by K.N. Lee
My cheeks reddened. “Pardon my manners,” I mumbled. “Thank you.” I was just grateful to have something to ward off any evil.
She patted my hand and stood. “Of course, dear. Now, we should arrive in Allandria within a day or two.”
I lifted a brow. “It’s that close?”
“Indeed. But, Allandria is vast and covers much of faerie territory. You’ll soon see.”
She stood and cracked her delicate little knuckles.
Kala flew onto the ship in the form of an eagle and shifted back into her wolf-form before our eyes.
“To admit that I am terribly jealous of your abilities would be a bit of an understatement,” Queen Sorcha said.
Kala tilted her head upward. “It does have its advantages. Without my gift, I wouldn’t have survived the takeover of Mordigan by that fiend and her army.”
“Yes. You have been blessed, Dowager Queen,” Queen Sorcha said, nodding.
“One day, Celeste will have the ability to shift as well.”
The queen’s eyes shot to mine. Her brows furrowed. “You mean, she hasn’t been able to yet?”
“No. It will come, with time.”
“I see,” she said. “No matter. It’s in her blood. I made sure of that.”
Something in her eyes worried me as she looked me up and down.
I tensed and watched her walk away without another word.
“I hope I haven’t disappointed her,” I said to Kala.
“She will get over it,” she replied, and curled at my feet. “They can’t expect you to be everything at all times. You’re still just a girl.”
She was right. Sometimes even I forgot that. I was seventeen, and the fate of the world rested on my shoulders. It was a heavy weight for such a small girl.
Prince Ewan gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You’ll come to see that Queen Sorcha simply has high standards for everyone. Prince Stellan can attest to her eagerness for perfection.”
That name was familiar. Tucking a fallen strand behind my ear, I turned to him. “Who is Stellan?”
“Oh,” Prince Ewan said, rubbing his chin. “He’s her son.”
Son? My eyes widened. My old playmate.
How could I forget the fun we’d had as children? Queen Sorcha had brought him along when she’d visited my parents and I. Though she’d taken a sample of my blood, the shock of it was remedied by playing with the wild, fearless little red-haired boy.
“I remember him, now,” I said under my breath. “He always loved the lake behind my grandmother’s estate.”
He nodded. “Makes sense. He is the water element, after all.”
Chapter 14
Stunned, I stood there mouth agape.
Water element?
Of course. Why didn’t I realize that? He had shown me his power as children. The boy with the red hair had been a fond memory, until even he became a blur with all of the rest of my memories.
I looked down at my hands. A young boy had his power at the age of five. Why did mine insist on remaining dormant even as an adult?
Balling my hands into fists and lowering them to my sides, I began to wonder if I was truly the girl the Guardians had chosen. Perhaps Queen Sorcha had it all wrong.
“Kala,” I said, coming down to my knees before her.
She tilted her head as I wrapped my arms around her furry neck. “What is it, Celeste?”
“I’m worried,” I whispered. “What if my magic never comes? How could it be dormant for so many years?”
“I see,” she said. “You worry too much. You are the Aether. You have the power to control all of the elements. It is within you to summon the power. When you free yourself of all fear and useless thoughts, you will be able to call it forth.”
“I don’t see how. We’ve been trying for years.”
She nuzzled my neck. “Perhaps that’s what you’re doing wrong. Stop trying and let it come to you naturally. No one can teach you how to be an Aether. They are rare and there are never more than one in the entire world at any given time. You must look within, Celeste. I believe in you. We all do.”
I sighed and pursed my lips. Why couldn’t I feel it if it was truly there?
I could feel Ewan’s magic, and that of the other elementals even though we’d never met. Each individual stream of power was strong enough to wake me from sleep, or cause me to pause during any given activity.
“Try not to overexcite yourself. We still have quite a bit of traveling to do before we reach Allandria.”
I nodded, and watched her walk away.
Her words lingered in my mind as I stood. No one can teach you, she’d said. I looked for the prince.
We shall see about that.
The ship began to set sail, slowly wading through the ice and slush. My hair—now blue with worry—blew in the wind as I joined him at the bulwark of the ship. I wrapped my hands around the rail and looked out over to the passing sea. We stood like that for quite some time, enjoying the quiet and each other’s company.
Surprisingly, Kala left us to our solitude. Though, she did keep watch from afar, occasionally lifting her head to watch us stand at the other end of the ship.
He took my hands into his, and lifted them to the sky. With my palm pressed to his, he closed his eyes.
The cold metal was smooth and silky, unlike the bars of my window in the Crimson Tower.
Though the darkness of The Veil shrouded us like a thick blanket. A heavy fog rose from the water’s surface and made the air humid despite the cold.
“Prince Ewan,” I began, giving him a sidelong glance.
“Yes?”
“Can you teach me to use my power?”
He rubbed his chin with his metal hand, eyeing my hair as it shimmered in the moonlight. “How much do you know about the elements?”
“Everything,” I said. “Kala made sure I knew as much as possible.”
“Well, as the wind element, I can only try to teach you about that one.”
