Once I had taken the throne as Queen of the Snow and Ice, I became almost immune to the cold. And those who made their life with me in this realm also remained untouched by the deep chill. But that didn’t mean that a warm hearth wasn’t welcome, even though that warmth was a pale shadow of the fires that I had once known.
This entire first year had been a learning experience, and I was frankly surprised that I had made it through with my sanity. There had been so much to learn—and to unlearn.
Druise, my lady’s maid, was waiting for me, and she bundled me into a bath right away. We ate dinner late as a matter of course, so she had a snack of my favorite cake ready for me and set the plate on a side table as I gratefully sank into the steaming water. Even though the cold didn’t bother me much, the heat from the water seeped into my muscles, easing the knots that had built up during the day. The scent of lilac rose to soothe my senses.
“Where are the new members of the Court, Your Majesty? Did they not come back with you?”
Druise scrubbed my back, careful to avoid wetting my hair so I wouldn’t have to dry it before eating. There were so many protocols and rules for decorum that I could barely remember them all. A number of them still grated on me, but I followed them, accepting their presence for what they were: long-standing traditions that I was expected to keep up.
A few things I had managed to have changed. Even those had been hard fought for.
My dress, for example. I refused to wear the heavy, bulky gowns unless it was an official court function. Instead, I wore jeans, though I gave in and wore a corset top with them. That is, except for days like today, when I had been out on a mission. And in a controversial move, I had banned fish from the Eldburry Barrow. I had a severe allergy, so severe I had to carry EpiPens. Anaphylactic to fish and shellfish, because of the danger of assassination via someone triggering my allergy, I had banned both foods from the barrow. Fish was a staple out here in the realm of Snow and Ice, but too bad. If someone wanted to catch a trout and eat it, that was fine, but they could do it away from my home.
It had taken me some time to accept the very concept that someone might want to assassinate me. My cousin Rhiannon, the Queen of Rivers and Rushes—the Summer Queen—felt the same way. We had never expected our lives to work out the way they had. Hell, I hadn’t even expected to settle down.
Rhiannon and I were born on the same day, on the Summer Solstice. She greeted the world at daybreak before the sun hit its zenith. I made my appearance at midnight, after the sun entered the waning half of the year. We were fire and ice, amber and jet. And we had both discovered that our fathers had been Cambyra Fae—the Shifting Fae. Rhiannon was born into a snakeshifter clan, and I was Uwilahsidhe—an owl shifter. Our mothers were of the magic-born. And now, both of our mothers were dead.
We had been born to take the thrones, and take them we did, after a long, desperate battle against Myst, Queen of the Indigo Court. She had led her people—the Vampiric Fae—on a bloody rampage, determined to bring an unrelenting winter to the outer world, and she had almost succeeded, but we had managed to stop her. Our victory came at a great cost, including many lives, but Myst was dead now, and most of her people, also. A few slipped through the cracks and we hunted them down as best as we could, but with luck, the Indigo Court was nearly extinct. Except for Grieve and me. Grieve would always be part Indigo Court—Myst had turned him. And I—I had been her daughter lifetimes back and my soul still bore the imprint. But we controlled our predatory impulses.
I leaned back in the tub, closing my eyes. “No, Druise, they are not coming.”
Druise, a sloe-eyed doe shifter, sounded puzzled. “Is something wrong, Your Majesty?”
I let her brush my hair as I relaxed, the strokes of the brush easing some of the tension that had built up in my scalp. “To be honest, we don’t know what happened. The ship came into port, then hit the edge of the ice floe and began to take on water. Our men went aboard, but…all they found was the lynx.”
“She’s adorable, Your Majesty. I can take care of her for you—and if need be, I know someone very good with animals who can watch her when I can’t.” Druise smiled. “I have her tucked in my own room right now, in a bed with a blanket and her food and water.”
