Page 23 of Wings of Snow
“Of course not, my prince,” Evis squeaked.
“Now, it’s important that you listen and heed what I’m going to ask of you. Ilara’s survival depends on it. Can I trust you to do as I say?”
They both nodded.
“Good. First off, has anyone from the court arrived in town inquiring about Ilara or Cailis?”
They both shot one another surprised looks before Evis said under her breath, “As a matter of fact, we did have two strange males in the village just last night.”
I stilled. “Oh? Did they say what they were here for?”
Krisil shook her head. “Not outright, but old Nevis said they stopped at his house, asking if anyone had seen the Seary girls, and after that stop, they pounded on both Finnley’s and Birnee’s doors.”
My magic rumbled along my limbs. So my father knew who Ilara’s friends were. He’d taken more of an interest in her than I’d realized. “What did Nevis, Birnee, and Finnley tell them?”
Evis wrung her hands even more in her apron. “That both Cailis and Ilara were at the Court of Winter. That none of us had seen them in months.”
“Do you know where these males are now?”
Krisil nodded. “Staying at an inn, just outside of Firlim is what I heard.”
“I’m going to need you to go to Firlim and tell them that you’ve heard whisperings of where the Seary girls are.” I pulled a few rulibs from my pocket and gave them the coins. “For your time and effort.”
I spent the next hour helping the cooks weave out a tale that would keep my father’s males searching far and wide for Ilara and her sister in an area of the continent that I knew they would never venture to. The area I chose was filled with forest sprites, creatures my mate hated above all others. If Ilara had fled anywhere in the realm, the last place she would have chosen would have been there.
When I finished, the cooks’ eyes grew even wider, and a buzz of excitement filled their tiny auras. I knew that of all the fae in this village, these two would ensure the males hunting for my mate would never find her.
A smug smile covered my face when we mistphased back to Solisarium. Now, the time came formeto find my mate while my father’s males found nothing.
CHAPTER 8 - ILARA
My magic swelled and pulsed in my gut, butBlessed Mother, trying to pull it through the veil that contained my affinities was no easier than it’d been the night following the attack in Isalee. It didn’t seem that time affected whatever was suppressing my power. The thickness and strength of the veil covering my magic hadn’t diminished in the least.
Similar to how I’d struggled when I’d mistphased back to my room the morning of my final test, I was nearly groaning with exertion as I attempted to do it again. Slowly,soslowly, the realm began to disassemble around me.
I moved through the realm in mist and shadows, air and wind, as I concentrated completely on the black sand beach at the base of the fjord.
Minutes ticked by before I reappeared with a jolt, my heart thudding with how much of a struggle it’d been to accomplish such a short mistphase.
“Mother Below,” I whispered when the salty air whipped around me, and cool waves lapped at my boots.
Panting, I scoured the beach, looking for any fae who might be about. I searched the sea too, but there weren’t any bobbing heads at the surface watching me from afar. Once certain nobody was nearby, I searched for a safe place where I could store my letter while making sure the ocean waves didn’t hit it.
I ran along the shore. Scattered rocks covered the beach and dug into my soles. Farther up the shore were outcroppings of rough boulders near the tree line. The waterline didn’t reach that area.
I scrambled toward the rocks, then searched for a hidden area.
After moving a large stone, I tucked the parchment carefully between two rocks and felt confident neither the wind nor the sea would reach it.
Panting, I closed my eyes and concentrated again on mistphasing back to the king’s residence.
The realm disappeared as slowly as it had the first time. I was moving even slower than Lord Pinebeer had when we’d all mistphased to the Bay of Nim at the second test. My near-instantaneous ability was gone. All of the months I’d been practicing my mistphasing to make it so accurate and reliable felt wasted.
Groaning in frustration, I finally disassembled, and when I reappeared, my eyes widened at the unfamiliar room around me.
It smelled of sex, and when I spotted Drachu’s discarded robe at the end of a bed, horror filled me.Ock, I mistphased to the wrong room!
A rumble of voices came from down the hall. I slapped a hand to my mouth as it hit me that I was in Drachu and Sabreeny’s bedroom chamber—the very chamber she and Drachu had been intimate in not too long ago. No wonder it reeked.