Frost Kisses (Bitter Frost #4: Frost Series)

by Kailin Gow

  “Banshees,” Kian whispered. “Part of the Dark Hordes.” He sighed. “So it is true. My mother is so desperate to save me that she is willing to join forces with Feyland's most dangerous creatures. But they will turn on her! I know it – even if she manages to survive the Summer Knights, those creatures are not trustworthy. They don't care who they kill as long as they're killing. When they're done with the Summer fairies, they'll start with her.”

  “Can't we warn her? Fly down...”

  “Too dangerous,” said Kian. “We'll never get close – if the banshees spot us, they'll fly after us and devour us in a heartbeat. She'll never even see us. Shasta will have to protect her now.”

  I remembered my dream, and my heart started pounding once more. “Kian, I don't think Shasta's there.”

  “What?” He nearly dropped me as his wings flapped with surprise.

  “I had this dream last night – like a vision. I dreamed that Shasta was gone too. And if Rose says Rodney's gone, maybe...”

  “He's gone with Shasta.” Kian let a fairy curse loose from his lips, and sped us back to the palace. “Then Shasta is in danger too – if she isn't in the court, this battle will take her and Rodney both by surprise. And whether it's Summer or Winter Fey that find her, she'll be in danger – either as an enemy or a blood traitor like me.” He scowled.

  “You're not a traitor!” I put a hand on Kian's shoulder, but he jerked away.

  “What have I done?” He began pacing up and down the balcony. “Left behind my sister, my mother – left them to be devoured by the Dark Hordes?”

  “Kian, no....”

  “I love you!” His voice was full of rage and his eyes were full of tears. “Do not doubt that I love you, Breena – but I have turned my back on those I love as well. I cannot stand by and let my sister be slaughtered, nor my mother. And yet I have given up my birthright.”

  “Listen to me,” I took Kian's hand. “You don't have to fight against me. But you don't have to fight for me, either. I can take care of myself here. I want you to go – find Shasta and Rodney, find your mother, focus on protecting them, getting them out of there.”

  “But what about you?” Kian turned his broken, blue eyes towards me, glassy with pain.

  “I'll be fine!” I smiled bravely, though I knew I was feeling anything but. “Do you know where Shasta might be – if she ran off?”

  “I have an idea,” said Kian.

  “Then go to them. Worry about us later. You have chosen to give up your crown – and that was a brave sacrifice. But I won't ask you to give up your family, too!”

  “Noble Breena,” Kian took me in his arms, kissing me as if he would never let go. “I owe you the world. I wish I could give you everything...”

  He squeezed my hands once more, and with that he spread his wings once more, and began his flight over Feyland, first gently flying me back to the balcony. With a last kiss, he flew off.

  I could feel my body shaking. I wanted to cry, to let loose with floods of tears, but I would not allow myself to succumb to such weakness. Not now, when so many lives were at stake. Still, as Kian's shadow grew smaller and smaller on the horizon, I felt my lips begin to tremble...

  “Your Majesty!” It was Rose. “I've come up with the potions you asked for. And another one, too. It will disguise your fairy smell – letting you do some glamouring. The Pixies think they can trick us; well, let's trick them right back!” She handed me a vial; I took it gratefully. “We'll get them,” she said – her voice shaky and nervous.

  “Kian's gone to find Rodney,” I said, patting her shoulder. “He thinks that he's safe – that he's with Shasta. He's gone to warn them.”

  Rose gave a half-hearted smile. “Wherever they are,” she said. “It's probably safer than here.”

  I took Rose's hand. “I know you're scared,” I said. “But it's time to be brave. It's time for us all to be brave. Can you do that?”

  Rose gave a little nod.

  “The Summer King has returned,” I said. “He has called upon our allies. We will defeat them, Rose, have no fear. We will win this thing!” I fingered the vial she had brought me. “With your help, Rose. With your magic.”

  Rose smiled and ran off.