“Good. I was hoping you would like her. There’s something special about her, Druise. You see, she was the only one aboard the ship. There has to be some reason that everybody else vanished but her. We couldn’t even find a single rat. There was nobody else there. They all seem to have vanished. We’re trying to figure out what happened but for now, it’s a mystery. Don’t say anything. Not until we find the right way to tell people. There are some here who have relatives who were aboard, and we don’t want them panicking.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
When Druise finished bathing me, she toweled me off. While I was waiting for her to bring my dress, I brushed my hand across my stomach. I was inked—and each tattoo had a meaning and a life to it. In a life that seemed so long ago, my mother’s boyfriend Dane had given me my three tattoos before Krystal decided he was trying to fuck around with me, which he wasn’t. But she used every excuse in the world to keep anybody from getting close and that was enough for her to drag us off again, back onto the road. A week later, Dane was dead at the hands of an angry drug pusher.
But his art was brilliant. First, he had given me the belladonna faerie. She peeked out from behind a patch of the flowers on my left breast, shy and yet full of color and joy. The belladonna faerie was connected with another, very short lifetime, I had discovered.
Second, banding both upper arms were matching tattoos of a moon, pierced with a dagger, a stark black work. Owls circled over the moon. That tattoo marked yet another part of my lineage I didn’t learn about till I returned to New Forest, WA, to help my aunt and cousin.
Finally, Dane had inked my wolf. The wolf’s face stared out at the world from right above my bellybutton, vine work in green, with silver roses and purple skulls sprawling behind him. The vines started on my left thigh, working up across my stomach behind the wolf, then coiling toward the right side of my rib cage. The wolf was my link to Grieve and he had watched over me all of my life, staring out through the wolf’s eyes. I lightly pressed my hand against the wolf. Grieve and I were together at last—and that was as it should be.
Druise carried in a formal gown suitable for the evening. Rhiannon and Chatter would be joining us tonight, guests in our frosty realm, and I needed to appear in finery due to the fact that they were the Queen and King of Summer. Cousins we might be, but we were all royalty at this point.
The gown was stunning. Blue as ice, it had an empire waistline, flowing down in layers to kiss the floor. Heavily beaded, the color matched the night sky, the beads shimmering like ice under the soft flicker of the lights.
I glanced up at the lanterns. The Barrow was illuminated by lights containing young Ice Elementals, who gave off a pale blue glow. In the Marburry Barrow, they lit their halls with Fire Elementals. The younglings were not pressed into service, but had volunteered. This gave them time to safely rest and gather strength as they grew into their power.
I slipped on the silver slippers that went with the dress and let Druise sweep my hair back, as she braided a small strand and used it to wrap the rest of my hair into a ponytail. Jet black, my hair was the opposite of Rhiannon’s. My eyes had been green at birth, but during my initiation they had changed and now were frost-covered blue. Rhiannon’s hair was brilliant red. Her eyes had shifted from hazel to gold when she had taken the Summer throne.
I let out a soft sigh as Druise positioned my crown. The circlet was silver, vines that entwined around one another. In the center, they met to wrap around a cabochon of black onyx and a teardrop of diamond below that.
“My cousin will be here for dinner. Attend to her lady’s maid and make certain she has a good meal, please.”
It still seemed odd to have a servant who took care of me so intimately, but I ha
d managed to adjust. At first, I had balked. I didn’t like assuming authority over others, but I had come to understand that—for Druise—her job meant everything. It meant her family had standing in the community, it meant that she could afford to help them out. It meant that she had a reason and purpose in life beyond being some scullery maid. It gave her a dignity that I hadn’t understood until she explained it to me.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” She curtseyed and stood back, motioning for me to stand.
I did, careful not to muss myself. As I turned, she bobbed her head, smiling.
“Do I look all right?”
Though it didn’t matter much to me, it did to Druise. My care would reflect on her handiwork, and that—too—was another lesson I had learned. Given my druthers, I would have spent every day in jeans and a tank top. But if I did, my people wouldn’t show me the same respect. Here, formality mattered. While I had managed to get them used to seeing me in jeans around the Barrow, more and more, I found myself dressing the part of the queen. It made a difference to them, even though it seemed still felt awkward to me.
“You look ever so lovely, Your Majesty. If you don’t mind a suggestion?”
