Chapter 6
Dayton
Frostfang. Never in the seven realms did I think I’d be excited to see this frozen slab of questionable life choices and numb toes. And yet I’m on the bow of the airship, snow slapping my face and damn icicles sticking to the ends of my hair, grinning like an idiot.
“She’s down there,” I say as Farron approaches.
“I know.” He places a gloved hand over my own. “I feel her too.”
Ahead, Frostfang rises against the white-capped horizon, a city sculpted in layers of glacial stone and dark pine houses. Towering above it all is Keep Wolfhelm, with its massive wall of ice gleaming around the perimeter.
Farron’s auburn hair catches the faint light, like the final falling leaves before winter’s grasp. “Last time I was in Frostfang, it was for that ball, remember?” he says. “The one Rosalina organized to find our mates.”
“If I recall, she was the only one any of us looked at all night,” Ezryn says, approaching us. “That should have been a sign.”
Farron chews his lips and leans over the banister. “She’s with Kel now. How did Cas get her out of the Below? I don’t think he’s here.”
I give Farron a shove on the shoulder. “What? Worried about your new boyfriend?”
Farron told me on the journey here that he kissed the damned Prince of Thorns. He’d said it was merely for distraction, but the flush on his cheeks was very telling. I already have to adjust to sharing Rosie with that thorny bastard, but now Fare too?
“No.” Farron runs a hand through his hair. “Sometimes I can feel him. He’s far away from here.”
“Rosalina’s safety is all that matters.” Ezryn leaves to help direct the ship’s landing. It’s practically a second home to him now, and he’s familiar with all the procedures. Though without his armor, this Ezryn is a stranger to the Winter fae.
We’d already sent word ahead of our arrival so as not to scare the fucking shit out of Frostfang with our massive flying ship. At least leaving half the armada in Spring and the rest in Summer, we’re much less imposing.
The ship—dubbed the Flutterwing by Delphia—is an ugly monstrosity of wood and steel.
With great black sails and a noisy propeller in the back, we’re not exactly the picture of grace that Delphia’s name would suggest. But what else could you expect from something designed by Kairyn?
To give credit where credit’s due, the boy’s smart.
I couldn’t have designed anything like this, let alone figured out how to make it fly.
He had help with that part though. The engine is a glowing green crystal. I don’t like going down to where it’s stored. Every time I get near it, I feel as if I’m being watched…but from the inside.
The whole thing weirds me out. I’d rather be on deck, even with the freezing breeze.
The Flutterwing descends slowly, creaking and groaning against the wind as it dips beneath the keep’s high walls.
Keep Wolfhelm dominates the city’s heart, a fortress hewn from rock and ice, with its jagged spires stabbing skyward.
The gigantic wall enclosing it is a pale, otherworldly blue.
Torches flicker at intervals along the battlements, casting golden halos that barely touch the cold stone.
As the ship’s hull touches down on the courtyard, a faint mist rises where the engine’s heat meets the frozen ground.
Winter soldiers stand at attention around the landing area, their silver armor glinting beneath layers of thick fur.
They watch us, suspicion mixing with wonder—probably the same look I had the first time I saw a ship soaring in the air.
Enormous doors carved with the shapes of wolves and elks lead into the heart of the keep. I stare at that door.
Each breath is a cloud of white in the air as I try to steady my raging pulse. She’s close, so close. Somewhere beyond those doors is Rosie. The thought fills me with a fire fierce enough to melt the surrounding ice.
Distantly, I hear Ezryn talking to one of the guards who has approached us on the gangplank, and Farron has drifted beside the Spring Prince, eagerly explaining the workings of the ship. But I keep my eyes fixed on those large wooden doors.
Suddenly, they burst open, and a figure is running through. A group of clamoring guards follow behind, shouting, “Princess, wait!”
“That ship has to be inspected for safety.”
“If you would please follow protocol.”
When has Rosalina O’Connell ever followed protocol? My mate’s too much like me.
She rushes through the courtyard like a bird in flight.
Her dress is woven from silken, blue threads, layered with gossamer that drifts around her like mist on a frozen lake.