  I hurried back to my bedchamber, changing quickly into the fairy armor in my wardrobe. I grabbed hold of my sword. This was it, I thought. The first round of combat couldn't be more than a few hours off. I needed to gather up my strength.

  My father entered. “Where do you think you're going?”

  “I have to go!” I said. “The first round of fighting.”

  He shook his head. “I need you here, Breena,” he said. “We need to form a strategy. If we go running, charging without thought at our enemies, we will be slaughtered. Even with our allies, they have the advantage of numbers. We must think carefully, plan our moves. We must be strong – but we must also be clever. Right now your brains are more important than your sword. Use your strengths, Breena.”

  I took his hand. “You know,” I said. “I bet Mom would be really proud of you right now.”

  Foxflame turned pink beneath his ginger beard.

  “Come, daughter,” he said, taking me to the window. We could now see the Pixies charging on the horizon, their swords drawn. But then, coming from the north, I spotted another group of warriors.

  “Look!” I cried, “It's Logan!” There he was, in his noble wolf form, rushing down the mountainside, followed by more werewolves than I had ever seen before – a pack of hundreds all moving their strong, taught muscles in unison. “He's here!”

  The wolves joined the Summer Knights at the castle gates. Behind them, we could spy a host of creatures – dragons, unicorns, kelpies, all making their way to the palace. The rivers were gurgling and bubbling – it was only when I looked closer that I realized that the streams were full of mermaids, armed with bows and arrows.

  “They've come,” my father whispered.

  Then, in a single motion – as loud and sudden as a thunderclap, the Pixies were moving forward and so were the Summer Knights, and with a roaring shout the bloodshed began.

  The war had begun.

  Chapter 20

  We watched as swords began to clash and arrows began to fly, watched as dragons reared up and breathed fire at the icy Winter Knights, and the rogue wolves snapped at the heels of the unicorns. The mermaids were letting loose their arrows, and the banshees' wailing echoed in my ears. It had started – the very thing we had tried so hard to prevent – a war that would rain down upon all of Feyland.

  I heard a voice in my head.

  Breena!

  Kian? Are you safe?

  I've found them – Shasta and Rodney. But it's too late...they've joined the battle. Rodney's sworn an oath to my mother, taken on the garb of a Winter knight, in order help Shasta. He's afraid for her – afraid your father would want revenge...

  Didn't you tell them? That it was all a trick – the Pixies...

  I told them. I told my mother. But it's too late! She realizes now that she's been tricked – it was all a trap. Now that the Pixies have breached the palace gate they've turned on her – she can't get to the other Winter Knights to warn them, to stop the fighting! We're fighting off the Pixies, the wolves...chaos everywhere...we're trapped.

  He stopped mid-sentence, his voice fading to nothingness. So the Pixies had betrayed the Winter Queen, just as we had anticipated! And we were too late to stop it.

  I turned to my father. “The Pixies have betrayed Winter. The only way we have a chance is to find a way to convince the Winter fey that we are their allies, not their enemies. If Winter and Summer fight the Pixies together we might have a chance.” But I knew I could not stay to see the thing done. Kian was in danger, immediate danger, and it was my duty to save him. He was my intended; I could not let anything happen to him, or to the Winter Queen. “I need to fight!” I said. “I'm sorry – I have to go...”

  “But Breena...”

  “Take care,” I whis
pered, squeezing my father's hand before rushing from the room. I ran to the stables, where I found Coral, my loyal old horse, with whom I had once had so many adventures, still tied up. I leaped atop her, kicking my heels into her side. “Onwards, Coral!” I shouted. Coral broke into a gallop – the fastest mount in Feyland, they'd said – and I flew into the battle. I could see Logan in the distance, fighting with his wolves on the ridges of one of the mountain. He looked up – his face contorting with shock as he caught sight of me and Coral – and then he turned his attention back to battle. I rode on. “Giddy up!” I shouted at the horse. We rode around the end of the battle, avoiding jumping into the fray directly.