I squinted at myself in the mirror, making sure my makeup wasn’t messed. “Of course not. What is it?”
“Your sapphire necklace would look ever so lovely with the dress.”
“Let’s have it, then.” I let her fasten the large, shimmering teardrop around my neck. The pendant hung on a silver chain, and had been an anniversary present from Grieve. We were just past midwinter—which meant we had been married for a year, and Rhiannon and I had been queens for an entire year.
“You were right, it’s gorgeous. Is Gri…His Majesty ready yet?” Again, I stumbled over the words. But at least this time, I managed to catch myself.
“His Lordship is most certainly ready.”
At the sound of Grieve’s voice, I whirled around.
There he was, in full Winter regalia. Wearing trousers and tails as black as night, with silver trim, he cut a gorgeous figure. His features were full Cambyra Fae—exotic against the platinum blond of his hair that skimmed his shoulders. Just looking at him made me hungry for his touch. I wanted to draw him to bed, to make love to him, to taste the salt of his sweat, to slide my hands along his skin. With a sigh, I pushed those thoughts away. We didn’t have time—not right now.
“You look good enough to eat.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
He laughed, his voice sultry and low. “I’ll hold you to that promise later.” He held out his arms and I slid into his embrace. “Druise, I’m going to kiss my wife now. Why don’t you make certain…well…find something to occupy you for a moment.”
Giggling, she curtseyed. “Yes, Your Lordship.”
As Druise left the room, Grieve kissed me, slow and languorous. His tongue played over mine and my knees went weak as I pressed against him, wanting more. He gently rubbed his cheek against mine, then kissed me again, grazing my lips with his needle-sharp teeth. My breasts were firm against his chest, my nipples chafing as they stiffened against the lace of my bra. Grieve smelled of apples and cinnamon, of the harvest bonfire smoke. Of that hint of snow on the horizon that set one’s senses to crackling. I inhaled deeply, wanting to stay in his embrace forever, to feel his lips against mine.
“I love you.”
“Cicely, you will always and forever be the only one who owns my heart.”
But then, he eased me back as he stared longingly at me. “Unfortunately, we have a full evening. After dinner, we must meet with Strict and the other advisors to figure out what we’re going to tell our people about The Wave Catcher. Perhaps by then, our men will know more.” He paused. “I brought you a present.”
“You don’t have to buy me gifts.” Grieve was generous, and he often went into New Forest to get things he knew I loved. I appreciated everything he gave me, but I didn’t want him to feel like I regretted giving up my old life, even though there was a tiny bit of truth to the thought. There were things I missed that didn’t translate to life in the Barrow.
“It’s not something I bought.” He motioned for me to wait while he went back into the chamber that housed our bed. My dressing room was separate, given the amount of work it took to dress for meals and Court.
When he returned, he had something in his arms. It was the snow lynx kit and she was wearing a beautiful collar. “I had a closer look at her. She strikes me as…gifted. Druise said she’s already agreed to watch her. I think, though, instead of staying in Druise’s room at night, we will keep her here.”
I took the wild cat. She was a handful. Although a kitten, she was the size of a full-grown Maine Coon. We had a number of cats running around the Barrow. I liked them, and the Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest breeds seemed to thrive in the cooler atmosphere.
“So, Grieve and I are your new parents, are we? You came across the great ocean, you know. What happened out there? How did you survive?” I held the kit up, staring into her pale eyes. She stared back at me, and I had the uncanny feeling she understood every word I said. “She’s a beauty, that’s for sure.” And then, the lynx reached out and drew one paw softly across my face, letting out a loud purr, then mewed at me—like a cat, only much louder. It was as if she was saying, “Of course I’m beautiful.”
“She likes you. Seriously, when we brought her to the Barrow, Check came to find me saying that the moment you left to come to our chambers, she started to cry and she kept it up until just now. The moment we walked into the bedroom, she stopped. It was as if she could sense you were here. What do you want to name her?”