A cloak of white fur, soft and thick, adorns her shoulders, and her hair spills loose, dark against the pale colors of her gown and cloak.
“Rosie.” I sigh.
The gangplank is too crowded with soldiers and Ezryn arguing and Farron waving some papers. So I do what any sane person would do. I grab one of the mast ropes and leap off the ship.
The wind rushes past, and magic prickles beneath my skin as I ask it to guide me toward her. I skid along the icy ground, trying to catch my footing, but damn, this courtyard is—of course—covered in a layer of ice.
“Day.” Rosalina skitters to a stop before me.
I let go of the rope as Rosalina throws her arms around me. I give up the idea of staying on my feet, and we both tumble to the ground, her on top.
“Rosie, Rosie,” I murmur into the wild waves of her hair.
She looks down at me, her face streaked with tears. My heart feels near ready to burst out of my chest at being so close to my mate. I lean up and kiss each of her cheeks, tasting the salt.
But the gesture makes her cry harder, and she throws her face into the crook of my neck. “You were dead. You were dead, Day. You were dead.”
Her words hit me like an arrow driven deep into my chest. My body stiffens, muscles locking. My pulse roars in my ears, so loud it almost drowns out her voice, her constant murmuring: “You were dead. You were dead.”
My heartbeat pounds against my ribs, frantic, like a beast trapped in a cage. I don’t want to hear it. Dead. The word claws its way through my mind, a dark, oily thing, staining every thought.
It’s as though a cold and venomous snake is slithering through my veins.
I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting the memory, but I can still feel its pull, that unnatural fire licking the hollows of my bones, whispering that I don’t belong here, that I’m something twisted and wrong.
My vision flashes with green. It flickers along the edges of my vision, closer, closer.
I grip her shoulders, harder than I mean to, my fingers shaking as I cling to her warmth, her heartbeat, her scent.
“Rosie, no,” I murmur. “I’m here. I’d never let anything part me from you.”
Her chest still heaves with massive sobs.
I take her face in my hands. “I’m here, baby, see? I’m here.”
“You’re here.”
I let my forehead rest against hers, closing my eyes for a heartbeat, just breathing her in. The world fades, the cold, the fear—there’s only her. I kiss her deeply, not just because I’ve been craving it every moment since we’ve parted but also to stop her from saying those words again.
You were dead.
You are dead.
Her mouth is warm, a contrast to the biting chill around us, and I sink into it.
Her lips part slightly, and I deepen the kiss, savoring the sweetness, the salt still lingering faintly from her tears.
Her hands grip the back of my neck, fingers tangling in my hair as she pulls me closer, as if she too needs to feel we’re both truly here.
It’s desperate and tender all at once, like we’re trying to erase every second we were apart, trying to fill the hollow spaces with each kiss, each touch. I taste her, lose myself in her, and for the first time since I woke up, the darkness in me grows quiet.
Until a cold shadow passes over us, followed by a grunt.
I tear myself away from Rosalina’s mouth to see towering above us, like a figure carved from ice itself, is Keldarion.
The Winter Prince’s expression is unreadable.
His eyes—ice-blue and unyielding—lock on me with an intensity that makes me straighten and stand up.
It’s not jealousy but a challenge. Are you enough for my mate? Are you enough for our mate?
I meet his gaze, unyielding. A display of power, the unbridled blessing of Summer blazing within my chest. My magic was enough to call a city-swallowing wave. Instinctually, I feel his own blessing answer back. The force of that power nearly knocks me flat.
Fuck. The bastard hasn’t even broken his curse yet. If he ever un-ices his balls and unlocks his full power… He could freeze the whole fucking Vale. I’m glad he’s on our side.
“What are you two doing?” Rosalina says, and there’s a third shock of power, like the warmth of the sun itself. “Seriously.”
She stands and says nothing more to Kel as she makes her way to the airship.
“Welcome to the Winter Realm, High Prince of Summer,” Keldarion grumbles. “But perhaps there are more appropriate places to reunite with our mate.”
