Page 39 of Wings of Snow
She squeezed me in return, and any concerns over what Tylen had done or what the fucking Lochen king had master-planned fell to the back of my mind.
Because even though Ilara’s affinities had been grossly compromised, something otherworldly had happened to her in this temple. She now had wings, and given how I saw her move, she was right. She’d finally manifested that warrior affinity that Sandus and Matron Olsander had suspected she harbored.
My mate was strong now, despite what Drachu had done, and she was alive and safe. And by the gods, I would make sure that nothing further was done to her if my life depended on it.
I bent down, and my lips grazed her ear. “Are you ready to get out of here?” I whispered.
“More than anything, but I have nowhere to go.” Her voice sounded so small, so broken, that it nearly undid me.
“I’m taking you home.”
Her head lifted as worry filled her eyes. Before she could voice her concern, I silenced her with a finger to her lips. “I’m going to take your sister to the Cliffs of Sarum. Cailis can stay with your parents and brother so no harm comes to her, then I’m taking you back to my chambers in the castle, where you will stay until we can sort this mess out.”
The relief I’d expected to see in her eyes didn’t come. Instead, her jaw dropped. “You want to make me a prisoner again?”
I growled, the bond inside me twitching at the anger that suddenly wafted in her scent. “No, not at all, but in my bedroom chambers, I can protect you.” I hoped she understood my intentions. Even my father couldn’t enter my chambers without me knowing. If my father hadn’t sent guards to the Exorbiant Chamber so quickly following the Rising Queen Trial, I could have offered her that reprieve.
Granted, keeping her in my chambers would have taken some planning and scheming to make happen since Ilara would have been under my father’s ever-watchful eye, but I would have figured out a way.
But Ilara shook her head, doubt evident in her tone when she said, “What if they search your bedroom chambers? Surely, that’s not a safe place for me to stay.”
“True, the day may come when my father decides to do a raid, but my illusion magic is strong enough to fool him. I could cloak you. He would never know you were there.” I knew it wasn’t ideal. I knew Ilara detested being locked behind walls, but I didn’t know what else to do to keep her safe. My father was hunting her, yet Iwouldkeep her safe.
“No.”
Her single word took me so much by surprise that I nearly growled. Somehow, I managed to suppress it. “What do you mean,no?”
“I won’t be a prisoner ever again, and you can’t make me. Our bargain forbids it.”
“Blessed Mother.” I sighed heavily because even though I ached for my mate with a fierceness I’d never experienced before, the female also knew how to drive me absolutely fucking mad. Ilara had a stubborn streak a millee wide, and it was showing gloriously right now.
Taking another deep breath, I reminded myself that my mate didn’t like to be commanded. I still remembered what she’d told me when she’d had her date with Lord Waterline. She would rather I spoke with her and take her feelings into account. I needed to compromise. Not demand. I grumbled within.Fucking compromises.Life was so much easier when I could just command things of her.
But when she gazed up at me, as she was now, with that fighting spirit shining in her eyes...Damn. I couldn’t do it. I wanted to make her happy, so I asked in as patient of a tone as I could muster, “What would you suggest as an alternative plan?”
Her face softened, and a small smile parted her lips, and seeing that my question brought her joy made my irritation fade and for the first time I really understood what living with my mate would be like. It wasn’t all about me anymore.
Ilara placed her hand on my arm. “I propose that you take Cailis to the Cliffs of Sarumifshe’s willing. I agree that’s a good idea, but I’m not going back to the castle, and I’m not going to be a prisoner in your room. I need to figure out what’s causing theoremin our land to die. I can’t do that by hiding in your bed chambers.”
My lips kicked up. Even after what had just been done to her in this temple, she was still fighting. “And how do you propose we figure out what’s killing theorem?”
Her brows drew together as those feather-soft wings continued to ripple in the breeze on the mountaintop. My guards and Cailis listened raptly around us, not interrupting, as my mate and I figured out our lives.
“When I was with God Zorifel, he said something very curious. He said that the veil smothering my affinities wasn’t of this universe. And remember whatever suppressed my magic came directly from the Isalee field, which means whatever’s killing theoremalso isn’t of our universe.”
My eyes narrowed. “Not of this universe?”
She nodded. “Isn’t that strange?”
“But if it’s not of this universe, then where did it come from?” Cailis asked as she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth.
“Could it be from the gods after all?” Haxil asked.
Ilara shook her head. “The gods and goddesses still exist within our universe.”
“Meaning, it’s fromanotheruniverse?” I thought out loud.
Ilara’s chest rose in a breath, drawing my attention to her delectable breasts. She still wore the same clothes she’d been in during the final test of that ridiculous Rising Queen Trial. My mate filled out her green tunic in a way that made it hard to look away, even if the back was ruined when her wings had shredded through the material.