I sat down carefully on the vanity bench and put the purring lynx beside me. She gazed up and, as I looked into her eyes, I realized that she was fixated on me. She reached up and bumped my hand with her head.
“What’s your name, pretty one?” As I stared at the lynx, she sneezed, then began licking her paw. “You are so sweet.” With a glance at Grieve, I said, “I’m naming her Sweet Pea.” I loved the flowers, and something about this little girl made me think of them.
“I have a feeling she’s going to grow into something quite unexpected. As to why she survived when no one else on The Wave Catcher did, that’s anybody’s guess.” Grieve rubbed her chin. “Sweet Pea it is.”
I can tell you something about her, Cicely. Ulean’s voice whispered through the slipstream. My Wind Elemental, she was bound to me on a soul level, and had been with me since I was six years old. She is protected—there is a natural boundary around her that keeps her from being seen or noticed when she’s in danger. She has a destiny to play, though what it is, I know not. It is not yet manifest.
Then perhaps the people aboard The Wave Catcher were targeted, but she alone remained unseen.
That could be—I cannot say for sure.
I told Grieve what Ulean had said. “So, she was born with strong safeguards.” Leaning over, I kissed the lynx’s head. “Very well, pretty one. You will live with us. But we have to go to dinner. Make yourself comfortable till we get back.” I called for Druise and—as she entered the room—held up the kit. “Sweet Pea will be staying here with us. We’ll need someone to watch her while we’re at dinner. Meanwhile, His Lordship and I will be going down to dinner. Join the staff at the servants’ table. Remember what I said about my cousin’s maid.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” And, with that, Druise took the kit and was off. Grieve offered me his arm and I placed my hand on it. As we headed through our bedroom, then into the hall where Check was waiting to escort us, I wondered where this would all lead.
Chapter 2
The banquet hall was decked out in holly and fir boughs. The floor was white marble, and the heavy dark wood of the table and chairs juxtaposed beautifully against it. At one end of the hall, a huge fireplace lit the room with a fire. Even though it burned fiercely, it barely touched the chill of the air. As we entered, I saw that my cousin and her husband were waiting for us. Another Cambyra Fae, Chatter was Gr
ieve’s best friend and had stood by him during our battle against Myst. Unlike Grieve, Chatter had not been turned when Myst overran the Marburry Barrow.
Rhiannon had changed over the past year. Not just her eye color, but her stance. A heart-wrenching mistake during her early teens had weighed her down for years, but now the worry of it seemed to have vanished. We were not the women we were and we’d never return to the lives we once led.
When she saw me, her face crinkled into a smile, and she let out a squeak. “Cicely!”
“Rhia!” Ignoring tradition and decorum, I rushed forward and caught her around the waist. We hugged, under the glaring eyes of our advisors. Strict and Edge—brother and sister who were all too much alike—were charged with turning us into proper queens, but they had their hands full.
Finally, I stood back, looking her up and down. We were wearing similar gowns, only hers was as green as mine was blue. She looked fit. Better than fit—there was something about her that shone through. I cocked my head, suspicious, but I didn’t want to shout out my thoughts in front of everybody.
I cleared my throat. “Queen Rhiannon, Lord Chatter, welcome to the Eldburry Barrow. We bend our knee to the brilliance of Summer and promise you peace and safety in our realm while you walk under the Winter moon.” I stood back and gave a low curtsey as Grieve bowed, courtly and solemn, though I could tell he was suppressing a smile.
Chatter—in as refined a getup as Grieve—caught his eye and the two of them snickered.
Rhiannon curtseyed and Chatter bowed in return.
“The Lord of Summer and I pledge honor to Queen Cicely of the Court of Snow and Ice, and Lord Grieve, her most honored consort and King of the realm. We thank you for the invitation and promise peace from Summer while we are here.”
And then, formalities aside, we were in our chairs. I wanted to grab Rhia and go off in a corner. We hadn’t seen each other in months now, and I wanted to know if she had heard from Peyton, or Luna, or any of the others—or if there was news of Kaylin, but all that would be talk reserved for private chambers. For now, we would stick to official topics. Which brought us to the ship.