“Hey, Kel.” For a moment, I wonder if he’s going to beat me up, like the time he came into the entrance hall as I was eating Rosie out. Or was that Ezryn? Damn if I’m not thinking about her sweet taste now…
Keldarion walks around me, also heading for the airship.
He’s certainly dressed like the High Prince of Winter.
His armor gleams like forged frost, each plate meticulously sculpted to accentuate the hard lines of his body, from the powerful set of his shoulders to the broad expanse of his chest. Across his back drapes a thick, midnight-blue cloak lined with white fur, giving him the look of his wolf taken human form.
Ezryn and Farron have finally made it off the gangplank. Ez dips Rosie in a passionate kiss before turning to Kel. I hurry closer. Are we going to see swords drawn? Because these two did not part on the best of terms.
And then Ez does draw a blade, that beautiful white Sword of the Protector, hidden in a leather sheath. He tilts his head. “If you’re looking for an apology, this is as good as you’re going to get.”
He drops the sheathed sword in Kel’s hand, as well as the snowflake token of the queen.
Kel accepts them wordlessly, mouth a hard line. He belts the sword at his waist and slips the token around his neck.
“Sworn Protector of the Realms,” Ezryn continues, “the Sapphire Knight has been dispatched, the Green Rule and creatures of the Below purged in Spring. Florendel is now held by Lady Tilla—”
Keldarion pulls Ez into a hug. And damn if there is a silver lining to Ez being unhelmed, it’s getting to watch this big, brooding fae’s face fracture and—dare I say—soften just for a moment.
“Well, isn’t this sweet?” I say, walking over.
Rosie smiles at me, tucked tight to Farron.
Keldarion pulls away from Ezryn and regards us all. “I’m glad you arrived safely. There is much to discuss.”
“Yes, all back together again,” I muse. “But hey, aren’t we missing a pretty little dark-haired shadowy member of Rosie’s fated—”
“Caspian isn’t here,” Rosalina says quickly, her eyes flashing something feral at me. “I’ll tell you everything soon. But he saved me, and because of it, he’s trapped in the Below.”
A heavy darkness falls around Keldarion. “That’s where he should stay.”
Okay, major tension and trouble in this wintry love castle. A guard comes up to Keldarion and pulls his attention away. He promises a meeting soon before he leaves.
Rosalina quickly gestures for Farron, Ez, and me to follow her as she leads us to a secluded corner around the side of the airship.
Her big brown eyes resemble a cornered doe as she looks us over. “You all know?”
“That you’re mates with the freaking lord of evil and despair himself, the Prince of Thorns?” I say. “Yeah, we know.”
“He’s not like that,” Farron says softly. “You don’t understand everything he’s been doing for Rosalina. For Castletree.”
I shrug. “Should I give him a kiss of thanks too?”
Ezryn steps between me and Farron. “The Prince of the Below informed us that he was your mate.” He gently takes Rosalina’s hands in his.
“Caspian and I have had our differences over the years, but I vow to you, I will not bring one of your mates to harm.” Ezryn pauses.
“Unless, of course, you wished it, in which case, I would do anything you asked. You don’t happen to wish him harm, do you? ”
Rosalina gives a long sigh. “No, I don’t wish it.”
Ezryn stiffens, a half smirk on his face. “If you change your mind, the offer still stands.”
“Alright, I think we’re missing the important point here.” I cross my arms. “Which, I’m guessing, is that the icy bastard has no idea?”
Rosalina flushes. “I was trying to tell him, but he saw the Fates in the Below. One of them showed him a vision of Caspian that scared him. He thinks Cas can’t be trusted.”
Ezryn rubs the bridge of his nose. “Only now he sees reason.”
Rosalina smacks his arm. “It’s not reason though. Caspian would never hurt me. He’d never leave me as a thrall as Kel believes.”
“You have to tell him, Rosalina,” Farron says.
“I thought it would make things worse,” Rosalina says, then gives us all a smile that’s almost too cute for words. “Any of you want to volunteer for the job?”
I raise up my hands. “No way, no how. I love you, Blossom, but there are some things even I’m scared of. Plus, I know there are at least three people in this circle that like my balls where they are.”