Good. That’s all I wanted. Just a try. Anything to prove I wasn’t a useless fraud.
“Thank you,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. For a moment, my worries melted into the back of my mind as his eyes met mine. For years, his power had reached out to me and now we were finally together. I looked away and cleared my throat.
“Don’t thank me just yet,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve never been much of a teacher.”
He lifted his metal hand. I realized that it was made of bronze and carved with intricate symbols. The cuff ended at a leather bracer at the wrist and his shirt brushed the shiny surface.
“I didn’t get this from teaching.”
I forgot my manners as I reached out to touch the metal again, tracing the engravings. “How did you get it?”
“War,” he said with a shrug, but didn’t stop me. “We’ve been at it for years.”
Guilt filled my chest and I lowered my eyes and took my hand away as if it had touched fire. “Because of me,” I said in a soft voice.
“No,” he said. “Not just because of you. The past decade has been a time of darkness and suffering. Many of us fought to put an end to it. Even though you are free, the fight is still going on. The Veil is open, and with that comes all manner of creatures and evil that do not belong in our world. The war is far from over.”
A bone-chilling scream snatched our attention from one another as we both spun around to see one of the soldiers being snatched away by a creature with black wings.
My lips parted and the color drained from my face as I beheld my first encounter with one of the nightmarish beings that stalked the world.
A weyr.
Chapter 15
Every inch of my body tensed as I watched in horror as the weyr stole the soldier from deck, wrapped its wings around the both of them and sent blood spraying into the air. At that moment, it got colder, unbearably so.
My heart thumped in my chest, and I found myself reaching for Prince Ewan’s sword.
“No,
” he yelled over the screams as more weyrs lowered themselves down from the dark sky. He pushed me aside, and with a ring of steel, he pulled his sword free. “Stay back, Celeste. I can’t have you getting hurt.”
“Give me something to defend myself with, then,” I shouted back. “Don’t leave me cowering over here like a lost kitten.”
My words must have surprised him, for he beheld me with bewilderment, before snatching a dagger from his boot and placing the hilt into my open hand.
“Very well, then,” he said. “Try not to stab yourself. It’s quite sharp.”
I frowned at the comment, but pursed my lips and turned back to the chaos that took place on our ship. At this rate, I’d never make it to the palace alive.
Queen Sorcha emerged from below deck, her wand in hand and in her night clothes. In sheer white, her red hair stood out against her clothes and pale skin.
The soldiers assembled and abandoned their posts, swords in hand, bows ready. They were fighting for their lives as the weyrs snatched their brothers away.
Queen Sorcha took to the skies, her nightgown flourishing around her as she spun and conjured a shield around herself that the attackers couldn’t penetrate.
They tried, taking their attention from the lowly soldiers and ripping at the air around her with their sharp claws, even going so far as to try to bite the shield with their fangs.
They were feral, merciless creatures, and her magic shot out at them with equal ferocity. Blue lights that zapped into their skinny frames and obliterated them.
Kala leaped into the air, taking down a weyr and ripping out its throat with her teeth.
My eyes widened. I’d never seen my grandmother be so brutal.
While I stood there marveling at the violence all around me, Prince Ewan fought alongside the soldiers, taking down winged creatures left and right, impaling them with his sword through their chests. He was fast, and efficient. Precise.
I’d never seen such skill.
While the soldiers fought with wild, hacking attacks, Prince Ewan’s moves were fluid, almost like a dance. Every swing of the sword was met with bone and flesh.
Sweat beaded on my forehead and between my breasts. I was frozen. There were too many. More than a dozen darted back and forth as fast as light, but cloaked in darkness like shadows.
All of my training in the Crimson Tower meant nothing against a real threat. Kala had taught me everything she knew about how to wield a sword, and I had been confident that I could execute my training. But, this was the real world.
I was still that scared little girl, defenseless, watching as her world was ripped away from her.
A cry escaped my lips as two sharp talons dug themselves into my shoulders. The pain was shocking, and in the heat of battle, I forgot all of my training. Prince Ewan was right to doubt me.
I was utterly useless.
Prince Ewan stopped fighting and shot a look my way as I was lifted into the air and flown away.
My scream was all that was left of me as I was taken into the mist.
Into The Veil.
Chapter 16
Terror like no other filled my body as my scream cloaked the night, vibrating across the misty air that comprised The Veil. The yells of Prince Ewan and Queen Sorcha became hollow the more distance was put between us.
For a moment, wind had wrapped around me, but the creatures were so fast that whatever it was fizzled behind us.
The weyrs carried me far from the ship, far from my prince and the soldiers. My feet dangled and my eyes beheld the horrifying inky black below.
I was going to die. My throat ached from the hard lump in it.
Was this how it would end—with the Aether captured and killed by undead creatures?
My scream continued to rise in waves as they weaved in and out of caves and around trees. We were no longer over the ocean, and I knew that if they dropped me, I would fall to my death.
Then, when I’d grown tired of screaming and pleading, and my throat was raw, they shot down to the ground of a dark forest, and left me.
