Page 68 of Wings of Snow
I gave a curt nod, and Sandus cocked an eyebrow. “You’re going to wear a path into the floor if you keep that up, Ilara. Perhaps you should take all of that nervous energy and use it to practice your new affinities.”
I stopped, facing him, and couldn’t help but snort. “Are you seriously saying we should practice my warrior traininghere?” I swept my arms out to the small room that felt crowded just from the five of us being present.
His lips tugged up. “I was referring more to the animal affinity you have that gave you those white wings. It would be good if you could learn to call them forth and banish them at will. Even better if you could learn to use them to fly.”
Some of the anxiety pooling through my gut abated. Sandus was right. Perhaps it was best if I used this time to feel out what I could about the strange affinity between my shoulder blades. So much had happened since the Adrall Temple that I hadn’t had time to properly assess either of my new forms of magic.
I sat on the bed, and Haxil scooted over to give me room. Norivun’s chanting in the bathing chamber and rattling of his crystals continued. I closed my eyes and called upon the training Matron Olsander had instilled in me when I’d first started learning about my affinities.
I probed within myself, marveling anew at how immensely powerful I felt now that I had five affinities.Mother Below, I have five affinities.I had as much magic as Queen Lissandra.
That fact slowly sank in as I assessed the magical ball that had birthed my wings. It was still firmly rooted between my shoulder blades, unlike my other affinities that all existed low in my belly.
I stroked the dense ball of light and cold power. Once again, it was the only way I could describe it.
Closing my eyes tighter, I poured all of my concentration into that one area and resorted to the basics—mental imagery. I pictured my wings bursting from my back, their beautiful white feathers as pure as freshly fallen snow when they unfurled.
A jolt of power lashed through my spine, and then the sensation of new limbs appearing along my back came next.
Haxil made a sound before his weight lifted from the mattress, and I opened my eyes to see all four guards standing before me, grinning, as they beheld the huge white wings that had sprouted by my shoulder blades.
I gave Haxil a sheepish look. My right wing had inadvertently extended to where he’d been sitting. I’d probably shoved him from the bed.
“Sorry, Haxil.”
The round-cheeked guard winked. “’Tis all right. I moved before you knocked me off.”
Thankfully, the new top I wore had wing slits in the back, so I hadn’t destroyed another piece of clothing, but that strange sensation of my new wings again overtook me.
I stood from the bed, albeit a bit clumsily, as my brain worked at a frantic pace to make sense of these new appendages.
“Try to extend them.” Ryder spread his black wings wide, which were so large they nearly stretched door to window.
I frowned, concentrating on my wings again, and slowly they extended behind me as my warrior affinity heated.
Sandus’s grin stretched. “Very good. I knew you would be a natural, love.”
My warrior affinity warmed further with each new movement I tried with my wings. Amazingly, I grew faster and faster at closing them, opening them, extending one, then extending the other, lifting them, lowering them, and so forth. A few times I flapped my wings just to see what would happen, even though it was hard in such a small room. Each time, my feet lifted slightly from the floor, the muscles in my wings automatically tensing to accommodate my body’s weight.
“Amazing!” I breathed.
Haxil crossed his arms smugly. “’Tis your warrior affinity. It’s giving you the ability to master flight at an advanced rate. Most youth struggle to learn the task when their wings first emerge, but since your new warrior affinity gives you an intrinsic understanding of your body and muscles, along with enhanced strength and speed, ’tis no wonder you can already control them.”
Sandus nodded, looking as proud as he did when his niece, Harpelin, kicked her chubby little legs. “All of the training we did during the Rising Queen Trial is no doubt helping too. You’re a fine-tuned warrior, Ilara, even if that affinity has just emerged.”
The crown prince’s guards continued watching me, pride evident on their faces.
Warmth bloomed across my cheeks, and I had to force myself not to duck my head. Still, I couldn’t help but also feel proud at all that I’d achieved. “Do you think I could go outside and try flying to?—”
The door to the bathing chamber burst open, and Norivun emerged. A savage grin stretched across his face, and his aura pounded through the room. Darkness gathered around his shoulders, making him look more demon than fae.
Ryder turned so fast to my mate that his braid whipped between his wings. “Did you find him?”
Norivun’s smile stretched. “Indeed. He’s in the palace in Vemil Brasea, the Lochen’s capital beneath the waves.”
My excitement at finding the treacherous Lochen king came to a careening halt. “But if he’s in the ocean, how can we possibly retrieve his necklace?”
“We’ll mistphase, and you and I will conjure air bubbles around our faces to allow all of us to breathe underwater. I’ll also cloak us under an illusion so nobody can see us.”