Page 33 of Court of Winter
His eyes widened, and the bastard actually looked like he was going to laugh. “I believe you’re my subject, and I’m the one who gives the orders.”
“And I believe you know I’m in the right, and you should act like a gentlefae.”
He leaned back, his lips splitting into a wide smile. “I thought we’d already established that I’mnota gentlefae.”
A shiver ran through me when a cloud of his magic drifted toward me. Power. Might. Horrible destruction. It was all rolled into one misty essence that he’d unleashed. The sheer presence of the male—even from across the room—threatened to consume me.
Yet...a part of me wondered if that was who he truly was. It could all be a show. Perhaps he played this heartless role because everyone assumed it was who he was, me included.
Frowning, I realized accommodating his guardsdidn’tplay into my preconceived notion of his brutality.
But before I could form a coherent reply, his magic dissipated, and the prince turned on his side and doused the last light. “We leave at sunrise to finish the trip to Solisarium. I suggest you stop yammering and go to sleep.”
I sputtered, once again unable to form a reply when the creak of the bed broke the silence. He shifted into a comfortable position while his wings relaxed behind him.
I spun toward the latrine and slammed the door behind me. I couldn’t be sure, but I could have sworn that a faint deep chuckle came from the room, which only confirmed hewasa heartless monster, and my brief hesitation to believe anything but had been foolish.
Sighing, I knew that meant one thing. I would be taking the floor.
CHAPTER9
“Please, my prince. Please! I beg of you. Don’t kill us. Spare us! We have children. Two daughters remaining. They need us. They’ll starve without us!”
My parents’ pleas filled the throne room of the Court of Winter. But instead of King Novakin staring down at them from his icy throne, it was his son, the crown prince, whose judgment reigned.
“Silence,” Prince Norivun commanded. His giant wings draped behind him, the huge black leathery appendages in complete contradiction to the whites and blues of the court’s inner room.
My father dipped his head. “Please, my prince. My daughters will starve. My youngest, Ilara, has only just started working full-time in the fields, and my other, Cailis, has only been working them one winter. They’re lowest on our village’s pay. Without my income to help support them—”
“I said, silence!” the prince roared.
My father’s lips clamped shut as my mother wept beside him. Both were on their knees, their features twisted in pain as they faced their judgment.
“We only came to ask of our son,” my mother said softly, her sweet voice carrying through the room like a bird’s call. “To ask what became of him when he traveled to this court to voice his concern over the dying crops. Please let us go.”
Prince Norivun’s jaw ticked. “Guards.”
Ryder, Sandus, Nish, and Haxil appeared, hovering over the prince’s side before they descended the throne’s steps to my terrified parents.
“Hold them.” The prince’s eyes turned icy. Brutal. It was the same look he’d worn right as he took the life of Mealow’s husband.
“No!” I screamed. I tried to run from the back of the room, but wisps of fog drifted around my limbs, holding me in place. I pumped my legs faster, but I didn’t move.
“Please don’t kill them!” I shouted.
Tears ran down my cheeks as I pushed myself harder. I needed to move. Needed to get to them. Ihadto save them.
But no amount of effort propelled me forward. I stayed locked in the back of the room as sweat beaded on my skin and my muscles burned. It was as if my legs had been anchored to the floor, stuck to some sort of magical treadmill that kept me from saving my parents no matter how hard I tried to reach them.
“Please, Prince Norivun. Don’t kill them. I beg of you!” I called again. I cried harder, sobs racking my chest. “Please! Please!” I said over and over.
But the prince ignored me, and his guards’ grips tightened around my thrashing parents.
My eyes scrunched closed when the Bringer of Darkness unleashed the terrible strength of his affinity. I felt it wash over me after it passed through my parents. Felt it when their lives ended as swiftly as the raging northern winds.
My breath came out in a rush as I forced my eyes open. A twitch convulsed my father’s body, then my mother’s, before they both lay still as the prince’s horrific magic sucked back inside him.
“No, no, no. Please no. They can’t be dead. They can’t be.” I fell to my knees, suddenly able to move as sobbing overtook me.