  Logan was still fighting, and then I caught sight of his opponent: it was Balthazar, wounded from my attack but still strong, opening his large mouth to snarl with rows of razor sharp teeth.

  “Breena!” Logan shouted, “What are you doing here?”

  As Logan turned to me, Balthazar struck, his claws sinking into Logan's neck, drawing forth a spray of red blood.

  “No!” I grabbed a dagger from my belt and threw it straight at Balthazar. It hit him in the shoulders, glowing orange as it did so, and the large black wolf froze and fell to the ground, shaking from the poison in the dagger.

  “Breena...” Logan crawled towards me, his hands and face caked with mud. I dismounted my horse and rushed towards him.

  I pressed my hands to the wound, healing it shut with a flash of golden light. “Don't make me do that again,” I said, only half-joking, sighing with relief as I realized that he was out of danger.

  “Now go!” Logan shouted. I ran back to my horse and mounted her once more, riding through the battlefield, dodging and feinting blows and arrows as I went.

  At last I caught sight of Kian and his mother, with Shasta and Rodney alongside them. They were all fighting off a hoard of Pixies, a hoard led by a very familiar, very unwelcome face.

  “Delano,” I spat, charging straight at him.

  He dodged me and drew his sword. I knew I could never kill him from atop Coral; we'd have to fight hand to hand. I sprang from my horse, giving Coral a firm thwack on her hind leg to make her run – there was no reason to put horses in danger – and brandished my sword.

  Delano looked surprised. “We really shouldn't be fighting, dear one,” he whispered. “In fact, I rather think you ought to be on my side.”

  “How dare you?” I roared, running into the fray. “How dare you start this war – threaten me, threaten everyone I hold dear?”

  Delano shrugged. “The Summer King may be back, but it's his daughter that concerns me now. To think, you could have prevented all this; if you'd only married me like I asked. I could have ruled Feyland without any of this silly bloodshed. But no! You had to be stubborn! This is on you, Breena!”

  “No, Delano, it's on you!”

  “If your whore of a mother hadn't lured your father away from the throne, the war would never have started! If you hadn't been born, Redleaf would never have been jealous and angry enough to let it happen. And now, your love for Kian pulled him away from his family – where he could have warned them, stopped the war...see, Breena! You brought love into Feyland. You brought this dangerous, delectable power into the world. And now you can't stop it. Emotion, rage, anger everywhere. Isn't it delicious? And it's all your fault!”

  “No!”

  “Your strength,” said Delano. “The strength to control your feelings – the strength to love – I want it. I want to harness it. With you by my side, we could harness love-magic, and with it rule Feyland forever!”

  “Never,” I gritted my teeth, clashing my sword against Delano's all the while. “Not a chance.” I sliced my sword in the air, cutting off a piece of Delano's cloak but missing my target.

  “There is a chance,” Delano said lightly, springing aside. “But only if I eliminate the competition first.”

  He rushed over to Kian, raising his sword.

  “Kian,” I shouted. “Behind you!”

  Kian turned around, blocking Delano's sword just in time. But before he could strike in retaliation, Delano had vanished and reappeared behind the Winter Queen, wrapping his hands around her neck.

  It was an unwise move. In a flash the Queen was surrounded by a glowing blue light, a light that threw Delano back with a yelp of pain.

  “Attack!” Delano cried, wincing, and the other Pixies rushed forward. With them was a creature I had seen only at a distance – an enormous red-eyed black bull with fangs bared, rushing towards me with its horns sharpened and spiked. A minotaur, rushing straight at me, faster than I could possibly run.

  “No!” I heard Kian's voice, and then a body was pushing in front of me, keeping me safe, taking the full brunt force of the minotaur’s sharp horns seconds before the great beast would strike me.

  It took me a moment to recognize Kian, impaled upon the minotaur's twin horns, twin wounds gushing silver blood from all over his body. The minotaur’s horns had gone straight through his front and out his back, raising him up into the air.

