by Alexia Purdy
***
“Wow, Prince Lotinar is some kind of stone-cold ruler, huh, Shade?” Sary smiled, crinkling her beautiful hazel eyes. “I have to say, I guess after what happened to him, though, he has all the excuse in the world to be so hard.” She sighed and flopped herself onto the second bed which was in the enormous room they had been given for their night’s stay at the Glass Castle. Shade sat on the edge of her bed, staring out the obscenely large window into the darkening world.
“Yeah, he’s a whole different kind of fey,” Shade murmured as she turned toward her roommate with a puzzled look on her face. “What exactly happened to him, Sary?”
The svelte, redheaded warrior princess smiled as she leaned on her elbows, her body draped over the width of her bed. “Oh, you probably haven’t heard. He just returned from years in exile. He was cursed, or something like that, by some crazy witch. He disappeared for over a hundred years and just recently returned. No one knows what happened to him in all that time, but from what I hear, he came back a different faery. Quite changed, they say. Almost like the old Prince was completely gone. Apparently, his identity had to be confirmed by his own mother. She knew immediately it was him, and no one argues with the Queen.”
Shade pondered her words. She wondered what had happened to him to make him so hard and cold. Maybe it was all a front to shake them up a bit.
Oh, whatever.
“What time is dinner? I’m starved,” Shade asked. “I can’t nap anyway, not in this see-through ice house. It’s so cold in here! No wonder they call it the ‘Glass Castle of Winter!’” Shade rubbed her arms and shivered. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a soft, blue cashmere sweater. She slipped it on and hugged her arms in its warmth.
“I know what you mean. Definitely not the kind of ‘summer’ home I’d want. I wonder just how cold it is at his main home in Santiran City. It must be full of icicles there!” Sary laughed as she swung her legs back and forth.
Shade yawned and scooted back until her back hit the pillows. “Yeah, probably. I just know he seems eerily familiar to me. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him before, but he ‘feels’ familiar. Is that weird, Sary? Or am I just insane already?”
Sary sat up in her bed and watched her. “No, you’re definitely not insane. You have no idea what kinds of magic you possess, do you, Shade? I’ve heard of the things you have done. No one I know can do such things. You are one of the most powerful fey I’ve ever met. If you could control your magic, who knows what you could do? I believe these feelings you’re getting are based on real things. Trust yourself, you might find that you’re right about it.”
Shade smiled at her friend. Sary had been a comfort since Brisa had packed and left for college. She was alone now. Her one friend had moved on to a normal life, and she had never felt more alone than the few weeks she’d been without Brisa. She called her up frequently, but it was definitely not the same. It would never be the same ever again.
She sighed as she leaned down to get her pack off the floor when a knock echoed from the door. She glanced at Sary, who shrugged. Turning back to the door, Shade got up and moved toward it. Turning the knob, she felt the door give under the weight of whoever now shoved at it.
“Shade Dyer? Your presence is requested by Prince Lotinar.” A large massive man entered. He was clad in metal and leather and followed by his identical twin. Shade’s eyes widened and her mouth opened to scream but stopped when Camulus slipped in behind the guards. Shade eyed them all in confusion.
“Camulus, they’re part of Aveta’s guards!” Shade exclaimed. She backed into the room and ran toward her backpack on the floor, hoping to yank her sword out in time.
“Stop, Shade! It’s ok. Draden and his brother Andraste are no longer part of Aveta’s troops. They have sworn allegiance to Prince Lotinar. It’s ok.” Camulus’s hands were up, trying to persuade her that they meant her no harm. Shade’s frantic eyes stared at the pair and widened even more as Draden approached her. She gripped her pack to her chest, afraid to let go and ready to run for it if she had to.
“What?” She shook her head in disbelief. Sary shimmied over to her and held her around the shoulders, whispering to her to calm her down. Shade refocused herself and looked up at Sary, who, despite the scare, appeared calm.
“It’s okay, Shade, Camulus is trustworthy. Let’s just see what Prince Lotinar wants,” Sary said.
“Only Shade is summoned, Sary.” Camulus nodded toward them and beckoned for Shade to follow them. She moved her eyes to stare at Camulus. Pulling back her fear, she nodded softly and followed him while still clutching her pack.
Shade glared at Draden, who watched her with calm, ocean-blue eyes. His hair was pulled back neatly, and his scruffy stubble was now shaved clean. He still looked like he’d seen a little too much hard soldiering, but he didn’t seem as dangerous this time around as he had at the Santiran Fountains. He stared right back at her and grinned as she approached them. She eyed him up and down and continued on past him, following the green Elven-Pixie.
In the hall, she fell into step behind Camulus. Shade glanced back to watch the twin guards bringing up the rear and the door to her room grow smaller the farther away they went. She felt so alone again without Sary by her side. Even Soap and Dylan seemed to feel far away in their chambers on the next floor. She wondered if Dylan could feel her panic. She breathed in and tried to calm her nerves before he felt compelled to run out and save her. She felt a little less apprehensive the closer they got to the Prince’s chambers. The feeling of danger subsided slowly as curiosity filled her mind.
Chapter Five