Page 38 of Court of Winter
“How—” I glanced down in confusion, but the clouds were still beneath us, and we still flew high in the atmosphere. “How am I breathing easier?”
“Magic.”
“From where?”
He smirked.
My jaw dropped. “Another affinity you’ve been hiding?”
He glanced down at me, that arrogant curve to his lips that I was becoming all too familiar with on full display. “I don’t hide anything. It’s not my fault if you’re unaware of my talents.”
“So you have an air elemental affinity too? Is that how you got us above the storm?”
“Perhaps.”
“And that’s how we’re breathing easier up here too? I’m assuming most fae can’t fly at this altitude?”
“Also correct.”
I glowered at him. “You know, for a simple farm girl from Mervalee, I seem to be making a lot of the correct deductions.”
“You are. Perhaps you’re not simple-minded after all.”
I scoffed. “But how am I breathing normally this high up?”
“I’ve created a bubble around us filled with dense air, and I have a concentrated stream of air at our backs, propelling us faster than my wings can carry us.”
For a moment, I just stared at him. His wings flapped occasionally, but for the most part he seemed to be gliding, letting his wings ride the currents in his magical bubble—currents that he’d probably constructed. No wonder he was so much faster than his guards.
“So let me get this straight, my prince. You have yourdeath”—I could barely get the word out—“affinity, an illusion affinity, and you have an air affinity?”
“Among other things.”
I gaped. “You havemore?”
He gave a barely perceptible shrug. “I was bred to be powerful.”
I frowned, but even though I was curious to learn more, I didn’t want him to think that I actually cared. Because I didn’t. It was just normal, is all, to be curious how a fairy could have so much magic.
I loosened my arms slightly from around his neck as the clouds drifted beneath us. Glancing over his shoulder, I searched for his guards, but they were long gone.
“You seem to be in the habit of leaving your guards behind.”
He shrugged. “I don’t need them at the moment, and they can be dreadfully slow.”
Despite trying to contain it, a snort escaped me when he smiled wickedly. “In all seriousness, why don’t you just create bubbles around them and use your magic to propel them at the same speed as us?”
“They don’t need the extra help, other than the denser air. Their affinities give them incredible strength, speed, and endurance. That’s why they were only an hour behind us yesterday.”
“Yet, you’re still faster than them despite their affinities.”
“I am. Now surely you don’t hold that against me too?”
“Well, I didn’t say that. I intend to hold everything against you.”
“As I’m coming to see.”
I frowned. “But don’t you want to keep them close, just in case you need their protection?”