Page 73 of Court of Winter
“There’s nooremhere,” the prince said quietly.
My lips parted as the implication of what that truly meant took hold of me.
The prince was right.
We would all starve.
I withdrew my hand, shaking. “What you’re asking of me is impossible.”
“It’s not. I know you can do this.”
His eyes were so vivid, so blue, and such stark honesty shone from them that for a moment, I ached for his words to be true. I wished I could be who he wanted me to be. I wished I knewhow.
“I have no idea how to make this field thrive again.”
“What did you do in the courtyard?”
“That’s just it. I didn’t do anything, not really. I just cleaned the snow from the plants, fingered the dead stalks, felt the dried bark. Theoremappeared on its own on day three, just a tiny flutter of it, and then it grew.”
“Perhaps your presence alone creates it. Or your touch.”
“Is that how affinities work?”
“Affinities can work in many ways. Some are entirely unique.”
“But how do I learn mine?”
His eyes softened. “The first thing you need to do is trust yourself. Believe that you’re capable. Once you do that, you’ll start to become more aware of the subtle nuances that accompany your magic. Self-awareness is key to mastering one’s affinity.”
“Is that what you did?”
He sat down, crossing his legs in the snow as though the cold didn’t bother him. “I did. When I first manifested, I was like you—powerful, but my tutors had expected as much given my lineage, and I’d been prepared not to meddle with it until I was past the initial stage.” He shook his head. “Telling a fairy of thirteen not to test his limits is one thing, but to actually hold myself back... That was something else entirely.”
I sat on the ground too, but far enough away from him that our knees wouldn’t bump. “So you always knew you were going to be strong?”
He shrugged. “I’d been told my entire life that I would be. I was born on the triple lunar eclipse, at the cusp of that great and rare event. A powerful seer said it was a sign of what I was to become.”
I frowned. “Wasn’t that the event that unleashed a magical shockwave that killed thousands of fae?”
“It was. Fitting, I suppose, considering what my strongest affinity became.”
The ability to suck souls.Nobody had ever heard of the prince’s affinity prior to him. It was well known that his ability was unrivaled on the continent simply because there was no one else who could do it.
“And how did you grow your affinity?”
He pointed toward the soil. “I started with believing that I could.”
* * *
The prince stayedat my side throughout the morning, his presence steady and strong. Gentle pushes of his aura frequently drifted around me—as if his power was constantly releasing from his body.
As the day passed, I cleared snow from the dead plants, touched the withered leaves, sank my fingers into the dirt, and let myself drift to that soft place that I always traveled to when I was working in my garden or laboring in the fields.
Breathe. Touch. Feel. Give.The dirt was dry, cold, and hard, but I’d spent full seasons feeling the soil between my fingers, and I knew with the right amount of tending, it would loosen and soak in moisture.
I hummed as I worked, and even though I didn’t have my tools and was unable to churn the crops or turn over the lifeless vegetation, I didn’t worry about that.
At the prince’s insistence, I allowed my mind to wander. Before long, I was singing as I swept snow to the side and wiggled my fingers around lifeless roots. I had no idea if what I was doing would help, but I treated the dead field as I would any other, with loving touches and soothing words.