I scurried to my feet, eyes wide as I surveyed my surroundings. All I saw were tall trees, a dark sky above, and wet leaves below my feet. There was no snow. So, I assumed I was out of Tythra.
My eyes narrowed. I must be on the other side.
A hoarse cry came from my mouth as someone yanked me back by my hair. I was pulled to the ground. My lips trembled as a grotesque creature peered over me as they tied my arms and legs together.
Two more emerged from the shadows, crawling on their bony hands and feet like animals, but standing on two legs once they were close enough to look down at me. When they stood, they were little taller than a small man, and wearing tight clothes that barely covered their round bellies.
The three of them spoke to one another in a language I did not recognize. By the slippery, wet skin and bulbous eyes, I took them for goblins. Pity, Kala never taught me their language.
“Who?” One of them shouted to me. “Who? You.”
I shook my head, confused.
He blew air through his thin lips. Then, he pointed to his chest. “Me, Grint.” Then, he stabbed his finger into my ribs. “Who, you?”
Again, I shook my head. I wasn’t going to reveal my identity.
The others pushed one another, obviously annoyed that they had no idea of who I was.
Grint sneered at me, then, lifted his head to the sky and whistled.
A weyr came darting through the sky and landed right above my head. It squawked and tucked its wings down by its side, then tapped its nose onto my forehead.
Disgusted, nausea bubbled in my stomach at the feel and smell of it.
They exchanged words. I didn’t recognize any but one.
Aether.
Satisfied with the weyr’s response, Grint gave a sharp, yellow-toothed grin down at me and waved the creature away.
I was lifted from the ground and tossed over the back of the one who tied me up. I prayed to the Guardians, begging for their help, as I was carried into the black forest.
Chapter 17
The Air Prince
“They took her,” I yelled, and in the heat of rage, I lifted my metallic arm and called forth the power of the wind and storms.
The sky crackled with thunder and lightning and the electric threads wrapped themselves around the metal on my arm and raced up and down my body.
Teeth bared, I turned to the battle ensuing on the ship and cried out, releasing a force so powerful that the soldiers were sent flying back and the wind’s howl grew deafeningly loud.
The weyrs tried to run, having gotten what they came for. But, no. I would not let them.
Outstretching my arm, the lightning shot out and struck each and every weyr around.
Queen Sorcha flew down to my side, gripping the edge of the ship.
“Go after her,” she shouted to me, her green eyes full of desperation.
Kala bounded down the deck and growled. She shifted and stood, having transformed into her faerie form.
The glare she shot my way was enough to fill my body with ice.
“You let them take her,” she accused, and I shook my head.
“I cannot go after her,” I said. “If I tried, I would not be able to return.”
“He’s right,” Queen Sorcha said. “None of us can cross over the way she can.”
“The treaty means nothing anymore,” Kala said. “We are at war with that monster. He cannot have my dear Celeste.”
“Lowering her head, Queen Sorcha released a strangled cry.
“All is lost,” I said, falling to my knees. I had her for such a short time and let her slip right through my fingers. Maybe I was never worthy. Perhaps it was all a joke, and none of us were what we thought.
The Guardians had chosen wrong.
“No,” Kala said, her mouth twisting. “All is not lost.”
Queen Sorcha and I shared a stunned glance and then looked to her.
“What do you
mean?” I asked, coming to my feet. “Please tell me you know a way.”
“We may not be able to cross over,” Kala said, her eyes lifting to meet mine, as she released a heavy sigh. “But, I know someone who can.”
Chapter 18
The Water Prince
The white gates of Allandria’s capital city opened for us and Maxim and I stepped through on the back of two white horses. After days of travel, and with little sleep, I could not wait to be shown to my new private apartment.
Allandria was a breath of fresh air. The sun shone bright, and the lush, green landscape was a nice change from my kingdom of ice.
And soon, I would be united with the Aether.
We all would.
“We made it,” I said, my smile beaming at the common-folk who welcomed us from the ground. Such happy faces.
“Indeed, we have, Stellan. In one piece,” he said.
I chuckled. “I don’t think I could have gone without you.”
Maxim lifted his gaze to mine, his eyes troubled. “If I had died, you would have had to. For the sake of our world.”
“I know. But, you’re like a brother to me. This has always been our dream.”
He looked ahead. “Some dreams aren’t meant to come true.”
What was wrong with him? He’d been gloomy and moody since the corsus attack. Though Maxim had never been particularly cheery or jovial, his demeanor was changed—his eyes cold.
Whatever happened to him that day left its mark. We’d saved his life, but I worried about his soul.
“What’s the matter?”
He shrugged. “Nothing, I just want to get out of the saddle and into a hot bath.”
“That’s more like it,” I said, as we slowed to a leisurely gait through the stone streets of the city. “Water is always cleansing and rejuvenating. Mother has always spoken about the natural springs and bath houses here.”
He didn’t reply, keeping quiet the rest of the trot up the winding roads that led to the palace.