Page 22 of Court of Winter
As soon as I saw that, I rounded on Haxil. “He killed him? He reallykilledhim?”
The guard pulled me through the door, his grip firm. “Of course, he killed him,” he growled quietly.
Shock rippled through me, and my feet planted to the ground, but the guard didn’t hesitate. He picked me up and carried me the remainder of the distance away from the house.
Memories swirled through my mind of the moment I’d learned of my family being killed. The anguish, the disbelief, then the rising fury.
“He’s a monster,” I said in a choked whisper when Haxil placed me on my feet again. Once more, the prince had destroyed a family, even if the father had been abusive and feral. The prince had still torn that family apart.
“He did what was needed,” Haxil replied gruffly.
I took a step away from him and then another, as the realization cut me to the quick that the sensations I’d just experienced were what it felt like to be in the presence of the prince’s releasing affinity. My hand flew to my mouth as my breath seized. Was that what my parents and brother had felt when the prince enacted his affinity on them? Were those narrowed, crystalline blue eyes the last thing they saw before his affinity sucked their souls?
Tears flooded my eyes. One slid down my cheek as a sob wracked my chest. The urge to vomit grew.
“That fairy didn’t stand a chance. But why? Why kill him? The prince could have restrained him. That male didn’t need to die.”
Haxil’s brow furrowed, his expression turning guarded. “Have you ever tried to take a fairy with an ice bear affinity into custody?”
All I could manage was to shake my head. I was breathing so fast. Too fast.
“Then you don’t know it’s near impossible to do so safely.”
Near impossible, butnotimpossible?But I couldn’t voice the question. I couldn’t speak at all. Blessed Mother, my family had suffered what I’d just witnessed.
Inside the house, Mealow’s wails rose. “He’s dead,” she said. “He’s dead. He’s dead.” Her sobs rose higher, a piercing cry that seemed to echo down the valley.
“But your son’s not. He’s alive because your husband’s dead.” A disgusted snarl tore from the prince. “Ryder, seek a healer, now!”
A whoosh of air shot against my wet cheeks as the warrior fairy came careening from around the back of the house. Nish and Sandus immediately maneuvered to cover the gap that his departure left.
Dozens of villagers were now out of their homes, standing in the street, watching the spectacle unfold around them. A few glanced my way, raking over my frame.
“Who’s she?” one hissed.
“Probably his whore,” another replied under his breath.
A flare of shame crept over me even though I was anything but the prince’s whore, but the sneers in the crowd grew as did their looks of fear and revulsion. But those sneers weren’t just for me. They were for Prince Norivun himself.
Ignoring them, Ryder called, “Who’s a healer?”
Nobody moved.
Ryder’s long braid whipped around his shoulder when he bared his teeth. “That young male is one of your own! Who will save him?”
A few shuffled their feet, then a slim boy pushed through the crowd. “I will, my lord.”
The boy didn’t have full wings—they were only half-formed. He was still in the midst of maturing, which meant his healing affinity had probably only recently manifested.
“I’m not a lord,” Ryder replied, then gave him a once-over. “Do you know how to use your affinity yet?”
The boy’s shoulders squared. “I’m learning, sir. I can help.”
“There’s no one else,” an older female said, her arm curling around the boy’s shoulders. “But my son’s proven to be a quick learner. He’ll save Mealow’s boy.”
Ryder picked the child up in one strong arm before sailing back to the house. Mealow still wept over her dead husband, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Watching, I dried my eyes and struggled to compose myself as I waited for Mealow to shift her attention away from her dead husband to her unconscious son who still lay listless on the floor.