  I screamed the most horrifying scream, unable to believe my eyes. Kian’s face was in shocked as he stared at me, his eyes connecting with mine, full of love and agonizing pain.

  A strong sudden voice flew into my mind. Kian’s. I love you Bree. Always and forever.

  Then his eyes were glassy as he slumped back, still locked in place by the curved horns.

  I wanted to cry “No!” and to rush over to Kian, but the Minotaur turned its red blazing eyes toward me, steam flowing out of its nose. White-hot rage rushed through me. My mind went black, and I was conscious only of my body rushing toward the beast, raising my sword, lifting it high to my side and striking the minotaur's head from its body in a single blow.

  The Winter Queen, too, her face filled with that same pain, that same rage, was rushing indiscriminately from one pixie to the next, letting her anger guide her sword as she severed seven heads from seven bodies.

  Only Delano was left, until – with a look of fear in his eyes – he vanished once again.

  “Kian!” The Winter Queen rushed to her son, pulling his body from the fallen head of the minotaur. “Kian! My son!”

  “But he's immortal,” I heard myself saying, tears flowing down my cheeks. “He can't die! He can’t!” Yet his eyes were blank; his face was whiter than ivory. I pressed my hands to the wounds but no sparks emerged.

  “It's too late,” whispered the Queen. “He is holding on with all his strength, but the wound is too deep to heal.”

  I picked up Kian’s hand in mine, holding it tight, wanting to hold the rest of him close to me. “I love you, Kian. Please do not leave me. Please hold on. Live.”

  She too had turned the color of chalk. She bent down to press her lips to his forehead. “Kian my son. What have I done? With this war…a mother only wishes to keep their children safe, but this…” Her voice broke off.

  “Kian,” tears were flowing freely now. “There has to be something I can do! There has to be some way to save him!”

  The Winter Queen looked up. “Your forehead.”

  My hand went instinctively to the gash in my forehead – I didn't even remember getting it, but I could feel the sticky blood pooling around the wound.

  “You're bleeding silver. How?”

  “Kian...” I almost choked on the name. “When he proposed – he gave me this snowflake pendant...he said it would make me immortal.”

  The Queen let loose a long, pained wail. “No!” she cried. “Oh, that fool! That fool! I should never have let him love you.”

  “I don't understand.”

  “That was his immortality he gave away, child. He gave it up for you!” The Winter Queen wailed once more, pressing her lips to her son's icy forehead. She too tried to heal the wound, but it was in vain, as we both knew it would be. Her blue sparks closed his wounds, but he was still as death, his eyes closed.

  “He said....he said he was immortal anyways since he was a full fairy and tha
t this snowflake had the power to give me immortality!” I stammered.

  “Fool!” The Winter Queen cried out, her anger directed at nobody in particular, but rather at the whole world that had let her down, that had robbed her of her son. “Fool!”

  “Wait,” I cried, “this immortality – it belongs to him. I could give it back…then he’ll live, right? Return from the brink of death like I did?”

  The Queen sighed. “There is a legend,” she said. “Of a mountain. A mountain where fairies were first granted immortality by a mysterious creature. The first immortal fairy received this gift – and no fairy since has been able to find it. Many scale the Mountain of Callum, but none have found the creature – and few have returned at all. Perhaps this will restore Kian. You must hurry. Kian’s life force is ebbing away…”

  “Where is this mountain?”

  “Go East towards the dawn,” The Queen's eyes were full of tears. “Then keep going...”

  “I don't understand.”

  “The mountain ascends up to one of the twin suns of Feyland – the Summer Sun. They say those that reach its peak will walk on the rays themselves.” She composed herself. “They say you are special, Breena. Let's see how special. Can you find this place – a place no other fairies have found? Will your powers bring you there?”

  “I'll try!” I took Kian in my arms – a heavy, limp weight. Moments ago, this body had been the man I loved. I would do whatever it took to bring him back again. “But the battle.”