Page 72 of Court of Winter
The ground dropped out from beneath me, and then I was nothing more than mist and shadows, air and wind. The world turned into a blur of colorless sound, and then—
Waves crashed. Shores of sandy beaches stretched along the edge of a snowy field. Rolls and rolls of water waited before me.
My jaw dropped as I felt my arms, chest, and legs. I was solid. Whole. I hadn’t been obliterated into a million pieces.
“I made it,” I whispered.
“Of course, you did.” The prince’s husky words brushed my ear. “Do you still doubt that you’re magical?”
I hastily stepped away. “I...it could have been a fluke.”
“It’s not. You have power, Ilara.”
My stomach became a jittery mess because the prince was right. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have survived the crossing, which meant the prince could be right about everything else. My affinity. My ability to createorem.
I wrapped my arms protectively around myself and fixated on the ocean again. The sound of the surf hitting the land was strangely peaceful, hypnotic almost.
Prince Norivun cocked his head. “Have you never seen the sea?”
“No. Never.”
A wink of magic flashed around us, and then the prince’s four guards appeared.
Haxil cast a relieved look my way. “Made it in one piece, I see.”
I gave him a shaky smile and stepped closer to him. The pounding aura from the prince warmed my back, basking me in its strength, and it felt...
I shook myself. His power was too much, but the fairy guard was open and soft. He’d been nothing but kind to me since we’d met, and he was the only one I trusted at the moment.
The prince’s eyes darkened when Haxil reached out a steadying hand to me.
I gratefully accepted it just as the prince said tightly, “Haxil, report to Lord Sillivul and the Barvilum Council, and only return when you’ve thoroughly assessed the situation.”
Haxil’s hand lingered on mine before he gave me a comforting pat.
“Haxil,” the prince growled.
“Yes, my prince.” Haxil offered me a reassuring smile before he shot into the sky and flapped west. Down the hill beside us, the town of Barvilum waited, but around us there was nothing but a snowy field and crashing ocean.
“Nish, Sandus, and Ryder watch the perimeter. Alert me if any fae draw near. I’ll cloak her, but I don’t want anyone near this area.”
“Yes, my prince.” They all dipped their heads.
When they took to the skies and retreated to the edges of the field, I planted my hands akimbo. “Do you ever grow tired of bossing fae around all day?”
“When it involves banishing a male who’s looking at you in a way I don’t particularly care for? No.” He gave me his back, and I got an eyeful of his wings tucked in tight just as his statement struck me.
“What in all the realm does that mean?”
He stalked away, then crouched near something black in the snow.
I approached him and rubbed my arms. My tunic was thick, but it didn’t fully alleviate the chill. “Who were you referring to?”
“Never mind,” he said gruffly. He waved toward the black item, and when I joined him, I realized it was the withered remains of a wheat stalk. A verydeadwheat stalk. “This is all that remains of what once grew here. This entire hillside used to be cropland. Some of our finest wheat came from this area. Now, it produces nothing.”
My fingers encircled the plant as my other hand drifted to the soil beneath the layers of snow. I had to burrow under a thin coating of ice at the bottom, and when my palm met frozen dirt, I searched for a hum thatoremexisted within this land. Nothing greeted me. I closed my eyes, searching for that pulse that always accompanied the fields.
Silence.