyes too. I twisted, taking in the room. I’d never seen winter magic this strong. Not even from him. My heart raced as I turned back to her and caught those violet eyes with my own.
“Neve, are you saying what I believe you’re saying?”
Please say no.
Instead, she nodded. “The person I spoke to was my mother, Queen Revna Falk.” A shuddering sob broke from her before she mastered herself once more and rolled her shoulders back. “And I was born Isolde Falk.”